he	phoned,	and	then	she	told	me	that	my	bag	had
been	located.	I	felt	a	strange	sense	of	accomplishment.	Then	a	pretty	girl
standing	in	line	behind	me	said	that	her	bag	was	lost	on	the	same	flight.	Inside
I	had	the	idea,
You	should	get	your	luggage,	too
.	And	the	next	instant	the
clerk	said	that	they’d	found	another	bag	besides	mine.	It	was	the	girl’s,	of
course.”
“And	you	connect	this	incident	to	what	happened	in	the	hospital	thirty
years	ago?”	I	said.
“Wouldn’t	you?	After	the	airport	incident	I	used	the	switch	a	couple	more
times.	Once	to	get	a	seat	on	a	completely	full	flight,	another	time	to	get	my
room	changed	in	a	hotel	when	they	said	I	couldn’t.”
“Don’t	things	like	that	happen	all	the	time	without	the	involvement	of
special	powers?”	I	asked.	Harold	looked	bemused.	This	was	different.	Hecould	tell	that	he	was	causing	it.
Several	things	are	striking	about	his	experience.	It	involved	a	deliberate
change	of	awareness.	It	felt	special,	even	eerie.	It	made	Harold	see	himself	in
a	new	light.	It	expanded	the	possibility	of	what	the	mind	can	do,	yet	somehow
“flicking	the	switch”	felt	normal	at	the	time.	Finally,	once	the	experience	was
over,	it	faded	away	and	was	basically	forgotten.	Can	we	say,	then,	that	Harold
took	a	trip	into	the	Akashic	field?	Vedanta	would	say	that	Harold	experienced
a	shift	in	consciousness,	and	when	that	happened,	the	world	“out	there”
shifted	with	it.	This	is	also	how	moving	into	the	afterlife	works,	via	an
internal	shift	that	creates	a	different	external	environment.
It’s	important	to	grasp	that	the	domains	of	physical	objects,	subtle	objects,
and	pure	consciousness	are	actually	one	domain—Akasha—seen	in	three
aspects.	This	becomes	evident	in	a	phenomenon	like	faith	healing,	which
brings	together	pure	consciousness	(God),	a	subtle	event	(prayer),	and	the
physical	body.	The	light	so	often	seen	by	those	who	are	healed	is	a	subtle
energy,	which	can	also	be	perceived	as	an	electrical	or	nervous	charge	in	the
body,	a	seizure,	rapture,	or	dizziness.	In	her	book,
The	Healing	Touch	of
Mary
,	Cheri	Lomonte	recounts	the	following	story:
Dawn	J.	was	a	devout	Catholic	who	as	a	young	woman	had	prayed	for	a
vision	of	the	Virgin	Mary.	Soon	after	she	left	her	parents’	house,	she
experienced	an	actual	visitation.	This	created	a	sense	of	awe	and	humility;	she
hardly	felt	worthy	to	behold	the	Mother	of	God	in	the	flesh.	But	Dawn	came
to	feel	that	she	had	been	chosen	as	a	messenger.
Soon	thereafter	she	was	asked	by	a	coworker	to	help	with	a	personal
matter.	The	coworker	was	worried	about	his	wife,	who	had	begun	to	visit	a
house	in	the	Bronx	where	a	statue	of	Mary	had	begun	to	spontaneously	exude
scented	oil.	Dawn	agreed	to	intervene	and	paid	a	visit	to	the	house.	When	she
walked	in,	however,	she	was	greeted	by	the	powerful	scent	of	roses,	and	when
she	was	shown	the	small	statue,	exuding	a	continual	stream	of	oil,	she	became
convinced	that	this	was	a	genuine	miracle.
Subsequently	she	paid	several	visits	to	the	house,	each	time	experiencing
a	divine	presence	in	the	scented	oil.	On	one	visit	the	woman	of	the	house	told
her	that	the	walls	and	furniture	had	now	begun	to	exude	oil,	which	she	wiped
up	with	cotton	balls.	Dawn	was	given	a	bag	of	these	to	take	home.	Sometime
later	she	heard	that	a	friend’s	three-month-old	baby	was	gravely	ill	with	spinal
meningitis	and	had	been	hospitalized	in	intensive	care.	Dawn	felt	a	strong
impulse	to	use	the	holy	oil	as	a	healing.	With	the	parents’	permission	she
entered	the	hospital	room	and	found	the	baby	listless	and	nearly	unconscious,
its	body	incubated	for	feeding	and	medication.	It	was	a	piteous	sight.
Dawn	took	an	oil-soaked	cotton	ball	and	gently	stroked	the	baby’s	spine
with	it.	She	left,	and	the	next	day	was	informed	that	the	infant	was	out	of
danger.	Within	two	days	it	was	sleeping	and	nursing	normally	and	had	beensent	home	with	its	parents.	The	doctor	in	charge	of	the	case	considered	this
recovery	miraculous.	Dawn	attributed	it	to	the	healing	touch	of	Mary.
Of	course,	Catholic	lore	is	filled	with	thousands	of	similar	tales,	but	what
are	we	to	think	of	this	one	in	particular?	To	me,	it	shows	that	the	three
domains	of	consciousness	don’t	merely	overlap;	they	are	actively	involved
with	one	another.	The	physical	plane	is	represented	by	the	statue,	the	oil,	and
the	baby’s	body.	The	subtle	domain	is	represented	by	the	vision	of	Mary,
Dawn’s	faith,	and	the	divine	presence	felt	in	the	oil.	The	domain	of	pure
consciousness	is	represented	by	the	divine	itself.	I’m	not	offering	this	story	as
established	fact;	the	author	who	repeats	it	went	through	no	process	of
investigation	to	prove	its	truth.	She	relied	on	the	sincerity	of	people	who	came
forward,	with	nothing	to	gain,	describing	their	own	experiences.	My	only
purpose	here	is	to	open	the	possibility	that	there	is	a	unifying	principle,	the
Akashic	field,	that	embraces	a	wide	range	of	phenomena.
Somewhere	in	Akasha	angels	might	look	around	and	say,	“This	is	real.”
The	same	might	be	perceived	by	departed	spirits,	great	spiritual	beings,	and
souls	“crossing	over.”	The	landscape	of	the	afterlife	can	be	as	complex	as
anyone	might	desire,	so	long	as	we	remember	that	ultimately	gods,	goddesses,
spirits,	and	souls	become	only	one	thing:	consciousness	creating	within	itself.10
S
URVIVING	THE
	S
TORM
SAVITRI	TRUSTED	RAMANA,
	but	as	the	hours	grew	long,	once	again	she	began	to
worry	about	the	time.	Her	mind	was	filled	with	a	vision	of	Satyavan’s	strong
body	turned	cold	and	lifeless	with	a	glance	from	Yama.
I	would	lose
everything
,	she	thought.
Ramana	turned	to	her.	“Does	that	make	you	afraid,	to	lose	everything?”
He	seemed	to	have	no	trouble	reading	her	thoughts.
“Of	course,”	Savitri	said	miserably.
Ramana	pointed	up	ahead.	Alongside	the	path	was	a	rustic	shrine	that
someone	had	erected	in	the	forest.	The	pine	boughs	of	the	altar	sheltered	an
image	of	Vishnu.	Knowing	that	Vishnu	was	the	aspect	of	God	that	sustains
life,	she	quickly	ran	ahead,	gathering	some	wildflowers	to	offer	at	the


 and as it approaches the heart it can do
one of three things. First, if the energy is totally blocked by the samskaras
while trying to go into the heart, you won’ t feel your heart. A lot of people
don’t feel their heart very much. They are so used to focusing on their mind
that they don’t notice the shifts in the heart until those shifts are too strong
to ignore. Emotions are messy and much too sensitive, so people suppress
them. They want to be analytic al, not emotional. No one told these people
that if they bothered to do the work necessary to clean out the heart, the
increased energy flow coming into the mind would result in more
inspiration, more creativity, and more intuitive brilliance.
A second thing can happen with energy coming into the heart. It can
make it in and begin hitting the blockages stored there. This tends to make
you moody and more sensitive to what is going on around you. Every once
in a while, however, things will line up just right, and your heart will get
quiet. Somebody is in front of you and somehow the way they look, the way
they talk, or something else about them stimulates and rearranges your
samskaras just right. “Her hair looks like my sister ’s hair, and I really got
along with my sister. Look at those glasses. They’re just like the ones my
favorite actress wore in my favorite movie of all time. This is definitely my
kind of person.” The next thing you know, you’re saying out loud, “People
told me nice things about you, and I was really excited to meet you. Now
that I see you, it’s way beyond anything I expected.” So it begins—love at
first sight. The words are right, the hair is right, the glasses are right.
Everything is opening you. You don’t have to do anything—it’ s all
happening by itself. The stimuli coming in through your senses are
rearranging the samskaras just right to create an opening for the energy tocome up. As the energy comes up into the heart, it has the opportunity to
flow out and connect with what caused it to open.
Now we’re talking about a very personal and sensitive subject. Have
you ever felt the energy start to flow out of your heart? Have you ever felt
your heart connect with another person? It’s as if there were an energy flow
tying two hearts together. People who are in love can just sit together not
even talking while that beautifu l, connected flow is happening. It’s almost
as if nothing in this world is as beautiful as that sensation of energy pouring
out through the heart and connecting with someone. From a yogic point of
view, what you are experiencing is shakti pouring out of the fourth energy
center, the heart chakra,  of your energy system. Though this heart center is
really beautiful, it is actually not so high, since there are seven such chakras
that control your inner energy flow. The yogi understands that if all the
energy goes out through the heart center it will not have the power to reach
the higher centers.
What you will come to realize  is that the chakras are like a T-pipe
fitting.
At the bottom there is an entry  point for the energy, and it could be
open or blocked. If it is blocked, no energy will enter that center. If it is
open, the energy will come up into the center and attempt to flow right
through. Should the upper pathway be blocked, however, the energy will
flow out horizontally and connect with whatever stimulated the opening
experience. Now  as human beings, we really like that experience of energy
flowing out through the heart. In fact, we don’t call it like, we call it love.
That experience is human love, and don’t worry, spirituality has no intention
of taking this away from you. It’s beautiful; just know that there is a higher
expression of love.This leads us to the third thing that can happen when the energy rises
up toward the heart—it can make it all the way through. At this point in our
journey, all you have to underst and is if the energy makes it past the fourth
center, there are energy experi ences way higher than human love. This
doesn’ t mean you don’t experie nce connection with people and things. You
actually connect at a much deeper level. People who say the human
connection experience is the meaning of life have not experienced the
higher centers. That’ s like saying food is the meaning of life or intimacy is
the meaning of life. Yes, these are beautiful experiences, but they are
conditional, and they can come and go. The meaning of life is much deeper
than that.
There are much higher energy centers you are capable of experi encing,
and the further you go into these centers, the more beautiful all of life
becomes. But if you can’t work with the heart center, you will never know
the higher centers even exist. To begin to work with the heart, you must first
be able to object ively watch as it opens and closes. What you will see is that
the store d patter ns from your past are getting activated by outside situations
and causing the heart to open or close.
Take our example of love at first sight. If you had met the same person
three days earlier when you were in a bad mood, your heart might not have
opened. If you hadn’ t seen the movie with the actress she reminded you of,
she might not have hit you just right. The bottom line is that you have
blockages stored inside, and they are going to determine your level of
openness in any given situation. All it takes is one word said in just the right
way, and the heart will open. Likewise, all it takes is one word said in just
the wron g way, and the heart will close. We all have differen t samskaras,
and we are taking on new ones all the time. That is why what turns one
person on, turns another perso n off. It is also why the heart behaves
differently for the same person at dif ferent times. It’ s hard to believe that our
moods, attractions, and repulsion s are so dependent on our past, but it’s true.
In our normal state, we’re not paying any attention to what’ s going on—
we’re just being tossed around by it.Chapter 25.
The Secrets of the Heart
We are now ready  to go deeper into the secrets of the heart. From our earlier
explorations, you recognize that the energy can flow out for a while and
create the sensation of love. You also understand that since the opening of
the heart is conditional upon the state of blockages, the energy flow itself is
conditional and generally will not last. Yet it is possible to expe rience great
love all the time. All it requir es is a willingness to work on yourself to
remove the reason your heart tends to close. For examp le, imagine
somebody dies who means a great deal to you. Your spouse can’t go to the
funeral with you because of some important work. You may deeply resent
that. In fact, if you’re not careful, you may resent that for the rest of your
life. You’re playing with fire when you play with these blockag es. You may
lay the groundw ork that will eventually diminish or even destroy your
relationship with your significant other. This is not a game—storing
samskaras is serious business, and it has serious consequences. If you want
love to last, learn to handle these situations better. This is a secret of the
heart that is best to remember.
Another very important thing to understand about the outward flow of
energy through the heart is that it literally makes a connection with the other
person. This connection is real, and you become attached as the energy is
exchanged between you. This is not a physical attachment to one another;
this is a reliance  on the energy flowing between your hearts that is feeding
you both ener getically.
Let’s look at this in detail. Your heart was closed because  stored
patterns from your past were blocking the energy flow. Someone shows up
whose qualities and characteris tics hit you just right so the energy finds a
path around one of your major blockages. The blockage is not gone, but a
pathway has opened up allowin g the energy to flow out through the heart.That energy goes out toward the other person, and the other person’ s energy
goes out toward you. With the help of another person, you have managed to
experience what  you would be experiencing if the original block age was not
there. Perhaps you used to think people didn’ t like you and that you were
not very attracti ve. Someone shows up who always admires you and looks
at you with tremendous love. It makes you feel so comfortable that you melt
in their gaze. It’s unbelievable. You don’t feel that weirdness you used to
feel all the time.
Though this is really beautiful, unfortunately the samskara that was
blocking your energy flow is still there. The energy found a way around it,
but only as long as the energy exchange with this person is still working. It’s
like putting a jumper in an electr ical circuit. You bypassed the sam skara, but
now you are very attached to and dependent on that person. If they start to
leave you, or if you even think


 void the pain of their problems by saying to themselv es: ‘This
problem was caused by other people, or by social circumstances
beyond my control, and therefore it is up to other people to solve
this problem for me.’ ”
Peck gi ves vivid examples to illustrate his point, such as the
case of a woma n who had jus t tried to slash her wrists. She was an
army w ife on the Pacific isla nd of Okinawa, where the younger
Peck was an army psychiatrist.In the emergency room he asked the woman, who had managed
to i nflict only superficial cu ts on herself, why she wa nted to
commit suicide. She said it all came down to living “on th is dumb
island.” Not satisfied with her answer, Peck began a dialogue that
would b e comical if the woma n weren’t so miserable and unhappy.
The back-and-forth between him and his patient can be
summarized as follows:
P ECK:  Why do you find being on Okinawa so painful?
P ATIENT:  I have no friends, and I’m alone all the time.
P ECK:  Why don’t you have any friends?
P ATIENT:  I  live off bas e in the villag e, and nobody speaks
English.
P ECK:  Wh y don’t yo u drive to the American base to find
some friends?
P ATIENT:  My husband needs the car to drive to work.
P ECK:  You could drive him to work.
P ATIENT:  It’s a stick shift. I only know how to drive an
automatic.
P ECK:  You could learn to drive a stick shift.
P ATIENT:  Are you crazy? Not on these roads.
What m ade the scene tragic and comical at the same time is
that the woman, despite her absurd stubbornness, was in genuine
pain; sh e was crying during most of their conversation. We all
believe in our story, almos t at any cost. From a therapist’s
perspective thi s woman was skirting any hope of getting b etter by
exhibiting all the classic signs of denial. Who among us hasn’t shut
our eye s when a situation was simply too hard to face? Lif e would
be m uch easier if our proble ms had cut-and-dried solutions, but
they don’t.
Denial is only one element in the big picture, which is that we
live by stories. Denial comes down to ignoring anything that
disrupts your story or contradicts it. Even the healthiest person
psychologically ignores an enormous part of reality. If we see, once
and for all, th at being attached to stories is what we want toovercome, we recognize that there are people who have done just
that. Their inner world isn’t cluttered with the baggage of the past.
They do n’t def end “I am X”  as if their survival depende d on it.
Rather, they live effortlessly in the present. The real issue isn’t
whether such people exist; th e real issue is why we have ignored
them for so long.
T h e  A w a k e n e d
States of awareness long considered mystical in the West—if
not bogus—exist all around us, affecting ordinary people who
almost always keep their ex periences private. A few years ago I
became acquainted with Dr. Jeffery Martin, a PhD social
researcher who had conducted groundbreaking research into
higher consciousness. What made his studies revolutionary is a
single b asic dis covery: many more people are awake than anyone
ever supposed.
Martin gave them a voice. After gaining his doctorate at
Harvard’s School of Education, he started publishing his findings,
which in dicated the prevalenc e of enlightenment as a natu ral state
of awareness, one that many people have already accessed.
Martin’s resear ch began with him posting an online query asking
for responses from people who thought they were enlightened.
To h is surprise, he got more than 2,500 replies, and from  this
pool Martin intensively inter viewed around 50 subjects. At first it
was ha rd to find a comm on language. Feeling that you are
enlightened is personal, and  it also sets you apart from normal
society. Martin’s subjects were sensitized by being outsiders, often
being stigmatized in adolescence for being different. They also
knew o n the inside that the y weren’t normal according to the
social standards around them. For many, revealing their unusual
mental state had led to such things as being sent to a psychiatrist,
put on medication, or even being committed to a mental hospital.
However, very early on, Martin realized that as different as
each of his su bjects was, their experiences fell on a con tinuum.There wasn’t a single enlight ened state, but rather a slidin g scale.
To find some common ground, and to fit the accepted model of
what do ctoral research in psychology must look like, he dropped
the loaded term enlightenment, an d in its place adopted the
cumbersome tag persistent non-symbolic experience. When
someone begins to have such experiences, “[t]here is a shift in
what it feels like to be you,” Martin notes. “You move away from
an individual sense of self, which is considered normal, to
something else.”
Defining what that “something else” is wasn’t easy, because
these people came from different backgrounds an d were
influenced by diverse cultural factors. However, Martin was able
to ident ify specific areas that seemed to stand out as markers of
higher consciousness.
Typically these people said they had lost a sense of being a
separate self—they had no lingering notion of personal identity.
Putting himself in his subjects’ shoes, Martin comments, “I would
be sayin g, ‘There’s no Jeffery here talking to you.’ That’s literally
what they would say to me.”
Another comm on experience was a dramatic reduction in
thinking. “In fact,” Martin sa ys, “they would often report having
no thoughts.” This wasn’t lite rally true, as Martin discovered when
he did further research, but as a self-report, having no thoughts at
all is startling.  Another common experience was a sense of unity,
oneness, and wholeness. This state of completeness, Martin says,
led to a tremendous sense of personal freedom. “There’s a loss of
fear tha t comes with this, a loss of identification with a p ersonal
story.” Many felt that their b odies were no longer bounded by the
skin but extended beyond the physical body.
So now  we have an objecti ve profile of shifting into h igher
consciousness in everyday life, the state of metahuman. Personal
awakening isn’t rare, and according to those who have actually
experienced it, their awakenin g led to a wide range of possibilities.
The implications for human nature are intriguing, beginning with
what it feels like not to defen d “I, me, and mine.” The source of so
much anger, fear, greed, and jealousy is rooted in the insecurity of
the ego and its endless demands.Putting ourselves in their shoes, these awakened people don’t
keep a runnin g story in the ir heads about what’s happening to
“me.” W hen they think about themselves, “me” fades away as soon
as they  notice it. The same i s true for their emotions, w hich are
fewer and more spontaneous. When anger arises, it fades almost
immediately. Emotions were still positive and negative but rarely,
if ev er, were t hey extreme. Martin’s subjects could be irritated
when somethin g bad happened at work, yet they didn’t c arry the
residue of stress around with  them afterward, and it wou ld never
build in to angry frustration. They felt a sense of inner peace that
could b e interrupted, but quite soon it would return. In a word,
these people were very good at letting go.
To bring order to his findin gs, Martin divided the awakened
state into several “locations” as separate stages of awakening,
according to their intensity. His subjects regarded waking up as a
definite shift, which for some occurred as recently as six months
previously, for  others as long as forty years before. On ce they
arrived in Location 1, as Martin calls the opening stage of
awakening, pe ople usually kept progressing and rarely  slipped
back or jumped ahead. In o ther words, they were experiencing
personal evolution, and the process showed no prospect of
stopping. As Martin described their attitude, they “agreed that
their initial transition was just the beginning of a process that
seemed to be able to unfold, and deepen, endlessly—a never-
ending adventu re.” Everything happened internally, and for many
the shif t wasn’t something they would define as spiritual. It was
just the way they experienced themselves.
“If y ou sat in a roomful of peo ple and a small percentage b elong
to th is a ltered sense of self,” says Martin, “you wouldn’t be able to
spot them. To all outer appearances they are just like you and me.”
So w ho exactly are these peo ple? At the outset, before Ma rtin’s
research began  to expand to many universities and countries, his
typical subject was a white m ale from the United States or Europe.
Martin was disappointed to find that women, for


ut	cannot	create	both	at	the	same	time.	Instead,	combine	proteinsor	starches	with	vegetables,	which	are	highly	nutritious	and	combine	well	with
either	one.
Fruit	has	special	digestive	requirements	and	should	be	eaten	alone.	Fruit	is
easy	to	digest	and	is	meant	to	pass	through	the	digestive	system	quickly.	If	not,
such	as	when	combined	with	protein	or	starch,	the	fruit	sugar	ferments	in	the
stomach,	often	manifested	by	bloating	and	gas.	If	sweet	and	acid	fruits	are	to	be
eaten	together,	eat	the	acid	fruits	first.	Melons	should	be	eaten	alone	or
combined	with	other	melons	because	they	take	even	less	time	to	digest	than
other	fruits	and	should	pass	quickly	through	your	digestive	system	in	order	to
prevent	sugar	fermentation.
To	learn	about	food	combinations	that	work	well	together	and	those	that	do
not,	consider	a	few	simple	food	categories:	proteins,	starches,	vegetables,	and
three	kinds	of	fruits	(sweet,	acid	and	melons).	Remember	these	simple	rules:
	Vegetables	with	proteins,	okay.
	Vegetables	with	starches,	okay.
	No	protein	with	starch	(avoid	meat	and	potatoes,	spaghetti	and
meatballs,	fish	and	rice,	etc.).
	Eat	fruit	alone.	(Acid	fruits	with	nuts	and	seeds,	okay.	Acid	fruits	with
sweet	fruits,	okay,	although	acid	fruits	should	be	consumed	first.	Eat
melons	alone,	except	with	other	melons.)
Not	certain	which	of	your	favorite	foods	fall	into	which	categories?	Here	are
examples:
Protein
Eggs,	meat,	fish,	fowl,	nuts,	seeds,	avocado,
coconut,	sprouts,	milk	products.
Starch
Corn,	wheat,	barley,	rice,	buckwheat,	millet,
oats,	dried	peas	and	beans,	potatoes,	yams,
squash,	flour	(pasta/bread/pastries),	sugar
(candy/soft	drinks/etc.).
Vegetables
Asparagus,	tomatoes,	okra,	green	beans,	green
peas,	broccoli,	bell	peppers,	brussels	sprouts,
cabbage,	lettuce,	celery,	cucumber,	beets,	egg-plant,
artichoke,	beets,	carrots,	cauliflower,	chives,
ginger,	garlic,	leeks,	onion,	shallots,	scallions.
Sweet	Fruits
Bananas,	currants,	figs,	dates,	raisins,	prunes,
dried	fruits,	grapes.
Acid	Fruits
Lemons,	oranges,	grapefruits,	other	citrus
fruits,	kiwi,	plum,	pineapple,	mango,	papaya,
all	berries,	nectarines,	apples,	cherries,	pears,
apricots,	peaches.
Melons
Cantaloupe,	casaba,	crenshaw,	honeydew,
banana	melon,	watermelon.Many	of	our	traditional	meals	are	comprised	of	wrong	combinations.	What	we
think	of	as	a	“good	meal”	is	typically	a	harmful	combination	of	starch	and
protein—meat	and	potatoes,	a	burger	and	fries	or	a	cheese	pizza.	We	make	the
problem	worse	by	accompanying	meals	with	sugary	drinks	and	desserts;	these
combinations	cause	the	food	to	ferment	and	putrefy	in	the	digestive	system	(and
the	protein/sugar	combination	also	results	in	the	formation	of	harmful	AGEs—as
described	in	the	sugar	section	of	the	Big	Four).
Learning	how	to	apply	proper	food	combinations	to	your	diet	can	help	your
health,	as	it	did	for	Andrea.	Her	high-profile	career	was	interrupted	when
chronic	fatigue	and	an	autoimmune	syndrome	called	lupus	overwhelmed	her.
Before	she	came	to	see	me,	Andrea	had	been	sick	for	five	years	and	had
exhausted	all	the	remedies	that	modern	medicine	had	to	offer—with	no	help.
I	encouraged	Andrea	to	keep	a	food	diary	so	that	we	could	track	what	she	was
eating.	The	diary	revealed	that	Andrea’s	diet	consisted	of	a	lot	of	processed	junk
(“make-believe”	food).	I	taught	her	how	to	shop	for	“real”	food	and	suggested
special	vitamin	supplements.	Within	one	week	this	woman—	who	had	been
chronically	ill	for	five	years—was	starting	to	feel	much	better.	She	gained	more
energy	and	more	mental	clarity,	and	she	began	to	have	hope.	Then	she	reached	a
plateau	and	seemed	unable	to	make	further	improvement.
I	suggested	that	Andrea	prepare	another	food	diary,	this	time	looking	at	the
combinations	of	foods	she	was	eating.	We	found	out	why	her	recovery	process
stalled.	Andrea’s	meal	choices	were	causing	maldigestion	and	creating	toxins
that	were	inhibiting	her	recovery.	For	example,	she	had	gone	out	to	a	Sunday
brunch	and	ate	a	breakfast	consisting	of	a	vegetable	omelet	(protein	and
vegetables,	okay),	hash-brown	potatoes	(starch	with	protein,	not	okay),	toast
with	jelly	(starch	and	sugar	with	protein,	not	okay),	and	a	fruit	cup	(fruit	with
other	foods,	not	okay).	Combining	egg	protein	with	the	starch	of	bread	and
potatoes	was	bad	enough;	the	fermentation	caused	by	combining	that	with	sugar
from	fresh	fruit	and	jelly	made	things	worse.
By	maldigesting	her	food,	this	meal	was	not	supplying	Andrea	with	the
nutrition	she	thought	she	was	consuming.	At	the	same	time	her	choices	were
creating	toxins	that	were	poisoning	every	cell	in	her	body—certainly	not	what
she	had	in	mind	when	she	ordered	brunch.	At	another	meal,	Andrea	had	a
sandwich	made	of	organic,	whole-wheat	bread,	organic	turkey	and	organic
lettuce.	While	definitely	better	than	the	breakfast,	combining	starch	(bread)	with
protein	(turkey)	just	does	not	work.	I	knew	how	important	it	would	be	for	her
health	if	she	had	a	good	understanding	of	basic	food-combining	rules.	I	taught
her	the	simple	rules	of	food	combining:
vegetables	with	protein,	okay;vegetables	with	starch,	okay;	no	protein	with	starch;	eat	fruit	alone.
Andrea	put	these	simple	rules	to	work.	Her	health	continued	to	improve,	and
she	went	into	complete	remission	of	all	her	chronic	health	problems—something
she	had	been	unable	to	do	even	with	good	food	and	supplements	alone.	Proper
food	combining	was	critical	to	this	woman’s	wellness	process,	which	is	no
surprise,	because	improper	food	combining	causes	disease.
It’s	All	in	the	Technique
When	you	eat	cooked	foods,	eating	something	raw	first	is	best.
Cooked	food
appears	to	be	so	alien	to	the	human	system	that	it	can	provoke	an	immune
response,	as	if	you	are	being	exposed	to	a	virus.	Scientist	Udo	Erasmus,	author
of
Fats	and	Oils,
wrote:
[W]hen	cooked	(or	dead)	food	is	eaten,	a	defense	reaction	occurs	in	the
tissues	of	the	stomach	and	digestive	tract.


. Weisman associated the type of chest which predisposes the
individual to tuberculosis, with a prenatal condition since he states "even the new-born and infants
are shorter and lighter and have a deeper chest than an average infant from a better environment."
This work throws important light on why in the primitive groups the children born to parents who
are living on the imported nutrition lower in vitamins and minerals than the native foods, not only
showed a greatly increased incidence of tuberculosis over the children born to parents on the
native diet but also proved to be those individuals who, in facial and dental arch form, presented
positive evidence of prenatal injury. We also have a direct explanation for the observations that
have been emphasized by Dr. George Draper, that physical form has a direct relationship to
disease susceptibility of certain types, frequently spoken of as diatheses.
    It is important in this connection to call to mind the statement made by some clinicians that
tuberculosis patients with narrow nostrils tend to make a poor fight. These narrow nostrils are
clearly related to prenatal injury resulting primarily from defective germ cells which determine the
architecture, not heredity but intercepted heredity.7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 211/250    It is very easy to understand the effects of gross physical lesions such as the absence of
eyeballs, harelip and cleft palate. These defects can readily be seen. The problem is very different,
however, when we are dealing with disturbances of function due to minute anatomical lesions in
either external or internal organs such as the brain. These latter will be discussed in the next
chapter.
REFERENCES
1. PRICE, W. A. Dental Infections. Cleveland, Penton, 1923.
2. DRAPER, G. Human Constitution. Phila., Saunders, 1924.
3. DRAPER, G. Disease and the Man. N. Y., Macmillan, 1930.
4. WALD, G. Vitamin A in Eye Tissues. J. Gen. Physiol., 18:905, 1935.
5. MELLANBY, E. Vitamin A deficiency and deafness. Biochem. J. In press.
6. MASON, K. E. Foetal death, prolonged gestation and difficult parturition in the rat as a
result of vitamin A deficiency. Am. J. Anat., 57:303, 1935.
7. MEIGS, E. B. and CONVERSE, H. T. Some effects of different kinds of hay in the ration
on the performance of dairy cows. J. Dairy Sci., 16:317, 1933.
8. BARRIE, M. M. Nutrition anterior pituitary deficiency. Biochem. J. In press.
9. BACHARACH, A. L., ALLEHORNE, E., GLYNN, H. E. Investigations into the method
of estimating vitamin E. 1. Influence of vitamin E deficiency on implantation. Biochem. J.,
21:2287, 1937.
10. SHERMAN and MACLEOD. The relation of vitamin A to growth, reproduction and
longevity. J. Am. Chem. Soc., 47:1658, 1925.
11. HUGHES, AUBEL and LIENHARDT. Importance of vitamins A and C in the ration for
swine, concerning especially their effect on growth and reproduction. Kansas Agric. Sta.
Tech. Bull., No. 23, 1928.
12. HART and GILBERT. Vitamin A deficiency as related to reproduction in range cattle.
Univ. of Calif. Agric. Exper. Sta. Bull., No. 560, 1933.
13. HUGHES, E. H. Effects of vitamin A deficient diet of sows. J. Agric. Res., 49:943, 1934.
14. SURE, B. Dietary requirements for fertility and lactation; dietary sterility associated with
vitamin A deficiency. J. Agric. Res., 37:87, 1928.
15. HALE, F. The relation of maternal vitamin A deficiency to microphthalmia in pigs. Texas S.
J. Med., 33:228, 1937.
16. WILLIAMS, W. L. The problem of teratology in clinical veterinary medicine. Cornell
Veterinarian, 26:1, 1936.
17. MOENCH, G. L. and HOLT, H. Sperm morphology in relation to fertility. Am. J. Obst.
and Gynec., 22:199, 1931.
18. STIASNY, H. and GENERALES, K. Erbkranheit and Fertilitaet. Ferdinand Enke Verlag,
Stuttgart, 1937. Review, J. Heredity, 29:9, 1938.
19. SUTTON, T. S., SETTERFIELD, H. E. and KRAUSS, W. E. Nerve degeneration
associated with avitaminosis A in the white rat. Ohio Agric. Exper. Sta. Bull., No. 545,
1934.
20. WEISMAN, S. A. Correlation of the positive reaction to tuberculin and the shape of the
chest. J.A.M.A., 109:1445, 1937.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 19
PHYSICAL, MENTAL AND MORAL DETERIORATION7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 212/250AFTER one has lived among the primitive racial stocks in different parts of the world and studied
them in their isolation, few impressions can be more vivid than that of the absence of prisons and
asylums. Few, if any, of the problems which confront modern civilization are more serious and
disturbing than the progressive increase in the percentage of individuals with unsocial traits and a
lack of irresponsibility.
    Laird (1) has emphasized some phases of this in an article entitled, The Tail That Wags the
Nation, in which he states: "The country's average level of general ability sinks lower with each
generation. Should the ballot be restricted to citizens able to take care of themselves? One out of
four cannot." He has illustrated the seriousness of this degeneration by presenting details as follows:
    Although we might cite any one of nearly two dozen states, we will first mention Vermont by
name because that is the place studied by the late Dr. Pearce Bailey. "It would be," he wrote,
"safe to assume that there are at least 30 defectives per 1000 in Vermont of the eight-year-old
mentality type, and 300 per 1000 of backward or retarded persons, persons of distinctly inferior
intelligence. In other words, nearly one-third of the whole population of that state is of a type to
require some supervision.
    From a broad view of the problem of modern degeneration it will be helpful to note the
observations by Tredgold (2)  in mental deficiency. He states:
    It is thus evident that the condition of mental deficiency, whilst presenting many interesting
problems to the physician, the pathologist, and the psychologist, has also a much wider interest
and importance. Since in Man the predominate feature is Mind, and since it is by its
development and evolution that human progress has taken, and must take place, it is clear that
the question of its disease, and particularly of its defect, is one of supreme importance to the
statesman, the sociologist, the philosopher, and the whole community.
    In connection with these investigations among primitive races it is interesting to note that the data
are in complete harmony with the data which clinical pathologists, clinicians and anatomists have
obtained in their study of the physical and structural characteristics of individuals who make up the
deficiency groups. In discussing the problem of the significance of the shape of the palate,
Tredgold (2)  states:
    Palate--The association of abnormalities of the palate with mental deficiency has long been
recognized, and there is no doubt that it is one of the commonest malformations occurring in
this condition. Many years ago Langdon Down drew attention to the subject, and more recently
Clouston has recorded a large number of observations which show conclusively that, although
deformed palates occur in the normal, they are far and away more frequent in neuropaths and
the mentally defective. He states that deformed palates are present in 19 per cent of the ordinary
population, 33 per cent of the insane, 55 per cent of criminals, but in no less than 61 per cent of
idiots. Petersen, who has made a most exhaustive study of this question, and has compiled an
elaborate classification of the various anomalies found palatal deformities present in no less
than 82 per cent of aments, (mental defectives), in 76 per cent of epileptics, and in 80 per cent of
the insane.
    Probably every city in the United States has made special provision for both mentally deficient
groups and unsocial individuals, either in special schools or in special classes. In Cleveland, we
have had a large school devoted to the problems of the so-called pre-delinquent boys, of whom
nearly all have been before the courts and are assigned to this institution because they are not well
enough adjusted to be kept in their normal school environment. In discussing the characteristics of
these boys with


 from looki ng at the full moon and walking by water
(very good for Pitta), to listeni ng to the wind in the trees (very good for
Vata). Out of this knowledge, a special treatment called aromatherapy has
been developed; our patients find it absolutely delightful to under go.
THE VOCABULAR Y OF AROMAS
Each dosha can be balanced with aromas that are matched to it. The
matching is done by the rasas, or tastes, found in food. I will have a lot to
say about the rasas in part III under diet. For the moment, note that there are
six tastes in Ayurveda, the usual four of sweet, sour, salty, and bitter, plus
astringent (the dry, mouth-p uckering taste associated with beans,
pomegranate, and turmeric) and pungent (spicy). Sweet foods  are held to
balance both Vata and Pitta, as does the sweet smell of a rose. Sour tastes
aggravate Pitta, and so do sour smells, along with bad smells in general.
Moist, earthy smells increase Kapha. Bitter and astringent smells particularly
aggravate Vata.
The language of taste is limited to sweet, sour, salty, bitter, astringent, and
pungent. The nose, on the other hand, understands a vast vocabulary of
smells, amounting to about ten thousand different odors if you have a well-
trained beak. The odors that can be detected by the nose must first dissolve
in the moisture of the nasal tissue and are then passed on by specialized
olfactory cells straight to the hypothalamus in the brain. (These olfactory
cells are in fact nerves, the only ones exposed to the air in the whole body,
although they are protected by their thin covering of mucus. They are also
the only nerves that regenerate, replacing themselves about once every three
weeks.)
The fact that smells go straight to the hypothalamus is very significant, for
this tiny organ is responsible for regulating dozens of bodily functions,including temperature, thirst, hunger, blood-sugar levels, grow th, sleeping,
waking, sexual arousal, and emotions such as anger and happiness. To smell
anything is to send an immediat e message to “the brain’ s brain, ” and from it
to the whole body.
At the same time, the message of an odor goes to the brain’ s limbic
system, which processes emotio ns, and to an area called the hippocampus,
the part of the brain responsible for memory, which is why smells bring back
past mem ories so vividly. Kitchen smells, flowers, and perfumes all trigger a
sense of déjà vu. The gardens you once walked through have turned into
you, thanks to the lingering impression of their fragrance on your brain.
USING AROMA THERAPY
In Ayurveda, aromas are used to send specific signals that balance the
three doshas. Generally speaking:
Vata is balan ced with a mixtur e of warm, sweet, sour aromas like basil,
orange, r ose geranium, clove, and other spices.
Pitta is balanced by a mixtur e of sweet, cool aromas like sandalwood, rose,
mint, cinnamon, and jasmine.
Kapha, similar  to Vata, is balanced by a mixtur e of warm aromas, but with
spicier overtones, like juniper, eucalyptus, camphor, clove, and marjoram.
Place about ten drops of aromatic oil in hot water and fill the room with a
light scent for a half-hour; you can extend this time as long as you want,
however. (Special candle-powered aroma pots are available, but using a
teacup and miniature coffee warmer is just as effective.) Bedtim e is good for
inhaling the aroma, since the various sights and sounds of the day tend to
cover over smel ls and block their effects. The aroma helps many people fall
asleep and can be left in the room all night.
There is also a medical side to aromatherapy. Patients who have been
diagnosed with specific imbalan ces are given oils for the subdosha that hasgone out of balance. It is actually possible to restore balance with aroma if
you know what subdosha you want to balance and which aroma pacifies it.
Sometime in February, Betsy Allen picked up a bad chest cold that kept
her in bed for a week and refused to go away. Even after she was up and
around, a dry, hacking cough continued to plague her. It lingered a month,
then two, and when it reached the third month without resolving itself, she
came for Ayurvedic evaluation.
She was diagnos ed as a Vata-Pit ta type with a localized Vata imbalance in
the lining of her lungs. This can be treated in several ways. Her physician
chose aromathe rapy, prescribing a specific Vata oil she was to inhale at
night. Betsy went home, not knowing what to expect.
“I didn’ t wait until bedtime,” she recalls, “because my curiosi ty got the
better of me. I just boiled up a teacup of water, put in a few drops of this
sweet-smelling oil, and leaned over to sniff. The reaction in my body was
very dramatic and totally unexpected. It was as if every cell, starting at the
top of my head down to my toes, suddenly sprang to life. I just stood there
taking in deep breaths one after another—I couldn’ t get enough of that
smell!
“That night I used the aroma in the proper way, lying down in bed, and the
same exhilarating energy came back again. My mind said this was an
outrageous result to be getting from a smell, but my body was convinced.”
Very soon Betsy  stopped coughing and fell asleep more easily than she had
in months.
Without accurate diagnosis, aromatherapy is very general: it may possibly
placate a symptom or merely seem pleasantly relaxing. We have been
surprised at times when migraine headache, back pain, skin rash, and
insomnia that have resisted other treatments, often for long periods of time,
have responded to aromas. This testifies to the truth of the Ayurvedic
principle that anything can be used as medicine if you know the patient well
enough.HOW  TO LEARN AROMA THERAPY
This technique requires no instruction other than what aroma oil to use.
For those who cannot come in for medical evaluation, it is only possible to
follow your dominant dosha—generally the one you are trying to pacify. You
can order Vata, Pitta, or Kapha oils from the Internet source given on page
378; aroma pots and dif fusers are also available.
MUSIC THERAPY—MELODIES TO BALANCE NA TURE
Even as a child you probably experienced the influence that music can
have on your body and mind. The lullaby your mother sang to you at
bedtime helped you fall asleep. Songs at summer camp connec ted you with
traditions going back generatio ns. Singing in the Christmas choir inspired
you.
Ayurveda recog nizes that music can be used therapeutically to balance
body and mind.  Patients in our Center spend time every day listening to
melodies that balance their doshas. Music therapy can provide a
sophisticated method for changing physiology. Music is more than
“soothing” or “rousing.” Why do we listen to it in the first place? For
pleasure, of course, but all pleasures change the body in some way.
Ordinarily we do not measure our blood pressure to see how Bach or Mozart
might be affecting it, but if you wanted to lower your blood pressure,
listening to soft, slow classical music is considered very good medicine.
MUSIC AS MEDICINE
The fact that music can be a therapy came home to me in New Delhi at a
conference for doctors on the clinical uses of music. At one point, a woman
Ayurvedic physician stood up and announced that rather than talking about
it, she would demonstrate what music therapy was all about.
She asked us to listen for a few minutes while she sang some Vedic
melodies that specifically balan ce Vata. We closed our eyes as her voicesounded with a pulsating, exotic refrain that was very beguiling. The singing
doctor then asked us to take the pulse of the person sitting next to us. When
we did, every person reported a marked decrease in pulse rate from the norm
of seventy to eighty beats a minute. Then she sang a quicker melody based
on a different raga, or sequence of tones. Again we listene d for a few
minutes and took the pulse of the person next to us. Uniformly, the pulse rate
had jumped above the norm. In effect, our bodies were being manipulated by
sound in the direction our doctor wanted. This basic technique, with dozens
of variations keyed to different  parts of the body, constitutes  the medical
knowledge of music therapy. What lies behind it is the concept of balanced
sound, vibrations that settle the doshas.
As with tastes, colors, and smell s, a dosha is balanced by certain tones and
disturbed by others. Playing fast or slow, tuning the instruments sharp or flat,
and devising intricate rhythmic patterns are all techniques for changing the
listener ’s respon se. Vedic musical


	to	start	befriending	it.	Pick	up	some
organic,	powdered	turmeric	and	add	a	bit	to	your	evening	tea,	hot	soups,	veggie
dishes,
or	blended	into	salad	dressings	(see	the
Creamy	Masala	Vegetable	Stew
recipe	on
this	page
).
Break	Before	Meals
Take	time	before	lunch	and	dinner	and	pause	to	ask	yourself	what	your	body
truly	needs	at	that	meal.	At	first	it	might	be	hard	to	listen	to	yourself.	You	may
feel	like	you	should	just	go	for	what	you’ve	normally	eaten	in	the	past,	but	as
you	stay	receptive	and	practice	asking	and	listening	to	your	body,	you	will	be
able	to	“hear”	more	intuitively	from	your	body	what	you	need,	and	you	will	feel
more	satisfied	after	eating.
Eat	More	Slowly
Take	time	just	to	eat.	Don’t	eat	while	reading	or	writing	e-mails	or	during	a
conference	call.	Treat	eating	as	sacred	for	better	beauty	digestion.	Even	if	it’s
just	a	few	minutes,	take	the	time	for	yourself.
Practice
Gratitude
Take	a	moment	for	gratitude	before	each	meal	and	even	snack.	Creating	that
feeling	of	gratitude	puts	your	body	and	mind	in	a	calmer,	happier	state,	which
paves	the	path	for	optimal	digestion.
Sip	Hot
Herbal	Tea	in	the	Evenings
This	is	soothing,	good	for	digestion,	and	signals	to	your	mind	that	it’s	time	to
start	preparing	for	sleep	and	rejuvenation.	Tulsi	(also	known	as	holy	basil)	tea	is
a	particularly	excellent	choice.	It’s	an	important	herb	in
Ayurveda,	which	has
been	used	in
India	for	over	5,000	years,	and	is	said	to	help	reduce	stress	and
anxiety.	It’s	also	an	adaptogen,	helping	to	balance	the	body	and	protect	it	from
the	effects	of	different	kinds	of	stressors.Try	a	Daily
Fast:	Alkalizing	Foods	Until	Lunch
Some	research	on	intermittent	fasting,	which	means	going	for	prolonged
periods	of	time	without
eating,	shows	that	it	may	help	extend	life	span	and
ameliorate	aging-related	diseases
1
	by	allowing	more	time	for	your	body	to	repair
and	rejuvenate	itself.	This	backs	up	the	plan	proposed	in
The
Beauty	Detox
Solution
,	which	encourages	consuming	the
Glowing	Green	Smoothie	(
this	page
)
and	hot	water	with	lemon	in	the	mornings.	This	is	essentially	a	type	of	“fast,”
consisting	of	only	alkalizing	foods	that	are	very	easy	to	digest,	until	noon.	By
restricting	heavier	foods	for	a	few	hours	in	the	morning	you’re	adding	to	the
hours	since	dinner	the	night	before,	giving	your	body	longer	periods	of
digestive	rest.	This	is	easier	on	your	body	than	some	types	of	traditional
intermittent	fasting	that	prescribe	alternating	normal	eating	days	with	whole
fasting	days	on	a	weekly	basis.
Although	some	schools	of	thought	favor	frequent	eating,	the	problem	with
that	approach	is	that	your	stomach	doesn’t	have	time	to	properly	empty	and
break	down	a	given	food	or	meal	before	you	give	it	something	else	to	digest.
This	can	contribute	to	digestive	overload.	Give	your	body	more	of	a	rest,	and
keep	your	mornings	full	of	alkalizing	smoothies,	juices,	fruit,	and	maybe	some
oatmeal,	without	the	digestive	burden	of	very	heavy	or
acidic	foods	right	at	the
start	of	your	day.
While	a	late	morning	or	late	afternoon	snack	might	be	warranted,	depending
on	your	constitution,	try	not	to	eat	constantly	all	day	long	(unless	you	have	a
specific	medical	condition	like	hypoglycemia).	Be	sure	to	eat	dinner	at	least	3
hours	(ideally)	before	bed.	You	want	to	be	sure	to	digest	your	food	thoroughly
before	hitting	the	sack.
Eat	in	Order
If	you	have	a	liquid	soup,	it’s	best	to	have	it	at	the	beginning	of	the	meal.	The
stomach	will	first	process	and	remove	liquids	before	it	can	really	work	to	break
down	the	solid	food	items.	Drinking	a	lot	of	liquids	with	solid	foods	is	not
good	for
digestion	and	can	cause
bloating,	as	liquids	can	dilute	digestive
enzymes	and	slow	digestion.	Come	into	meals	hydrated	and	sip	on	liquids	as
needed	while
eating.	Start	your	meals	with	fiber-filled,	enzyme-rich	raw	foods
such	as	salads	and	then	move	into	other	items.	Avoid	eating	fast-digesting	fruit
at	the	end	of	your	meals	or	for	dessert.	For	more	on	this,	check	out
The
Beauty
Detox	Solution
.Keep	Meals
Simple
Instead	of	having	a	lot	of	different	elements	on	your	plate,	try	using	fewer	types
of	foods	and	larger	portions	of	each.	It’s	easier	for	your	body	to	digest	simpler
meals,	and	more	efficient	digestion	promotes	your	beauty.
How	the	Temperature
of	Foods	and	Beverages
Affects	Your	Beauty
The	temperature	of	what	you	eat	and	drink,	not	just
what
	you	eat	and	drink,	has
an	impact	on	your	beauty.	Let’s	talk	about	beverages	first.	In	Western	culture,
ice	has	become	ubiquitous.	Go	to	a	restaurant	and	tap	water	loaded	with	ice	will
automatically	be	plunked	down	in	front	of	you.	We’ve	become	so	used	to
drinking	only	extremely	cold	beverages	that	most	of	us	keep	or	purchase
bottled	water	and	other	beverages	in	icy	cold	refrigerators.	Some	people	even
add	ice	to	white	wine!
Historically,	ice	was	never	as	readily	available	as	it	is	today.	This	hyper
infusion	of	very	cold	temperatures	into	our	beverages—and	bodies—is	a	modern
phenomenon.	If	you	stick	your	feet	in	cold	ocean	water	or	your	hand	into	the
freezer,	it	doesn’t	take	long	to	feel	a	numbing	effect.	Think	about	that
happening	inside	your	body.	The	excessive	cold	can	contract	your	stomach,
impairing	it	from	properly	secreting	proper	enzymes	and	inducing	a
contracting	or	almost	“shrinking”	effect	throughout	your	digestive	system.
The	ancient	medicinal	systems	of	both
Traditional	Chinese	Medicine	(TCM)
and
Ayurveda	both	heavily	frown	on	ice-cold	water	and	beverages.	TCM	holds
that	cold	beverages	have	a	negative	effect	on
metabolism	and	digestion	and	that
consumption	of	them	over	many	years	can	exert	a	negative	effect	on	the	health
of	other	organ	systems	as	well,	creating	an	environment	where	pain	and	chronic
diseases	can	develop.
According	to	the	TCM	belief	system,	drinking	cold	beverages	blocks
meridian
channels	(or	pathways	through	which	energy	flows),	slows	and	even
congests	blood	circulation,	and	diminishes	organ	functioning.
2
	From	a	beauty
standpoint,	this	ancient	Asian	medical	system	also	believes	that	chronic	cold-
water	drinking	can	lead	to	bloating,	weight	gain,	fatigue,	chronic	pain,	varicose
veins,	poor	digestion,	and	even	painful	PMS.
3
From	the
Ay


 Food in its preparation has long been made subservient to the sense of taste; taste engenders appetite; and appetite in turn
engenders excess. Attention is again called to the distinction to be made between appetite an d hunger. Most human beings never
know the sensation of true hunger, but feed their bodies at the habit -call of abnorma1 desire. And because of almost universal
violation of the natural law of nutrition through overeating, the latter vice, apparent though it be, and distressing in its effects as it
is, calls for correction as does no other in the long list of offenses against nature.

    From time to time many earnest seekers have advanced beliefs and theories tending to develop a panacea for disease, but  thus
far without success. It is conceivable that disease may be eradicated from the world, for nature deals but in cause and effec t, and
the tendency in all life is towards perfect bodily balance, without which health is not. One truth, however, may here be succinctly
stated: disease in all of its forms may be prevented, and in many instances, once developed, it may be cured. And the first a nd
paramount law of its prevention is discovered in the rule that governs the quantity as well as the quality of the food supply of the
human body.

Page 49 of  72     In the life of man tradition, inheritance, and education combine to foster and preserve doctrines that are misleading. And in  no
manner is this so well illustrated as in the application of orthodox methods for the relie f of bodily ills. To accept human testimony,
even conscientious human testimony, as easily as men usually do is to be gullible. And this is true of the testimony of scien ce as
well as of that of the general observer. The worth of what we put into our minds  or into our stomachs is of consequence to us all,
and nothing can be more of a satire than the fact that, during an age when science and invention have done so much for the
material world, our bodies included, the processes of the human mind, the nature o f our ideas and beliefs, are so neglected that few
of us ever think of our own capability of giving testimony that is true; and still fewer of us pay any attention to the daily  intake of
the testimony of others, which is sometimes consciously false, but wh ich many times is more or less unconsciously inaccurate.

    One reason for this lowering of mental guard is that most men possess gregarious intellects. If what is advanced seems to con cur
with whatever the mass mind believes, the common way is to accep t it. No effort is required. Or, perhaps, there is the desire to
believe --that dangerous and almost universal quality of the intellect. Because of this, one often accepts a fallacy and rejects a trut h.
Because of this, one reaches out for fads --mental, med ical, mysterious --which give hope that the blame for weaknesses may be
passed to some agency other than our own. And because of the gregarious mind and of the desire to believe, the power of mere
assertion acquires its potency.

    By what has been said, it must not be imagined that the incontestible learning and probity of able and reputable investigator s is
at all questioned. But we are privileged to doubt, and, if investigation warrants, to deny the doctrines which are general ly regarded
as authoritative, even though these doctrines are advanced by eminent scientists.

    In the popular mind disease inculcates fear, and, when certain symptoms are in evidence, it is fled from in terror. This atti tude is
to be supposed so long as present general conceptions and teachings prevail, but the day is at hand when human ailments will be
regarded in their true light as the means by which nature works to restore health, as the only rational processes of cure. To
emphasize --disease is not  a foe to life, but is the plan of nature instituted to restore a system in unbalance to equilibrium or health.
That the general conception of disease and its treatment through attack upon symptoms, are wrong, and that health lies within
reach of all ailin g bodies that are not suffering from structural organic defect, are truths which, it is hoped, the text will fully
demonstrate.

    Despite prevalent belief, disease never strikes suddenly, but is the consequence of long -continued violation of natural la w. It is
the result of a gradual clogging of the avenues through which vitality functions, a long -drawn process of stifling the forces of life.
"Every disease," says Dr. Edward Hooker Dewey, "is an inherited possibility, which every violation of the laws o f life tends to
develop. It is never simply an attack on a well person, but is rather a summing -up of the more or less life -long violations of health
laws." Because of these transgressions, loss of digestive power occurs; lowered vitality succeeds; and dis ease symptoms become
apparent along lines of least physical resistance.

    Symptoms of disease, the tangible evidences of its presence, vary with temperament, hereditary tendencies, surroundings, and
the organic state, congenital or otherwise, of the in dividual. No two human beings ever express in disease identical morbid signs,
even under like environment; and the reason underlying the development of symptoms differing in character in persons
presumably of like constitution and with the same environment  is to be sought most probably in the domain of the phenomena of
heredity.

    Exercising the privilege of the investigator, the author not only questions the doctrine embodied in what is known as the "ge rm
theory" of the causation of disease, but she de nies its validity. And, using in her turn the power of assertion, she condemns the
remedies advanced by therapists for the cure of so -called microbically caused illnesses as being radically erroneous, leading not to
health and long life, but to further dis ease and ultimate death.

    The germ, we know, is omnipresent; it is the scavenger of animate existence; and life could not exist in its absence. In heal th,
when physical balance is the rule, various kinds of micro -organisms live and propagate within th e human body, but only to the
degree necessary for the consumption of noxious products of systemic refuse, which otherwise would cause toxication. To this
extent the germ is an ally of the eliminative organs, working to render harmless body waste during th e time it is retained within the
organism. Given for attention waste in excess of normal, germ life increases, the products of germ life add to the putrefying  mass,
and the task of consumption proving too great for even myriad bacilli to accomplish, physic al balance is disturbed, and disease
appears.

    Infection is one of the methods of nature for relieving the living organism of any non -usable organic matter that may find its
way into the blood, and the category of what is non -usable includes all coagu lable material from serum albumen to what are
known as the white corpuscles. There is doubt that virtually amounts to certainty in the mind of the author concerning the ac cepted
theory of the life and office of the much vaunted leucocyte or white corpuscle  of the blood. This body, which by scientists is given
the high position of being the primordial animal cell, is in reality here placed upon the defensive, and its proponents must give
proof that it is either what they claim, a vigilant policeman, a phagoc yte or germ -destroyer, a tissue -builder; or that it is a
surpassingly harmful foreign body that paves the way for all disease.
Page 50 of  72     What we know about this inhabitant of the blood current is that in good health, when by microscopic examination we discover
one thousand or thereabouts of red corpuscles in the blood, relatively we find only one or at most several white corpuscles; and,
when disease appears, at first these leucocytes are unusually numerous, increasing in number with the gravity of the symptoms. If
the case progresses to the point of death or its immanency, the increase of white corpuscles becomes so great as to form a co mplete
reversal of the proportion between the red and the white which is the rule in health. And the fact is that the greater t he number of
these so -called phagocytes or germ -destroyers that a sick man carries in his circulation, the less probable is his chance of recovery.

    If white blood corpuscles were both phagocytes and tissue builders, why do they not succeed more often  in their offices, and
why should they be more numerous in disease than in health, Scientists claim motion and even independent life for this whitis h
body in the blood; may we not suppose that its motility is due to the forces of death --to the processes of  chemical disintegration?

    If it be true that current teaching is open to doubt, and if, as we think it is, the criticism of the leukocyte presented is well
founded, what must be the conclusion reached when we analyze the results of the past seventy -five years of study of the white
blood corpuscle, It cannot be other than that nature, the greatest of all magicians, has been deceiving the elect of the scie ntific
world by performing in their presence the feat of causing a particle of decaying organic mat ter to simulate life with marvelous
accuracy. And


 became time for the evening meditation
session where Baba walked around tapping people. I
found m yself b eing pulled back into that very quiet place
within m y heart. While I was meditating, I felt Baba walk
up b ehind me. The power emanating from him was very
strong. Even though my eyes were closed and I was
facing forward, I could feel the energy of his hand
reaching out toward my head. The moment the palm of
his hand reached above the c rown of my head, what felt
like ten thousand volts of electricity jumped from the
base of my spine to meet his hand. It happened as fast as
a bolt of lightning. In an ins tant, I was no longer in my
body. Me, the one who lives in here, the one who looks
out thr ough the eyes and hears through the ears, the
center of conscious awareness that notices the thoughts
and emotions—I was no longer sitting inside doing those
things. I was in  a state of absolute panic trying to hold on
with all  my might to my connection with the body. The
upward rush of that much energy had dislodged me from
where I normally sat within myself. I was experiencing
tornado force winds trying to blow me out of my body,
and I was struggling to hold on for dear life.
No matter how hard I tried, I could not pull myself
back into the body. It was one of those survival moments
when pure fear opens you up  to superhuman strength. Itdidn’t m atter—I could not even begin to pull against that
force. I have n o idea how long the experience lasted, but
when Baba felt I’d had enough, he simply rubbed his
hand across my back. The moment his hand physically
touched my midback—everything stopped. I immediately
fell back into my body an d began to get somewhat
oriented. The first thing I noticed was my heart—it
wasn’t beating; it was fluttering like the wings of a
hummingbird. My first thought was, This is not good.
Hearts don’t last very long like this.  T he moment that
thought formed in my mind, Baba reached in front of me
and rub bed his hand over my heart. Instantly, my heart
began beating normally.
I w as stunned by the experience and the power of this
man. W ho was he? How could he possibly have such
control over my energy and my metabolic functions? I
felt so humbled  to be in his p resence. I have never felt so
completely unburdened in my life. What had I been
doing—fasting, meditating, and struggling with myself
for so many ye ars? With a single touch, this man could
bring a bout such transformation. At that moment I
understood wh at was meant by a Siddha  master. Baba
did not  belong in this world; he was from somewhere
else altogether.2 3.
G a i n e s v i l l e  H o s t s  a  G u r u
W e were invited to accompany Baba’s group back to
where they were staying in A tlanta. As I drove from the
retreat, I contemplated what had happened the previous
day. On e of Baba’s people told me that the experience
was called shaktipat,  a spec ial ble ssing by a Siddha
master in which a very powerful spiritual energy is
awakened within. When we arrived at the mansion in
Atlanta where Baba was staying, his staff just assumed
that I would now see Baba as  my teacher. They told me it
was com mon that one would be drawn to a living master.
What did I know? All this was way out of my league.
I w ent outside to be alone.  There was no question
about what had happened the previous day or about the
flow of  events that had brought it all together. I
remembered my commitment to surrender to life’s flow,
even if I didn’t understand what was happening. I walked
down t he hill to the garage area where there were no
people. I was very confused, but I prepared to thank
Yogananda for his guidance. I closed my eyes to go into
the quiet place within where I always felt a connection to
him. I inwardl y looked upward as if to say thank you,
and suddenly the whole space  above me opened up into a
limitless expan se. It felt as if a veil had been lifted from
between my consciousness a nd that which was beyond
me. I immediately felt onene ss with all that I had been
looking for. It was the most powerful and revealing
experience I ever had. It only lasted a few moments, but I
came back with an echo in my being saying, Just exactly
who do you think you are saying good-bye to?  I felt
Yogananda’s p resence all around me and permeating mefrom within. From that moment forward, I never
questioned my connection to him.
When I rejoined Donna and  my friends at the main
house, they were making preparations to return home.
As we headed back to Gaine sville, we were all inspired
about hosting Baba in just a  few days. When he finally
arrived, I couldn’t believe how much attention he drew.
Every p lace we went it was standing room only. And
though Baba was not a young man when he came
through Gainesville, every day and night he would give
lectures wherever people would invite him. I was doing
my prison work at the time, and his staff told me that
Baba would definitely want to  go to the prison. We got it
set u p, and one  afternoon we accompanied Baba into the
maximum-security facility. The inmates loved him, and
when Baba left, he instructed his staff to continue
visiting prisons. To this day, they trace all their
worldwide prison work back to Baba’s visit to Union
Correctional Institution outside of Gainesville.
The weekend retreat ended up being the largest retreat
up to that poin t on Baba’s w orld tour. I drove down to
the cam p a few days early to see if Baba’s staff needed
anything. While I was there I noticed a dormitory
building that had a VIP sign on the front door.
Apparently, the se were private rooms assigned to special
guests. One of the names po sted on a door caught my
attention: R. Friedland. Shelly’s maiden name was
Friedland, and her brother’s name was Ronnie. My mind
said, No way,  and I just kept walking.
I was stunned to see Ronnie a t the retreat. We had not
seen each other for years. It didn’t matter—we were like
brothers. How could we possibly have gone our separate
ways and ended up at the same place? We were so
different. I was living the sim ple life in Gainesville, and
he was a big-tim e attorney in Chicago. I prided myself on
having no belongings, and he had a Ferrari, a Harley-
Davidson motorcycle, and a private plane. Ronnie livedin a top-floor  penthouse at Chicago’s famous Twin
Towers Marina, and he decorated the circular walls of his
living ro om with pictures of Napoleon. What in the world
was he doing here at this spiritual retreat hanging out
with a holy man from India?
Shelly had introduced Ronnie to Baba, and apparently
it w as lo ve at first sight. I spent a lot of time with Ronnie
at th e retreat, a nd he even invited me to accompany him
when he took Baba and a few of his staff to Disney
World. It was obvious that Ronnie had something very
special going with Baba. I f ound out just how special
when a few mo nths later I received my first mailing from
the new organization Baba formed in America. It was
signed by the foundation’s first president, Ron Friedland.
My thou ghts d rifted back to that first awakening I’d had
while si tting on  that couch w ith Ronnie years earlier. My
life had completely changed—apparently so had his.2 4.
T h e  T e m p l e  I s  B u i l t
I  w ish I could say that things went back to normal after
Baba left, but they didn’t. In fact, it wasn’t until after he
left that I began to see the r eal effect that meeting him
had on my life. Baba was like  a wind that blew into town
and permanently changed the direction of my life from
one of solitude to one of service. And that was a good
thing because Gainesville’s spiritual community had
been invigorated. Forty to fifty people were coming out
to m y place for Sunday servi ces, half of whom had to sit
outside on my decks. Plus, more and more people were
sitting i n on my classes at Santa Fe, especially once my
second book, Three Essays on Universal Law,  was
published. My answering ma chine was getting calls from
all o ver the state praising th e retreat and asking when
the nex t one would be. This was a timely question since
at the retreat I was approached by a university professor
who wa nted us to host a retreat for his teacher, Ma
Yogashakti, a lady saint from India known as Mataji.
The nu mber of tasks life w as giving me was out


ion
SymptomsBelching:bitter;sour.Belly/stomach
bloated.Flatulence:windafterbreakfast.
Betterafterpassingastool.
Worseaftereatingstarchyfood.
Thepersoncannotdigeststarchyfood,suchaspota-
toes,andthetonguemaylookgreenishbrownordirty
NBSEEALSOPAGES203-26FORGENERALADVICE,DOSANDDON'TS.
122•Nitricumacidum(Nit-ac.) INTERNALMATERIAMEDICA
green.Thiscolicorrumblinginthestomachisbetter
forpassingastool.
Nitricumacidum(Nit-ac.)
Othernames:aquafortis;nitricacid
Nitricacidisanimportantmineralacid.Itisoneofthe
earliestnitrogencompoundstobepreparedandused;
inthethirteenthcenturyitwasknownasaquafortisor
eauforte,anditwasusedasatonic.
Purenitricacidisacolourless,extremelycorrosive
liquidwhichfumesstronglyoncontactwithmoistair.
(Freenitricacidisfoundinmoistairinthedischargeof
atmospheric electricity,orlightning.)Thefumescan
causenitrousgaspoisoning,andspillageoftheacid
causessevereburnsandstainstheskinvellow.
Poisoningsproducegastro-enteritis withburning
painsintheoesophagusandabdomen,bloodv
diarrhoea,collapseanddeath.
Commercially, itisusedprimarilyinthemanufac-
tureofammoniumnitrateforfertilisersandexplos-
ives,although itisalsousedindyesanddrugs,
plastics,lacquersandsyntheticfibres.Medicinally,
itspowerfullycorrosiveactionisusedtoremove
warts,althoughmuchcareneedstobetakeninits
application.
Thehomeopathicpreparation ismadefrom"nitric
acidpreparedbymixingpure,pulverisednitrewithan
equalamountofphosphoricacid;thisisthendistilled
andsuccussed.
GENERALSYMPTOMS
Anaemia.BreathsmellyDischargeslikeammonia.
Likesfatfattvfoods.Pains:inbones;flyingaround;
needle-like;splinter-like;appearanddisappear
suddenly.Sweat:onsinglepartsofthebody;smelly;
sour;fromslightestphysicalexertion.Tongue
cracked.
Betterforlyingdown.
Worseforcold;forfreshair;atnight;onwaking;for
lossofsleep;fortouch;forjarringmovement;for
walking.
NitricumacidumisverysimilartoHeparsulpllwith
offensivenessonbothphysicalandemotionallevels.
Theirurinesmellsstrongly(itisoftencomparedtothat
ofhorses)andtheirsweatisalsofoulsmelling.They
willoftenhavesmellybreathandacrackedtongue.
Theylovefatty,friedfoodsandwilleatthefaton
meat.
Nitricumtypesareweakandchillyandworseforcoldandatnight.Thisisoneofthe'coldest'remedies
intheMateriaMedica.
Theirpainscomeandgoandaredeepinthebones.
Thesepeopleareverysensitivetobeingtouchedor
jarred,whichaggravatestheirsplinter-likepains.
Theyalwaysfeelgenerallybetterforlyingdown.
Theysufferfromnervousexhaustioncausedby
insufficientsleeporfromhavingbrokennights.
EMOTIONAL/MENTALSYMPTOMS
Violentlyangry.Anxious.Depressed.Fearfulof
death.Irritable.Sensitivetonoise;topain.Sluggish.
Tantrums.Unforgiving.
Thesepeoplefeelanxiousanddepressed,especiallyin
theevenings.Theyhavealotofanxietyabouttheir
healthandmaywellconsultdoctorafterdoctorin
ordertofindoutwhatiswrong,notbelievingthe
diagnoses,particularly iftheyaretoldtheyarenot
seriously ill.
Theyoftenbecomesickinthefirstinstancebecause
theyhaveaveryunforgivingstreakandfeelanenor-
mousamountofangertowardsthosewhohave
offendedthem.Theymayusetheword'hate'when
describingtheobjectoftheirderision.Theirangercan
explodeandcausethemtoswearandtremble.They
are(inthisunforgivingstate)notmovedbyapologies
andcarrythishatredaroundwiththem.Thiseats
awayatthemlikeanacid,andtheythenbecome
sensitive.
Theymaythrowthemselvesintotheirworkand
thenbecomewornoutmentallyandswingtothe
oppositeextremeofnotwantingtoworkatall.Inthis
statetheybecomeover-sensitive tonoise,especially
shrillnoises,whichwillmakethemjump.
PHYSICALCOMPLAINTS
Commoncold
SymptomsNasalcatarrh:bloody;burning;dirty
yellow;thin;wateryinthefreshair.
Worseforfreshair;atnight.
Thenoseisblockedandfeelssoreandbruisedand
sensitivetotouch.Theremaybeulcersinthenostrils.
Earache
SymptomsCracklinginearswhenchewing.Pains
splinter-like;throbbing.Withsymptomsofsore
throat(seebelow).
Worseonrightside,forswallowing.
Thepainsareusuallysplinter-likeandthehearing
becomesacute-moresensitivethannormal.
INTERNALMATERIAMEDICA Nuxvomica(Nux-v.) •123
Exhaustion
SymptomsNervous.
Worseafterpassingastool;forwalking.
Causesdiarrhoea;lossofsleep;nursingthesick.
Thisweaknessresultsfromlossofsleepandaccom-
paniesorfollowsanattackofdiarrhoea. Itisworse
afterpassingastoolorfortakingawalk.
Eyeinflammation
SymptomsIn
swollen.
Itisimportanttotakegeneralsymptoms-suchas
chillinessandsmellyurine-intoaccount,aswellas
thesore,waterveves.Piles
SymptomsPains:burning;splinter-like. Piles:
bleeding;large.
Worseafterastool.
Thepainsmaylastforonetotwohours,evenaftera
softstool.
Sorethroat
FlatulenceSymptomsPains:burning;pressing;raw;splinter-
infants.Eyeswatering.Eyelids like;stitching;spreadingtoear.Tonsils:swollen;
ulcerated.
Worseforswallowing.
Thepainsaresevere-itfeelsasifsomethingsharp
werestuckinthethroat-andthevextendtotheearon
swallowing.Swallowing isextremelydifficult;even
tinyamountsoffoodseemtolodgeinthethroat.
SymptomsWind:smellv;obstructed(difficulttoex-
pel).
Headache
SymptomsHeadfeelsconstricted.Pains:spreading
toeyes;inbones;recurringatregularintervals;
pressing.
Worseforjarringmovement;formovement;atnight;
fornoise;forpressure;onwaking;forwalking.
Thisisasevereheadachethatisworseatnight.The
bonesofthefacearesore,andtheslightestpressure,
eventhatofahat,makesitworse(theheadfeels
constricted,asifitwerebandageduptightly)The
pressingpainsintheheadextendtotheeyeswhich
alsofeelsore.Theymaycomeandgosuddenly(see
GeneralSymptoms); iftheydo,thismayfollowa
pattern,forexampletheheadachemayreturnevery
eveningornight.
Insomnia
SymptomsDreamsanxious.Sleepunrefreshing.
Worseafter2a.m.
Thepersonwakesaround2a.m.andisunabletoget
backtosleep.
Jointpain
SymptomsPains:inbones;inlegs;splinter-like;
stitching;tearing.
Worseatnight.
Mouthulcers
SymptomsUlcers:onedgesoftongue;painful.
Thesearepainfululcersorpimplesontheedgeofthe
tongue.Thereisanincreaseofsalivainthemouth,
andthegumsmayalsobleedeasily.Thebreathisvery
smelly.Thrush(genital)
SymptomsDischarge:burning;smelly;itching;thin.
NUXVOMICA(Nux-v.)
Familyname:Loganiaceae
Commonnames:poisonnut;Quakerbuttons;semen
strvchnos
124•Nuxvomica(Nux-v.) INTERNALMATERIAMEDICA
Nuxvomicaseedsareproducedbyalargeevergreen
treenativetocertainpartsofIndia,Burma,Thailand,
ChinaandNorthernAustralia. Itproducessmall,un-
pleasant-smelling flowers,andbeautifulorange-
colouredfruitthesizeoflargeapples,whichcontaina
softwhitejelly-likepulpandfiveseedscoveredinsoft
hairs;theseseedshavenosmellbuttasteextremely
bitterowingtothestrychninecontainedinthem


 and function of enzymes. The body accumulates mercury
in the kidneys, nerves, blood, liver, bone marrow, spleen, brain,
heart, skin and muscles. The developing infant is very susceptible to
mercury toxicity during pregnancy. While pregnant and/or breast-
feeding, eat in moderation any fish that tends to be high in mercury.
Deficiency
: Mercury settles in liver, spleen, kidneys, intestinal wall,
heart, skeletal muscles, lungs and bones. Immediate gastrointestinal
disturbances, loss of appetite and weight, inflammation of gums,
difficulty chewing and swallowing, metallic taste in mouth, thirst,
nausea, vomiting, pain in the abdomen, bloody diarrhea.
Toxicity
: Excess mercury suppresses selenium, causes severe emotional
disturbances, cell destruction, blocked transport of sugars (energy at
cellular level), increased permeability of potassium, loss of appetite,
depression, tremors, decreases senses, peripheral numbness, poor
memory and especially neuro-muscular conductors. Has been linked
to MS and Parkinson’s. Has been associated with heart attacks (Mis).Molybdenum (Mo)
Food sources
: Brown rice, millet, dark green leafy vegetables, peas,
legumes, beans, whole grains.
Toxic sources
: Tap water
Uses in the body
: Regulates calcium, magnesium, copper metabolism.
Conversion of purines to uric acid. It’s a component of the enzyme
xanthine oxidase that aids in the formation of uric acid (a normal
breakdown product of metabolism). It is important in the
mobilization of iron from storage, and is necessary for normal
growth and development.
Deficiency
: Copper deficiency. Increased heart rate, mouth and gum
disorders, anemia, loss of appetite, weight loss, impotence in older
males, increased respiratory rate, night blindness, stunted growth.
Toxicity
: Generally considered non-toxic. However, prolonged intake of
more than 10 mg. is associated with gout-like symptoms, such as
pain and swelling of the joints.
Nickel (Ni)
Food sources
: Found in trace amounts in all foods.
Toxic sources
: Is used in industry as a catalyst in the hydrogenation of
oils and fats (hardened fats). Commonly found in all brands of
margarine, as well as oils and fats labeled “hydrogenated,” meaning
hardened vegetable oil (also in breads, chips, cookies, candies, etc.).
Found in steel and other metal manufacturing industries, cigarettes,
and in dyes and hair treatments.
Note
: Poppy Seeds remove nickel deposits!
Foods that help to detoxify nickel
: The best dietary sources that assist
the body to remove excess or toxic amounts of nickel and other
metals are fruits and green leafy vegetables.
Uses in the body
: No established role for nickel has been identified,
although the mineral is found in association with the genetic code
within each cell and might help activate certain enzymes. Some say
pancreas and insulin. It is probably involved in the activity of
hormones, cell membranes and enzymes. Low blood levels of Ni are
observed in people with vitamin B6 deficiency, cirrhosis of the liver,and kidney failure. The significance of these blood levels is not
known. In contrast, elevated blood levels of nickel are associated
with the development of cancer, heart attack, thyroid disorders,
psoriasis and eczema.
Deficiency
: Nickel settles in sinus, joints, and spinal column. Can be a
nephro-toxin, effecting the urinary tract, especially the kidneys. It is
found to bind with blood fungus causing tumors. Can paralyze the
spinal column and bring on epilepsy. Can cause dermatitis and other
skin conditions, allergic reactions and chronic rhinitis. Inflammation
of lungs and liver, leading to necrosis and carcinoma.
Toxicity
: Leads to paralysis, overflow of blood to brain, and epilepsy. In
excess, can be a carcinogenic. Can rob the body of oxygen. Every
tumor needs nickel to hold it together!
Selenium (Se)
Acid/Alkaline
: Acid-forming
Food sources
: Kelp/dulse, garlic, mushrooms, organic vegetables,
grains, broccoli, onions, brazil nuts. Most foods.
Toxic sources
: Soil. Also, the refining of flour removes much of the
selenium that is concentrated in the germ and bran. It is important to
eat whole-grain products, since the selenium is not added back into
“enriched” flour.
Uses in the body
: The most important known function of selenium is as
a component of the antioxidant enzyme glutathione peroxidase.
Selenium is a co-factor in an enzyme that protects body tissues
(especially cell membranes) from oxidation by unstable free radicals.
Selenium also works closely with the antioxidant vitamin E. Protects
all membranes, reduces risk of cancer, enhances immune system,
antioxidant. Lowers requirement for B12.
Deficiency
: Muscle weakness, linked to cancer and heart disease, fatigue,
dandruff, loose skin, growth retardation, elevated cholesterol levels,
susceptibility to infection, sterility, and liver damage. Down’s
Syndrome, fibrocystic breast disease, Cystic Fibrosis, Muscular
Dystrophy.
Toxicity
: May include “garlic” breath, loss of hair, fingernails and
toenails, irritability, liver and kidney impairment, metallic taste inmouth, dermatitis and jaundice. Large overdoses can cause death.
Silica or Silicon (Si)
Acid/Alkaline
: Alkaline-forming
Food sources
: Alfalfa, kelp, dark green
leafy vegetables, horsetail, nettle, flaxseed, many fruits including
apples, grapes, etc. Nuts, seeds, onions, berries (including
strawberries), lettuce, figs, dandelion, cucumbers, cooked, dried
beans and peas, sunflower seeds, tomatoes.
Uses in the body
: Blood, muscles, skin, nerves, nails, hair, connective
tissue, pancreas, tooth enamel, and thymus (has an antiseptic action).
Silicon levels are high in people with atherosclerosis, but we’re not
sure whether or not the mineral is related to the development or
progression of cardiovascular disease. The daily diet contains ample
amounts of silicon and the mineral is well absorbed.
Deficiency
: Silicon’s primary function is in the development and
maintenance of bone. A silicon deficiency causes weak and
malformed bones of the arms, legs and head. Si is also important in
the formation of connective tissue (the protein webwork in bone in
which calcium is embedded). Reduces resistance to infectious
diseases. Rapid aging, tendonitis, bone decalcification,
cardiovascular disease, abnormal skeletal formation, artherosclerosis.
Tin (Sn)
Food sources
: Water, air and soil.
Toxic sources
: Leakage of the metal cans into canned foods.
Uses in the body
: Supports hair growth and can enhance reflexes.
Deficiency
: Tin absorption is poor and it’s not clear how much of the
daily intake of 1.5 to 3.5 mg. actually crosses the intestinal lining and
enters the blood. Deficiency can cause symmetrical baldness,
reduced response to noise.
Toxicity
: High intakes of tin might destroy red blood cells.
Vanadium (V)
Food sources
: Vanadium in foods is found in an organic form.
Toxic sources
: Used in alloy steels, making rubber, plastics, ceramicsand other chemicals. Can also be found in air, food and water
supplies.
Uses in the body
: Required for glucose tolerance factor. Vanadium
forms compounds with other biological substances. The average
human body contains 20 mg. of vanadium, which probably is
involved in cholesterol metabolism and hormone production.
Preliminary reports show that vanadium might protect against the
development of breast cancer and might slow down the growth of
tumors.
Deficiency
: Hypoglycemia, diabetes, increased dental cavities, elevated
triglycerides, elevated cholesterol, chest pain, coughing, wheezing,
runny nose and sore throat. In animal studies, a deficiency caused
growth retardation, bone deformities and infertility.
Toxicity
: Extremely harmful to lungs, throat and eyes in high levels.
Leads ultimately to death.
Zinc (Zn)
Acid/Alkaline
: Acid-forming
Food sources
: Pumpkin seeds, seaweed (c.a. kelp and dulse, etc.), nuts,
green leafy vegetables, mushrooms, onions, wheat germ.
Uses in the body
: Enhances immune system and thymus. Protects
against birth defects. Involved in many enzyme systems and in the
synthesis of nucleic acid (DNA and RNA), so it is directly related to
growth and repair of the body. Brain, genital organs, thyroid, liver
and kidneys. Effects transfer of carbon dioxide from tissue to lungs.
Constituent of digestive enzyme for hydrolysis of proteins. Aids in
healing wounds.
Deficiency
: Lack of intestinal absorption. Restrictive growth. Loss of
appetite, poor skin color and appearance, white spots on fingernails,
slow wound healing, infertility, diabetes, loss of taste, poor night
vision, birth defects, stretch marks, behavioral disturbances, failure
of the testes or ovaries to develop, and dwarfism. Chronic diarrhea,
cir


  you  accept  your  Freedom  and  your  Ascension ? Oh
Beloved,  Precious  Ones,  don't  let the human  intellect  of
yourselves  or anyone  else  assert  to you—that  the Ascension DISCOURSE  III 19
is but an imaginary  dream!  It is the most  Wonderful  Thing
in all the Universe!  It is the only  means,  by which  you  can
be Free  from  the wheel  of birth  and  rebirth!  Then,  in your
Great  Ascended  Purified  Body,  the Electronic  Energy  and
Force  of your  (the)  "Mighty  I AM  Presence"  render  a
Service  Infinite  in Its Activity.
We, who  have  Our  Freedom,  come  to plead  with  man-
kind,  to accept  the Freedom  which  is offered.  Out  of the
Glory  of the Great  Cosmic  Light,  We  call  Its Mighty  In-
telligence  to descend  into  the  Earth;  take  command  of
America,  the people  and  its government;  sweep  into  every
activity,  into  all official  places,  the Glory  of Its Mighty  Di-
recting  Intelligence;  so all may  feel  and  quickly  enter  into
That  Great  Loving  Harmony  of God—where  all is filled
with  only  the  Light  of God,  the  Great  Cosmic  Light!
Where  all are clothed  in Garments  of Light.
All who  will  accept,  may  live  within  the Glory  of their
"Beloved  Mighty  I AM  Presence,"  whose  Garment  of Light
not only  illumines  your  pathway,  but  becomes  your  Pro-
tecting  Radiance,  Invincible  in Its Activity.  Great  and
Mighty  Light!  release  Thy  Commanding  Presence  into  the
Earth,  so all mankind  may  quickly  enter  into  the  Con-
sciousness  of Thy  Great  Freedom  for all!
First  quicken  the Desire  in the Heart  which  is surging  in
the Hearts  of all mankind  today.  Then  quickly  release  the
Great  Knowledge  of This  "Mighty  I AM  Presence"!  In Its
Great  Current  of Energy,  which  quickens  the Light  within
their  Hearts  at Its Touch!  Flow,  Oh "Mighty  I AM  Pres-20 THE  "7 AM"  DISCOURSES
ence"  into  the Heart,  the mind  and  body  of all mankind
and assert  Thyself!  Take  Thy  Command!  Go  forth  in
Thy Mighty  Conquering  Presence  and  fill the Earth  with
Thy Mighty  Glory!  Such  is Our  Decree  for you,  Oh Be-
loved  Ones,  and  all mankind!
My Love  enfolds  you  always,  unto  your  Freedom  and
Ascension. DISCOURSE  III  44
March  2, iqyj
DALLAS,  TEXAS
Beloved  Children  of the Light,  it having  been  My  Joy
and Privilege  to minister  to you during  the past  three  days,
will you  be so kind,  as to accept  Those  Qualities  which  I
have  anchored  within  your  feeling  world  for constant  use?
One of Those  Qualities  is the ability  for Greater  Self-con-
trol and  Mastery  of your  human  feeling.  To do this,  will
mean  Freedom  to you!  Will  you  not accept  all, which  it has
been  My Humble  Privilege  to convey,  to anchor  there;  that
you may  go forth  on your  way  with  less  obstruction,  hu-
manly  speaking ?
Beginning  in San  Francisco,  the Great  Out-Pouring  of
the Cosmic  Light,  has made  it possible  for Certain  Things
to be done  for mankind,  which  it would  not  be wise  to
explain  yet;  but which  I am taking  advantage  of, to give  the
students  all possible  Assistance  in their  Victory  to their
Freedom!
There  is only  one way,  Beloved  Ones,  by which  you  can
gain the Mastery  of yourself,  your  world  and  all substance.
That  is by constantly  trying,  until  you  have  called  your
"Mighty  I AM  Presence"  into  action  with  Sufficient  Power,
to still your  human  thought;  and  compel  it to be obedient
to the Law  of your  Presence,  which  is Harmony.  Thus,  the
21 45 THE  "7 AM"  DISCOURSES
Presence  enables  your  Call  to be answered  with  a sufficient
VOLUME  OF ENERGY,  governed  by Its Intelligence,  to
produce  that  which  you  require.
All These  Laws  are very  practical  and  no one  need  be
deprived  of what  you  require  any  longer.  Oh,  that  you
may  realize,  you  are having  a Privilege  only  given  to a few
in the Retreats,  only  a short  hundred  years  ago.  A hundred
years  seems  like  a long  time  to you,  does  it not? But to Us
it is like  a day—a  day  of Great  Joy and  Achievement.  One
day, you  will  find  it the same.
The need  of mankind  today,  has made  it possible  for Us
to render  Such  a Service,  tonight!  Some  of you  will  only
hear  Me in the intellect!  Many  of you  will  hear  Me with  the
intellect  and  feel  It in your  feeling  world.  Those  who  can
feel the Truth  of My Humble  Endeavor  to assist  you,  will
find It quickly  active  in your  worlds;  and  may  My  As-
sistance  cause  many  things  to disappear  from  your  worlds
quickly,  for which  you  have  long  prayed  and  hoped.  Will
you not take  advantage  of This  Opportunity ?
I could  not and  would  not utter  idle  words  to you;  but
every  Word  I utter  to you  tonight,  shall  carry  with  It, the
Power  of Execution;  not  as your  execution  is of the outer
world,  but of the Power  of Use  and  Service.  Oh,  that  you
might  all understand  all It means  to you.
The Blessed  Students  who  have  heard  many  of These
Dictations,  are feeling  more  and  more  powerfully  the True
Inner  Meaning  of Them;  and  what  They  mean  to each  In-
dividual.  Once,  you  understand  the  Words  an Ascended DISCOURSE  III 23
Being  speaks,  carry  in Them  the  Power  of Achievement,
you will  begin  to comprehend  what  Mighty  Power  These
Dictations  carry!  Can  you  accept  THEIR  POWER  in your
feeling  world ? Won't  you  try,  so It may  have  Its FULL
POWER  of Operation  and  Action ?
Oh, how  We long  to have  mankind  feel  the True  Import
of These  Words,  so they  may  quickly  dismiss  all human
consciousness  of limitations;  and  call  the "Mighty  I AM
Presence"  into  action,  to dissolve  all human  creations  which
have  ever  been  acquired.  Then,  how  quickly  each  one
would  go forth—almost  like  a rocket—into  his or her Per-
manent  Achievement.
May  I remind  you,  Precious  Ones,  that  every  particle  of
Achievement  you  accomplish,  in the Knowledge  of your
"Mighty  I AM  Presence,"  becomes  a Permanent  Thing?
There  is no slipping  back  in anything,  which  you  call forth
and achieve  in the Knowledge  of your  Presence.  It becomes
a Permanently  Established  Thing  and  cannot  be forgotten
and cannot  be lost!  Today  in the Requirement,  according  to
the Great  Cosmic  Law,