enervation. Children Pampered and Spoiled. —This brings on the bad
and enervating habits of irritability, wilfulness,  overeating,
improper eating, and temper. Many of the older children
use tobacco, coffee, and an excessive amount of sweets and
pastry. Self -abuse begins early in many, and is the cause of
stomach symptoms. Adolescence comes with excessive
dancing, loss of  sleep, smoking, drinking, lasciviousness,
venereal disease, and the fear springing from the
contemplation of the consequences. Irritable children are
hard to do anything for. The reason they are irritable is
because they are pampered and not made to mind. It is a crime not to control children. They should be
compelled to obey. But do not wait until they are sick. A
cranky irritability will help bring on disease and keep a
child sick. Fear. —Fear is the greatest of all causes of enervation. Childre n are subject to many fears. They are educated to
fear the dark, the bogy -man, and punishment. Parents often
keep children in a state of fear by irritably cuffing them for
the slightest excuse. There are many parents who do their
“scrapping” before their c hildren. It is a dreadfully
common thing to do. Outlawry begins at home and at the breast of the mother. A child that cannot respect its parents will not respect the
laws of the state or nation. No parent is respected who is
not obeyed at once and wit hout capitulation. Unconditional
surrender is the discipline necessary for character -building. But children will not obey laws that parents disregard. In domestic infelicity are born disease and crime, and no
amount of doctoring by doctors of medicine, law, and
theology can cure; for none of them removes the cause. Those who die of chronic disease have no self -control. There is much fear and anxiety in a child’s life. No child
can thrive living in a state of fear in home, school, or
church. Discip line taught by respected parents brings love
and not fear. Longevity has increased since hell -fire and brimstone
have ceased to be taught and to build fear. A morality kept
intact by fear is not health -imparting, and is not a morality
at all. Remove t he fear, and mob license succeeds it. Fear
and love are antidotal. Man has been taught to fear God,
and at the same time love Him. Where the fear is real, the
love is fictitious. Love being the basis on which ethics is
built, a love founded on fear builds humbug ethics; and this  is the foundation of all the conventional lies of our
civilization. Fear in all lines concerning children, from their
conception to their birth, and on through school life, social
life, and marriage, leads to enervation. The d earth of worth -
while knowledge of how to feed and otherwise care for
children keeps up an unnecessary worry with parents
concerning their health. How to teach the young to avoid
breaking their health and handicapping their minds by
excesses in play, eating, drinking, in controlling temper and
emotions, and in self -pollution is a knowledge sadly
lacking in nearly all homes. Disease follows these excesses
in the young. There is not a habit so self -destructive and so
generally practiced as venereal excitement;  and there is no
habit receiving so little attention from parents. Ataxia is supposed to be caused by syphilis, but in fact, it
is caused by cerebro -spinal enervation, brought on from
sensuality in all forms —particularly venereal. Subjects of
this dis ease usually begin onanism early in life. Parents
should teach children to avoid destroying habits. I have had
locomotor -ataxia cases confess to me that they began their
self-pollution as early as eight years of age. Ten to fifteen
are the years when activ e pollution begins. Unless a
physician is very tactful, youths will not confess. I will say that very few boys have been untruthful to me. This
practice is not quite so common with the opposite sex. The physical abuse in this line is not nearly so ene rvating
as allowing the mind to dwell on sex -subjects. Lascivious
dreaming debauches the victim as much as excessive
venery. Early pollution, followed by excessive venery,
often communizes a mind that would shine in the forum
and in intellectual pursuits. There is a difference, however,
in garrulity and garrulous parroting, and giving a feast of
reason. Bright intellects at twenty and twenty -five often
degenerate into mediocrity at forty -five because of brain -
enervation due to venereal excess. Add to sex - abuse,
tobacco, coffee, tea, alcohol, and excessive or wrong
eating, and no wonder man at sixty is fit for little else than
chloroforming, if nature has not already administered
euthanasia. ADULTS

   Adults, too, have much fear in their lives. The b read-and-
butter problem gives anxiety; but when enough has been
accumulated, so that fear along this line is unnecessary,
fear is felt that something may happen that will put them  back in the breadline. Why? There is no confidence in
business ethics —there is no God in business. Business Worries. —Business worries are a source of
enervation. Business —any business —is not the cause of
worry. A work well done is a delight, and anything that
delights is character -building. A work slovenly carried on
dissati sfies; but the worrier never looks within to find the
cause. This life brings enervation in time, and disease as a
sequel; then more worries looking for a cure. Business is
what a man makes of it. A thorough understanding of
business, with honesty and indu stry, removes all worries
and saves nerve - energy. Worry does not build efficiency;
neither is inefficiency removed by worrying. Worry, lack of
control over the emotions, improper eating, stimulants, all
build disease. Nothing is so conducive to poise  as a thorough
understanding of one’s personal habits and occupation. Bluff and bluster may put the idea of efficiency “across” to
the people for a time; but, as surely as chickens come home
to roost, the truth will out. Worry, even though presenting a
smooth exterior, will break through; the worker will break
down —disease will claim him for its own. Housewives
who carry a burden of worry become enervated and lose
health. The cause of their worry is lack of control of eating, lack of control of the emotions, lack of care of the body,
and lack of efficiency. Instead of resolutely going to work
to remove all the defects, they are downed by them. An
uncontrollable temper must be downed, or it will down the
one who gives way to it. Gossip is not an admirable qua lity,
and, unless overcome, it will in time drive friends away. Envy and jealousy are cancers that eat the soul out of those
who indulge them. What is left to love when the soul is
gone? When anyone, from indolence and health -destroying
habits, allows  himself to gravitate below the standard
expected of him by his friends, he must not be surprised
when they run away from him. Who are the old people who are left alone? Those who
have lived selfish lives —who have demanded
entertainment when they shou ld have been entertaining
themselves. Happiness and entertainment must come from
within —from a love of service, work, books. If this
fountain of youth and pleasure is not found before old age
creeps over us, we shall find ourselves alone. Even in the
midst  of a throng we shall be alone, forever alone. What
could be more pathetic? Self-Indulgence. —Self-indulgence is contrary to ethics and brings its condemnation. What about the ethics of
gluttons —what about their religion? Excess in everything
follows o n the heels of abnormal selfish indulgence. Coming under this head are self -pity and a desire for cure. Extravagant habits, even if there is an inexhaustible supply,
builds a self -destructive morale, on the heels of which, like
a nemesis, runs the trail to  premature death. The causes are
called heart disease, apoplexy, paralysis, kidney disease,
suicide, etc. ; but what is in a name? Names are all
misleading; for the cause —first, last, and all the time —is a
selfish body and mind —destructive self -indulgence. A study of nature reveals the fact that man must live for
service; not giving alms, but helping others to help
themselves. Self -indulgence in the use of stimulants, even in
moderation, is a constant drain on the nervous system; and
a time comes w hen the last cigar, the last cup of coffee, the
last hearty meal, snaps the vital cord; and the contingency
is always unexpected and a surprise. Overwork


 and the
clitoris, and the bulbocavernosus and ischiobulbosus, which have
a cen tral role in n1ale t.•rection and t.'jaculation, and in female com
pression of the vaginal oritlce and sphincter. This web of mus
cles, centering around the perincun1 (the area between the anus
and the genitals), is linked to several sacral and coccygeal nerve
trunks.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

      's pritnevallitc-energy, front which
pcoplt. · dt. ·rive their sexual vitality. Son1eday we n1ight find a genuine, sate aphrodisiac, one that
brings instant sexual arousal without unwant ed side effects. Up
to now. however. all known aphrodisiacs that create the illusion of
arousal have been found to be hannful. Son1c-such as Spanish
fly. and perhaps the palace grapes eaten by the otlicial in the story
recounted carlier-n1ay n1on1entarily heighten "arousal" of the
sexual organs, but they do not enhance genuine sexual desire. They stin1ulate the body in ways not intended by nature and drain
it of its lin1ited vitality. and their long-tenn side effects n1ay in
dude eventual in1potence and even death. The answer docs not lie in a pill that instantly gives people
overworked sex organs and lat er rewards them with impotence
and ill health. Perhaps the real aphrodisiac is something that first
boosts sexual health, then in turn naturally arouses sexual desire. Up to now little has been studied in the modern laboratory,
not even the long -term side effects of aphrodisiacs as defined in
the classical sense. The ultimate laboratory is the human body
itself The ancient Chinese, with their fervent though discreet
pursuit of sexual vitality, have been at it more or less for several
thousand years. Perhaps their interest in sexual nutrients can give
us some hints in our own quest for the perfect aphrodisiacs. Foods and Herbs for Love
145 11
Sexual Vitality from
the Sea of Chi
The Taoist Fountain o/ Youth. IN THEIR SEARCH into the art of lovemaking, the ancient Chinese
Taoists went beyond food and herbs, even beyond erotic tech
niques. The quintessenc e of their Art of the Bedchamber was to
generate and maxi mize sexual vitality by consciously maneuver
ing the human body's chi, or life -energy. They did this to enhance
sexual arousal, control orgasn1, and intensify ecstasy for both
men and won1en. Was this pure mysticis m. Or can it be reconciled with modern
science. The answer may con1e n1ore easily fron1 the rnodern bed
roonl than fron1 the n1odern laboratory. Scientists have, it is true,
stumbled on son1e intriguing findings in the laboratory, but in
doing so they luvc con1e up with rnore questions than answers. This chapter, which exarnines Taoist ideas of sexual enhancen1cnt,
touches on both the n1ystical and the scientific. In rnodern tenns, the Taoists' dri tnaneuver is a fonn of nlind
body interaction in which the n1ind consciously attempts to direct
the body. It is intriguing first to survey \Vhat ancient physicians
and st·xologists tht·orized and practiced, on their tern1s and with
their rationale, and then to kan1 about discoveries in this area by
conternporary scientists, East and West, and finally to sec specifi-Srxual Vitality from tire Sea ��(Chi
cally how the ancients used n1ind-body interaction to boost their
sexual vitality. The notion that there is powerful, albeit elusive, life-t(Hce in
the hurnan body has been n1aintained tlrrnly and continuously in
China for rnore than three thousand years. Chinese traditionalists
believe that this prirneval force of life can be controlled and nu
nipulated not only to intensify sexual prowess, but also to rein
force nurtial arts strength and irnprove health and longevity. According to the ancients, chi is generated and stored in a
ntysterious reservoir inside the lower abdon1en between the navel
and the pubic region. This reservoir, the ta11-ticn, or cinnabar field,
however, is not an anatornical structure that can be found in
surgery or by autopsy. It is rather an energy field whose role is in
dicated indirectly and tenuously by many n1edical and health
practices. Ancient Chinese meditation is aimed directly at the cin
nabar field, as sugg ested by the colorf ul though inaccurate expres
sion "contemplating the navel. " As long as a person is alive, his chi circulates ceaselessly in his
body in a network of energy channels called meridians, which are
linked to specific organs or physiological functions. Dotting these
meridians like pumping stations are acupoints. The acupoint
nearest the cinnabar field is called chi-hai (sea of chi) and is be
lieved a key point connected to the cinnabar field. By selectively manipula ting specific acupoints with needles,
burning herbs, or fingers, one can sedate or stimulate a particular
organ or physiological function. According to the ancients, acu
puncture cured diseases because it regulated the flow of chi and
restored the balance of Yin and Yang for life-energy. Chinese physicians and acupuncturists, Zen Buddhists, Tao
ists, kung fu masters, acrobats, dancers, and sexologists all have
considered the cinnabar field of supreme significance in their re
spective domains. They use various forms of physical exercise and
mental therapy to cultivate and train it. CHI -KUNG
Among the various Chinese practices to manipulate life-energy,
the most potent is chi- kun g, or qi-,gotlJ. (life-energy skill), a com
bination of meditation and diaphragm breathing that consciously Cot� temporary
acupututure chart THE ART OF THE BE DCHAM BER
harnesses vital energy. The practitioner sits on a stiff chair or in
the lotus position on the floor, or stands, breathing slowly, while
directing his mind on the circulation of life-energy to and from
the cinnabar field. This becon1es more complex a·s the practi
tioner progresses through half a dozen stages, including reverse
diaphragm breathing, throat breathing, rectal breathing, and the
most advanced, cinnabar field breathing. The catatonic appearance of chi-kung practitioners belies the
powerful results of this purely internal exercise. Usually the first
noticeable result is improved digestion; the next, enhanced sexual
vitality; and finally, blooming health. The Chinese consider chi
kung a rejuvenation exercise because it is believed to energize
internal organs and thus to aid digestion, facilitate blood circula
tion, and stimulate hormone secretion. It is a potent exercise-so
potent that those practicing more advanced stages rnust be trained
by a chi-kun. _� master to avoid possible serious injury. In recent years, Chinese scientists have been conducting ex
periments on chi-kun g that border on the mystical. By consciousl y
directing their chi toward specific acupoints of patients, medical
technicians trained in chi- kun g have been successfully anesthetiz
ing patients for thyroid and stomach surgery-without using
drugs, acupuncture, or even human touch. Physicians with the
proper training are popular in China for chi-krm. � treatments in
which they direct their energy at patients, without touching thent,
to cure certain ailments. How such seemingly outlandi sh prac
tices are appraised by sotne scientists will be discussed later in this
chapter. Chi-krm. � is the basis of all higher tonns of Chinl·se tnartial
arts. Tai chi chuan (great ultin1ate fist) is a ntind-body exercise
very popular for health and for self-defense. Its graceful, ball etlik e
ntovctnents reinf(. lfce the flo\v of chi, so that when the practitioner
docs strike, the blow can bl· dev astating. It also epitotnizes the
Taoist philosophy of softness con qul·ring rigid ity: one uses the
opponl ·nt's own force to attack hint. Japanese judo and jujitsu are
sintplitil·d sdf:. dd(:nse systen1s derived front tai chi chuan. An esotl ·ric branch of tnartial arts kno\vn as tit'11-hs ud1 (point
ing acup oin ts) is a lil·adly art in \vhich a kung fu fighter can tent
por arily paralyzl'. or rl·ndcr unconscious. or even kill an opponent
by pressing a sp


 I quickly realized that it was
going to require all the one-pointed focus I had
developed thr ough my years of meditation. I had
surrendered, a nd this was t he task life had given me. That made it part of my spiritual journey, and I was fully
prepared to devote myself to it to the absolute best of my
ability. The first thing I did was tak e the steps necessary to
assure that I would know what was going on in the
company. I was in Alachua, a nd a group of independent-
minded execu tives accustom ed to running their own
businesses were scattered around the country. If I was
going to take responsibility for the company, a thorough
flow of inform ation needed to pass across my desk. This
was going to require regular group conference calls and
an enor mous amount of reporting to keep up with what
everyone was doing. When I announced that each
executive had to turn in a weekly report on the major
activities under their domain, there was definitely some
grumbling. But together we had an enormous amount of
experience, and I wanted the group-mind making
decisions, not any one person’s mind. It wasn’t long, however, before I realized that I
couldn’t possibly keep up with all the weekly status
reports plus be properly prepared for the executive
conference call s. I needed some serious help, and as you
may have guessed by now, that is exactly what I got. We won ’t call it a miracle, but this time life’s magic
showed up in the form of a young lady named Sabrina. Paul Dobbins had met her years earlier at one of our
national dealer seminars, and apparently, it was love at
first sig ht. Not too long after  that, Paul informed us that
Sabrina was moving here, and they were getting married. I didn’t know Sabrina, and I was concerned that Paul
expected her to move int o a yoga-based spiritual
community when she wasn’t even into yoga or
meditation. He  assured me that she would fit in just fine,
and he also inf ormed me that I would be very pleased to
have he r work at the company. Surrender, surrender,
surrender—like I had a choice. As it turns out, Sabrina’s family business was a small
Medical Manager dealership in California. She had been
selling, installing, and suppo rting practice management
software since she was thirteen years old. Though she
was only twenty-two when she began working at
Personalized P rogramming, and had never even been to
college, I soon found out that senior-level business
analysis was completely natural to her. Despite the fact
that she had no prior experience at this level, Sabrina
was the  person I turned to for executive help when I
became CEO. With Sabrina at my side, one of my main
responsibilities as CEO beca me growing the company. Fortunately, this was no ordinary company; the
prospects for growth in th e newly created Medical
Manager Corp oration were phenomenal. To start with,
our growth would come naturally as we acquired our
dealers. We had close to two  hundred dealers, many of
which would be very good ac quisitions for us. As long aswe had  a steady stream of new dealers merging into the
company, we had a natural source of growth. Much more interesting to me, however, was the
tremendous growth that could come from our ability to
electronically c onnect our enormous number of doctors
to the rest of the health -care industry, including
insurance companies, laboratories, and pharmacies. Once we rolled support of our practices under one roof,
we could provide a level of automation for the health-
care sys tem that would not o nly cut costs but also result
in improved efficiency and patient care. I sa t down wit h Sabrina and told her that getting our
hundred-thousand-plus doctors fully up on electronic
claims and other health-care  transactions was going to
be our first new corporate business initiative. I then
informed her that she was going to be in charge. This was
the birth of what we called Medical Manager Network
Services. The success of this venture at so many levels
was practically incomprehensible. It started out as an
inspired vision and grew into a $100-million-a-year line
of busin ess. In a very short period of time, we led the
industry in electronic transactions. Over the next two years, the  company grew by leaps
and bounds. We kept acquiring more and more of our
dealers, and our nationwide  presence meant we could
provide our services to larger and larger clients. Meanwhile, I never worked so hard in my life. But it
didn’t burn me out. In fact, it had the opposite effect. The
more I let go of “Mickey” and just committed myself to
the task life ha d given me, the more the spiritual energy
flow increased within me. It was as though by aligning
myself w ith life ’s outer flow, t he beautiful, inward flow of
energy was naturally stren gthened. By now, I had
become thorou ghly convince d that the constant act of
letting go of o ne’s self-centered thoughts and emotions
was all that was needed for profound personal,
professional, and spiritual growth. 4 6. T h e  I n t e r n e t  a n d  H e a l t h  C a r e
A fter almost thirty years, I’d seen enough perfection
unfold around me that nothing in me wanted to interfere
with the flow ever again. I had seen time and again how
what at  first appeared to be a  problem turned out to be a
guiding force of change leading us forward. That was
certainly the case toward the end of 1998 as our
executive strategy calls began to focus on how the
Internet was going to affect our business. It concerned us
that our competitors would so on have inexpensive access
to all physicians nationwide without the need to build
out a dealer ne twork. John Kang and I were well aware
that two  health -care Internet  companies, Healtheon and
WebMD, were already soliciting our doctors on an ever-
increasing basis. We knew we had to do something if we
wanted to be able to compete successfully in the
upcoming world of Internet connectivity. Around this time, John Kang had been introduced to a
company calle d Synetic, in New Jersey, that was in the
process of building a very advanced health-care Internet
portal. Synetic had one of the finest management teams
in the industry, and it appeared that none of the other
start-up companies stood a chance against it. Synetic executives were very interested in a possible
merger with Medical Manager Corporation. Their dream
was to handle all the industr y’s health-care transactions
through their Internet portal. When they looked at us,
they sa w more than one hundred thousand physicians
already connected electronically for a broad range of
services. If they handled the transactions for all ourphysicians, everyone in the industry would want to do
business with them. Synetic w as in a position to leverage
the asset we had built to an entirely new level. In May of 1999, John Kang set up a meeting for me to
meet Synetic’s  chairman, Marty Wygod. Marty and I
lived on opposite sides of th e country, so he suggested
that we  meet at an aptly named private airport in
Midway, Texas. Midway wa s, in fact, almost exactly
halfway between California and Florida. I chartered a
private jet and flew in by myself. Sitting alone in a six-seater jet at forty thousand feet is
a v ery peaceful  place. I fell into meditation and my mind
became very still. When I opened my eyes, I absorbed the
tremendous difference in my  environment from when I
had firs t decid ed to let go and see where life would take
me. I still live d in the same woods and kept my same
practices morn ing and evening, but somehow the rest
had changed rather dramatically. I reflected back at how
many times life had presented me with changes I was
uncomfortable with. In the  beginning, it had been
difficult to ignore the resistant mind. Over time, as I saw
what ha d transpired by taking the risk of letting go of
me, the  process had become much more natural. I was
surrounded by the results of letting go. There was
nothing in my life I could point to that hadn’t come from
surrendering to life’s flow. I was so humbled by the
process that nothing in me w anted to resist ever again. I
was deeply in love with the excitement and wonder of
experiencing what would unfold next. It was in this
frame of mind that I was off to Texas to meet Synetic’s
chairman. To me, this proposed merger was simply what was
happening nex t. I didn’t need to think about it; I already
knew th at nothing inside of me wanted to merge the
company with Synetic or anyone else. I loved what I was
doing. I had a vision burning inside of me that had
driven me for twenty years. It started while I was firstwriting this amazing program, and it never subsided for
a single moment. That vision inspired me day


 coffee at those moments when the mind, not yet focused
on activity, is still in an open and receptive state; and it will minister quietly
to the background of consciousness with a friendly warmth, even perhaps
on some occasions with a kind of consolation’. †
     For others it may take place unsolicited in the natural pause after the
ending of one activity and before the mind reaches for the next. Or simply
walking in nature, surrendering one’s body to its immensity. When we are at home or in our workplace, the familiarity of the environ -
ment is such that many routine activities can be undertaken without our need -
ing to attend to or focus on them. With nothing particular to interest or engage
the mind, we are free to wander into the past or future seeking relief from the
tedium of the now. However, when we travel, the sights, sounds, tastes, textures
and smells that we encounter are often sufficiently unfamiliar to fascinate us
and, as a result, command our attention. The mind returns to the now from
168* Rainer Maria Rilke, Untitled (‘I Love the Dark Hours of My Being’), The Book of Hours: Love Poems
to God, translated by Anita Barrows and Joanna Macy (Riverhead, 1997 ). †  Michael Cardew, Pioneer Pottery  (The American Ceramic Society, 2002 ).the all-pervasive spirit
its adventure in time. The happiness we feel on this occasion does not rise on
account of our new environment; it is the taste of our true nature. A good storyteller will eke out a joke, gradually winding up his listeners
into a state of heightened expectation, knowing that the greater the tension,
the deeper the feeling of relief upon hearing the punchline. And the listener
will readily participate in this heightened state of anticipation for the pleasure
of having it come to an end in the moment of understanding. Before the
joke has come to an end, the understanding has not yet taken place. By the
time the laughter begins, the understanding has already  taken place. In the timeless moment between the end of the joke and the beginning
of the laughter, understanding occurs. That which ‘stands under’ the mind
emerges from obscurity beneath the mind. The smile or laughter that follows
is the relaxation of the body in response to this plunge into our true nature. Indeed, every time someone smiles at us, we receive a blessing in which the
light of being shines on us. Every time we smile at someone, we bestow that
blessing on them. Suffice it to say that there are innumerable ways, some effortless and spon -
taneous, others cultivated, whereby the obscuring activity of the mind may
be dissolved and, as a result, its essence revealed – ‘hints of the beloved’, as
they say in the Sufi tradition. In fact, I would suggest that the mind is always
tending towards its source, the heart always longing for its home, and that
almost all people are most of the time, whether they realise it or not, engaged
in this attempt to return to their true nature. Of course, this is said from the perspective of an individual mind. In reality,
it is unlimited awareness that, identifying itself with, or losing itself in, the
content of experience seems to have become localised and limited. In the form
of this apparently limited mind or self, awareness is always attempting to divest
itself of this limitation and return to its natural condition. It is for this reason
that an individual mind or self constantly feels the gravitational pull of its true
nature in the form of its search for happiness, truth, love or beauty. Whether or not the finite mind seeks to alleviate the suffering that is
inherent in its own limited condition through the acquisition of objects,
substances, activities, circumstances and relationships, or by going directly
to its essence by means of meditation, self-enquiry or prayer, depends upon
its maturity. 169you are the happiness you seek
     But either way, the mind is destined sooner or later to be dissolved in its
essence. Just as water evaporates from the ocean, forms into clouds, drifts
over the earth, falls in rain, turns into wine, is shed in tears, gathers into
rivers and returns to the ocean, continually changing its name and form but
never changing its essence, so the apparent individual, feeling itself to be
separate from the whole, embarks on a great journey, passes through many
adventures, assumes many guises and eventually returns to its original nature,
without ever actually having ceased to be as such. Each of the examples above indicate some of the many instances during
our lives when our customary thought processes are interrupted and, as a re -
sult, the peace and joy of our true nature, which lies just behind the mind,
emerges naturally and effortlessly into the foreground of our experience. Although the event which precedes the emergence of our innate peace
and joy differs in each case, the effect it has on us is the same: surrender. A wise person is one who does not wait for circumstances or events to initiate
this surrender. They simply make it their moment-by-moment attitude. the peace of deep sleep

One last example will illustrate that, concealed within our ordinary experi -
ence, there lie numerous traces of the divine. Many people believe that
deep sleep is the absence of awareness. The reason for this is that awareness
is considered dependent upon the content of experience. No experience,
no awareness. However, deep sleep is not the absence of awareness; it is the awareness
of absence. When we fall asleep at night, the mind lets go of all objective
experience naturally and effortlessly, leaving its essence, pure awareness,
all alone, resting in its own being. That is the experience of peace. When my son was very young, he would sometimes get upset. During
these times there was nothing his mother, Caroline, or I could do to con -
sole him, and he would often say, ‘I just want to go to sleep’. He had ex -
perienced the peace of his true nature in deep sleep on numerous
occasions, as we all do, and now, in the face of his distress, he instinctively
knew how to find his way back there. It was for the same reason that
Ramana Maharshi once said, ‘Meditation is like falling asleep whilst re -
maining awake’. 170the all-pervasive spirit
     After a period of deep sleep, the dreaming and waking states emerge again,
but nothing happens to the presence of awareness which shone there all along. Layers of experience are simply added to it: images and thoughts in the dream
state, to which sensations, perceptions, activities and relationships are added
in the waking state. However, just as the transparency of a screen seems to be
veiled when a movie begins, so the peace and joy that is the nature of pure
awareness seems to be obscured when objective experience resumes. In this case, all one need do is to invite the mind gently back to its source,
the abode of peace and happiness, the presence of awareness. For one who
has been exploring these matters for some time and is accustomed to return -
ing again and again from the adventure of experience to the peace of their
true nature, the first taste of suffering that accompanies this forgetting will
be sufficient to initiate the return home, without the need for a method or
practice. However, for one in whom this habit is not yet established, the mind
may need to be coaxed away from its fascination with and reliance upon the
content of experience. For such a mind, a question such as, ‘Am I aware?’,
‘What is it that knows or is aware of my experience?’, ‘Who am I?’, ‘What
is it that can never be removed from me?’ or ‘What element of my experience
is always with me?’ will suffice. Each time we disengage from the content of experience and return to
our true nature of pure awareness that lies in the background, we are eroding
the power of objective experience to take us away from our self. In time, less
and less effort is needed and less and less time required. We begin to be
established in the peace and happiness of our true nature. The greatest discovery one can make in life is to find one’s way back to
one’s innate peace and joy, without the need for circumstances to align them -
selves with our preconceived ideas, and without having to fall asleep. 171 conclusion
An Invitation
Pour yourself out like a fountain. Flow into the knowledge that what you are seeking
finishes often at the start, and, with ending, begins. rainer maria rilke
There are essentially two models for civilisation. The first is one in which the
ideas and attitudes of individuals are informed by an understanding of their
relationship to the whole, and their activities and relationships are the means
by which this understanding is expressed in society. The second model is one in which individuals overlook their relationship
to the whole and, as a result, believe and feel themselves to be discrete,
independently existing entities. This is a paradigm of separation that inevi -
tably leads to unhappiness on the inside, conflict on the outside between
individuals, communities and nations, and the exploitation and degradation
of the earth. History has repeatedly shown that a civilisation in which individuals
neglect their relationship with the whole will collapse. Our own civilisation
is showing all the signs of this disintegration but has as yet failed to em -
brace the understanding required to remedy it. We are like a patient who
has been


	we	perceive	the	world. PRINCIPLE	#1
___________
Nutrition	represents	the	combined	activities	of	countless	food	substances. The	whole	is	greater	than	the	sum	of	its	parts. To	illustrate	this	principle	I	only	need	to	take	you	through	the	biochemical
perspective	of	a	meal. Let’s	say	you	prepare	sautéed	spinach	with	ginger	and
whole	grain	ravioli	shells	stuffed	with	butternut	squash	and	spices,	topped
with	a	walnut	tomato	sauce. The	spinach	alone	is	a	cornucopia	of	various	chemical	components. Chart
11. 1
	is	only	a
partial	list
	of	what	you	might	find	in	your	mouth	after	a	bite	of
spinach. As	you	can	see,	you’ve	just	introduced	a	bundle	of	nutrients	into	your
body. In	addition	to	this	extremely	complex	mix,	when	you	take	a	bite	of	that
ravioli	with	its	tomato	sauce	and	squash	filling,	you	get	thousands	and
thousands	of	additional	chemicals,	all	connected	in	different	ways	in	each
different	food—truly	a	biochemical	bonanza. As	soon	as	this	food	hits	your	saliva,	your	body	begins	working	its	magic,
and	the	process	of	digestion	starts. Each	of	these	food	chemicals	interacts
with	the	other	food	chemicals	and	your	body’s	chemicals	in	very	specific
ways. It	is	an	infinitely	complex	process,	and	it	is	literally	impossible	to
understand	precisely	how	each	chemical	interacts	with	every	other	chemical. We	will	never	discover	exactly	how	it	all	fits	together. CHART	11. 1:	NUTRIENTS	IN	SPINACH
Macronutrients
Water
Fat	(many	kinds)
Calories
Carbohydrate
Protein	(many	kinds)
Fiber
Minerals
Calcium
Sodium
Iron
Zinc
Magnesium
Copper
Phosphorus
Manganese
Potassium
Selenium
VitaminsC	(Ascorbic	Acid)
B-6	(Pyridoxine)
B-l	(Thiamin)
Folate
B-2	(Riboflavin)
A	(as	carotenoids)
B-3	(Niacin)
E	(tocopherols)
Pantothenic	acid
Fatty	Acids
14:0	(Myristic	acid)
18:1	(Oleic	acid)
16:0	(Palmitic	acid)
20:1	(Eicosenoic	acid)
18:0	(Stearic	acid)
18:2	(Linoleic	acid)
16:1	(Palmitoleic	acid)
18:3	(Linolenic	acid)
Amino	acids
Tryptophan
Valine
Threonine
Arginine
Isoleucine
Histidine
Leucine
Alanine
Lysine
Aspartic	acid
Methionine
Glutamic	acid
Cystine
Glycine
Phenylalanine
Proline
Tyrosine
Serine
Phytosterols	(many	kinds)
The	main	message	I’m	trying	to	get	across	is	this:	the	chemicals	we	get
from	the	foods	we	eat	are	engaged	in	a	series	of	reactions	that	work	in	concert
to	produce	good	health. These	chemicals	are	carefully	orchestrated	by
intricate	controls	within	our	cells	and	all	through	our	bodies,	and	these
controls	decide	what	nutrient	goes	where,	how	much	of	each	nutrient	is
needed	and	when	each	reaction	takes	place. Our	bodies	have	evolved	with	this	infinitely	complex	network	of	reactions
in	order	to	derive	maximal	benefit	from	whole	foods,	as	they	appear	in	nature. The	misguided	may	trumpet	the	virtues	of	one	specific	nutrient	or	chemical,
but	this	thinking	is	too	simplistic. Our	bodies	have	learned	how	to	benefit
from	the	chemicals	in	food	as	they	are	packaged	together,	discarding	some
and	using	others	as	they	see	ht. I	cannot	stress	this	enough,	as	it	is	the
foundation	of	understanding	what	good	nutrition	means. PRINCIPLE	#2
___________
Vitamin	supplements	are	not	a	panacea	for	good	health. Because	nutrition	operates	as	an	infinitely	complex	biochemical	system
involving	thousands	of	chemicals	and	thousands	of	effects	on	your	health,	it
makes	little	or	no	sense	that	isolated	nutrients	taken	as	supplements	can
substitute	for	whole	foods. Supplements	will	not	lead	to	long-lasting	health
and	may	cause	unforeseen	side	effects. Furthermore,	for	those	relying	on
supplements,	beneficial	and	sustained	diet	change	is	postponed. The	dangers
of	a	Western	diet	cannot	be	overcome	by	consuming	nutrient	pills. As	I	have	watched	the	interest	in	nutrient	supplements	explode	over	the
past	twenty	to	thirty	years,	it	has	become	abundantly	clear	why	such	a	huge
nutrient	supplement	industry	has	emerged. Huge	profits	are	an	excellent
incentive,	and	new	government	regulations	have	paved	the	way	for	an
expanded	market. Furthermore,	consumers	want	to	continue	eating	their
customary	foods,	and	popping	a	few	supplements	makes	people	feel	better
about	the	potentially	adverse	health	effects	caused	by	their	diet. Embracing
supplements	means	the	media	can	tell	people	what	they	want	to	hear	and
doctors	have	something	to	offer	their	patients. As	a	result,	a	multibillion-
dollar	supplement	industry	is	now
part	of	our	nutritional	landscape,	and	the
majority	of	consumers	have	been	duped	into	believing	that	they	are	buying
health. This	was	the	late	Dr. Atkins’s	formula. He	advocated	a	high-protein,
high-fat	diet—sacrificing	long-term	health	for	short-term	gain—and	then
advocated	taking	his	supplements	to	address	what	he	called,	in	his	own
words,	the	“common	dieters’	problems”	including	constipation,	sugar
cravings,	hunger,	fluid	retention,	fatigue,	nervousness	and	insomnia. 1
This	strategy	of	gaining	and	maintaining	health	with	nutrient	supplements,
however,	started	to	unravel	in	1994–1996	with	the	large-scale	investigation	of
the	effects	of	beta-carotene	(a	precursor	to	vitamin	A)	supplements	on	lung
cancer	and	other	diseases. 2,	3
	After	four	to	eight	years	of	supplement	use,	lung
cancer	had	not	decreased	as	expected;	it	had	increased. No	benefit	was	found
from	vitamins	A	and	E	for	the	prevention	of	heart	disease	either. Since	then,	a	large	number	of	additional	trials	costing	hundreds	of	millions
of	dollars	have	been	conducted	to	determine	if	vitamins	A,	C	and	E	prevent
heart	disease	and	cancer. Recently,	two	major	reviews	of	these	trials	were
published. 4,	5
	The	researchers,	in	their	words,	“could	not	determine	the
balance	of	benefits	and	harms	of	routine	use	of	supplements	of	vitamins	A,	Cor	E;	multivitamins	with	folic	acid;	or	antioxidant	combinations	for	the
prevention	of	cancer	or	cardiovascular	disease. ”
4
	Indeed,	they	even
recommended	against	the	use	of	beta-carotene	supplements. It	is	not	that	these	nutrients	aren’t	important. They	are—but	only	when
consumed	as	food,	not	as	supplements. Isolating	nutrients	and	trying	to	get
benefits	equal	to	those	of	whole	foods	reveals	an	ignorance	of	how	nutrition
operates	in	the	body. A	recent	special	article	in	the	New
York	Times
6
documents


 refined flour, they
added a less known series of experiments, also with pigeons,
to determine the effects of cooking. A number of pigeons were fed whole raw grains; the others were given the same
kind of grain, entirely whole, without any kind of refining,
only this grain was thoroughly cooked. The pigeons given the raw grain showed great activity and vigor. They gave every
indication of being perfectly nourished. Those given the
cooked grains developed beriberi and all died paralyzed
within ninety days. Other pigeons were then given two-thirds
cooked grain and one-third raw grain, which was sufficient to
give complete freedom from beriberi symptoms. While Director of Nutrition Research under the Research
Fund Association in India, the celebrated British scientist, Sir
Robert McCarrison, followed with the first large scale
experiments with white rats which revealed the effects of
cooking. One thousand pedigreed albino rats were placed on
a diet of raw cabbage, raw carrots, raw milk, raw meat, unleavened bread, and sprouted legumes. Two thousand rats
were then placed on a diet of white bread, margarine, tinned
meat, tinned jam, boiled tea, boiled potatoes, boiled cabbage,
and a small amount of milk. All animals were given the same
general care. The laborator y was ke pt perfectl y clean ; the tiled floor and walls were freque ntly washed. The cages were
large and spacious, so each rat could run about and exercise
as it pleased. The rats given primarily uncooked foods were remarkably
healthy in all respects. From all appearances they suffered
from no diseases whatsoever, and all mothers reared their young. At the end of two and a quarter years, corresponding
to 55 years in man, all rats were autopsied. The only trace of
disease found was an occasional cyst in the liver, which was
assumed due to the straw bedding which the rats often nibbled. The 2, 000 rats eating mostly cooked foods soon began
developing a wide assortment of diseases—practically every ailment that one might find listed in any medical textbook. Foremost among these, as revealed in the post-mortem
examinations, were: tuberculosis, arthritis, Bright's disease,
gastric ulcers, duodenal ulcers, glandular enlargements,
inflammation of the eyes, anemia, loss of hair, infected teeth, infected tonsils, middle-ear disease, corneal ulceration, and
skin diseases of various types. In addition the rats seemed to
be affected mentally. In contrast to the raw food rats, which
were gentle and affectionate, these animals became ill-
tempered and vicious. They would bite the attendant, kill each other, and generally display a state of continuous
nervous irritability. Following the rat experiments, McCarrison used twenty
monkeys in a new series of tests. All animals except one were
in perfect condition when the experiment began—the
exception being the result of a slight injury sustained by one
monkey during capture. Nine of the monkeys were placed on a diet consisting chiefly of raw foods, including wheaten
bread, milk, ground nuts, fresh onions, fresh butter, plantains,
and water. Six were given wheaten bread, cooked rice, cooked ground nuts, boiled milk, fresh butter, and water. The
other five were given a similar assortment of cooked foods,
fresh onions and water, plus a little fresh butter. All animals
were provided with the same amount of exercise, sunshine,
fresh air, etc. The only difference in their mode of life was their diet, involving the condition (cooked or uncooked) in
which the food was given. Regarding the monkeys fed primarily uncooked foods,
McCarrison stated: "They remained in good health, with the
exception of an attack of jaundice in some of them; this was
thought to be due to the sudden lack of exercise, as well as to
the too generous provision of monkey-nuts which in the earlier sta
ges of the ex periment were not limited to 10 grams. The jaundice was corrected by reducing the diet to milk and
bananas for a few days, and adding magnesium sulphate to
the drinking water. After recovery, which occurred in all
cases, the diet, as above detailed, was used without recurrence of jaundice or any untoward symptoms
whatsoever. " The monkeys given cooked foods developed troubles from
the very start. Diseases were common and every animal died
within 43 to 100 days. Average length of life of those given
the cooked foods plus onions was 60 days. Those allowed a
little butter each day lived an average of 69 days. The postmortems of these monkeys indicated the presence of
dozens of physical abnormalities and ailments. These
included: dilation of the stomach, gastric catarrh, stomach
ulcers, duodenal catarrh, degeneration of the mucous
membrane, congestive changes in the jejunum and ileum, ballooning of the small bowel, atrophy and thinning of the
walls of the small intestine, colitis, ballooning of the colon, atrophy of the omentus, and cancer of the pylorus. Experiments with guinea pigs, to determine the effects of
cooked foods, were conducted by Dr. O. Stiner, an
investigator for the Swiss Board of Health in Berne,
Switzerland. Dr. Stiner placed a large group of these animals on a diet of their normal foods (hay, oats, carrots, and water)
which would normally be taken raw, but in this case were
cooked in a high pressure steamer. A large number of
diseases appeared shortly thereafter. The teeth became
softened to such an extent that they could be cut away with scissors. Gangrenous gingivitis developed, and the jaws
softened and warped until the rows of teeth overlapped and
would not close in the normal manner. The salivary glands became diseased and the animals developed both goiter and
anemia. In certain cases two teaspoons of pasteurized milk
each day were added to the diet, and this was followed by the
development of another disease, arthritis. Most of the guinea
pigs died of scurvy, with a smaller number succumbing to
cancer of the lung. In America, Dr. Rosalind Wulzen and Alice Bahrs, of the
Department of Zoology in Oregon State College, also used
guinea pigs in their experimental  work. Efforts were made to
determine the effects of pastuerized milk. The animals were
divided into four groups which were given whole raw milk,
whole pasteurized milk, raw skim milk, and pasteurized skim
milk respectively. "Animals fed raw whole milk grew excellently and an
auto
psy showed no abnormalit y of an y kind" Dr. Wulzen reported. Animals fed pasteurized milk did not grow as well,
and developed stiffness of the muscles. Within a period of a
month to a year they died after showing signs of "great
emaciation and weakness. " The autopsy revealed that the muscles were extremely atrophied and streaked with white
lines of calcification. Lumps of tricalcium phosphate were
found deposited under the skin, in the joints, the heart, and
other organs. In addition to guinea pigs, white rats were used in the tests
at Oregon State College, these being reported by Bahrs and
Hughes. The animals given pasteurized milk gained weight less rapidly than those given raw milk, and on autopsy the
hearts were found to have a flabby appearance. The adrenal
glands were of a pale color and there were small areas of
apparent atrophy. The livers and skeletal muscles also
exhibited a very pale color, as compared to those of the
animals given raw milk. At Ohio State University, Dr. Ernest Scott and Prof. Lowell
Erf also fed different groups of rats on raw and pasteurized
milk. The animals on raw milk showed a good, sleek coat;
they were adequate in growth and weight; their eyes were
clear; their dispositions were excellent, and they enjoyed
being petted. Those on pasteurized milk had a roughened coat; their growth was slow; their eyes lacked luster, and they
were very irritable, often showing a tendency to bite when
being handled. The rats on pasteurized milk also showed a
loss of vitality and weight, and many developed anemia. Using cats in a similar set of experiments, Prof. Erf noted
the following results when pasteurized milk was used as a
partial ration for the animals: "(a) Incomplete mineralization of the offspring, (b) The inability of the animal to
remineralize its own skeleton adequately after pregnancy and
likely to produce a rachitic condition in the offspring. (c) Failure in the development of the teeth. (d) Muscular and
ligamentous atony as well as changes in the histological
factor of the various organs. (e) Tendency toward
development in allergies. (f) Tendency toward sterility in subsequent generations. " Two English scientists, Mattick and Golding, employed
white rats in a series of experiments, also with milk. They fed different groups of the animals fresh raw milk, pasteurized
milk, and sterilized milk. Those receiving raw milk attained
normal weight and growth in each of the four generations the
experiments were conducted. Rats receiving pasteurized milk
grew less rapidly, and


this book. There are methods, however, such as proper diet, which will lead to the same results but over a longer period of t ime. The response to the first edition of this book has been wonderful. We have received many suggestions and comments which have
led us to make revisions and additions to make this book more responsive to your needs. It often takes an act of resolution and courage in order to get out of the bowel situation in which so many people find thems elves. There is no bet ter way than taking positive, affirmative action. The instructions given in this book will give you the opportunity to
take greater responsibility over your level of health and well -being. Improving the condition of your bowel will give you
worthwhile divi dends in renewed health, energy and vitality, an investment well made. The program outlined In this book is just
the beginning of a new path. Once the bowel is cleansed of accumulated waste material, the next step begins. Giving up old ha bits
is a very dif ficult thing for most people but is absolutely essential to regaining full health. The building process begins when
correct, life -giving attitudes and habits take over. We can regenerate the body when we have clean tissues that are able to draw all
the nut rients and chemical elements we need from the foods we eat. Coffee and donuts will not do the job; sugar and white bread
won’t either. If old habits are not given up, only temporary “flash” results will be experienced. This book has been made available fo r the person who wants to take greater responsibility for his or her own health and well -
being. The 7 -day cleansing program described here has been used by many in their own homes with safety. Rome was not built in
a day, nor are the dividends of effective  bowel management always evident right away. It can take months or even years to correct
problems that have taken many years to come about. Developing proper elimination is half the job. The other half is rebuildin g
damaged tissue. CAUTION
I want to make clear that the program described in this book is not being represented as a cure for any disease or ailment. It is
simply a method of cleaning out the bowel and of restoring regular bowel habits, which leads to a cleaner body through more
efficient elimina tion of wastes. The program described here will seldom conflict with any other therapy or treatment, but if you are
under a doctor’s care, it is best to discuss this program with him and seek his counsel and support. If your doctor is intere sted in
natural  and preventive health care, he will understand that a clean body is more responsive to any therapeutic measure he feels you
need. Our program is not intended to supplant qualified professional health care. Not everyone needs this program, and we are  not
recommending it as a universal panacea. But, there are many who will benefit from it. We recommend that the seriously ill and the elderly go easy with this program, seeking the advice of their doctor in modifyin g any
of its features to conform to their spe cific needs and limitations. We have attempted to make this book as complete and as clear as
possible, to answer all potential questions and to avoid confusion. Questions and inquiries from professional practitioners a re
welcomed. If you suffer from a blee ding bowel or any severe bowel disturbance, it is imperative that a doctor’s supervision
be employed. CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION TO RAISING BOWEL CONSCIOUSNESS: TWO MIRACLES*
As out of dirty mud -beds, gorgeous lilies grow — So out of bent -old-age, comes vibran t youth! And youth from age, is not a
greater miracle than pure white lilies growing out of mud! In the 50 years I’ve spent helping people to overcome illness, dis ability
and disease, it has become crystal clear that poor bowel management lies at the root of most people’s health problems. In treating
over 300,000 patients, it is the bowel that invariably has to be cared for first before any effective healing can take place. In times past, knowledge of the bowel was more widespread and people were taught ho w to care for the bowel. Somehow bowel
wisdom got lost and it became something that no one wanted to talk about anymore. By putting the bowel in the closet and maki ng
believe it doesn’t exist, many people have gone down the path of improper living, treatin g the bowel indiscriminately and reaping
the sad harvest in later years. Knowing the ways of keeping the bowel healthy and in good shape is the best way I know to kee p
away from the grip of disease and sickness. The bowel -wise person is the one who is arm ed with good knowledge, practices discrimination in his eating habits and walks the
path of the higher life. His days are blessed with health, vitality, optimism and the fulfilment of life’s goals. He is a ble ssing and
source of inspiration to family and a ssociates. His cheerful disposition comes from having a vital, toxin -free body made possible
by the efficient, regular and cleansing action of a loved and well -cared for bowel. Every person who desires the higher things in
life must be aware of proper bowe l management; what it is, how it works and what is required. In so doing, you will discover
many secrets of life, develop a positive attitude toward yourself and become the master of body function. *From “Mysterious
Catalytic Foods,” by Brown Landone. I believe autointoxication is currently the number one source of the misery and decay we are witnessing in our society and cultu re
today. Through it comes the host of uncleanliness, with its entourage of imbalance, derangements, perversions, sickness and
disease. Autointoxication becomes a powerful master over the body, robbing the inhabitant of clear thinking, discrimination,
sound judgement, vitality, health, happiness and loved ones. Its rewards are disillusionment, bitterness, disappointment, fin ancial
chaos and failure. Overcoming the effects of autointoxication can be a long and difficult task. It is much preferred to avoid it  in the
beginning than to have to struggle with the consequences in later life. I believe in educating not medicating. The topic o f bowel management is a broad one. Many books have been written on the subject. Many different views have been
projected, and there is some confusion about exactly what constitutes proper bowel hygiene. In this book, I give you the best
information current ly available and the accumulated wisdom gathered from a lifetime devoted to natural therapeutics as it relates
to bowel care. I’ve travelled to the farthest corners of the earth searching for the secrets to health and long life and want  to share
with you m y discoveries so that all who will, may partake in the nurturing of these seeds and harvest the benefits of the higher life. This is a book of experiences that should awaken a person to the realization that the greatest healing power comes from withi n out. We find that healing comes according to the one law that I have followed in my sanitarium work for years; that is Hering’s La w of
Cure. It states that “All cure starts from within going out and from the head down and in reverse order as the symptoms have
appeared.”

This book takes into consideration one of the first things that has to be managed in our body maintenance program. No one has
ever had a home nor any acreage to take care of in which they did not have to consider the elimination of waste. Years  ago it was
found that many of man’s diseases came from a lack of sanitation. People would let the urine and toxic material from the bowe l
just travel through the streets. This situation attracted many of the diseases that were so prevalent throughout the world at one time. Sanitation has come about in many ways. Underground sewers take away potentially harmful wastes. Packaging of food has kept i t
sanitary. Boiling, scorching and burning have broken up bacteria effects that could be transferred to the body. We find, however,
that to take care of eliminations properly, we must start in the very beginning to look after these things. We have to stop d umping
waste indiscriminately. We must stop having unsanitary conditions and their effects flowing through our bodies. We have a
sanitation department in our body. We have a cesspool, a sewer, so to speak, and we must keep it clean. We must set it up bac teria-
wise so that we do not get into the disharmony or disease conditions. This book gives valuable information  about the care of the body from the bowel elimination standpoint in particular. It has been
my work to make sure that upon a patient’s first visit, all the elimination channels are put in good working condition. To tr y to take
care of any symptom in the b ody without a good elimination system is futile. In order to explain this work, I will present to you
just a little bit of the anatomy and physiology of the digestive and eliminative systems and some of the things that possibly  many
are not aware of becaus e they are not generally talked about. The average person doesn’t want to talk about the bowel, and is not
sufficiently informed about this important function of life to avoid the consequences of ignorance in bowel management. But, it is
time we come out a nd talk about this part of the body, which is so much in need of care in this day and age. When we eat foods
that are not whole, when they aren’t raw or don’t contain enough bulk, we are inviting trouble. When we do not have


 diminishing others. It is, of course, only the
beginning of the ego's many misperceptions. However, as your awareness increases and the ego is no longer running
your life, you don't have to wait for your world to shrink or collapse
trough old age or personal tragedy in order for you to awaken to your
inner purpose. As the new consciousness is beginning to emer ge on the planet an
increasing number of people no longer need to be shaken to have an
awakening. They embrace the awakening process voluntarily even while
still engaged in the outward cycle of growth and expansion. When that
cycle is no longer usurped by the ego, the spiritual dimension will come
into this world through the outward movement thought, speech, action,
creation as powerfully as through the return movement stillness, Being,
and dissolution of form. Until now, human intelligence, which is no more than a minute aspect of
universal intelligence, has been distorted and misused by the ego. I call
that intelligence n the service of madness. Splitting the atom requires
great intelligence. Using that intelligence for building and stockpiling
atom bombs is insane or at best extremely unintelligent. Stupidity is
relatively harmless, but intelligent stupidity is highly dangerous. Thisintelligent stupidity, for which one could find countless obvious
examples, is threatening our survival as a species. W ithout he impairment of egoic dysfunction, our intelligence comes into
full alignment with the outgoing cycle of universal intelligence and its
impulse to create. W e become conscious participants in the creation of
form. It is not we who create, but universal intelligence that creates
through us. W e don't identify with what we create and so don't lose
ourselves in what we do. W e are learning that the act of creation may
involve ener gy of the highest intensity, but that is not hard work or
stressful. W e need to understand the dif ference between stress and
intensity, as we shall see. Struggle or stress is a sign that he ego has
returned, as are negative reactions when we encounter obstacles. The force behind the ego's wanting creates enemies, that is to say,
reaction in the form of an opposing force equal in intensity. The stronger
the ego, the stronger the sense of separateness between people. The only
actions
that do not cause opposing reactions are those that are aimed at the good
of all. They are inclusive, not exclusive. They join; they don't separate. They are not for my country but for all of humanity, not for my religion
but the emer gence of consciousness in all human beings, not for my
species but for all sentient beings and all of nature. W e are also learning that action, although necessary, is only a secondary
factor in manifesting our external reality. The primary factor in creation
is consciousness. No matter how active we are, how much ef fort we
make, our state of consciousness creates our world, and if there is no
change on that inner level, no amount of action will make any dif ference. W e would only re?create modified versions of the same world again and
again, a world that is an external reflection of the ego.A New Earth
C O N S C I O U S N E S S
Consciousness is already conscious. It is the unmanifested, the eternal. the universe, however, is only gradually becoming conscious. Consciousness itself is timeless and therefore does not evolve. It was
never born and does not die. When consciousness becomes the
manifested universe, it appears to be subject to time and to under go an
evolutionary process. No human mind is capable of comprehending fully
the reason for this process. But we can glimpse it within ourselves and
become a conscious participant in it. Consciousness is the intelligence, the or ganizing principle behind the
arising of form. Consciousness has been preparing forms for millions of
years so that it can express itself through them in the manifested. Although the unmanifested realm of pure consciousness could be
considered another dimension, it is not separate from this dimension of
form. Form and formlessness interpenetrate. the unmanifested flows into
this dimension as awareness, inner space, presence. How does it do that? Through the human form that becomes conscious and thus fulfills its
destiny. The human form was created for this higher purpose, and
millions of other forms prepared the ground for it. Consciousness incarnates into the manifested dimension, that is to say, it
becomes form. When it does so, it enters a dreamlike state. Intelligence
dreams, but consciousness becomes unconscious of itself. It loses itself
in form, becomes identified with form. This could be describe as the
descent of
the divine into matter. At that stage in the evolution of the universe, the
entire outgoing movement takes place in that dreamlike state. Glimpses
of awakening come only at the moment of the dissolution of an
individual form, that is to say, death. And then begins the next
incarnation, the next identification with form, the next individual dream
that is part of the collective dream. When the lion tears apart the body of
the zebra, the consciousness that incarnated into the zebra?form detachesitself from the dissolving form and for a brief moment awakens to its
essential immortal nature as consciousness; and then immediately falls
back into sleep and reincarnates into another form. When the lion
becomes old and cannot hunt anymore, as it draws its last breath, there is
again the briefest of glimpses of an awakening, followed by another
dream of form. On our planet, the human ego represents the final stage of universal
sleep, the identification of consciousness with form. It was a necessary
stage in the evolution of consciousness. The human brain is a highly dif ferentiated form through which
consciousness enters this dimension. It contains approximately one
hundred billion nerve cells (called neurons), about the same number as
there are stars in our galaxy, which could be seen as a macrocosmic
brain. The brain does not create consciousness, but consciousness
created the brain, the most complex physical form on earth, for its
expression. When the brain gets damaged, it does not mean you lose
consciousness. It means consciousness can no longer use that form to
enter this dimension. Y ou cannot lose consciousness because it is, in
essence, who you are. Y ou can only lose something that you have, but
you cannot lose something that you are.A New Earth
A W A K E N E D  D O I N G
A wakened doing is the outer aspect of the next stage in the evolution of
consciousness on our planet. The closer we get to the end of our present
evolutionary stage, the more dysfunctional the ego becomes, in the same
way that a caterpillar becomes dysfunctional just before it transforms
into a butterfly. But the new consciousness is arising even as the old
dissolves. W e are in the midst of a momentous event in the evolution of human
consciousness, but they won't be talking about it in the news tonight. On
our planet, and perhaps simultaneously in many parts of our galaxy and
beyond,
consciousness is awakening from the dream of form. This does not mean
all forms (the world) are going to dissolve, although quite a few almost
certainly will. It means consciousness can now begin to create form
without losing itself in it. It can remain conscious of itself, even while it
creates and experiences form. Why should it continue to create and
experience form? For the enjoyment of it. How does consciousness do
that? Through awakened humans who have learned the meaning of
awakened doing. A wakened doing is the alignment of your outer purpose? what you do
with your inner purpose awakening and staying awake. Through
awakened doing, you become one with the outgoing purpose of the
universe. Consciousness flows through you into this world. It flows into
your thoughts and inspires them. It flows into what you do and guides
and empowers it. Not what you do, but how you do what you do determines whether you
are fulfilling your destiny. And how you do what you do is determined
by your state of consciousness. A reversal of your priorities comes about when the main purpose for
doing what you do becomes the doing itself, or rather, the current ofconsciousness that flows into what you do. That current of consciousness
is what determines quality. Another way of putting it: In any situation
and in whatever you do, your state of consciousness is the primary
factor; the situation and what you do is secondary. Future success is
dependent upon and inseparable from the consciousness out of which the
actions emanate. That can be either the reactive force of the ego or the
alert attention of awakened consciousness. All truly successful action
comes out of that field of alert attention, rather than from ego and
conditioned, unconscious thinking.A New Earth
T H E  T H R E E  M O D A L I T I E S  O F  A W A K E N E D
D O I N G
There are three ways in which consciousness can flow into what you do
and thus through you into this world, three modalities in which you can
align your life with the creative power of the universe. Modality means
the underlying ener gy?frequency that flows into what you do and
connects your actions with the awakened consciousness hat is emer ging
into this world. What you do will be dysfunctional and of the ego unless
it


 food, but as a con-
cession to taste, it may be used by those who insist upon a sub-
stitute for salt. Many have found it to be more palatable than
salt itself. III. Rejined Grain Products
TF HE ORIGIN OF GRAINS AS A STAPLE
item of human food is doubtless one of great antiquity. It is
believed that wheat was widely grown even in prehistoric times,
and this food came into special prominence in the Nile Valley
I, during the early days of Egyptian civilization. During the famine-
stricken Middle Ages bread became the staple food of Europe. The use of grains was rapidly incorporated into the habits of the
early American pioneers, and corn for the first time was widely
used. Today grains of one kind or another predominate in the
diet of the greater portion of the earth's -population; in the
Orient, rice is staple; the Europeans rely primarily upon wheat,
) with considerable amounts of rye in the north. Wheat, corn, and
occasionally rye form the basis of the American diet. Whole grains, whether wheat, rye, corn, rice, or others, form
a highly nutritious source of food. Though their mineral and
vitamin content hardly qualifies them for a position as the staple
food, and though green vegetables and fruits are a better source
of the alkaline minerals, grains are rich in phosphorus and potas-
sium. Wheat in particular contains liberal quantities of the B
complex vitamins, and the germ of the grain is considered the
finest known source of vitamin E, upon which reproductive effi-
ciency depends. Each of the grains contains considerable protein,
and that of the corn germ is of high biological value. The cellu-
lose content of the grain is high, and this is an aid to normal
elimination. The earliest wheat and rye grains were simply ground between DANGERS IN MODERN FOODS
mill stones in the preparation of flour. The resulting product was
in rather coarse condition and it included all of the nutrients
originally present in the grain. This method continued in use
throughout most of history. In the eighteenth century wire screen
was added as a means of extracting the coarser portions of bran
(the outer coating of the grain) from the rest of the flour. Eighty
per cent of the bran remained, however, so the flour was still
relatively nutritious. At the beginning of the nineteenth century
a new process was developed - that of "bolting" the flour by
passing it through fine silk-bolting cloths. This removed most of
the bran and with it the high percentage of minerals and B com-
plex vitamins found therein. Particles of the embryo were also
filtered out, thus causing a reduction of the amount of vitamin E
in the flour. Having thus lost most of the dark cellulose material,
the remaining flour was of yellowish color. Another innovation was developed shortly after the Civil War. This involved the use of air currents to separate the remaining
particles of bran from the rest of the flour. The air currents neces-
sitated the use of considerable power and machinery, and hence
the small local grist mill gradually gave way to large flour mills
in which mass-production was possible. Freshly-milled flour be-
came less common - the flour products being shipped thereafter
for large distances from Minneapolis and other concentrations
of the industry. As oxidation occurs in the case of ground wheat,
this meant a further loss of nutritional factors. The final and most drastic step in the refining of flour came
with the development of the steam-powered rolling mill. The
rollers crush the grain so completely that all cell structure is
destroyed, and they accomplish a much more thorough grinding
job with less work and in less time than the other methods could
possibly do. The extra fine grinding permitted a greater separa-
tion of the starch wheat-berry from the rest of the grain than
ever before, and thus all of the most nutritious portion was lost. The tremendous pressure of the rolling mill also tends to impair
the remaining mineral and vitamin structure of the wheat berry,
adding to the demineralization of the original grain. REFINED GRAIN PRODUCTS
i As if the refining of flour were not in itself sufficient, the flour
is later bleached with a poisonous gas. This "ages" the flour so
that it is more adaptable to make light, fluffy bread and also gives
it the pure-looking whiteness which is considered so desirable. It
also causes a further loss of the mineral and vitamin content of
the flour. During the entire refining and bleaching process, the total loss
in B vitamins and minerals runs as follows: 80 per cent of the
thiamine, 65 per cent of the riboflavin, 75 per cent of the niacin,
50 per cent of the pantothenic acid, 50 per cent of the pyridoxine,
70 per cent of the phosphorus, 98 per cent of the manganese,
50 per cent of the calcium, 80 per cent of the iron, 75 per cent
I of the magnesium, 50 per cent of the potassium, and 65 per cent
I of the copper. Exact measurements of the biotin, inosital, folic
acid, choline, and para-aminobenzoic that are lost are not avail- r able, but as they are found primarily in the bran and germ, which
I are extracted during milling, the losses must be considerable. I Virtually all of the vitamin E, one-half of the fat, and much of
I the protein are also lost in the process of refining. As the refined grain - in particular the flour of the wheat -
enters the modern bakery it is mixed with a variety of other
t ingredients for making different kinds of bread, cakes, cookies,
rolls, and other forms of bakery goods. Such ingredients, com-
monly thought to be primarily water, fresh milk, yeast, salt, sugar,
and shortening, include in addition a wide variety of other mate-
rials, depending on the particular bakery involved and the food
being made. These are largely synthetic, almost always unwhole-
some, and in some cases definitely poisonous. Dried milk rather than fresh milk is nearly always used in
bakery products (when milk is used at all). The use of frozen,
canned, or dried eggs is customary, and not infrequently have
these been found to be adulterated. Pastry fillings and pies usually
contain more starch "fillers" or extendings than real fruit, and
artificial flavors and fruit acid substitutes are often added for
more taste. The artificial coloring is added to many breads and
cakes to give the appearance that eggs were used in the ingre- DANGERS IN MODERN FOODS REFINED GRAIN PRODUCTS
dients, and starch fillers are commonly used here also. Icing on
cakes was formerly colored with bluing or phenolphthalein, the
poisonous coal-tar drug, and some icing has actually been shel-
lacked. Synthentic cornstarch custards often go into pies and
custard. "Process" butter is almost always used instead of normal
high-quality butter. Fats are generally hydrogenated. Gum
tragacanth and gum acacia are added to cake batter so that the
cake will retain moisture better. Propionic acid or acetyl-methyl
carbinol is often added to the dough to change the flavo;, and the
well known antiseptic and poison, hydrogen peroxide, is recom-
mended by bakers to raise the bread. "Plastic" cream is the new-
est substitute for real cream. Gelatinized starch and agar are used
to improve the keeping quality of the foods. Similarly unwhole-
some and synthetic products generally form any further ingre-
dients that may be used. To give advertising assurance of the healthful qualities of
bread, three synthetic vitamins of the B complex group - thia-
mine, riboflavin, and niacin - and iron, are added in the approxi-
mate amounts as were originally present in the grain. These are
only four of the main twenty-five nutrients of whole grain flour,
but putting them back in their synthetic and purified form is
said to provide "enriched" bread which supplies the same nutri-
tional qualities as whole wheat bread. Corn and rice have undergone a history involving progressively
more refining, just as have wheat and rye, though they are not
later mixed with so many unwholesome ingredients before being
used as food. In the corn the most valuable nutritious material is
found in the germ; the richest source of minerals in rice is found
in the outer coating of the seed. Today nearly all corn meal pro-
duced is degerminated and thus rendered much less nutritious. The outer coating of the rice is completely removed and the
remaining part brushed, scoured, polished, and sometimes talcum
coated to give it a pure white color. The polished grains are used
as foods for humans; the valuable outer hulk is included in food
for livestock or entirely discarded as waste. How have physicians and nutritionists viewed the refining of grains and their mixture and use in foods thereafter? In general
they have denounced the entire procedure, except when commer-
cial pressure has forced other action. As early as the eighteen thir-
ties and forties physicians objected to the "bolting" of flour that
was then becoming common. In that period Sylvester


 but since our orthodox theories have
not saved us we may have to readjust them to bring them into harmony with Nature's laws. Nature
must be obeyed, not orthodoxy. Apparently many primitive races have understood her language
better than have our modernized groups. Even the primitive races share our blights when they
adopt our conception of nutrition. The supporting evidence for this statement is voluminous and as
much of it as space permits is included in this volume. The illustrative material used is taken from
the many thousands of my negatives which are available. Photographs alone can tell much of the
story, and one illustration is said to be worth as much as one thousand words. Since the problem of applying the wisdom of the primitives to our modern needs concerns not
only health workers and nutritionists, but also educators and social workers, the data are
presented without technical details. While many of the primitive races studied have continued to thrive on the same soil through
thousands of years, our American human stock has declined rapidly within a few centuries, and in
some localities within a few decades. In the regions in which degeneration has taken place the
animal stock has also declined. A decadent individual cannot regenerate himself, although he can
reduce the progressive decadence in the next generation, or can vastly improve that generation, by
using the demonstrated wisdom of the primitive races. No era in the long journey of mankind
reveals in the skeletal remains such a terrible degeneration of teeth and bones as this brief modern
period records. Must Nature reject our vaunted culture and call back the more obedient
primitives? The alternative seems to be a complete readjustment in accordance with the controlling
forces of Nature. Thinking is as biologic as is digestion, and brain embryonic defects are as biologic as are club
feet. Since both are readily produced by lowered parental reproductive capacity, and since Nature
in her large-scale human demonstration reveals that this is chiefly the result of inadequate nutrition
of the parents and too frequent or too prolonged child bearing, the way back is indicated. Like the
successful primitive racial stocks, we, too, can make, as a first requisite, provision for adequate
nutrition both for generation and growth, and can make provision for the regulation of the
overloads. We, like the successful primitives, can establish programs of instruction for growing
youth and acquaint it with Nature s requirements long before the emergencies and stresses arise. This may require a large-scale program of home and classroom instruction, particularly for the high
school girls and boys. This would be in accordance with the practice of many of the primitive races
reported upon in the following chapters. If the individuals in our modern society who are sufficiently defective to require some
supervision are in part or largely the product of an injured parentage, who should be held
responsible? Is it just for society to consign these unsocial individuals which it has made to a life of
hard labor or confinement in depressing environments? Is it just for society to permit production of
physical and mental cripples? Many primitive races apparently have prevented the distortions
which find expressions in unsocial acts. If so, cannot modern society do this by studying and
adopting the programs developed through centuries of experience by the primitives? Nature uses a
written language which, without the keys, is made up of meaningless hieroglyphics, but which, with
the proper keys, becomes a clear story of racial and individual history. The hieroglyphics indicate
racial and individual disaster for modernized groups who heed not the warning story. The primitive
races have some of these keys and have used them successfully in avoiding many of the disasters
of our modern society. The following chapters record many of the excellent practices of the
primitives and they are presented here with the hope that they will be helpful in a program designed
to relieve mankind of some of the misfortunes common in the present social order and to prevent
disorders for future generations of civilized peoples.7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 12/250

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Chapter 2
THE PROGRESSIVE DECLINE OF MODERN CIVILIZATION
THAT modern man is declining in physical fitness has been emphasized by many eminent
sociologists and other scientists. That the rate of degeneration is progressively accelerating
constitutes a cause for great alarm, particularly since this is taking place in spite of the advance that
is being made in modern science along many lines of investigation. Dr. Alexis Carrel in his treatise "Man, the Unknown" states:
    Medicine is far from having decreased human sufferings as much as it endeavors to make us
believe. Indeed, the number of deaths from infectious diseases has greatly diminished. But we
still must die in a much larger proportion from degenerative diseases. After reviewing the reduction in the epidemic infectious diseases he continues as follows:
    All diseases of bacterial origin have decreased in a striking manner.... Nevertheless, in spite
of the triumphs of medical science, the problem of disease is far from solved. Modern man is
delicate. Eleven hundred thousand persons have to attend the medical needs of 120,000,000
other persons. Every year, among this population of the United States, there are about
100,000,000 illnesses, serious or slight. In the hospitals, 700,000 beds are occupied every day of
the year.... Medical care, under all its forms, costs about $3,500,000,000 yearly.... The
organism seems to have become more susceptible to degenerative diseases. The present health condition in the United States is reported from time to time by several
agencies representing special phases of the health program. The general health problem has been
thoroughly surveyed and interpreted by the Surgeon General of the United States Public Health
Service, Dr. Parran. Probably no one is so well informed in all of the phases of health as is the
head of this important department of the government. In his recent preliminary report (1) to state
and local officers for their information and guidance, he presented data that have been gathered by
a large group of government workers. The report includes a census of the health conditions of all
the groups constituting the population of the United States--records of the health status and of the
economic status of 2,660,000 individuals living in various sections, in various types of communities,
on various economic levels. The data include records on every age-group. He makes the following
interpretations based upon the assumption that the 2,660,000 offer a fair sampling of the
population, and he indicates the conclusions which may be drawn regarding conditions of status for
the total population of some 130,000,000 people. Every day one out of twenty people is too sick to go to school or work, or attend his
customary activities. Every man, woman and child (on the average) in the nation suffers ten days of incapacity
annually. The average youngster is sick in bed seven days of the year, the average oldster 35 days. Two million five hundred thousand people (42 per cent of the 6,000,000 sick every day) suffer
from chronic diseases-heart disease, hardening of the arteries, rheumatism, and nervous
diseases. Sixty-five thousand people are totally deaf; 75,000 more are deaf and dumb; 200,000 lack a
hand, arm, foot or leg; 300,000 have permanent spinal injuries; 500,000 are blind; 1,000,000 more
are permanent cripples.7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 13/250    Two persons on the Relief income level (less than $1,000 yearly income for the entire family)
are disabled for one week or longer for every one person better off economically. Only one in 250 family heads in the income group of more than $2,000 yearly cannot seek work
because of chronic disability. In Relief families one in every 20 family heads is disabled. Relief and low-income families are sick longer as well as more often than better-financed
families. They call doctors less often. But the poor, especially in big cities, get to stay in
hospitals longer than their better-off neighbors. Concluded Dr. Parran:
    It is apparent that inadequate diet, poor housing, the hazards of occupation and the instability
of the labor market definitely create immediate health problems. It will be seen from this report that the group expressed as oldsters, who spend on an average
thirty-five days per year in bed, are sick in bed one-tenth of the time. Those of us who are well,
who may have been so fortunate as to spend very little time in bed, will contemplate this fact with
considerable concern since it expresses a vast amount of suffering and enforced idleness. It is clear
that so great an incidence of morbidity must place a heavy load upon those who at the time are
well. The problem of the progressive increase in percentage of individuals affected with heart
disease and cancer is adequate cause for alarm. Statistics have been published by the Department
of Public Health in New York City which show the increase in the incidence of heart disease to
have progressed steadily during the years from 1907 to 1936. The figures provided in their report
reveal an increase from 203.7 deaths per 100,000 in 1907 to 327.2 per 100,000 in 1936. This
constitutes an increase of 60 per cent. Cancer increased 90 per cent from 1907 to 1936.


 were any significant
electro-metrics of the embryo. Potential measurements were
made, therefore, in the embryo from a point in the cephalic
region, and another in the caudal region. These were studied over
periods of time and showed characteristic changes with the
growth and differentiating of the embryo itself. It soon became clear that there is an electro-metric correlate of
the longitudinal axis of the salamander nervous system. There
is also a bilateral symmetry between the right side and the left
side of the axis, as might be expected from everything else we
know about the developing organism. To run down this problem a little further, measurements were
made of the unfertilized egg of a salamander, using the animal
62 THE UBIQUITOUS FIELD
pole as a reference point, and a moving electrode around the
equator of the egg in the four quadrants of the development. It is
well known, of course, that the salamander egg at this stage is a
sphere, showing little or no differentiation grossly except the
difference between the animal and vegital pole. But there is no
differentiation, so far as can be observed, in the quadrants of
the sphere. Measurements were made, therefore, in the unfertil
ized egg between the north, or animal pole, and four points on
the equator. It was found from these measurements that there was one point
on the equator which showed a marked increase in the voltage
drop between the reference electrode and the point. The latter
was marked with a spot of Nile blue sulphate so that it could be
followed through the subsequent period of development. It was
found-as our theory had suggested-that the point on the
equator which marked the greatest voltage drop from the animal
pole marked the head end of the developing salamander. A longitudinal axis of the developing nervous system was then
established in the unfertilized egg. This maintained itself
throughout the succeeding growth period and, surprisingly
enough, there was no significant change in the electro-metrics of
the unfertilized egg after fert ilization. This is astonishing, because fertilization is supposed to be a
critical point in development. But apparently-in the sala
mander, at least-the electric field properties of the egg are
established quite independently not only of the fact of fertiliza
tion but also of the plane of ingress of the sperm head into the
egg. This suggests, at once, that the design of the living embryo
is an electro-metric correlate which can be recorded objectively
during the process of growth and development and turns out to
be one of the constant factors during this whole process of
developme nt. One of the strange things about developmrnt that has always
been known is the extraordinary constancy in which the direc
tion of development moves. As a distinguished friend of mine
once said, 'The growth and developm ent of an embryo would
seem to be the result of the fact that some kind of a factor sits
on the embryo during its �ntire development and gives direction
63 THE UBIQUI TOUS FIELD
to it.' From the evidence at hand, up to date, it would seem
fairly obvious that the one constant factor in growth and develop
ment-which include not only the increase in the numbers of
cells, but also their differentia tion-is the field of the organism. All these measurement s were made using silver-silver chloride
electrodes immersed in micropipettes and connected to the high
input impedance of a suitable amplifier with a galvanometer or
a recording galvanometer in the output. At the suggestion of
one of my early colleagues, Dr. Leslie F. Nims, now at Brook
haven Laboratories, on Long Island, it was noticed that as the
micropipette electrodes were pulled away from the surface of the
embryo, a voltage gradient could still be recorded. In fact, drop
off of voltage gradient carried on as far as one or one and a half
millimetres from the embryo. This is truly extraordinary, for it makes it clear that the field
properties of the embryo radiate through the medium of the
liquid environment in which the embryo lives. Now this could occur only if the source of these potential
gradients was the result of field activity. As a matter of fact, if
one stops to think about it, if one puts a battery of any kind in a
conducting medium, the battery very soon is exhausted, since
the external medium acts as a low resistance shunt across the
positive and negative poles of the battery. But in the embryo,
although we have the same kind of voltage gradient as is present
in the battery-at least so far as the measurable characteristics
are concerned-nevertheless the field properties of the embryo
do not short out in the liquid. These experiment s led to a further analysis of the field proper
ties. It was suggested that if an embryo were rotated mechanic
ally underneath two micropipette electrodes, there should be a
constant rise and fall in voltage gradient as the head and tail axis
of the embryo passed underneath the micropipette electrode. This experiment was set up with a mechanic ally revolving stage
on which was placed a half-grown salamander embryo and the
recorded output of the high input impedance amplifier trans
mitted to a G-E photoelectric recording galvanometer. The result was extraordinary, for there was a sine wave out
put from the revolving embryo, the frequenc y of which, of
64 THE UBIQUITOUS FIELD
course, was a function of the speed with which the embryo
revolved. Moreover, it was clear that the field axis was a constant
to the whole procedure and resulted in a very interesting sine
wave output from the embryo itself. This meant, too, that the
micropipette electrodes were recording voltage gradients well
away from the embryo itself. As a control, an inert glass rod was revolved under the same
experimental conditions and produced a straight line on the
recording galvanometer. To make a further check, a 'robot' was
made of a piece of copper rod with a blob of solder at one end. Such a rod, under normal conditions, prod uces a voltage gradient,
because of the bi-metallic components. This also was revolved in
the same way as the embryo and produced the same kind of sine
wave, the only difference being that, in time, the bi-metallic
chemical voltage gradient decreased. Similar experiments were made with a full-grown salamander
floated in a circular dish of salt solution in which, at opposite
ends of a diameter, were immersed the electrodes, connected to a
recording galvanometer. The dish was then slowly rotated and, since the salamander
possessed a field with a positive and negative pole, it acted like
the armature of an electrical generator. In consequence, as it
rotated between the electrodes, it set up a tiny alternating
cnrrent of very low frequency, which was recorded as a true sine
wave. One day, perhaps, some enterprising experimenter will float a
man or a woman in a rotating swimming-pool to demonstrate
that there really is such a thing as a 'human dynamo'! But the
author's laboratory offered neither space nor facilities for such
an experiment. 3
The experiments described above made it clear that, using proper
electro-m etric techniques, recorded voltage gradients without
current drain from the system measured are a valid expression
of the basic, primary electro-dynamic field. Since the experiments
65 THE UBI QU ITOUS FIELD
also indicated that direct contact with the living organism was
not necessary to measure a volt-age gradient, a rigorously-con
trolled experiment was set up, using the sciatic nerve of a frog,
with the help of another colieague, Dr. Alexander Mauro, now
at the Rockefeller Institute in New York. This experiment was
designed to explore the field properties of a small part of a living
system. The beaut ifully-precise formulation by Lorente de N6 of fields
in an infinite-volume conductor accompanying the neural im
pulse, travelling along the sciatic nerve of the frog, demanded
that a search be made for experimental evidence of the existence
of a quasi-elec trostatic field in the air surrounding a nerve
trunk. A preliminary report of such a study is here presented. The
existence of an electro-static field has been demonstrated. How
ever, an analysis of the nature of this field is far from complete
and much further study will be required. By an ingenious technique developed by Dr. Mauro, the re
sults of the activity of the sciatic nerve of the frog were studied,
using a thousand-megohm input-impedance preamplifier, fol
lowed by suitable amplifiers with an output to a cathode-ray tube. It was possible to study the transmission of a single stimulus
throughout the substance of the segment of the nerve under
study, not only when the electrcdes were in direct contact, but
also when they were at a measurable distance outside the nerve. The evidence resulting from these experiments gives further
enlightenment as to the nature of the field irrliving systems. It is
becoming increasingly clear that these fields are in fact quasi
electro-static fields. Originally, the term 'electro-dyn amic field'
was used to describe, in the most general way, the nature of the
fields in living organisms, but it is now possible to give a more