 a healing fever and even spells of depression
and panic. On top of all this the patient may also experience nausea, toxic stools, lack of appetite
and even aversion to food or drink, especially to the green juices. There can also be more gas than
usual, plus difficulties with the coffee enemas (due to increased toxic pressure from the liver).
Without advance warning the patients may feel that their condition is worsening; they are weak,
nauseated, uncomfortable, sometimes even the pain that had been reduced returns to some extent.
What with the risk of depression, which is one of the possible side effects, patients may even
wonder whether the Gerson Therapy is causing their condition to worsen. However, the Gerson
doctor or practitioner, who recognizes these symptoms as signaling a welcome healing reaction,
is able to reassure patients and dispel their panic.
       The first flare-up is usually relatively short, since the body is not yet able to carry out
serious healing in its weakened condition and is only just beginning to respond. But even that
early start can produce impressive results. Along with the attack on malignant tissue, the body
also begins to heal old injuries, fractures, lumpy scars, and serious conditions including long-
standing high blood pressure and even age-onset diabetes.  This process cannot be held back or
stopped, since the body is not able to heal selectively! In other words, it does not only heal the
Copyright © Charlotte Gerson, 2007.  All rights reserved.
This material may not be reproduced in any medium, print or electronic without prior written permission from the author.Page 127Healing the Gerson Way—Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases
www.thegersonway.compresent life-threatening disease but also clears up all other damage, whether old or new. That
is what the totality of the Gerson Therapy means. Thanks to it, cancer patients have overcome
allergies, long term migraines, arthritis, fibromyalgia and other conditions that have troubled
them for any length of time.
How do patients react to a flare-up? Only a general answer can be given, based on the
reactions of a majority of cases.  Since each person is different and has a different medical past
with different damages to the body, each healing reaction is also different! Neither is it possible
to give an exact answer to patients who wish to know how long a flare-up will last.  In many
cases the first reaction is mild and only lasts from a few hours to a day or two. The second one
is normally longer and somewhat heavier, since the body and its immune system have to some
extent been detoxified, strengthened with the enzymes and nutrients contained in the raw juices
and supported by the medication, and as a result it is able to respond more powerfully.
In most cases this second flare-up can be expected around the sixth week of the therapy.  The
third reaction occurs usually around 3-3 1⁄2 months into the treatment and is the heaviest one.  But
please remember that this is not a timetable cast in concrete, only what we have observed in a
majority of cases. Reactions are also different in chemotherapy pre-treated patients (see Chapter
18.)
What to do for the patient in a flare-up, who is unwell, upset, dismayed? What NOT to do
is to stop the Therapy, give no coffee enemas or juices, for doing so would drastically stop the
healing process! Yet we must help the patient to endure the discomforts of the flare-ups. Here are
the best ways to do so:
Nausea :  If despite the nausea the patient is able to drink the juices, by all means continue
to provide them. If he or she develops a severe aversion to the green juice, warm it gently
(undiluted) to body temperature by standing the container in a warm water bath, pour the juice in
the enema bucket and infuse it rectally as a retention implant.  This is not an enema and should not
be expelled.  The patient should lie comfortably in bed, with legs pulled up in the fetal position,
and allow the juice to be absorbed. Patients who are temporarily unable to drink any juices can
have them administered rectally (all, except the orange juice), and should be encouraged to drink
warm oatmeal gruel and plenty of peppermint tea, partly to settle the stomach and also to supply
the necessary liquids which would normally be provided by the juices.
To prepare Oatmeal Gruel,  place one ounce of oats and 5 ounces of water into a pot and
bring to a boil. Let it simmer for 10-15 minutes, then strain through a fine tea strainer, to remove
all solids, but then press the oats as far as possible through the strainer, in order to obtain a liquid
somewhat denser than water. Drink while warm.
For patients severely sensitive to juices during a flare-up, two ounces of gruel can be poured
into a glass and topped with no more than 6 ounces of juice.
Copyright © Charlotte Gerson, 2007.  All rights reserved.
This material may not be reproduced in any medium, print or electronic without prior written permission from the author.Page 128Healing the Gerson Way—Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases
www.thegersonway.comPeppermint tea  helps to relieve nausea, digestive discomfort and gas. Peppermint or
spearmint is easy to grow in the backyard and spreads quickly. A heaped tablespoonful of fresh
leaves makes one cup of tea; add boiling distilled water, cover and let steep for 12-15 minutes.
Strain.  If you use tea bags, make sure they are organic. One tea bag easily makes two cups. Or if
you buy loose leaves, which is preferable, put a tablespoonful of leaves in the pot, pour two cups
of boiling distilled water over them, and proceed as above.
It is a good idea to leave peppermint tea in a thermos on the patient’s bedside table, in case
he or she gets thirsty at night.
Pain : Castor oil packs and/or clay packs can be applied locally. (see Chapter 15 ). The patient
will also be weakened and should rest in bed.  Unless he/she has been given heavy doses of
morphine prior to starting the Gerson Therapy, the ‘pain triad’ may be useful, consisting of one
aspirin, one 500 mg tablet of Vitamin C (ascorbic acid, not sodium ascorbate), and one regular
50mg tablet of Niacin.  This triad can be taken every four hours, if needed.  In cases of prior
morphine or other heavy pain-medication, it takes time to clear the body of those drugs,before the
pain triad can become effective.  Keep trying, it will work eventually.
Depression : As mentioned before, it is not unusual for the patient to be depressed, temporarily
lose hope, and even go through lengthy crying jags during a flare-up. Such emotional unloadings
run parallel with the body’s attempts to detoxify: body and mind cannot be separated (see  Chapter
24.) Often an extra enema helps to ease the upheaval. The patient may even pick a fight for no
obvious reason with the caregiver. This is less surprising if we consider the metabolic fact that
aggression produces extra adrenalin, which makes the person actually feel better! The caregiver
should not be hurt by any unwarranted attacks or accusations. The patient cannot control these
outbursts and usually regrets them afterwards.  Again, a coffee enema can clear the problem. This
part of the healing reaction should be seen as a psychological clearing. Once the flare-up is over,
the patient will again be optimistic and forward-looking.
Difficulties with the Coffee Enemas : see Chapter 13, pg.128 )
Fever :  This is a welcome response by the immune system, helping to attack the malignant
tissue.  Do not attempt to stop the fever with aspirin or any other drug.  Simply make the patient
comfortable, placing a damp cloth wrung out in cool (not ice) water on the forehead.  In nearly 30
years we have never seen the body reach a temperature that could damage the brain or the liver,
i.e., in excess of 106 degrees Fahrenheit.  The highest we have seen was 104.6 degrees, which is
uncomfortable but not serious.  Since the body is in charge and the therapy activates healing, the
fever is not produced artificially and the body never heals itself to death!
The above covers ways to ease the general symptoms experienced by the recovering patient.
However, flare-ups can take many different forms.  In one case a lady, recovering very fast from a
wide-spread melanoma, was absorbing tumor tissues rapidly.  One day her son called the hospital
Copyright © Charlotte Gerson, 2007.  All rights reserved.
This material may not be reproduced in any medium, print or electronic without prior written permission from the author.Page 129Healing the Gerson Way—Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases
www.thegersonway.comand said, “Last night my mom walked around the house disoriented, talking nonsense and repeating
herself.  So we put her to bed.  However, this morning she didn’t really wake up, so we took her
to the Emergency Room at the hospital.  There the doctor said that, naturally, her melanoma had
spread to her brain and that she was dying. What should we do?” The Gerson doctor urged him
to take her home


Disorders, 3
rd
 Edition
, that I believe these numbers are too low and a more accurate estimate would probably approach 30-
40%
of the population (up to 52 million adult Americans).
13
 Why the discrepancy? Conventional medicine diagnoses a thyroid
problem based solely on the blood tests. I feel that the blood tests are not sensitive enough to pick up thyroid abnormalities in the
vast majority of patients suffering from thyroid problems. Therefore, a holistic approach to diagnosing a thyroid issue, as I outline
in my book, is a much more comprehensive way to diagnose a problem that affects every single cell in the body.
Why is adequate thyroid hormone so important? Every single cell, muscle, and organ in the body depends on adequate
thyroid hormone levels for optimal functioning. Thyroid hormone acts as the body’s major metabolic regulator. In a low thyroid
state, known as hypothyroidism, the thyroid gland is releasing inadequate amounts of thyroid hormone to meet the body’s
metabolic demands, and the metabolic rate is therefore reduced. In a hyperthyroid state, the thyroid gland is releasing excess
amounts of thyroid hormone that results in an elevated metabolic rate.
Why do so many people across this country and the world have a serious problem like a thyroid disorder? Although the
etiology of thyroid illness can be varied, one common denominator that could explain this epidemic is iodine deficiency.
As previously discussed in
Chapter 2
, one-third of the world’s population lives in an iodine-deficient area by World
Health
Organization (WHO) standards. This large number of people living in an iodine-deficient area closely correlates with the estimates
for the number of people who have thyroid disorders. All individuals with a thyroid disorder should be screened for iodine
deficiency.
WHAT DOES IODINE DO IN THE THYROID GLAND?
Iodine is responsible for maintaining the normal architecture of the glands of the body including the thyroid, ovaries, uterus,
breast, and prostate. When the cells of the glandular tissue have enough iodine, the tissue maintains a normal structure.
When iodine is deficient, the architecture of the glandular tissue becomes disrupted and the tissue becomes cystic. Cysts are
fluid-filled sacs that have a distinct border from the surrounding normal tissue. When palpated, cysts are generally soft and
compressible.
If iodine deficiency persists, the cysts become nodular—that is, they become more firm upon palpation. If iodine deficiency
continues, the nodules start to change their histological appearance to become hyperplastic. Hyperplasia literally means ‘over-
formation’. In a hyperplastic state, the cells start to multiply rapidly and take on an increasingly disordered appearance when
viewed microscopically. Eventually, if iodine deficiency is not corrected, the end stage of this continuum can be cancer.
Chapter 8
 will discuss fibrocystic breast disease and iodine deficiency. Fibrocystic breast disease is a precursor to breast
cancer. I have successfully treated many fibrocystic breast disease patients with iodine. I feel that cysts on any glandular tissue
should prompt a physician to check the patient’s iodine status and to prescribe iodine, if indicated, to reverse the process.
In the thyroid gland, iodine deficiency results in the formation of cysts, nodules, and goiter. The thyroid gland does not
function optimally when the normal architecture is disrupted. I have treated hundreds of patients for growths in their thyroid and
other glandular tissue that resolve or get significantly better with iodine therapy.
Lexi is a 15-year-old girl who was diagnosed with thyroid cysts and nodules one year previously. Her thyroid was
two-times the normal size. At our first visit, I could see Lexi’s thyroid protruding out of her neck. Lexi had seen two
endocrinologists who both recommended surgery. Lexi’s mother commented, “I really don’t want her to have surgery, but
they are offering me nothing. We have been following her thyroid ultrasounds and it just keeps getting bigger. I have a
surgery date already scheduled for three weeks from now unless you tell me otherwise,” she said. At our first visit, I
asked Lexi how she was feeling. She did not
have any major complaints. Her energy level was good and she was very
active in school activities. I told Lexi and her mother that surgery was not warranted yet; the enlarged thyroid had not
caused any problems. After my exam, I ordered a spot urine iodide level and a 24-hour urinary iodide loading test. Lexi’s
spot urine iodide was below the laboratory detectable limits. Her 24-hour loading test was also low at 50% excretion
(normal 95%). At this point I prescribed iodine—25mg/day, unrefined salt (1tsp/day of Redmond’s Real Salt), and a
multivitamin (Optivite). Two weeks later, Lexi had another ultrasound of her thyroid because both both she and her
mother–who is an ultrasound technician–felt the thyroid was visually smaller. The ultrasound showed a 50% reduction in
the overall size of her thyroid and all the cysts and nodules were shrinking. “The radiologist called in two other
colleagues to look at the ultrasound as he could not believe how much it had shrunk,” Lexi’s mother commented.
I have seen countless patients with cysts, nodules, and disrupted architecture of glandular tissue—including the breasts,
ovaries, uterus, and prostate improve or dramatically reverse their condition with iodine supplementation. In many cases, iodine
supplementation results in a cure. How long does this process take? For most patients, three to six months is a reasonable time
period to see results. Severely ill patients may take years to see results.
HYPOTHYROIDISM
The thyroid gland controls the metabolic activity of the body. When there is adequate thyroid hormone available for the cells
of the body, there is a normal metabolic activity present. By contrast, in a hypothyroid state, the metabolic activity of the body islowered.
Table 4
, on the following page, lists some of the signs and symptoms related to hypothyroidism.
The main thyroid hormones, T4 and T3, require sufficient iodine in order to be produced. In an iodine-deficient state,
hypothyroidism is the expected outcome as thyroid hormone will not be manufactured. My research has shown that iodine levels
need to be investigated in all hypothyroid individuals. If iodine is found to be deficient, many times, supplementing with iodine can
improve or even cure the hypothyroid condition without the use of exogenous thyroid hormone.
Iodine and thyroid hormone have a synergistic action in the hypothyroid patient. When it is indicated, it is more effective to
use iodine along with thyroid hormone to achieve the best results.
Karen, age 50, suffered with hypothyroidism for 15 years. Her symptoms included fatigue, mental confusion,
puffiness, and hair loss. I diagnosed Karen with hypothyroidism three years ago and began treating her with Armour
®
thyroid as well as a combination of vitamins, minerals, and herbs. She noticed a significant improvement in her
symptoms when she began taking Armour
®
 thyroid. “I feel like I got my life back. I could think much more clearly and
my energy level started to improve,” she said. Karen’s daughter, Lisa (22 years old) had similar symptoms and was
diagnosed with hypothyroidism two years ago. She had similar positive results with thyroid supplementation. Four
months ago, the laboratory tests showed both Karen and Lisa had iodine deficiency. Three months after starting iodine
supplementation, I received a letter from Karen that said in part, “Lisa and I take Armour
®
 thyroid and we have had
much success with that, but adding iodine really made a difference. We have
more energy and it is much easier to get up
in the morning. The muscle stiffness I occasionally experienced is gone. As you know, I spent three weeks in California
with my mom who had undergone surgery for colon cancer. I was in a bed other than my own and I was on a different
time schedule. I wasn’t getting much sleep and the stress level was very high. In the past, a situation like that would have
exhausted my body and I would be aching all the time. Not this time! In spite of everything that was going on, I felt
great. I attribute that to the iodine, because it is the only change I have made since being in California. Lisa’s experience
has been similar. She is in college and has a very irregular schedule. Since she started taking iodine, I have a noticed a
big difference in her energy level. She actually wakes up on her own and has much more energy during the day and
night.” After two months of therapy, I had asked Karen and Lisa to reduce their iodine dosage slightly and they did not
feel as good. “When Lisa and I cut down our dosage of iodine, we gradually noticed we did not feel as well. At your
recommendation, we increased the dosage and began to feel as good as we were before,” Karen wrote. Karen and Lisa’s
experience is very common for many of my other patients. As is the case with Karen and Lisa, optimal thyroid function is
dependent on having adequate iodine ingestion.

Table 4: Signs and Symptoms of Hypothyroidism
IODINE AND THYROID SUPPLEMENTATION
It has been over 20 years since I started studying and
practicing holistic medicine. During this time,


	the	Prince	of	Denmark	is	caught
between	the	physical	world	and	the	subtle,	and	he	can’t	convince	himself	that
he	trusts	either	one.	To	put	the	argument	into	modern	English:	Is	dying	the
end,	or	is	it	akin	to	going	to	sleep?	If	it’s	like	going	to	sleep,	will	it	mean	the
end	of	my	troubles,	or	will	I	be	engulfed	in	nightmares?	Maybe	these	dreams
are	worse	than	being	alive,	even	when	life	is	at	its	most	painful.	I	can’t	speak
with	anyone	who	has	come	back	from	the	dead,	so	I	can’t	resolve	this
problem.	I’m	left	with	doubt.	And	doubt	is	enough	to	make	me	cling	to	life.
This	is	what	Vedanta	means	about	shifting	your	allegiance;	if	you	aren’t
successful,	you	will	be	caught	up	in	bewildering	doubt.	The	secret	is	that
you
have	to	master	the	subtle	world	in	order	to	let	go	of	the	physical
.	Right	now
you	rely	on	rational	thought.	You	proceed	from	event	to	event	in	a	linear	way.
Your	physical	strength	enables	you	to
manipulate
	objects	and	feel	secure	that
you	can	defend	yourself.	Your	willpower	and	force	of	character	support	you
in	accomplishing	long-range	goals.None	of	these	powers	are	relevant	in	the	subtle	world	and	therefore
provide	no	support	in	the	afterlife.	And	the	threshold	between	physical	and
subtle	reality	is	very	disorienting.	We	already	experience	this	in	dreams.	In	a
dream	you	can	lift	a	house	as	easily	as	a	feather,	leap	backward	in	time,	or
feel	totally	helpless	in	a	frightening	situation	no	matter	how	hard	you	struggle
to	get	out	of	it.	The	long	saga	of	Carlos	Castaneda’s	apprenticeship	with	Don
Juan,	the	Yaqui	sorcerer	who	became	his	spiritual	master,	is	basically	an
education	in	learning	how	to	navigate	the	subtle	world,	in	which	Castaneda
portrays	himself	as	full	of	anxiety	and	doubt.
In	one	episode	Don	Juan	takes	Castaneda’s	hand,	and	together	they	jump
over	a	tall	tree.	When	they	land	on	solid	ground	again,	Castaneda	feels	sick
and	disoriented,	on	the	verge	of	vomiting	(queasiness	is	the	most	prevalent
condition	the	apprentice	finds	himself	in,	along	with	fear).	Don	Juan	asks,
What	is	the	difference	between	jumping	over	a	tree	as	we	just	did	and
jumping	over	a	tree	in	a	dream?	Then	he	answers	his	own	question.	In	a
dream	you	can	comfortably	jump	over	a	tree	because	it’s	natural	in	the	dream
world.	You	know	that	you	are	going	to	wake	up,	and	when	you	do	you	realize
that	all	the	events	in	your	dream	were	just	neural	impulses	in	your	brain.
There	was	no	“real”	tree;	you	look	back	on	the	whole	dream	world	as	an
illusion.
The	reason	you	can’t	jump	over	a	tree	in	the	physical	world	is	that	you
don’t	realize	you	can	wake	up.	A	sorcerer	is	someone	who	has	learned	to
wake	up	completely,	so	to	him	jumping	over	a	tree	is	natural.	It	all	happens	as
neural	impulses	in	the	brain.	There	is	no	“real”	tree.	But	if	you	buy	into	the
tree	being	real,	you	must	accept	the	limitations	of	such	a	world.
One	suddenly	realizes	the	immense	challenge	of	shifting	one’s	allegiance
away	from	the	physical.	Does	it	involve	being	able	to	leap
over
	trees?	That
would	be	an	extreme	case	(although	not	unheard	of:	Catholic	and	Hindu	lore
are	filled	with	levitating	saints,	and	a	nun	in	Egypt	even	had	to	be	coaxed
down	from	her	perch	in	the	air	above	the	tree).	The	fact	that	so	few	of	us	ever
explore	the	mystery	of	life	after	death	is	testimony	to	our	fixed	allegiance.	Yet
there	are	moments	when	we	realize	that	we	already	have	the	power	to	shift
from	one	level	of	consciousness	to	another	without	the	illusion	of	dreaming.
Let	me	illustrate.
“Thirty	years	ago	I	found	a	switch	inside	my	head	that	can	change
reality.”	The	man	speaking	is	Harold;	he	is	around	sixty	and	a	retired
freelance	editor.	We	met	at	a	large	New	Age	book	convention	two	years	ago.
“I	was	born	with	a	congenital	heart	defect	that	put	me	at	risk	for	dying
young,”	Harold	went	on.	“This	was	something	I’d	grown	used	to	growing	up.
But	after	college	my	defective	heart	landed	me	in	the	hospital	as	a	prime
candidate	for	a	pacemaker.
“Unfortunately,	there	were	complications—an	infection,	all	kinds	oftrouble.	One	night	during	the	worst	of	it	I	was	lying	in	my	hospital	bed.	The
nurse	came	in	to	take	my	temperature,	and	as	she	left	she	forgot	to	turn	off	the
light.	I	was	irritated,	but	I	was	too	sleepy	to	get	out	of	bed.	Then	the	lights
went	off.
“At	first	I	didn’t	think	this	was	unusual,	even	though	I	had	a	direct	view
of	the	light	switch	and	hadn’t	seen	anybody.	A	few	seconds	later	the	lights
went	on	again.	Then	off,	then	on.	I	didn’t	freak	out	but	just	lay	there,	staring
at	them.	It	was	obvious	that	no	one	was	flicking	the	switch,	but	I	could	even
hear	the	buzzing	of	the	fluorescent	bulbs	going	off	and	on.	Suddenly	I	had	the
strangest	idea:
It’s	me
.
“At	that	moment	I	wasn’t	sleepy	anymore;	I	felt	a	sense	of	extraordinary
clarity.	Have	you	ever	heard	of	such	a	thing?	Turning	the	lights	off	and	on
with	your	mind?”
I	told	him	I’ve	heard	of	much	stranger	things.	Did	the	episode	repeat
itself?
“Not	for	a	long	time.	Fast	forward	to	last	month.	A	hot	summer	night	in
New	York.	My	plane	was	four	hours	late,	and	I	was	seething.	I’d	missed	all
my	connections	and	was	just	standing	there	waiting	impatiently	for	my	bag	to
come	off	the	carousel.	All	at	once	I	had	this	thought:
they’ve	lost	my	bag
.
Sure	enough,	everyone	grabs	their	luggage,	but	my	bag	never	shows	up.
“So	I	march	into	the	lost	baggage	office,	and	I	begin	to	grumble	at	the
clerk,	who	couldn’t	care	less.	Yawning,	she	phones	somebody	to	see	if	any
bags	have	been	left	behind,	then	in	a	bored	voice	she	tells	me	to	fill	out	a
claim.	Nothing	unusual	so	far.”
On	the	verge	of	losing	his	temper,	a	faint	notion	entered	Harold’s	head.
It’s	just	as	easy	to	be	happy	as	angry.	You	can	make	this	a	positive	situation
.
“What	I	saw	in	my	mind’s	eye	was	an	invisible	switch.	And	I	knew	if	I
flipped	the	switch,	everything	would	change.	So	I	did.	The	clerk	smiled	at	me
and	said	she’d	phone	to	find	out	about	my	bags.	I	mean,	she	acted	as	if	she
hadn’t	already	done	that.	S


 it is, and there are billions of influences going back
billions of years. In contrast, you’re just making up how it’s supposed to be
based on the impressions you held inside from your past. When realitydoesn’ t happen the way you want, you say reality is wrong. “I don’t like
that. It should not have happened.”
Here’ s a technique for getting perspective. Put your mind in outer
space and realize that there’ s nothing out there but 99.999 percent
emptiness. Ther e’s just empty space between all the stars. Your nearest star
after the Sun is 4.2 light-years  away. To get an idea of how far that is,
imagine holding  a light beam above the Earth. Now, let it go for one second.
In that one second the light circumnavigated the globe seven and a half
times. Travel at that speed every second for 4.2 years, and you’ll reach the
next star. There’ s pretty much nothing but empty space in between. We call
it interstellar space. That’ s how it is between all the stars, all over the
universe. How would you like to be out there and see nothin g? Because
that’s what 99.999 percent of the universe is. What you get every day is a
miracle! There are colors, shapes, and sounds along with all the amazing
experiences you’re given with each passing moment. Yet all you do is say,
“No, it’s not what I want.” Of course it’s not what you want. That’ s not the
point. Instead of comparing the moment in front of you against the
preferences you’ve built up inside your mind, why don’t you compare it
against nothing? Since that’ s what makes up 99.999 percent of the universe.
If you do this, you’ll find yourself being thankful that you get to have
your daily experiences. They are certainly better than empty space. That’ s
how a wise person lives. The alternative is to suffer because things are not
the way you want. Previously, we discussed Buddha’ s first noble truth: All
of life is suffering.  Now we get to the second noble truth: The cause of
suffering is desir e. In other words, the cause of suffering is preference,
deciding how you want things to be and getting upset when they’re not that
way. Not surprisingly, it turns out Buddha was right. Events don’t cause
mental or emotional suffering—you cause yourself mental and emotional
suffering about the events. If you are not doing that, things are the way they
are. Always remember, it took 13.8 billion years of everything unfolding
exactly as it did for the moment in front of you to be the way it is.
A perfec t example of how we cause ourselves mental suffering  is how
we view our bodies. When you’re young, you look a certain way. You get
older, and you look another way. What’ s wrong with that? It’s just
miraculous. You watch your body change all by itself. That is a natural
process, and it should not cause suffering. Likewise, in this life you go
through many different experiences. They should not cause suffering.Experiences are not suffering. They are experiences. But if you decide how
you want them to be, and they’re not that way, then you suffer. Suffering is
caused by the contrast between what you mentally decided you wanted and
the reality unfolding in front of you. To whatever degree they don’t match,
you suf fer.
What we’re exploring here is deeper than most people want to go, but
it is the truth. You have set up in your mind what you like and what you
don’t like based on your past impressions. Now you honestly believe the
world should be that way. Obviously, that’s not a belief founded in reality.
As long as you do that, you’re going to have a very hard time in life.
We now have a pretty clear view of the personal mind. We have seen
that the first layer of mind is the one that receives the senses.  The second
layer is the samskaras we did not let pass through as life flowed into us.
Based on this foundation, we built very personal thought pattern s of like and
dislike and how to get life to unfold the way we want. These impressions of
what we liked and disliked are so powerful that our consciousn ess becomes
completely absorbed in the model of life they generate. In fact, we focus on
it so completely  that it forms our self-concept. “I am the one who likes this,
doesn’ t like that, and I’m dead serious about getting what I want.” We are so
distracted by this model that we’re not even aware of being back there
watching all this. But we are—how else would we know it’ s going on?Chapter 18.
Willful and Automatic Thoughts
You’re in there, and you have the ability to create a thought. Right now say
“Hello” inside your head. Say it over and over again. It’s doing it, isn’t it? If
you had not purposely said that word, it would not have been in your mind,
would it? You clearly have the ability to willfully make your mind create
thoughts. In general, there are two very distinct types of thoughts: willful
and automatic. The first one we’ll explore, as its name indicates, is a
thought that you willfully create.
You can willfull y create thoughts in two different ways. You can create
auditory thoughts through the voice inside your head talking to you, saying
“Hello,” or you can create visualizations in your mind’ s eye. For example,
right now, visualize a boat. Do you see it in your mind? Now  visualize a
bigger boat, and an even bigger one. See the Queen Mary in there. That boat
would not be in there unless you purposely willed it to be. Once again, we
see that you clearly have the ability to make your mind create thoughts.
There’ s another category of thoughts besides willful thoughts:
automatic thoughts. These are the thoughts you did not purpose ly decide to
create—they just pop into your mind on their own. You may pay attention to
them once they’re there, but you did not willfully decide to create them like
you did with the boat. The vast majority of your thoughts are automatically
generated. You’re driving down the street enjoying your day, and your mind
starts creating thoughts by itself: “Why did I have to say those  things? If I
hadn’ t said them, we might still be together. Well, that’s unlikely—we were
having problems before that.” You’re not willfully making your mind create
these thoughts. This is that voice inside your head talking on its own. If you
doubt that this is happening by itself, try stopping it for any length of time.
The mind’ s stream of thoughts will return in no time.Let’s say somebody was supposed to call you at three o’clock and by
three thirty they still haven’ t called. What happens during those thirty
minutes? Your mind creates thoughts by itself. You are not willfully
deciding, “I want to worry about this. Okay, mind, start creating worrisome
thoughts. Did he have an accid ent or is he standing me up?” You’re not
doing that. Your mind is doing it all by itself. They’re not even  meaningful
thoughts—they’re destructive thoughts. They are ruining your thirty
minutes. The question becomes, if you’re going to end up waiting thirty
minutes for the person to call, why do you want to make yourself miserable?
Well, technically, you’re not. Y our mind is doing it for you.
If you pay attention, you will see that the mind creates most thoughts
on its own. They go on all the time. Just watch yourself in the shower.
Watch yourself when you’re driving. Watch yourself whenever you take a
break from work. You’ll see the mind is constantly creating thoughts. Even
when someone is talking to you, the words may be coming in through your
senses, but you’re not totally listening to them. You’re also listening to your
mind’ s reaction to what’ s being said. You’re thinking, “I don’t agree with
that. I would never do it that way.” Your mind just made the discussion all
about you instead of what the person is saying. If you watch those
automatically generated thoughts, you’ll see they range anywhere from
funny to frightening. Regardles s, is it so smart to have all that noise going
on inside your head all the time? If you bother to pay attention to it, you’re
going to find out that it’ s not.
Where do those thoughts come from? Why does the mind  create
thoughts by itself without you willfully doing it? We’ve actually already
discussed this. When you store a samskara, an unfinished mental and
emotional pattern, that pattern will not sit quietly inside of you. Anything
that ever got stored inside your mind, because you resisted or clung to it, is
trying to release. It’s an energetic reality, like Newton’ s laws of motion. The
energy cannot stay in there unless you continuously assert an opposing force
of will to keep it in there. That’s why it keeps coming back up. Mommy
yelled at you twenty-five years ago, and that hurt you. Now suddenly
somebody menti ons


 as long
as t he dream lasts—there is  no one standing beside the bed to
shake us awake.Spells, dream s, enchantments, illusions, wizardry and
witchcraft, mis chievous gods —every culture has invented versions
of th e s ame ide a that reality i s deceptive. “You can’t get the re from
here” a s long as you are entangled in a complete, all-env eloping
trick of the m ind. Figuring out how to wake up, theref ore, has
been a mysterious business. Up until now.
Life pro ceeds b y knowledge and experience, and Part One was
all abo ut the knowledge of metareality. So where will the
experience com e from? Why didn’t we delve into it first? It’s easy
to be impatien t (the male sex, in particular, is notorious  for not
reading the manual or asking  for directions when lost), but in this
case knowledge and experien ce can’t be separated. You can’t jump
into the deep end of the p ool and figure out how t o swim.
Consciousness must be reframed from the ground up; perceptions
must shift; interpretations have to be abandoned. Nothing can
remain quite the same in the leap from human to metahuman.
As all-encompassing as virtual reality is, a loophole exists,
which is nothing more th an experience itself. What is an
experience? Sa iling the Atlantic in a one-man boat is very different
from cl imbing the Alps, commuting to work, or baking an apple
pie, so the face  of experience is constantly changing. But at  bottom
every experience is the same thing—a conscious event. If you make
the mistake of rooting your e xperiences in the physical world, you
cannot wake up from the spell/dream/illusion, because the
physical world is  the spell/dream/illusion.
E x p e r i e n c i n g  t h e  W o r l d
The on ly way to break the spell is to reverse the no rmal
explanation of how things work. By this I mean putting the
experience  first. The normal explanation is to put things  first,
which m akes common sense.  Didn’t the stars exist before we came
along to gaze at them in the night sky? Without the Earth, which
existed in a primordial state before life began, we wouldn’t be
here. Or so common sense dictates.Reversing the explanation makes just as much sense, however.
Let’s sa y it is morning, and you’re reading with a cup o f coffee
beside y ou. A “cup of coffee” can mean a physical object f ixed, for
the moment, in time and space. I’ve put “cup of coffee” in
quotation mar ks because you are actually relating to a so-called
object. I n reality, you are exp eriencing a fusion of sensations. Your
eyes see color, light, and sh ade, which you perceive as the cup.
Your nose detects the coffee’s  aroma, your hand feels the warmth
of the coffee in the cup, your tongue its taste.
Take away all t hese experiences and what happens? There  is no
cup of coffee. This is a simpl e, logical conclusion, but if y ou want
to reinforce the spell/dream/illusion, this conclusion is
outrageous. A cup of coffee is  simply there, standing in spa ce-time
as a physical th ing. We’ll leave aside the quantum explanation that
dissolves phys ical things, including the entire universe, into
invisible virtual states. Our goal is different here. The reason for
making a cup of coffee vanish  isn’t to prove that it was nev er there.
The rea son is to put experienc e first. What we call a tree, a  cloud, a
mountain, a star, or a cup of  coffee exists only  a s an experience.
Once you accept this fact, the path to metahuman is free and clear.
It does little g ood, however, to shrug your shoulders and say,
“All righ t, I accept.” The words are hollow unless there is a n “aha,”
and you get th e point. Experience is how we know anything. If
there is a reali ty beyond human awareness, by definition  we will
never know it. Much news  has been made in contem porary
physics by “dark” matter and energy (which Menas Kafatos and I
discuss at length in You Are the Universe ). W hat makes some
energy and matter dark, if s ome theories are right, is that they
exist outside the boundaries of the physical universe. In the dark
domain, there may be “stuff” that isn’t atomic in origin, doesn’t
emit photons and electrons,  and perhaps has no relationship to
our version of space and time.
Let’s sa y that all these conje ctures are true (there is a chance
they ar en’t, but we won’t go into the technical reasons for that
here). W ouldn’t dark matter and energy, being totally alien to
human experience, having nothing in common with the “stuff”
that con stitutes the human brain, qualify as real but impossible to
experience? For that matter, no one can experience the big bang,because it preceded atoms an d molecules. No one can dive into a
black hole to experience it,  since the extreme gravity in and
around a black hole disintegrates matter and tears all o rdinary
“stuff” apart, including time and space.
For any one who accepts the universe as it appears, pu tting
experience first sounds nonsensical—but it isn’t. Dark matter and
energy are known through experience, as are the big bang, black
holes, and all the other exotica of physics. In all these cases, the
experience is indirect, formulated in mathematical equati ons, the
collection of traces of fleeting subatomic particles, and the data
received by radio telescopes  and the like. But no matter how
indirect, it is still an experience. So meone has to see something, if
only a sheet o f paper filled with numbers. Someone has  to hear
another scientist talking or read her words. The fact that even the
most exotic science is occurring as conscious experience is
undeniable. It levels the playing field with everyday experience,
because a first-grader learn ing his ABCs is having the same
experience as a physicist re ading a journal article on q uantum
gravity.
As a specific  species of consciousness, Homo sapiens
constructed its version of reality from everyday experiences and
built everything up from there. We humanized virtual reality
according to our experiences. A hot rock in the desert su n that a
lizard finds comfortable burns our skin. The darkest midnight
frightens us but makes bats feel right at home, just as s hivering
heights are perfect nesting places for eagles and the ocean is
breathable to fish.
But we are not  fated to be imprisoned in our experiences. We
shape and mold them with ex traordinary freedom. The body looks
like a fixed ob ject, but we ca n starve it or fatten it up, build its
muscles or let them go to flab. The question is just how malleable
the whole “thingness” of thin gs really is. I think of it as a kind of
thawing proce ss. When ice jams break up in spring, th ey don’t
thaw immediately. There is a transition from a frozen river to a
flowing one. The same is tru e of how we experience the physical
world. I nstead of being one b ig, frozen block, it is reducib le to the
tiniest experie nces, like a rock cliff reduced over time by the
pounding sea to fine grains of sand. The five senses are exquisitelyattuned to fleeting, transient events. I had kept in the back of my
mind a small but impressive finding, that the human retina can
detect a  single photon of ligh t, but recently this isolated piece of
data was expanded in quite a startling way.
T h e  Q u a n t u m  B e c o m e s  H u m a n
Without achiev ing widesprea d popular attention through mass
media, researc h has verified t hat at least four of the five se nses are
actually capable of experien cing the quantum domain directly,
without the use of sophisticated scientific instruments. The basic
findings, which come from leading university laboratories, can be
briefly summarized.
SIGHT :  Th e human e ye, as just mentioned, can detect a single
photon. This is the smallest unit of light in the universe, and our
ability to detect a photon has inspired researchers to explore
whether they can probe the quantum world with the naked eye.
HEARING:  Th e inner e ar is so sensitive that it can detect
vibrations less than the diameter of an atom. It can distinguish
sounds that are only ten millionths of a second apart.
SMELL:  It was previously estimated that the human olfactory
system could detect ten thousand distinct smells, but the latest
research suggests that smell is a quantum sense that can
distinguish a trillion different inputs.
T OUCH:  We can detect  tactile sensations down to one billionth of
a meter.
T ASTE:


improves.
The	carrots	you	buy	in	the	supermarket	may	look	ripe,	but	they	frequently	turn
that	bright	orange	(ripe)	color	during	transit	through	the	distribution	system.	If
they	are	not	ripened	while	still	in	the	soil	(and	most	are	not),	they	will	lack
essential	nutrients.	Vine-ripened,	freshly	harvested	tomatoes	are	loaded	with
vitamins,	minerals	and	phytonutrients	(natural	chemicals	in	plants	that	benefit
our	health)—unlike	commercial	tomatoes	that	are	picked	green	and	artificially
ripened	with	ethylene	gas.	Naturally	ripened	tomatoes	were	found	to	contain
one-third	more	vitamin	C	than	those	harvested	green	and	immature.	Foods
harvested	before	they	are	ripe	never	develop	certain	nutrients	at	all.	Certain
phytonutrients	(substances	found	in	ripe	tomatoes	known	to	help	prevent
diseases	such	as	cataracts,	macular	degeneration	and	even	cancer)	are	lacking	in
the	typical	supermarket	tomato	because	these	substances	develop	in	the	last
stages	of	ripening.
While	having	all	kinds	of	food	available	to	us	all	year	round	is	wonderful,	we
pay	the	price	with	our	health	because	the	food	must	often	be	harvested	before	it
is	ripe,	transported	long	distances,	stored	for	long	periods	and	artificially
ripened.	Even	though	such	foods	may	look	and	taste	fine,	they	are	substantially
less	nutritious.	They	are	“make-believe”	foods.
Beware	of	Food	Guillotines
Even	foods	that	are	truly	fresh	and	ripe	can	nevertheless	be	nutritionally
destroyed	if	you	prepare	them	improperly.	Our	biological	ancestors	usually	did
not	cook	or	process	their	foods.	Foods	were	eaten	fresh	and	raw.	The	healthy
Hunzas	ate	80	percent	of	their	diet	raw.	Their	foods	not	only	had	more	nutritionto	begin	with	(because	of	traditional	farming	techniques	and	rich	soils),	they	also
did	not	typically	diminish	that	nutrition	by	cooking.	Nobel	laureate	Linus
Pauling	believed	that	the	mostly	raw,	mostly	vegetarian,	unprocessed	diet	of	our
biological	ancestors	provided	a	level	of	nutritional	quality	far	superior	to	the
food	supply	available	today.
The	bulk	of	the	modern	American	diet	comes	from	processed	foods	that	have
been	deliberately	altered	from	the	way	nature	provided.	This	altering	includes
trimming,	peeling,	chopping,	blending,	mashing,	commercial	refining	and
cooking.	While	some	degree	of	processing	may	be	necessary,	there	are	many
degrees	of	processing,	from	the	simple	slicing	of	a	carrot	for	your	salad	all	the
way	to	the	grinding	and	bleaching	of	wheat	in	order	to	make	white	flour.	The
most	significant	causes	of	malnutrition,	other	than	commercial	farming	and
distribution	techniques,	are	cooking	and	processing.
In	general,	proteins	in	food	are	the	most	stable	(less	damaged	by	processing),
while	vitamins	are	the	most	easily	damaged.	A	cucumber	loses	a	quarter	of	its
vitamin	C	just	by	slicing	it	to	make	a	salad.	If	the	salad	stands	around	for	an
hour,	the	loss	goes	up	to	a	third,	and	if	it	stands	for	three	hours,	half	its	vitamin
C	will	be	gone.	Fresh	orange	juice	loses	almost	a	fifth	of	its	vitamin	B
1
within
twenty-four	hours,	even	when	refrigerated.	Cooking	and	mashing	a	potato	will
diminish	vitamin	C	by	80	percent.
The	heat	used	in	cooking	foods	damages	nutrients	and	typically	makes	them
more	difficult	to	digest.	Cooking	even	damages	protein	(the	most	hardy	of
nutrients).	Consider	oatmeal:	In	the
Food	and	Nutrition	Encyclopedia,
Aubrey
Ensminger	reported	that	dry	oatmeal	contains	14	percent	protein,	but	that	figure
drops	to	only	2	percent	after	it	is	cooked—a	loss	of	85	percent.	Cooking
common	vegetables,	such	as	carrots,	can	cause	losses	of	75	percent	of	the
vitamin	C,	70	percent	of	the	vitamin	B
1
,	50	percent	of	the	vitamin	B
2
and	60
percent	of	vitamin	B
3
.
The	higher	the	heat	and	the	longer	the	cooking	time,	the
more	nutrients	your	food	loses.
Heating	food	deactivates	its	enzymes	(the	cellular	machinery	that
manufactures	all	the	products	our	cells	make).	Although	the	human	body	is
capable	of	making	its	own	enzymes,	we	also	receive	enzymes	directly	from	our
food.	Cooking	destroys	these	enzymes.	Eating	cooked	foods	stresses	the	body,
which	must	manufacture	extra	enzymes	in	order	to	digest	food	and	compensate
for	enzymes	lost	in	cooked	food.	By	eating	cooked	foods,	you	can	actually	lose
more	nutrients	than	you	gain.	Consuming	sufficient	enzymes	is	one	reason	that
eating	raw	foods	is	so	important.	Cooked	foods	contribute	to	our	epidemic	of
chronic	disease.Although	the	health	benefits	of	raw	foods	need	emphasis,	a	few	words	of
caution	are	important	about	raw	animal	products	(such	as	eggs,	meat,	fish	and
poultry).	Even	though	nature	intended	us	to	eat	raw	foods—animal	products
included—	today’s	hazards	of	bacterial,	viral	and	parasitic	infections	make	raw
animal	foods	dangerous.	Also,	raw	animal	foods	must	not	touch	other	foods
intended	to	be	eaten	raw.
Even	just	a	few	generations	ago,	people	typically	ate	more	raw	food	than	they
do	now,	and	the	trend	toward	cooked	and	processed	foods	appears	to	be
worsening.	According	to	U.S.	Department	of	Agriculture	statistics,	over	the	last
century	average	consumption	of	fresh	apples	declined	by	more	than	three-
fourths,	fresh	cabbage	by	more	than	two-thirds	and	fresh	fruit	by	more	than	one-
third.	During	that	same	period,	consumption	of	processed	vegetables	went	up
hundreds	of	percent	and	consumption	of	processed	fruits	went	up	by	about	1,000
percent.
Eating	processed	fruits	and	vegetables	(canned,	dried,	frozen,	etc.)	is
fundamentally	inferior	to	eating	fresh	fruits	and	vegetables.
Eat	for	Your	Future,	Too
The	nutritionally	deprived,	cooked	and	processed	foods	you	eat	today	will
damage	your	health	tomorrow,	as	well	as	the	health	of	your	unborn	children	and
grandchildren	in	the	years	to	come.
This	profound	concept	was	demonstrated	in	the	1940s	by	Francis	Pottenger
Jr.,	M.D.,	and	published	in	his	book
Pottenger’s	Cats.
More	than	nine	hundred
cats,	some	fed	a	diet	of	raw	food	and	some	a	cooked-food	diet,	showed	striking
differences	in	their	own	health	as	well	as	the	health	of	their	offspring.	Within	six
months,	the	cats	eating	the	cooked	food	developed	numerous	health	problems.
Subsequent	generations	suffered	infections,	dental	problems,	vision	problems,
skin	problems,	allergies,	arthritis,	miscarriages	and


 of a tuber root called yucca
which has many qualities similar to the roots of the edible variety of the lily family. This plant is
boiled and eaten much as are potatoes. They use also large quantities of fish from the streams,
birds and small animals of the land, together with the native fruits including bananas. Their dietary
provides a very liberal supply of minerals and vitamins together with an adequate quantity of
carbohydrates, fats and proteins.
    In evaluating the nutritive value of the dietary programs of primitive races and our modernized
cultures, it is important that we have a yardstick adequately adjusted to make computation in terms
of specific body needs for building good bodies and maintaining them in good health. The advance
in modern chemistry has gone far toward making this possible.
    The problem of estimating the mineral and activator contents, in other words the body-building
and repairing qualities of the displacing foods used by the various primitive races, is similar in many
respects to estimating these qualities in the foods used in our modern white civilizations, except that
modern commerce has transported usually only the foods that will keep well. These include chiefly
white flour, sugar, polished rice, vegetable fats and canned goods.
    Very important data for typical American dietaries are now available provided by the Bureau of
Home Economics, United States Department of Agriculture, and also by the Bureau of Labor
Statistics, United States Department of Labor. These surveys provide a basis of estimating the
nutrition of various income groups both with regard to the type of foods selected in our American
communities and the quantities of each type used, together with the chemical content of these
foods expressed quantitatively. Those who wish to have detailed reports are referred to the
bulletins of the above departments. In my clinical studies of the mineral constituents of individuals,
affected with dental caries and other disturbances of physical deficiency, I find a wide range of
variation in the calcium, phosphorus and fat-soluble activator content of the dietaries used,
although in general the calorie content is adequate. This latter factor is controlled by appetite.
These computations reveal that the individuals studied have a calcium intake ranging from 0.3 to
0.5 grams; and a phosphorus intake of from 0.3 to 0.6 grams. The minimum adult requirements as
provided by such an authority as Sherman, whose figures are used by the United States
Department of Labor, are for the average adult 0.68 of a gram of calcium and 1.32 grams of
phosphorus per day. It can be seen readily that the amounts given above are far short of the
minimum even if individuals absorbed from the foods all of the minerals present. A question arises
at this point as to the efficiency of the human body in removing all of the minerals from the ingested
foods. Extensive laboratory determinations have shown that most people cannot absorb more than
half of the calcium and phosphorus from the foods eaten. The amounts utilized depend directly on
the presence of other substances, particularly fat-soluble vitamins. It is at this point probably that
the greatest breakdown in our modern diet takes place, namely, in the ingestion and utilization of
adequate amounts of the special activating substances, including the vitamins needed for rendering
the minerals in the food available to the human system. A recent report by the Council on Foods of
the American Medical (4)  Association makes this comment on spinach:
    Spinach may be regarded as a rich source of vitamin A and as a contributor of vitamin C, iron
and roughage to the diet. It is therefore a valuable food. (But) the iron is not well utilized by7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 162/250infants... (and) the feeding of spinach is of no value during early infancy as a source of
calcium.
Even though calcium is present in spinach children cannot utilize it. Data have been published
showing that children absorb very little of the calcium or phosphorus in spinach before six years of
age. Adult individuals vary in the efficiency with which they absorb minerals and other chemicals
essential for mineral utilization. It is possible to starve for minerals that are abundant in the foods
eaten because they cannot be utilized without an adequate quantity of the fat-soluble activators.
FIG. 93. This figure shows the rapid healing of a fractured
femur of a boy four and onehalf years of age suffering from
convulsions due to malnutrition. His fracture occurred when
he fell in a convulsion. There was no healing in sixty days.
After reinforcing his nutrition with butter vitamins the
healing at the right occurred in thirty days. Whole milk
replaced skim milk and a whole wheat gruel made from
freshly ground whole wheat replaced white bread.
    This is illustrated in the following case. A minister in an industrial section of our city, during the
period of severe depression, telephoned me stating that he had just been called to baptize a dying
child. The child was not dead although almost constantly in convulsions. He thought the condition
was probably nutritional and asked if he could bring the boy to the office immediately. The boy
was badly emaciated, had rampant tooth decay, one leg in a cast, a very bad bronchial cough and
was in and out of convulsions in rapid succession. His convulsions had been getting worse
progressively during the past eight months. His leg had been fractured two or three months
previously while walking across the room when he fell in one of his convulsions. No healing had
occurred. His diet consisted of white bread and skimmed milk. For mending the fracture the boy
needed minerals, calcium, phosphorus and magnesium. His convulsions were due to a low calcium
content of the blood. All of these were in the skimmed milk for the butter-fat removed in the cream
contains no calcium nor phosphorus, except traces. The program provided was a change from the7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 163/250white flour bread to wheat gruel made from freshly ground wheat and the substitution of whole
milk for skimmed milk, with the addition of about a teaspoonful of a very high vitamin butter with
each feeding. He was given this meal that evening when he returned to his home. He slept all night
without a convulsion. He was fed the same food five times the next day and did not have a
convulsion. He proceeded rapidly to regain his health without recurrence of his convulsions. In a
month the fracture was united. Two views of the fracture are shown in Fig. 93, one before and one
after the treatment. Six weeks after this nutritional program was started the preacher called at the
home to see how the boy was getting along. His mother stated that the boy was playing about the
doorstep, but they could not see him. She called but received no answer. Presently they spied him
where he had climbed up the downspout of the house to the second story. On being scolded by
his mother, he ran and jumped over the garden fence, thus demonstrating that he was pretty much
of a normal boy. This boy's imperative need, that was not provided in white bread and skimmed
milk, was the presence of the vitamins and other activators that are in whole milk but not in
skimmed milk, and in whole wheat, freshly ground, but not in white flour. He was restored to
health by the simple process of having Nature's natural foods restored to him.
    This problem of borrowing from the skeleton in times of stress may soften the bones so that they
will be badly distorted. This is frequently seen as bow legs. An illustration of an extreme condition
of bone softening by this process is shown in Fig. 94, lower section, which is the skeleton of a
monkey that was a house pet. It became very fond of sweets and was fed on white bread,
sweetened jams, etc., as it ate at the same table with its mistress. Note that the bones became so
soft that the pull of the muscles distorted them into all sorts of curves. Naturally its body and legs
were seriously distorted. In this condition my patient, whom I was serving professionally, asked me
for advice regarding her monkey's deformed legs and distorted body. I suggested an improved
nutrition and provided fat-soluble vitamins consisting of a mixture of a high vitamin butter oil and
high vitamin cod liver oil with the result that minerals were deposited on the borders of the
vertebrae and joints and on the surfaces of the bones as shown in the illustration. This of course,
could not correct the deformity and the animal was chloroformed.
7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 164/250FIG. 94. This boy, age 5, had suffered for two and one-half
years from inflammatory rheumatism, arthritis and heart
involvement. Upper left shows limit of movement of neck, left
wrist, swollen knees and ankles. The middle upper view
shows the change in six months after improvement of his
nutrition, and at right his change in one year. Below is
shown the grossly demineralized and deformed skeleton of a
pet monkey being fed on sweets and pastries.
    The necessity that the foods selected and used shall provide an adequate quantity of fat-soluble
activators (including the known fatsoluble vitamins) is so imperative and is so important in
preventing a part of our modern degeneration that


 force. The follow-up period proved this pointdramatically. After he left the Center, Gerald threw himself back into his
work, subjecting himself to the usual heavy stress, and on his next visit
three months later, his white-cell count had zoomed back up to over 45,000.
He plunged into depression, but with the Ayurvedic treatments his counts
came back down again. Immensely relieved and grateful, he went home and
pitched himself into his old life even more furiously. Not surprisingly, the
counts rose a third time.
When he returned for another week of treatment, I said something he
didn’ t expect: “There’ s a lot of pain whenever you go home, isn’ t there?”
“What do you mean?” he asked guardedly. “It’s true that I’m sick.”
“I mean beyond your being sick.”
He didn’t say anything. It seemed highly significant that his leukemia had
been diagnosed just four months after his wife had died of a heart attack in
her mid-fifties. Gerald missed his wife terribly. Moreover, when he came
home at night, there was friction with his divorced daughter, who had
moved in to take care of him.
What he had to recognize was that his condition was related to his state
of awareness. His mind was deeply influencing his body. “Imagine that
your awareness is like a violin string. The string can play any kind of note,
high or low, depending on where you place your finger. Right now, you are
putting out all kinds of missed notes. Not just your runaway white counts,
but your mood swings, your nervous expectations, your pain and grief, are
all notes coming out of the same position.
“In conventional medicine, only the notes count. A huge amount of
energy is spent killing the abnormal white cells. But it is equall y important
that you change  your position on the string. Then you would be creating a
new reality, complete with new notes. Isn’t that what we have been doing
all along? Think about it.”
Gerald admitted that he felt better every day he spent at the Center and
worse every day he spent at home. “But you’re not saying that feeling goodmakes leukemia regress, are you?’ ’ he demanded.
“If feelin g good is part of healing, then yes, that is what I am saying. It’s
not really a matter of your moods. Naturally your moods swing during the
course of a serious illness—you can feel happy or despondent, hopeful or
hopeless without warning.
“Underlying these unpredictable mood swings is your quantum  level of
awareness, which has become disturbed. Changes in this level of awareness
are what bring about changes in mood; if your deep awareness shifts, your
moods will follow like a weathe r vane. We should also expect to see similar
indications in your body, and your altered blood counts are a good example.
Change in awareness is terribly  important. As a doctor, you can’t have it
only one way and say that negative emotions disturb the immune system. It
must also be true that positive  states of awareness will help you to get
well.”
Gerald thought that this was reasonable. Weighed against his
conventional medical training, which led him to be skeptical about any sort
of “mind over matter” in the healing process, he had to set his own vivid,
undeniable expe rience. Our conversation took place several months ago. He
continues to benefit from the approach outlined here, but it is taking time
for Gerald to break out of his old patterns completely. We think he has
turned the corner, though. There is much less evidence of a struggle on his
part. One of his most cherished beliefs, that he must fight for life with every
atom of his being, is giving way. Now he is starting to accept the possibility
of a very profo und Ayurvedic truth: if you can let go of imperfection,
perfection will appear by itself.
OceanofPDF.comCHAPTER 7
OPENING THE CHANNELS OF HEALING
Getting back in touch with the quantum mechanical body is the most
important goal in Ayurveda. We call this process “quantum healing.” As
understood by modern medicine, the body’ s healing abilities are nearly
infinite, but quantum healing is infinite. The flow of intelligence  bubbling up
from the quantum mechanical body can be channeled in count less ways to
achieve any result in the physical body, including the cure of serious, life-
threatening diseases and the reversal of the aging process itself.
All of these things will be laid out in detail in the following pages, as we
discuss the major healing techniques of Ayurveda. All are medical
techniques used in our Center, but most also have home versions that you
can learn from this book or from  a few hours of instruction from a qualified
Creating Health educator. The term “healing technique” should be
understood in its broadest sense, applying to anyone who wants to come
closer to perfect health, not just the sick. The seven techniques to be covered
are:
PANCHAKARMA—PURIFICA TION OF  THE BODYPhysical impurities play a large part in hiding our perfect nature from
ourselves, like dust on a mirror. But such impurities lie much deeper than
dust, and they have more than physical effects: one’s entire psychology is
linked to one’s physical condition. The value of panchakarma is that it offers
a system atic treatment for dislodging and flushing toxins from every cell,
using the same organs of elimination that the body naturally employs—
sweat glands, blood vessels, urinary tract, and intestines.
The ancient texts praise panchakarma as a seasonal treatment for ensuring
balance year in and year out. Despite a high standard of health that keeps
most of us feeling healthy most of the time, Americans generally do not
reach old age free of disease. Indeed, less than a third of old people show no
sign of cancer, heart disease, arthritis, diabetes, osteoporosis, and other
degenerative disorders endemic to old age. All these diseases lack a specific
cause; in the eyes of a Western doctor, they are complex disorders that
accumulate over a lifetime, rather like a rolling snowball accumulating tiny
flakes of snow. No single snow flake is the cause of the snowball, yet with
each flake, the snowball gets bigger and bigger. In terms of the body, the
snowflakes are tiny bits of ama, and we cannot think of being in perfect
balance unless these are removed as fast as they are picked up.
STEPS OF  PANCHAKARMA
Although literally translated as “the five actions,” panchakarma actually
involves a series of steps tailored to body type and requiring supervision
over the course of about a week. It has taken approximately five years to
clarify these procedures and adapt them for use in the West. As with other
aspects of traditional Ayurveda, panchakarma has been hampered by
confusion and by different modes of practice throughout India. At the
Chopra Center, panchakarma follows these steps:
Oleation (snehana). The patient takes sesame seeds or herbalized ghee
(clarified butter) for several mornings in a row to soften up the doshas and
minimize digestive action. (In Ayurvedic terms, one is temporarily quieting
down the agni, or digestive fir e.)Laxative (virechana). A gentle laxative, such as senna, is taken to flush out
the intestinal tract, lowering Pitta and further bringing down agni.
Oil massage (abhyanga). Technicians administer a full-body abhyanga like
the one done at home in the daily routine but about twice as long and much
more thorough. The oil is herbalized accor ding to body type. More force is
used to loosen the excess doshas and direct them towar d the organs of
elimination. There is also a related treatment called shirodhara, in which
warm, herbalized sesame oil is dripped in a stream onto the forehead to
profoundly relax the nervous system and balance Prana Vata, the subdosha
of Vata that exerts major contr ol over the brain.
Sweat treatments (swedana). Herbalized steam opens up the pores and
begins to rid the body of impurities thr ough the sweat glands.
Enema (basti). Medicated enemas, of which Ayurveda lists well over a
hundr ed, are used for various specific reasons; in general, this treatment is
used to flush the loosened doshas out thr ough the intestinal tract.
Nasal administrations (nasya). Medicinal oils or herbal mixtur es are
inhaled, clearing  the sinus passages, draining excess mucus, and decreasing
accumulated Kapha, which tends to build up in the head.
The following two case studies may give you a better idea of how
effective these procedures can be:Shirodhara pr ofoundly soothes the nervous system.
Daniel Frazier, a contractor in his late forties, began suffering recurrent
lower back pains ten years ago. As frequently happens, his doctors found it
difficult to isolate a cause for his pain; although agonizingly real to him, the
scans of his back revealed nothing problematic. After consulting a number of
specialists, he resigned himself to living with chronic pain. When an attack
occurred, he stayed home in bed and lived on muscle relax


	throughout	your	body.	Garlic	is	a	natural
blood	thinner	that	can	improve	blood	flow	to	your	limbs.
7
	It’s	especially	potent
in	its	raw	form,	so	try	adding	garlic	to	raw	dips	and	salad	dressings.	Garlic	still
has	benefits	when	heated,	so	you	can	add	it	when	cooking,	too.	Radishes,
onions,	and	leeks	are	also	helpful	in	a	similar	fashion.
PUMPKIN	SEEDS	AND
ALMONDS:
	These	both	have	high	levels	of	vitamin	E,	which	is
great	for	keeping	blood	flowing	freely	throughout	your	body.	They’re	both	also
great	sources	of	beauty	minerals	such	as	calcium	and
zinc.WHOLE	GRAINS:
	High	in	fiber,	gluten-free	whole	grains	such	as	brown	rice	help
lower	cholesterol	by	binding	to	bile	acids	and	escorting	them	out	of	the	body.
(Bile	acids,	manufactured	by	the
liver	using	cholesterol,	are	used	to	digest	fat.)
Because	the	fiber	helps	remove	bile	acids	from	circulation,	the	liver	has	to
manufacture	new	acids	and	then	uses	up	more	cholesterol.	This	process	lowers
the	amount	of	cholesterol	circulating	in	the	body.	Soak	all	of	your	grains	(and
nuts)	overnight	to	make	them	easier	to	digest	for	nutrient	absorption.
Foods	to	Avoid	for	Optimal	Circulation
While	the	foods	above	will	help	boost	your	circulation,	there	are	some	foods
that	will	have	the	opposite	effect,	slowing	down	your	circulation	and
promoting	aging	throughout	the	body.	For	the	best	beauty-boosting	results,	try
limiting	or	omitting	the	following	foods	from	your	diet.
VEGETABLE	OILS
When	heated,	vegetable	oils	produce	large	amounts	of	beauty-destroying	free
radicals.
8
	Free	radicals	are	basically	“damaged”	atoms	or	molecules	with
unpaired	electrons	that	are	believed	to	cause	and	accelerate	aging	and	tissue
damage.	Stick	to	cooking	and	baking	with	coconut	oil,	which	is	made	up	largely
of	medium-chain	fatty	acids	that	can	withstand	high	heat	without	becoming
rancid	and	digests	well,	supplying	energy	and	even	boosting
metabolism.
DAIRY
In	vegan	diets	as	well	as	in	some	Asian	societies,
dairy	products	are	absent.	In
veganism	the	contention	is	that	dairy	is	mucus	forming,	contains	no	fiber,	and
is	very	hard	for	many	people	to	digest.	The
National	Institute	of	Diabetes	and
Digestive	and	Kidney	Diseases	estimates	that	30	to	50	million	Americans	are
lactose	intolerant.
9
	Many	people	experience	digestive	relief	after	eliminating
dairy	from	their	diets	for	various	reasons.	As	the
Harvard	School	of	Public
Health	states,	“Clearly,	although	more	research	is	needed,	we	cannot	be
confident	that	high	milk…intake	is	safe.”
10
Of	the	two	authors	of	this	book,	Kimberly	feels	strongly	that	cow’s	milk	is
not	in	tune	with	the	human	body	and	its	nutrition	requirements.	It’s	debatable
that	people	have	been	conditioned	to	believe	that	dairy	is	automatically	healthy
to	consume,	but	that	does	not	make	it	biologically	right	for	everyone.	Many
people	worry	that	without	drinking	cow’s	milk,	they	won’t	get	enough	calcium
and	will	therefore	have	bone	density	issues,	but	this	is	not	true.	Clinicalresearch	shows	that	dairy	products	actually	have	little	or	no	benefit	for	bones.
There	are	numerous	studies	to	back	this	up,	including	a	2005	review	published
in	the	journal
Pediatrics
,	which	concluded	that	milk	consumption	does	not
improve	bone	integrity	in	children.
11
	As	for	women,	the
Harvard	Nurses’
Health	Study	followed	more	than	72,000	women	for	eighteen	years,	and	its
results	showed	that	there	was	no	protective	effect	of	increased	milk
consumption	on	fracture	risk.
12
	The	consumption	of	dairy	products	has	also
been	linked	to	higher	risk	for	various	cancers.	The
Iowa	Women’s	Health	Study
found	that	women	who	consumed	more	than	one	glass	of	milk	daily	had	a	73
percent	greater	chance	of	developing	ovarian	cancer	than	women	who	drank
less	than	one	glass	per	day.
13
Besides,	there	are	plenty	of	great	plant	sources	of	calcium	to	work	into	your
diet,	including	Brussels	sprouts,	collard	greens,	mustard	greens,	cabbage,	celery,
oranges,	sesame	seeds/tahini,	spinach,	Swiss	chard,	and	turnip	greens.	These
have	beneficial	calcium	but	none	of	the	risks	associated	with	drinking	cow’s
milk.
Deepak	respects	the	research	but	feels	that	milk	has	been	a	part	of	traditional
diets	in
India	as	well	as	Western	societies	for	centuries.	In	keeping	with	our
policy	in	this	book	that	no	food	should	be	demonized,	our	position	is	that
personal	experience	can	be	the	best	guide	if	you	stay	receptive	and	intuitive	to
how	you	react	to	certain
foods	after	you	eat	them.	Certainly	there	is	no	medical
harm	to	giving	up	dairy	as	long	as	you	have	adequate	vitamin	D	both	in	your
diet	and	through	some	exposure	to	sunlight.	Try	giving	up	dairy	for	two	weeks
and	see	if	you	personally	experience	any	improvements	in	your	digestion	and
energy.
PROCESSED	SOY
In	the	United	States,	soy	is	now	largely	genetically	modified.	It	is	also	a	top
food	allergen	that	many	people
don’t	digest	well.	Though	your	first	reaction	is
probably	to	think	of	soy	in	the	form	of	tofu,	derivatives	and	highly	processed
forms	of	soy	are	actually	in	all	kinds	of	packaged	foods.	For	instance,	if	you
look	on	the	label	of	most	packaged	energy	or	protein	bars	you’ll	see	“soy
protein	isolates”	listed	as	an	ingredient.	This	is	a	fragmented	and	highly
processed	soy	derivative.	If	you	can’t	get	organic	soy,	which	by	definition	means
it	is	not	GMO,	or	derived	from	a	genetically	modified	organism,	then	you
should	avoid	it	completely,	but	organic	miso,
tempeh,	and	natto	are	all	great
choices	you	can	rotate	into	your	diet.	These	forms	are	fermented,	and	the	long
process	of	fermentation	makes	the	soy	easier	to	digest	and	assimilate	properly.GLUTEN
Gluten	is	the	dominant	protein	in	wheat,	barley,	and	rye.	Like	soy,	gluten	is	a
top	food	allergen.	Those	with	celiac	disease	cannot	tolerate	gluten,	but	many
others	are	sensitive	to	gluten	despite	not	having	celiac	disease.	Gluten
sensitivities	can	lead	to
bloating	and	inflammation	in	the	intestinal	tract,	and
gluten	may	also	exacerbate	or	possibly	contribute	to	autoimmune	disorders.
14
Wheat	is	a	top	pesticide-sprayed	crop	that	often	is	grown	in	largely	mineral-
depleted	soil.	Try	eliminating	gluten	for	two	weeks	and	see	if	you	notice	a
difference	in	any	ex


common and ominous symptom, showing that the systemic poisoning had affected the valves of the heart. His prognosis
was most unfavorable. He said that the acute stage would last probably six weeks, and that it would leave the patient with
organic heart trouble.

"At this point we decided to resort to a method in which we had long believed, but which we had failed to try at the outset
of this sickness because we had not realized the seriousness of the ca se. We discharged the physician and began the
treatment described herein under the direction of the author. She took off the splint and gave both knees a careful but
thorough rubbing. They had been apparently too sensitive to touch before this, but by the time she had finished the
massage, the child said that they felt better. She told us not to bother about his heart or anything else in the line of
symptoms, but to stop feeding him, to give him daily baths, enemas, and manipulations --and to watch nature do  the rest.

"The pain kept up at intervals, intervals that grew steadily longer, however, for two days, and then it ceased entirely.
Before the end of the week, the patient was able to be taken down town on a street car for manipulative treatment. His fas t
lasted twelve days.

"Later in the summer he had a recurrence of old eye trouble, one resulting from an impure condition of the blood. He had
been treated the summer before for this trouble, which had lasted several months. This time we at once began an other fast,
which continued for twenty -two days. At its end he stripped the bandage off: his eyes one evening and looked at us and
we knew that the thing was conquered. During a few of the twenty -two days he had a little orange juice, and at all times
he had all the water that he desired. A daily bath and rub were given with a copious enema each morning and evening.

"At the time of writing, two years from the date of the last fast, there has been no recurrence of either the throat trouble,
rheumatism, or eye trouble, and a regular physician, a friend of the family, who examined the boy a few months ago,
pronounced his heart perfect."
The next case is that of a cancer located on the right eyelid of a man sixty -two years old. This malignant sore had been in  evidence
for twelve years and the patient had been operated upon for its removal twice in this period. Its third appearance was made i n
virulent form and consultation with a medical specialist resulted in renewed recommendation of the knife, to which this  time the
patient refused to submit. He began preparation for a fast which lasted forty -five days, at the expiration of which all that remained
of the suppurating sore was a reddish scar of its former seat. Four years later his personal report of the case shows no symptom of
Page 19 of  72 recurrence upon eyelid or elsewhere, and an excellent state of general health.

The eradication of this symptom of extreme blood impurity by means of the fast fixes the value of the method in forms of dise ase
that are supposedly incura ble. It bears out the contention that disease is one with cure, that cure lies in the application of the single
method of nature, elimination, which is one with purification. Cancer is but a symptom of general disease, and it may be erad icated
when its rav ages have not involved an organ to the degree of rendering it incapable of function.

A cancer, a tumor, are evidences of the economy of nature in gathering her forces of relief at a single point. This single po int, the
symptom, is ordinarily plainly appa rent. Medicine seeks to "drive it in"; surgery to "cut it out"; and neither, when applied,
succeeds in removing the cause. Even though the actual growth and its nearby ramifications are extirpated by means of the kni fe,
nature is still impelled to rid the body of its circulating impurity by the construction of destructive cells, and only blood
purlfication can accomplish a cure.

The next subject, a woman twenty -seven years old, suffered constantly from pain, more or less acute, in the left costar region, near
the cardiac orifice of the stomach. She had severe headaches, coupled with nausea and vomiting of bile. Medical diagnosis var ied
with each physician consulted, and the young woman was treated within a period of several years for ailments ranging from
ulceration of the stomach to appendicitis. In the course of her search for health she had made visits to famed sanatoria, but  her
condition steadily grew worse, and, because of it, she was rapidly verging upon melancholia. Hearing of the fast, she was at first
interested, then hopeful, and on her own initiative she undertook short periods of abstinence with decided relief. The case w as one
that, when first observed, showed signs of obstinate intestinal obstruction, which might or might not prove to be a mor bid growth,
and caution was essential even during the preparatory work. But it was finally determined that a soup and salad regimen be
followed, and the dietary indicated was continued for four months with gradual but not permanent relief. However, at the end of
this time an attempt was made to change to solid food, when the system at once strongly rebelled, and the patient was actuall y
forced into total abstinence. She fasted forty -three days.

During the early portion of the fast there were headaches and  vomiting of greenish bile and mucus, and these distressing symptoms
were present until the thirtieth day, when the patient was compelled to take to her bed. The stomach had at all times resiste d
ingestion even of water, and in order to facilitate the disc harge of bile and to reduce nausea, natural stomach -lavage was daily
performed. This was done by having the patient drink warm water in quantity and then induce vomiting. Enemas and baths were
administered in the usual number and manner. Body manipulation,  with especial attention directed to the region under the left
lower ribs, was carefully carried out, for by this time it had become obvious that the intestinal obstruction was caused by f ecal
impaction. On the forty -third day of the fast a broken -up mass of hardened fecal matter was passed with the enema. Extreme relief
followed, and the fast was at once discontinued with gratifying results, the stomach accepting the broths, and normal digesti on
taking place. The feces passed were in the form of balls, bla ck in color and extremely hard in character. This accumulation had
been the cause of the symptoms described, all of them signs of exaggerated toxemia. Rapid recuperation ensued.

For a year after the experience related the patient followed a strict dietar y, and during this time she underwent a total of forty -five
days of short periods of fasting. Her diet consisted in the main of raw tomatoes, hot tomato broth, and salads. At present wr iting,
more than three years from the beginning of the first fast, the young woman is in excellent health.

This case may be considered as perhaps the most aggravated instance of toxemia in the entire history of practice recorded her ein.
Life was saved only because the patient was constantly under observation, day and night,  and distressing and dangerous symptoms
were dealt with, as they developed, promptly and skilfully. The case also exemplifies the contention of the writer that at no  time,
even when acute crises occur, are special, fanciful auxiliaries necessary to combat conditions. Enemas, baths, body manipulation --
all natural accessories --invariably prove fully equal to the task.

Without citing individual instances, attention is here directed to the ease with which certain symptoms, to which in recent y ears the
surgica l branch of medicine has devoted much time and energy, yield to the fast and its accessories. The vermiform appendix in
the human body is a slender blind sac, opening from the cecal portion of the large intestine. It is on an average from three to six
inches in length, and of a caliber of that of a lead pencil. It is found in man and in some of the lower animals, and in a few of  the
latter it is large and performs a digestive function. In the human body its use seems to be more of a question of professiona l
argument than one of determination, but it is quite probable that its function is that of stimulating peristalsis either thro ugh the
secretion of a lubricant or by muscular contraction.

Inflammation of the vermiform appendix constitutes true appendiciti s. In the medical world appearance of this symptom demands
immediate operation with removal of the offending organ. Observation of numbers of alleged cases of appendicitis leads to the
belief that an inflamed appendix is a symptom of disease most rare in o ccurrence. Because the function of this organ has not been
satisfactorily determined by science, and because its absence from the body seemingly creates no lack of harmony among other
essential parts of the organism, extirpation has become the rule. And th ere has been exercised in this connection a great deal of
snap judgment in diagnosis. Gas formed in the cecum, gall stones in the gall sac, inflammation of the right ovary and of the bowel
in the ileo -cecal region, all have been mistaken for an appendix in flamed, and have occasioned operations unnecessary in the
Page 20 of  72 extreme with serious and perhaps


 are the three main essentials to sustain life. These
should be as clean and life enhancing as possible. In addition to
minimizing pollutants, we can also take positive steps to enhance the
health promoting qualities of water.
Water has the ability to attract and accumulate bioenergy. Bioenergy or
life force energy is known in all traditional cultures under many different
names, such as Chi, Ki, Od, Orgone or Prana. It can be seen or felt by
many psychic or sensitive individuals. Water also stores an energy
memory of harmful or helpful vibrations to which it was exposed in the
past. This is the basis of homoeopathy. Our chlo rinated tap water is
polluted with non -biological chemicals and negative energy imprints. It is
also devoid of bioenergy  and so may be regarded as being badly polluted
as well as 'dead'.  101
 Contaminated water may be filtered, distilled or treated with reverse
osmosis but it remains dead unless it is then energized to make it 'living'
water that can improve our health. While polluted and dead tap water can
contribute to the deterioration of ou r health, living water is one of the
great healers. Ideally, healthy, living water should have the following
properties: -
• Purity:  being free of chemical, biological and vibrational pollution
• Minerals:  it should be well mineralized
• Low Surface Tension  due to small cluster size
• Antioxidant Activity  due to negative hydrogen   (negative ORP)
• Vibrations:  carrying positive, health -promoting vibrations
• Bioenergy:  being strongly charged with life force.
All of these health -giving properties are naturally present  in sunlit,
cascading mountain streams, and to some degree also in good spring
water and seawater. Purity  is easiest to achieve with readily available
filters, distillers and reverse osmosis. However, most of these methods,
in addition to the nasties also take beneficial minerals out, while most
filters do not adequately remove fluoride.
Purity:  While now man y filters are claimed to remove fluoride, it is
difficult to know the truth unless an independent analysis is provided.
Distilling and reverse osmosis (with intact membrane) definitely remove
all fluoride. Do not habitually use commercial water in plastic bottles as
leached chemical (e.g. Bisphenol A) may be just as dangerous as
fluoride. Chlorine may be removed by boiling the water, or exposing it in
an open tray to sunlight, by adding some fresh green leaves or a dash of
sodium thiosulphate.
Minerals  in our drinking and cooking water supply a sizable part of our
overall mineral intake, especially magnesium. We can become de -
mineralized from habitually drinking distilled water, reverse osmosis
water or rainwater (except if stored in concrete tanks). Theref ore, re -
mineralize purified water with magnesium chloride or colloidal minerals.  102
 Low Surface Tension  is a common by -product of energizing water. This
creates small liquid crystals, forming cage -like structures of about 6
molecules. Due to this effect energized water is called ‘micro water’. It
contains minerals in an energized colloidal form and stabiliz ed within
small clusters of water molecules, which makes them easier to absorb.
Antioxidant Activity: Antioxidant -rich water is now easily produced with
water ionizers as electrolysed  reduced water. Positively charged ions
(e.g. magnesium) and negative hyd rogen accumulate on one side,
making the water reducing (antioxidant) and alkaline, while negative
ions, such as chloride and fluoride produce oxidizing acid water.
Therefore, ionizers on a high setting can be used to remove or reduce
fluoride in drinking water. Electrolysed reduced water is also produced
by Brown’s Gas generators, see next chapter.
Vibrations: Water retains a memory of vibrations to which it was
exposed as an energy imprint. These imprints in turn influence the user
of the water and may be due to chemical, mechanical, electrical or
magnetic influences, or even to feelings, emotions and thoughts. Some
good water filtering and energizing systems impart natural rock vibrations
in combination with a vortex formation.
In biodynamics the purity  of water was assessed with crystallization
patterns. The purer the water, the more harmonious is the crystallization
pattern and vice versa. Masaru Emoto
(https://thewellnessenterprise.com/emoto/ ) shows in countless  pictures
how the crystallization pattern of freezing water changes when exposed
to human thoughts and feelings. Negative vibrations resulted in chaotic
or confused crystallizations. As our body contains large amounts of water
you may now  appreciate what negative thoughts and feelings are doing
to your health.
Bioenergy: We obtain our energized water from fresh raw fruit and
vegetables, from dew, rainwater during a thunderstorm, fresh spring or
bore water, and water exposed to sunlight an d moonlight. A stronger
charge results if the water is exposed to a source of bioenergy such as
from magnets or crystals while in turbulent motion leading to vortex
formations. A high mineral content helps in retaining this charge. For 103
 suggestions to vital ize your water see the next chapter.
Exercise
Adequate physical activity is a main requirement for achieving and
maintaining good health. Deep breathing while exercising is essential:
lack of oxygen - becoming breathless - is harmful. Therefore, breathe
more vigorously than required for the activity at hand and increase the
intensity of your exercises only gradually.
You may use a variety of activities such as cycling, walking, jogging,
push -ups, digging, lifting, swimming, and so on. When jogging without
padded running shoes, touch down with the ball of the foot, and use the
ankle joints as cushioning springs.
Depending on your body needs and inclinations many different exercises
may be performed. The more important ones are stretching, hanging
from the ha nds or feet, using a rebounder or a lymphasizer, circling the
pelvis, head and shoulder stand, isometric exercises, scalp and face
exercises (pulling faces, tensing and relaxing scalp muscles), shaking to
loosen the body, and slow graceful and rhythmic mov ements with or
without music. Yoga exercises are excellent for stretching and
massaging the internal organs.
Frequently during the day, you may do some stretching, tensing, circling
or shaking. In addition, a time of the day or the week may be selected for
a more thorough workout. With advancing age stretching becomes
increasingly more important. Lie on a large bed or carpeted floor and
move your limbs and spine in various positions to the limits of their range
and then stretch just a bit further. Try to let the body move on its own
without much mental direction. Just do what feels good. For specific
exercises, see:  Exercises.
*   *   *   *   *   *   *   *   *

 104
 Chapter Eight
HEALING WITH ENERGY
Remove energy blockages and recharge yourself

The term "energy" in healing relates to the non-physical energies,
variously called life -force, bioenergy, pr ana, mana, chi, ki, orgone, or O d.
We may see it as the innermost aura around living objects, or we may
feel it as sensations of heat or tingling in our body, especially when
transferring ene rgy as with 'laying on of hands' or Reiki. It is also the
energy that fuels our sexuality and that we feel most strongly during
orgasm.
This energy circulates in our acupuncture system, and its main vortexes
form our chakra system. It is not only at the ba se of most paranormal or
psychic phenomena, but also the healing agent of many natural
therapies. Homoeopathy can only be understood as a bioenergy
phenomenon. While bioenergy is still unknown to orthodox science, it is
an everyday experience of many sensi tive individuals.
The vitality of our body is proportional to the strength and balance of the
energy flows in our chakra and acupuncture systems. Our seven main
chakras are like energy generators, while the acupuncture meridians are
the energy distribution  system, and the acupuncture points like
substations where energy is delivered to local users.
Our main health problems tend to come from imbalances and blockages
in these energy flows. You may compare these to water flows in river
systems or electricity i n distribution networks. The main effect of such
blockages is an excess of energy in front of the blockage, and a lack of
energy behind it. In our body this causes tension, inflammation and pain
where an energy excess accumulates, and weakness where there is an
energy deficiency.  105
 Frequent causes of such blockages are physical and emotional injuries.
Physical injuries without emotional involvement may heal without
causing blockages but strong negative emotions related to the injury
cause energy flows to det eriorate. Also,  negative emotions without
physical injury can have the same effect.
This is most evident with our sexual energies. Blockages may be due to
direct emotional attacks or degradation, to dissatisfaction and
disappointments, but also to energy build -up during sexual activity which
remains largely unreleased. As a result,  we


whichisusedforsurgicalcasts,for
models,moulds,statuesandtocoverinteriorwallsof
buildings.
Thehomeopathicpreparation ismadefromplaster
ofParisbytrituration.
GENERALSYMPTOMS
Abscessesdischargingpus.Discharges
blood-streaked.
Worseforheat;formilk;forphysicalexertion;instuffy
rooms.
Calcareasutphurica'ssphereofactionisthatofcuring
dischargingabscessesorlong-standing catarrhs.
Peopleneedingthisremedyarepronetothick,lumpy,
yelloworbloodydischarges.Patientsaregenerally
worseforwarmthandoverheating,unliketheother
Calcarearemedieswhicharechilly,andunlikeHepar
sulphuris,anotherimportantremedyforabscessesand
catarrhs,whichisalsochilly.Theyliketobe
uncovered (iffeverish)andareusuallybetterforsome
freshair,thoughtheyarenotfondofdraughts.
EMOTIONAL/MENTALSYMPTOMS
Anxiousduringtheevening.Dull.Sluggish.
Tearful.
INTERNALMATERIAMEDICA Calendulaofficinalis(Calen.)•65
Thesepeopleareanxioustypes,weepyandsluggish,
likeCalcareacarbonicatypes.
PHYSICALCOMPLAINTS
Abscesses
SymptomsAbscessdischargingpus;ofglands.
Healsdischargingabscesses,thatis,onesthathave
burstorbrokenandaredischarging-usuallyathick,
yellow,lumpyandpossiblybloodymatter.Itisoften
whenanabscessisatthisstagethatoneistoldtoletit
drainandletnaturetakeitscourse.Thiscanbeinter-
minableinsomecasesandthisremedywillhelpto
speedupthehealingprocess.
Commoncold
SymptomsNasalcatarrh:blood-streaked; smelly;
thick;yellow.Withheadache;lossofsmell.
Worseafterdrinkingmilk.
Thisisforpost-nasalcatarrh(wheremucusdrips
downthebackofthethroat)orforcatarrhthatis
one-sided(onlyonenostrilisblocked).Patientsdislike
milkanditaggravatestheircondition.
Cough
SymptomsCoughdry.
yellow.Mucus:copious;lumpy;
Croup
SymptomsCouchoccursonlyonwaking.
IncroupwhereHe-parsulphurisisindicatedbutfails,
calcareasulphuricawillcure,especially ifthechildis
warmandwantstobeuncoveredand/orifthecroupy
coughisonlythereonwaking.
Earache
SymptomsDischarge:blood-streaked; smelly;thick.
Eyeinflammation
SymptomsDischarge:thick;yellow.
Thisremedyisespeciallyindicated ifboththenose
andtheeyesaredischargingthick,yellowmucus.
Injuries
SymptomsCuts/wounds:slowtoheal;suppurating.
Whereawoundhasbecomeinflamedandhasstarted
todischargeathickyellowpus,Calcareasulphuricais
indicatedtocompletethehealing.(Heparsulphurisis
forthestagebeforethis,wherethereisrednessand
inflammationbutnotnecessarilyadischarge.)Calendulaofficinalis (Caien.)
Familyname:Compositae
Commonnames:marigold;potmarigold;marygold;
calthaofficinalis
Themarigoldisanannualfloweringplantwhich
originallygrewwildinEgyptandthroughoutthe
Mediterranean. Itgrowstoaheightofonetotwofeet
andhasdeeporangeflowersthatopenwiththerising
sunandclosewiththesettingsun,likeBellisperennis
(commondaisy).
Ithasbeenknownforhundredsofyearsforbothits
useincookeryandinmedicine.Inthekitchenadye
extractedfromtheflowerswasusedtogivecheesea
yellowcolour,andinElizabethantimestheblossoms
weresprinkledonsaladstocheerthemup.Theold
herbalistsadvisedthatthedriedflowersbeaddedto
brothsinordertocomfort'theheartandthespirits,
andtoexpelanymalignantorpestilentialquality
whichmightannoythem'.
Calendulahasalwaysbeenahighlyrespectedhealer
ofdiseasesoftheskin,andhasbeenusedbyherbalists
forextremelyseriousdiseasessuchascancerand
smallpox.
Inthehomeopathicpreparation,theleaves,blos-
somsandbudsarechoppedandpoundedtoapulp,
thentheexpressedjuiceismixedwithalcoholand
succussed.
66•Cantharisvesicatoria(Canth.) INTERNALMATERIAMEDICA
GENERALSYMPTOMS
Therearenogeneralsymptomstolookoutforwith
thisremedy.Itisusedasagreathealerofwoundsand
cuts,bothexternallyinointmentform(seetheExter-
nalMateriaMedica)andinternallyinpotentisedform
(whichmakesthewoundhealevenmorequickly).
UseCalendulainthecaseofastraightforward injury
wheretheskinisbrokenbutwheretherearenoother
noteworthysymptoms. Itseemstoworkespecially
wellwherethepainsarestrongerthanyouwould
expectinrelationtothesizeoftheinjury.
PHYSICALCOMPLAINTS
Injuries
SymptomsCuts/wounds: lacerated;suppurating.
Painfuloutofproportiontoinjury.
CANTHARISVESICATORIA (Canth.)
Familyname:Caleoptera
Othernames:Spanishfly;fabricus;degeer
TheSpanishflyisahandsomegreenbeetlefoundin
southernFranceandSpainwhereitfeedsonthe
leavesofwhitepoplar,privet,ash,elderandlilac
trees.Iftouched,thebeetlesproduceunpleasant
blistersontheskin.
Spanishflvisoneofthemostancient(andleastreputable)drugsknowntoman.Hippocratesde-
scribeditsvalueintreatingdropsy2000yearsago,and
ithasbeenusedasanexternalapplicationintheform
ofblisteringplastersforvariousrheumaticconditions.
Ithasalsohadareputationasanaphrodisiacbecause
itcausesanirritationofthekidneysandbladderand
consequentlyanincreasedawarenessofthegenital
area.Thosewhotookitweresupposedtobedriven
intoasexualfrenzy(whichtheMarquisdeSade
apparentlymadefulluseofaccordingtomany
accounts).Thepoisoningsfromincreaseddosespro-
ducevariousterriblesymptomsrangingfromappal-
lingabdominalcramps,vomitingofblood,intolerable
burningpainsinthemouthandthroat,diarrhoea,
bloodintheurine,andkidneydamage.
Tomakethehomeopathicremedy,thefliesare
collectedatdawnwhentheyarestillsleepyafterthe
coldnight.Theyarekilledbybeingheatedinthe
steamofboilingvinegar.Theyarethencrushedand
thehomeopathicremedyispreparedbytrituration.
GENERALANDEMOTIONAL/
MENTALSYMPTOMS
CantharisiseasilyconfusedwithApisandArsenicum
becauseallhaverestlessnessandburningpains.In-
flammationscomeonrapidlyandviolently.Patients
mayhaveaburning,unquenchable thirst,buttheir
complaintsareoftenaggravatedbydrinkingcold
liquidsorthesmallestamountofcoffee.Theyfeel
worseforurinating.
Therearefewstrongemotionalsymptoms.The
painsmaydriveapersontomoanandcomplain
loudly.
PHYSICALCOMPLAINTS
Burns
SymptomsBurns:seconddegree;withblisters.Pains
burning.
Betterforcoldcompresses.
Scalds,sunburnorsecond-degreeburnswithblisters
(orjustbeforetheblistersform).Thepainisbetterfor
coldcompresses.
Cystitis
SymptomsDesiretourinate:constant;frequent;
ineffectual;urgent.Pains:before,duringandafter
urination;burning;cutting.Urinationfrequent.
Urine:hot;red;scanty.
Worseforcolddrinks;before,duringandafter
urination.
Painsareviolentandspasmodic.Theremaybea
constantdesiretopasswater,andthebladdernever
feelsempty.
INTERNALMATERIAMEDICA Carbovegetabilis(Carb-v.) •67
CARBOANIMALIS(Carb-a.)
Othernames:animalcharcoal;leathercharcoal
Carboammalisisasoftcharcoalthathasalltheprop-
ertiesofwoodcharcoalwiththedifferencethatit
producesabrownishtingewhenusedasapigmentin
artists'colours.
Forthehomeopathicpreparationoxleather