 he loves and pr ovides for all life. Sur render doesn’t
obstruct our power; it enhances it. God is mer ely the love
within us, so r eturning to Him is a r eturn to ourselves. 4. THE SURRENDERED LIFE
“Holy Child of God, when will you lear n that only
holiness can content you and give you peace. ”
To relax, to feel the love in your heart and k eep to that as
your focus in every situation—that’s the meaning of spiritual
surrender. It changes us. W e become deeper, mor e
attractive people. In Zen Buddhism, ther e’s a concept called “zen mind,” or
“beginner’s mind. ” They say that the mind should be lik e an
empty rice bowl. If it’s alr eady full, then the universe can’t
ﬁll it. If it’s empty, it has r oom to r eceive. This means that
when we think we have things alr eady ﬁgur ed out, we’r e not
teachable. Genuine insight can’t dawn on a mind that’s not
open to r eceive it. Sur render is a pr ocess of emptying the
mind. In the Christic tradition, this is the meaning of “becoming
as a little child. ” Little childr en don’t think they know what
things mean. In fact, they know they don’t know. They ask
someone older and wiser to e xplain things to them. W e’re
like childr en who don’t know, but think we do. The wise person doesn’t pr etend to know what it’s
impossible to know. “I don’t know” can be an empowering
statement. When we go into a situation not knowing, ther e
is something inside us which does. With our conscious mind,
‘we step back in or der that a higher power within us can
step forwar d and lead the way. ’
We need less posturing and mor e genuine charisma. Charisma was originally a r eligious ter m, meaning “ of the
spirit,” or “inspir ed. ” It’s about letting God’s light shine
through us. It’s about a sparkle in people that money can’tbuy. It’s an invisible ener gy with visible eﬀects. T o let go, to
just love, is not to fade into the wallpaper. Quite the
contrary, it’s when we truly become bright. W e’re letting our
own light shine. We are meant to be this way. We are meant to shine. Look at small childr en. They’r e all so unique befor e they
start trying  to be, because they demonstrate the power of
genuine humility. This is also the e xplanation of “beginner’s
luck. ” When we go into a situation not knowing the rules, we
don’t pr etend to know how to ﬁgur e anything out, and we
don’t know yet what ther e is to be afraid of. This r eleases
the mind to cr eate fr om its own higher power. Situations
shift gear and lights go on simply because our minds have
opened up to r eceive love. W e have gotten out of our own
way. Love is a win-mode, a successful and attractive vibration. We think that success is diﬃcult, and so, for us, it is. Success in life doesn’t have to involve negative tension. W e
don’t have to be struggling all the time. If you think about it,
“taking the bull by the hor ns” would be a very danger ous
thing to do. In fact, ambitious tension actually limits our
ability to succeed because it k eeps us in a state of
contraction, emotionally and physically. It seems to give us
energy but doesn’t r eally, lik e the white sugar of mental
health; ther e’s a short high, followed by a crash. The
cultivation of mental r est, or sur render, is lik e eating healthy
food. It doesn’t give us an immediate rush, but over time it
provides a lot mor e ener gy. This doesn’t r equir e sitting in a lotus position all day. We
still get e xcited, but mor e gently. Many people associate a
spiritual life with a grade B movie, but God doesn’t get rid of
all the drama in our lives. He just gets rid of the cheap
drama. Ther e is no higher drama than true personal gr owth. Nothing could be mor e genuinely dramatic than boys
becoming r eal men and girls becoming r eal women. Something amazing happens when we sur render and just
love. W e melt into another world, a r ealm of power alr eady
within us. The world changes when we change. The world
softens when we sof ten. The world loves us when we choose
to love the world. Surrender means the decision to stop ﬁghting the world,
and to start loving it instead. It is a gentle liberation fr om
pain. But liberation isn’t about br eaking out of anything; ‘it’s
a gentle melting into who we r eally ar e. ’ W e let down our
armor, and discover the str ength of our Christ self. A Course
in Miracles  tells us that although ‘we think that without the
ego, all would be chaos, the opposite is true. W ithout the
ego, all would be love. ’
We are simply ask ed to shif t focus and to tak e on a mor e
gentle per ception. That’s all God needs. Just one sincer e
surrender ed moment, when love matters mor e than
anything, and we know that nothing else r eally matters at
all. What He gives us in r eturn for our openness to Him, is
an outpouring of His power fr om deep within us. W e are
given His power to shar e with the world, to heal all wounds,
to awak en all hearts.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>
Q: What is the author's perspective on the name "Jesus"?,
A: The author believes that using the name "Jesus" is not the issue, and that it's not about replacing it with another word, but rather about understanding the true meaning and intention behind the name.
Q: What is the concept of "miracles" in the context of A Course in Miracles?,
A: Miracles are not about changing external circumstances, but rather about shifting our perception and changing our own thinking and behavior. It's about choosing to love and heal ourselves and others.
Q: What is the author's stance on the concept of "forgiveness"?,
A: The author believes that forgiveness is not about condoning or ignoring someone's wrongdoings, but rather about recognizing that there is no need to judge or condemn, and instead, choosing to love and accept people as they are.
Q: What is the author's view on the concept of "faith"?,
A: The author believes that faith is not about blindly believing, but rather about trusting in the universe and letting go of our attachment to specific outcomes. It's about choosing to trust in the power of love and the universe to handle things.
Q: What is the author's perspective on the concept of "surrender"?,
A: The author believes that surrender is not about giving up control, but rather about letting go of our ego's need to control and manipulate, and instead, choosing to love and trust in the universe.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>A gentleman
appear ed to me and said, “Ex cuse me, Miss W illiamson, but
we thought we should tell you: In the cosmic r oll call, you
are consider ed a hawk, not a dove.”
I was incensed. “No way,” I said indignantly. “I’m totally
for peace. I’m a dove all the way.”
“I’m afraid not,” he said. “I’m looking on our charts, and
it says very clearly right her e: Marianne W illiamson,
warmonger. You’re at war with R onald R eagan, Caspar
Weinber ger, the CIA, in fact the entir e American defense
establishment. No, I’m sor ry. You’re deﬁnitely a hawk.”
I saw, of course, that he was right. I had just as many
missiles in my head as R onald R eagan had in his. I thought it
was wr ong for him to judge communists, but I thought it was
okay for me to judge him. Why? Because I was right, of
course! I spent years as an angry lef t-winger befor e I realized
that an angry generation can’t bring peace. Everything wedo is infused with the ener gy with which we do it. As Gandhi
said, “W e must be the change.” What the ego doesn’t want
us to see is that the guns we need to get rid of ﬁrst ar e the
guns in our own heads. 4. THE CHOICE TO L OVE
“The ego is the choice for guilt; the Holy Spirit
the choice for guiltlessness.”
The ego always emphasizes what someone has done wr ong. The Holy Spirit always emphasizes what they’ve done right. The Course lik ens the ego to a scavenger dog that seeks out
every scrap of evidence for our br other’s guilt and lays it at
its master’s feet.


 millions, you will continue to experience the inner
condition of lack, and deep dow n you will continue to feel unfulfilled. Y ou may  have many exciting experiences that money can buy, but they
will com e and go and always l eave you with an empty feeling and the
need for  further physical or psychological gratification. Y ou won’ t abide
in Being and so feel the fullness of life now that alone is true prosperity. So give up waiti ng as a state of mind. When you catch yourself  slipping
into waiting. snap out of it. Come into the present moment. Just be,
and enjoy being. If you are pre sent, there is never any need for you to
wait for anythin g. So next time somebody says, “Sorry to have kept youwaiting,” you can reply, “That’ s all right, I wasn’ t waiting. I was just
standing here enjoying myself — in joy in my self. ”
These are just a few of the habitual mind strategies for denying the
present moment that are part of ordinary unconsciousness. They are easy
to overlook because they are so much a part of normal living: the
background static of perpetual  discontent. But the more you practice
monitoring your inner mental-emotional state, the easier it will be to
know when you have been trapped in past or future, which is to say
unconscious, an d to awaken ou t of the dream of time into the  present. But bew are: The false, unhappy self, based on mind identification, lives
on ti me. It knows that the present moment is its own death and  so feels
very threatened by it. It will do all it can to take you out of it. It will try
to keep you trapped in time. THE INNER PURPOSE OF YOUR LIFE’S JOURNEY
I can see the truth of what you ar e saying, but I still think that we must
have purpose on our life’ s journey; otherwise we just drift, and purpose
means futur e, doesn’ t it. How do we r econcile that with living in the
pr esent. When you are on a journey, it is certainly helpful to know where you are
going or at least  the general direction in which you are moving, but don’ t
for get: T he only  thing that is ultimately real about your journ ey is the
step that you are taking at this moment. That’ s all there ever is. Y our life ’ s journ ey has an outer purpose and an inner purpose. The outer
purpose is to arrive at your goal or destination, to accomplish what you
set out to do, to achieve this or that, which, of course, implies fu ture. But
if yo ur destination, or the steps you are going to take in the future, take
up so much of your attention t hat they become more important to you
than the  step you are taking now, then you completely miss the journey’ s
inner purpose, which has nothing to do with wher e  you are going or what
you are doing, but everything to do with how. It has nothing to do with
future bu t every thing to do with  the quality of your consciousne ss at this
moment. The outer purpose belongs to the horizontal dimension of spaceand time ; the inner purpose concerns a deepening of your Being in the
vertical dimension of the timeless Now. Y our outer journey may contain
a million steps; your inner journey only has one: the step you are taking
right now. As y ou become more deeply aware of this one s tep, you
realize t hat it already contains within itself all the other steps a s well as
the destination. This one step then becomes transformed into an
expression of perfection, an act of great beauty and quality. It will have
taken yo u into Being, and the lig ht of Being will shine through it. This is
both the purpose and the fulfillment of your inner journey, the journey
into yourself. Does it matter whether we ac hieve our outer purpose, whether we
succeed or fail in the world. It will matter to you as long as you haven’ t realized your inner  purpose. After that, the ou ter purpose is j ust a game that you may continue to play
simply because you enjoy it. It i s also possible to fail completely in your
outer pu rpose an d at the same time totally succeed in your inner purpose. Or the other wa y around, which is actually more common: outer riches
and inner poverty, or to “gain the world and lose your soul,” as Jesus
puts it. Ultimately, of course, every  o uter purpose is doomed to “f ail”
sooner or later, simply because it is subject to the law of impermanence
of al l thi ngs. Th e sooner you rea lize that your outer purpose can not give
you lasti ng fulfi llment, the better. When you have seen the limitations of
your ou ter purpose, you give up your unrealistic expectation that it
should make you happy, and you make it subservient to your inner
purpose. THE P AST CANNOT SUR VIVE IN YOUR PRESENCEY ou men tioned that thinking or talking about the past unnecessarily is
one of the ways  in which we avoid the pr esent. But apart fr om  the past
that we r emember and per haps identify with, isn’ t ther e anothe r level of
past within us that is much mor e deep-seated. I am talking about the
unconscious past that conditions our lives, especially thr ough early
childhood experiences, per haps even past-life experiences. And then
ther e is our cultural conditioni ng, which has to do with wher e we live
geographically and the historical time period in which we live. All these
things d etermine how we see th e world, how we r eact, what we think,
what kind of r ela tionships we have, how we live our lives. How could we
ever bec ome con scious of all that or get rid of it. How long w ould that
take. And even if we did, what would ther e be left. What is left when illusion ends. There is  no need to investigate the unconscious past in you ex cept as it
manifests at this moment as a thought, an emotion, a desire, a reaction,
or an external event that happens to you. Whatever you need to know
about th e unconscious past in you, the challenges of the present will
bring it out. If you delve into th e past, it will become a bottomless pit:
There is always more. Y ou may think that you need more time to
understand the past or become free of it, in other words, that the future
will eve ntually f ree you of the past. This is a delusion. Only the present
can free  you of the past. More t ime cannot free you of time. Access the
power of Now. That is the key. What is the power of Now. None o ther than the power of your presence, your consc iousness
liberated from thought forms. So deal with the  past on the level of the present. The more atten tion you
give to the past,  the more you ener gize it, and the more likely y ou are to
make a “self” out of it. Don’ t misunderstand: Attention is esse ntial, butnot to the past as past. Give attention to the present; give att ention to
your beh avior, to your reactions, moods, thoughts, emotions, fears, and
desires a s they occur in the prese nt. Ther e’ s  the past in you. If you can be
present e nough t o watch all thos e things, not critically or analytically but
nonjudgmentally, then you are dealing with the past and diss olving it
through the power of your presence. Y ou cannot find yourself by going
into the past. Y ou find yourself by coming into the present. Isn’ t it helpful to understand the past and so understand why we do
certain things, r eact in certain w ays, or why we unconsciously cr eate our
particular kind of drama, patterns in r elationships, and so on. As you  become more conscious of your present reality, you may
suddenly get certain insights as  to why  your conditioning functions in
those particular ways — for e xample, why your relationships follow
certain patterns — and you may remember things that happen ed in the
past or see them more clearly. That is fine and can be helpful, but it is not
essential. What is essential is your conscious presence. That  dissolves the
past. Th at is the transformative agent. So don’ t seek to understand the
past, but be as present as you can. The past cannot survive in your
presence. It can only survive in your absence. CHAPTER FIVE
T H E  S T A T E  O F  P R E S E N C E
IT’S NOT WHA T YOU THINK IT IS
Y ou kee p talkin g about the state of pr esence as the key. I think I
understand it intellectually, b ut I don’ t know if I have ever truly
experienced it. I wonder — is it what I think it is, or is it something
entir ely differ ent. It’ s not what you think it is. Y ou can’ t think


 to be feared; it is only to be understood. Now is the time
to understand more, so that we may fear less.” The understanding of a
disease process and its cause should be the first step in conquering any
sickness. Identifying the underly ing reason that an illness exists will enable
a distressed patient to comprehe nd the workings and purpose of the Gerson
program and why it’ s bound to be ef fective. Someone critica lly ill will likely find it difficult to conce ntrate on
thoroughly learning Dr. Gerson’ s concepts; consequently, the family or
accompanying caregiver must assist with this function. Understanding and
accepting the Gerson approach to achieving wellness takes away some of
the fear by showing that there is hope of reversing the disease process. Words alone will not obliterate all of the fear, and we acknowled ge that a
favorable result is really what counts. Early improvement in the diseased
state will do more than anything else to resurrect hope. Many patients
newly arriving at a Gerson health facility have lost the will to eat and drink. But that situation soon changes for the better. The Gerson progr am helps
such a person over this difficult  period, giving the individual simple foodsand juices which the body is able to easily digest. Such an easing of the
metabolism is vital, for then we will see a restoration of blood flow, an
improvement in the nervous system, and an overall pickup of bodily
functions. The patient begins to eat, drink, and sleep much better, and
almost immediately he or she starts to feel strengthened. An interest in life
is stimulated. Probably for the first time since the patient heard his or her
diagnosis and prognosis, there is a prospect of living a long life. There can
be a future. SOME FUNCTIONS OF A  CAREGIVER  (FAMIL Y MEMBER OR  FRIEND )
Still, a drastic change of lifestyle is required by the Gerson Therapy. For
the patie nt, living each day inevitably has its ups and downs with healing
crises occurring all too frequently. The healing process offers a severe test
for even the most committed patient. It becomes the job of any caregiver to
lighten that patient’ s burden with steady support, empathy, and well-focused
counseling. How are these caregiving functions carried out? By the
caregiver ’s achieving full completion of specific beneficial tasks. They
include:
• Creating a safe space for the patient to occupy through total listening
and of fering nonjudgmental attention. • Building a healing partnership  with the patient, turning him or her into
an active ally able to share responsibility for the therapeutic process. • Dispelling the superstitious fear attached to cancer. This is done by
reprogramming the patient’ s consciousness, helping to reframe harmful
concepts; and by identifying self-defeating patterns and eliminating them. • Exploring the patient’ s belief system and the family dynamics  in which
he or she is embroiled. If the family dynamics are negative or hostile to
the therapy, an attempt must be made to reverse such dynamics. Or, get
the patient out of the disruptive environment. Or, take the source of
disruption away from the patient’ s environment. • Dealing with resentment and unfinished business facing the patient. • Coping with the drastic mood swings and sometimes antisocial
behavior that can accompany the detoxification process. A caregiver is very necessary to prevent the patient from deciding that
the Gerson treatment program is impossible to face at home on one’s own.The caregiver assists a patient in almost all aspects of accom plishing the
Gerson Therapy. It starts out with shopping for food and moves on to
securing deliveries, cooking the foods, checking on helpers, preparing
juices, allotting juice portions, establishing the daily routine, keeping on top
of the program routine, washin g up endlessly, making the enema coffee,
offering aid if an enema goes askew, coping with healing reactions and
other forms of flare-up, relievi ng boredom, injecting enthusia sm into the
treatment, and above all, causing sanity to prevail for both patient and
caregiver. The caregiver needs to be prepa red for alterations in emotions that arise
as the patient’ s body is freed of its residual poisons. Journalist and
psychotherapist Beata Bishop of London, England, tells us, “Physical
detoxification inevitably brings  about psychological detoxifi cation, too. Toxins passing through the central nervous system evoke strange reactions
and out-of-char acter behavior: violent mood swings, snappin ess, anger,
instability, unfair accusations, and aggression. The patient’ s normally
civilized behavi or gives way to drives and emotions that have been denied
and repressed for a long time, perhaps since childhood.... It is part of the
process. In whatever capacity we work with the patient, we remain calm,
caring, unchanged, waiting for the inner upheaval to pass.”2
TOOLS AND  METHODS FOR  PSYCHOLOGICAL  IMPROVEMENT
To offset the negative psychological aspects of serious illness—whether
cancer, heart disease, diabetes,  arthritis, serious infections, or any other
form of degenerating pathology—practitioners of the Gerson Therapy are
taught to incorporate certain considerations into their treatment programs. The extracurricular considerations include a number of psychology tools
and methods for patient application:
1. Employing relaxation techniques,
2. Creating visualizations linked to self-healing,
3. Engaging in simple meditations,
4. Repeatedly using af firmations,
5. Educating and developing the imaginative power of the right brain that
is creative, artistic, and idealistic,
6. Reversing negative family dynamics,7. Emphasizing positive actions in all situations or relationships,
8. Fully understanding the Gerson  program to bring about confide nce and
a willingness to become involved in such a demanding, rigid, and
comprehensive treatment which asks for so much self-discipline,
9. Removing internal physical pain relatively quickly by use of coffee
enemas and other sources of detoxification, and
10. Steadily exhibiting symptomatic results the patient sees and feels. Below, we briefly discuss the first five methods and tools. These five
afford a psychological uplift for the person who is ill with cancer or another
life-threatening disorder. Use a Relaxation T echnique
For fifteen minutes, three times a day—upon arising, after lunch, and
before retiring—relax deeply by use of a progressive relaxation  technique. First relax the head, next the neck, then the shoulders, and in progression all
of the rest of the body from top to bottom completely down to the toes. This relaxation is achieved by proceeding with the technique taught by
Jose Silva of Silva Mind Control fame. Here is how to proceed:
1. Sit comfortably in a chair or lie on the floor. 2. Close the eyes and relax. 3. Take a deep lung-filling inhalation. 4. During exhalation, relax the body even more. 5. Count slowly backward from 100 to 1. 6. Daydream about some peaceful place you know. 7. Mentall y verbalize a strong affirmation such as “I will always maintain
a perfectly healthy body and mind.”
8. Go into the well-practiced creative visualizations you’ve develo ped for
yourself which provide the greatest comfort.3
Create V isualizations
There is a basic technique of creative visualization which Shakti  Gawain,
renowned pione er and teacher of the consciousness movement, offers to her
students. It involves the following step-by-step procedure:1. Apply your personal method of relaxation, perhaps the same technique
suggested by Jose Silva;
2. Imagine a healthy state of the body that you want very much to
possess;
3. Imagine this healthy body state in your possession, admire it, enjoy it,
show it to loved ones and friends;
4. Make some positive statements  (affirmations) about this healthy body
state;
5. End the visualiz ation with firm avowals that you will have this healthy
body state permanently.4
Once relaxed and able to visualize readily, start the healing process in
earnest. Picture the body with its growing tumor, and imagine that tumor
stopping its growth. Then see it getting smaller. During each of these
relaxation sessio ns, visualize the tumor shrinking a tiny bit more than the
last time. Also imagine the very active immune system, however you may
picture it, with that protective system’ s all-encompassing white blood cells
(leukocytes), which consist of the lymphocytes, the phagocytes, the
monocytes, and much more. Engage in Simple Meditations
Meditation, a state of conscious ness in which one stops awareness of the
surroundings so the mind can focus on a single precept, leads to rest and
relief from stress. It takes patience and persistence to develop the power of
concentration required in meditation. The mind will naturally  wander to
other things and images. One’ s attention must be returned to the subject
over and over again. It may be frustrating to discover just how easily the
attention wanders. Consider that the subject of a meditation is similar to that
of a tar get; stray thoughts will often prevent hitting the bull’ s-eye.5
A wide variety of meditation techniques are used to clear the mind of
stressful outside disturbances. The method that follows below, as taught by
Dr. Lawrence LeShan, is


 now. And we need not
feel guilty, for He will undo all consequences of our wrong decision if we
will let Him. The Atonement principle does not come from us, but it is
within us because God put it there. When fear occu rs—a repetition of the original moment of separation—
the universe is always ready to correct itself. The question is whether we
are. All of us fall off the spiritual wagon more times a day than we care to
admit. But at any given moment, we can choose again. That is the power of
the Atonement. In the moment when we close our hearts, choosing fear instead of love,
the miracle we could have had is held in trust for us by the Holy Spirit. It
will be safe in His hands until we are ready to receive it. It might be another
situation, at another time, but the opportunity will be provided. The miracle
available to us in any moment is an undeletable file. We can choose not to
download it, but we can never remove it from the hard drive. In the presence  of perfect love, the universe rearranges itself and
miracles occur automatically. That is the infinite mercy of God. OceanofPDF.comEnlightenment
For thousands of years, both Jews and Christians have conceived of a
Messiah who liberates humanity from spiritual and material bondage. The
Jews say the Messiah is coming, the Christians say the Messiah came, and
Einstein said there is no time. The mystic Messiah won’ t be coming from outside but from the inside. He’s not coming down from the sky; he’ s coming from our higher mind. Thinking of the Messiah only in terms of linear time and the historical
reality of Jesus keeps us bound to limited awareness. The mystic Messiah is
a state of mind, a loving awaren ess of our oneness with God and with each
other. In that sense the Messiah does liberate the children of God. But liberation is not a moment, it’s a process. Time and space, and the
body itself, are learning devices through which we rehearse over and over
again the lessons of enlightenment. Every circumstance is carefully planned
by the Holy Spirit for our maximal soul growth, both challenging and
inviting us to choose love instead of fear. Enlightenment isn’t a change in our bodies but in our souls, not a denial
of the body but a rethinking of its purpose. God honors our creations as we
are asked to honor His. Nothing in this world is holy or unholy except as
determined by the purpose we ascribe to it. The body itself is like a
priceless suit of clothes. Used as a means of healing and comm unication, it
too is a holy thing. In many Christian churches you’ll see it written: “Do this in
remembrance of me.” The mind of Jesus holds nothing but faith, nothing
but love, and nothing but service. In every situation, our spiritual challenge
is to even try to approach that. It’s quite  a task to go over the events of our lives at the end of each day,
asking, “In that situation, did I bring forth my best? Did I show love and
generosity, or fear and selfishn ess? Was I there to give, or was I there totake? Did I bless, or did I blam e?” It’s amazing how the more  we do this,
the more we begin to see that our lives are exactly as we program  them with
our thoughts. We’re not asked by God to be perfect, but to be honest. Every time we
realize “Yep, I wasn’ t my best in that instance,” we can place that moment
into the hands of God, atone for our error, and pray for the chance to begin
again. He will provide it. That is the power of the Atonement. It isn’t a fix;
it’s a miracle. The choice for love is a radica l departure from the way we’ve been
taught to view the world. Enligh tenment is a psychological conversion that
ultimately dism antles a thought system based on fear, but not without
temptation and hardships that every life is privy to. The temptations of the ego are pernicious. How often we self-sabotage,
only to realize afterward that we ourselves were the enemy who hurt us
most. The ego would much prefer that you monitor the faults of others than
to be honest about your own. Yet it’s only when we’re willing to look at
ourselves clearly in the mirror that the path of liberation begins. Enlightenment isn’t a stupendous moment after which everything is
suddenly clear and we’re forever changed. It’s a moment-by-moment, often
arduous process of personal growth that can involve, and in fact usually
does involve, some level of personal discomfort. Growth is messy. The
journey is scary, and a guide—a  friend to support us as we go, solidly there
with us and never to leave, that and more—is the mystic Jesus. He overshadows our consciousn ess, delivering us to thinking that will
set us free of pain. The purpose of our lives is to be happy, and the only way
we can achieve that is if we learn to think as God thinks. Asking Jesus to
help us is a way to get there. There is a mystery to what happens when we
invite him into our heart, something beyond the grasp of our mortal mind. The Course  refers to our relationship to him: “ ⁶ It is possible to read his
words and bene fit from them without accepting him into your life. ⁷ Yet he
would help you yet a little more if you will share your pains and joys with
him, and leave them both to find the peace of God”* (MT-88). I have found
that to be true. Giving up how we used to think means giving up who we used to be,
and the old self rarely goes down easily. The journey takes us through a
very dark forest, filled with psychological demons that jump out at us as weseek to make our way: thoughts of past failures, personal humiliation,
shame, self-hatred, regret, and grief. The mystic path is an insistence on meaning in an otherwise
meaningless universe, a dedica tion to purpose in a world that constantly
distracts us with seduction by ultimately unimportant things. It is a refusal
to go along with the corrupting influence of petty judgme nts. It is a
commitment to making forgiven ess the core principle around which we live
our lives. There is so much to unlearn. The temptation to perceive without love—
choosing attack over forgiveness  and blame over blessing—is more than the
dominant norm in our world; it’s the preferr ed one. And it will challenge us
at every turn. Years ago, I told myself not to worry about the devil because that was
only in my head. I remember the moment I realized that that is hardly good
news. The devil isn’t out there somewhere stalking the plane t for men’ s
souls. Rather, it is the temptation in all of us, ever vigilant and ever active,
to perceive without love. Since  all minds are one, as we transcend that
temptation within ourselves, we help purify the thoughts of the world. We’ll be forced by circumstance s to see where we are spiritually strong
and where we are spiritually weak. The Holy Spirit isn’t here to honor our
comfort zones but to bust them,  to bring to our awareness the places where
we still hold love at bay. Only then can we atone for those aspects of our
personality and heal from them. Just as we mentally exercise to build our physical muscles, we exercise
to build our spiritual muscles. Jesus is like a great trainer, going through the
moves with us, correcting us when we didn’ t quite get it right, helping us
develop greater strength with which to do it for ourselves. Yoga or Pilates or
weight training changes the shape of our physical muscles; a consistent
effort to be more loving changes the shape of our personality. By
disciplining ourselves to be more loving, we don’t just become “nicer.” We
become miracle workers, healer s, and agents of transformation. That is why
we are here. As there are objective, discernible laws of physics, there are objective,
discernible laws of consciousness, or metaphysics, as well. You don’t have
“faith” in the power of gravity; you simply understand the power of gravity. At a certain point you don’t have faith in the power of love either; you
simply understand the power of love.If we’re confused, or angry, or intolerant, or triggered, God does not ask
us not to be. He simply asks us to be willing  not to be. Knowing there is a
power that can do for us what we cannot do for ourselves at that moment,
knowing there is within our mind a savior from our confusion and despair,
it’s up to us whether we choose to call on it. Jesus can’t come into our mind
and simply take those things from us—he can’t take what we don’t release
to him—but if we request his help we will receive it. Part of the art of life is not doing something stupid in the meantime. Just
as physical exercise builds physical muscles, prayer and meditation build
attitudinal muscles. One gives us the strength to move quickly and
powerfully. The other gives us the strength to remain nonreactiv e and still. I
might think


 times daily, and her m other
had a most remarkable recovery after a few days, much to th e
amazement of her specialist. He complimented her on her great  faith
in the power of God. The conclusion arrived at in the daughter’s mind set the creative  law
of mind in motion on the subjective side of life, which manifested
itself through her mother’s body as perfect health and harmony. What
the daughter felt as true about her mother was simultaneously
resurrected in the experience of her mother. • Releasing the kinetic action of the subconscious mind
A psychologist friend of mine told me that one of his lungs was
infected. X rays and analysis showed the presence of tuber-cul osis. At
night before going to sleep he would quietly affirm, “Every ce ll,
nerve, tissue, and muscle of my lungs are now being made whole,
pure, and perfect. My whole body is being restored to health and
harmony.”
These are not his exact words, but they represent the es-se nce of
what  he affirmed. A complete healing followed in about a month’ s
time. Subsequent X rays showed a perfect healing. I wanted to know his method, so I asked him why he re-peated the
words prior to sleep. Here is his reply, “The kinetic act ion of the
subconscious mind continues throughout your sleep-time period. Hence, give the subconscious mind something good to work on as you
drop off into slumber.” This was a very wise answer. In t hinking of
harmony and perfect health, he never mentioned his trouble by name. I strongly suggest that you cease talking about your ail-ments o r
giving them a name. The only sap from which they draw life is  your
attention and fear of them. Like the above-mentioned psychologist,
 69  become a mental surgeon. Then your troubles will be cut off li ke dead
branches are pruned from a tree. If you are constantly naming your aches and symptoms, you inhibit
the kinetic action, which means the release of the healing power  and
energy of your subconscious mind. Further-more, by the law of your
own mind, these imaginings tend to take shape, as the thing I greatly
feared. Fill your mind with the great truths of life and walk forwar d in
the light of love. • Summary of your aids to health
1. Find out what it is that heals you. Realize that correct d irec-tions
given to your subconscious mind will heal your mind and body. 2. Develop a definite plan for turning over your requests or desi res
to your subconscious mind. 3. Imagine the end desired and feel its reality. Follow it through, and
you will get definite results. 4. Decide what belief is. Know that belief is a thought in your mi nd,
and what you think you create. 5. It is foolish to believe in sickness and something to hurt or to
harm you. Believe in perfect health, prosperity, peace, wealth, and
divine
guidance. 6. Great and noble thoughts upon which you habitually dwell
become great acts. 7. Apply the power of prayer therapy in your life. Choose a cert ain
plan, idea, or mental picture. Mentally and emo-tionally unite wi th
that idea, and as you remain faithful to your mental attitude, y our
prayer will be answered. 8. Always remember, if you really want the power to heal, you c an
have it through faith, which means knowledge of the working of your
conscious and subconscious mind. Faith comes with understanding. 70  9. Blind faith means that a person may get results in healing w ithout
any scientific understanding of the powers and forces involved. 10.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        Perfect health is mine, and the
Law of Harmony operates in my mind and body. Beauty, love, peace,
and abundance are mine. The principle of right action and divine order
govern my entire life. I know my major premise is based on t he
eternal truths of life, and I know, feel, and believe that my
 36  subconscious mind responds according to the nature of my conscious
mind think-ing. ”
He wrote me as follows: “I repeated the above statements slowly,
quietly, and lovingly several times a day knowing that they wer e
sinking deep down into my subconscious mind, and that results must
follow. I am deeply grateful for the interview you gave me, and I
would like to add that all departments of my life are changing f or the
better. It works. ”
• The subconscious does not argue controversially
Your subconscious mind is all-wise and knows the answers to all
questions. It does not argue with you or talk back to you. It does not
say, “You must not impress me with that. ” For ex-ample, when y ou
say, “I can’t do this. ” “I am too old now. ” “I can’t meet this
obligation. ” “I was born on the wrong side of the tracks. ” “I don’t
know the right politician,” you are impregnating your subconsciou s
with these negative thoughts, and it responds accordingly. You are
actually blocking your own good, thereby bringing lack, limitation,
and frustration into your life. When you set up obstacles, impediments, and delays in your
conscious mind, you are denying the wisdom and intelli-gence
resident in your subconscious mind. You are actually say-ing in e ffect
that your subconscious mind cannot solve your problem. This leads to
mental and emotional congestion, fol-lowed by sickness and neurotic
tendencies. To realize your desire and overcome your frustration, affirm  boldly
several times a day: “The infinite intelligence which gav e me this
desire leads, guides, and reveals to me the perfect plan for t he
unfolding of my desire. I know the deeper wisdom of my
subconscious is now responding, and what I feel and claim wi thin is
expressed in the without. There is a balance, equilibrium, and
equanimity. ”
If you say, “There is no way out; I am lost; there is no way out  of
this dilemma; I am stymied and blocked,” you will get no answ er or
 37  response from your subconscious mind. If you want the subconscious
to work for you, give it the right request, and attain its co-op eration. It
is always working for you. It is con-trolling your heartbeat thi s minute
and also your breathing. It heals a cut on your finger, and its tendency
is lifeward, forever seeking to take care of you and preserve you. Your
subconscious has a mind of its own, but it accepts your patter ns of
thought and imagery. When you are seeking an answer to a problem, your sub-conscious
will respond, but it expects you to come to a decision and to a t rue
judgment in your conscious mind. You must acknowledge the answer
is in your subconscious mind. However, if you say, “I don’t think
there is any way out; I am all mixed up and confused; why don’t I get
an answer. ” you are neutralizing your prayer. Like the soldie r
marking time, you do not get anywhere. Still the wheels of your mind, relax, let go, and quietly affirm:  “My
subconscious knows the answer. It is responding to me now. I give
thanks because I know the infinite intelligence of my subc onscious
knows all things and is revealing the perfect answer to me  now. My
real conviction is now setting free the majesty and glory of m y
subconscious mind. I rejoice that it is so. ”
• Review of highlights
1. Think good, and good follows. Think evil, and evil follows. You
are what you think all day long. 2. Your subconscious mind does not argue with you. It ac-cepts
what your conscious mind decrees. If you say, “I can’t afford it,” it
may be true, but do not say it. Select a better thought, decree, “ I’ll buy
it. I  accept it in my mind. ”
3. You have the power to choose. Choose health and happiness. You
can choose to be friendly, or you can choose to be unfriendly. Choose
to be co-operative, joyous, friendly, lovable, and the whole world  will
respond. This is the best way to develop a wonderful personality. 38  4. Your conscious mind is the “watchman at the gate. ” Its chief
function is to protect your subconscious mind from false impres sions. Choose to believe that something good can happen and is happening
now. Your greatest power is your capacity to choose. Choose
happiness and abundance. 5. The suggestions and statements of others have no power to hurt
you. The only power is the movement of your own thought. You can
choose to reject the thoughts or statements of others and affir m the
good. You have the power to choose how you will react. 6. Watch what you say. You have to account for every idle word. Never say, “I will fail; I will lose my job; I can’t pay the rent. ” Your
subconscious cannot take a joke. It brings all these


 and Stale Food
Microbes and Man
Teeth and Stale Food Physical Strength and Resistance to Injury
Fatty Rubbish and Filth in Flour
Bran in Flour and Cereals
Quality of Meat and Eggs
Smoked and Salted Meat and Fish General Food Practices
Menus and Beverages
How Good Livestock Products Can Be Obtained
The Good Quality of Vegetables and Fruits
Sun-Dried Foods Refined Oils and Shortenings
Chocolate and Cocoa
Sugar Drugs, Vitamins and Food Concentrates
Yeast As a Vitamin Food
The Use of Localized Heat
Eating and Drinking Habits
Meat Eating Habits Indigestion, Bowel Problems and Ulcers
Where the Housewife Reigns Supreme
Cooking
The Fresh Food Diet for Avoiding and Curing Arteriosclerosis
Diet and the Medical Profession Future Improvements in Food Supply
Criticism of These Findings
A General View
Sources of Information List of References
  DIABETES AND SWEETS
   Ordinary sugar (sucrose) is normally changed by the digestive juices of healthy people into invert
sugar, which can be easily utilized by the body. But any sucrose absorbed into our system unchanged cannot be utilized as food, acts as a toxin throughout the body, and is excreted in the urine. This helps
explain why some people will show sugar in the urine only after eating ordinary sugar. They are not
truly diabetic, but they do have a weakened digestive system. These people are greatly helped by avoiding ordinary sugar. Honey is a good substitute for sugar, because it is pre-digested by the bees and
changed to invert sugar, thus it can be more safely utilized by these border-line diabetics who cannot
fully invert ordinary sugar. Authorities: Dr. E. V. McCollum, Johns Hopkins Univ., "History of Nutrition." McGraw-Hill Encyc. of Science 5-541, 13-236-239. It has recently been found that honey contains valuable natural digestive enzymes which can help us
digest our food. A couple of teaspoonfuls after meals makes a nice dessert, and often will do wonders
toward better digestion, increased strength, and im proved appearance. Delicious between-meal drinks
can be quickly made with honey. A few spoonfuls dissolved in a cup of warm water or milk make a tasty aromatic drink to replace coffee or tea. A dab of butter melting on the top gives extra flavor. Caution: Too much heat scalds honey and gives it a bitter after-taste. The warm water or milk should
not be too hot to bear on the hand. Honey varies greatly in color, taste, and dietary effect, so it is advisable to try several samples to obtain a supply which you find agreeable. Some types of honey are
too laxative in sensitive individuals. Honey from the colder and drier regions is often very mild and
good. EAR NOISES, DEAFNESS AND DIZZINESS
   Ear noises, deafness, and dizziness sometim es result from temporary conditions which can be
remedied by a good doctor or ear specialist. In older people these problems are very often caused by
gradual deterioration related to diet, and sometimes can be improved or corrected by the Fresh Food Diet. Heat treatment as described on page 32 often speeds relief, especially from dizziness. Heat is
applied to the ear area by placing an electric heating pad under the back of the neck and head while
lying on the back in bed. The heating pad should be pulled up against the ears on each side and held there by pillows. Heat should be applied for fifteen to thirty minutes, three times a day. Stay in bed for
a few minutes after removing the heating pad, aris e slowly, and watch your step, to avoid danger of
falling. This treatment increases blood circulation and helps clear arteries in the ear and neck area. LUNCHES
   Good lunches can be put up without bread. Irish or sweet potatoes cooked in their own skins are good
lunch items, eaten with butter. Raw carrot and celery sticks, lettuce, cabbage, tomatoes, radishes, etc.,
can be cleaned and cut ready to eat. If salad dressing containing oil is used, it should be put up separately and added at mealtime to prevent deterioration. Meats for lunches should be without gravy
or juice, like roast beef, chicken, etc. Stew type  foods or ground meats in a wet form should be avoided
in lunches because they rapidly ferment and break down into fatty rubbish. Raw fruits, nuts, honey, etc., make good dessert and snack items. Containers can be formed up by hand from heavy type
aluminum foil. Large mouth fruit jars of small size are convenient to eat from, as well as snap top thin
plastic food containers. Plastic or dry paper cups are useful, but waxed paper should be avoided because the wax dissolves into the food. Disposable plastic forks and spoons are available. Salt, pepper,
and sugar can be bought in disposable one-time paper packets. INSOMNIA CONTROL
   For sleep to come easily, the mind and body should be calm and at rest. If the heart is pounding fast
due to excitement, worry, emotion, stimulants, or recen t exercise, it may be hard to fall asleep. A rapid
heart rate and consequent sleeplessness may also be caused by a full stomach and by cold beverages
drunk at bedtime, due to the stomach's requirement for blood circulation to digest the food or warm up
the beverages. Preparation for sleep before bedtime is therefore important. These measures have been found to help sleep come easily:

   1. The evening meal should be eaten early, at least two hours before bedtime. 2. Avoid coffee, tea, cola drinks, nasal inhalers or drops, or any other stimulants for the last three or
four hours before bedtime. 3. Minimize the amount of fluids drunk at night, to avoid having to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. Especially avoid any chilled beverage just before bedtime. If you must have some
beverage at bedtime, let it be warm, neither chilled nor extremely hot, and restrict it to a small cupful or
less, even if it is only water. 4. Relax and take it easy for at least a half hour before sleep time. During this period avoid exciting
or irritating conversation, work, worry, and physical activity. Going to bed a little early with some light reading matter is a good way to do this. 5. Do your bathing, hair and skin grooming, etc., before this half-hour pre-bedtime period. That kind
of thing raises the heart rate about the same as other kinds of work. 6. Try not to take problems and worries to bed with you. Our thinking ability is so poor at night we
are not likely to work out anything useful, but we certainly can keep ourselves awake trying. Think about pleasant subjects when you want to go to sleep. 7. Some people put themselves to sleep by tapping their bodies gently with a fingertip and counting
the taps. Better than counting sheep. 8. There is one last resort which for many people brings on sleep when all else fails, though I have no idea why: A teaspoonful or two of honey taken at bedtime. Some people keep a small jar of honey by
the bed, so they can take a nip of it if they should lie awake in the night. Habitual use of sleep-inducing drugs should be a voided or minimized because in time they may cause
injurious side effects. GENERAL NOTES
   Some people find that eating pork causes them to have indigestion, with a feeling of fullness and a
greasy aftertaste. This is caused by cooking it too fast, with too much heat. Pork is the most delicate meat of all and if highly heated becomes indigestible. If it begins to sputter and pop, it is too hot, and
should be turned over, basted, or the heat reduced. When slowly cooked, as shown on pages 37 and 38,
fresh uncured pork is easily digested and can be enj oyed as often as desired. It should be cooked slowly
until rawness in the center disappears. INTRODUCTION
   Arteriosclerosis and its kindred miseries have reached epidemic proportions in
modern times, and though it is widely agreed the disease is caused by food, no
successful explanation has previously been av ailable as to why or how it is caused or
by what foods. Conflicting academic theories have been presented, but the killer rages
unchecked, causing up to 10,000 heart attacks a day in the United States alone. There is a growing conviction that there is something seriously wrong with modern
food. There is, and the pitiful results of it are to be seen in every hospital, rest home,
cemetery, mental institution, and school for retarded children in the country. Some say our people have become dege nerate, that our morals are undermined, and
our civilization is becoming inefficient and decadent. The truth is that the people are
weakened and debilitated by poor food, with many of them so unhappy and miserable
that they vent their frustration and fury in senseless ways, not knowing where the real
hurt lies. But our old bloodlines are unchanged, our natural heritage of high intelligence, physical strength, and courage yet remain, and will quickly once more
find their full flower as in olden times when food deficiencies are corrected. We are not degenerate, only deteriorated. Many have blamed modern foods and advocated impractical fad diets but none have
told us what is actually wrong with the food or what we can do about


 Itchy skin, without erup-tions. Eczema, with yellowish-white crust. Facefull of pimples. Scrofulous affections, intercur-rently. Dry skin. Skin itching and burning, asfrom nettles. Perspiration on hands from spinalweakness. Lupus, with characteristic symptoms.Pruritus (itching) of vagina, with or withoutthick, clear leucorrhea (Nat Mur). Freckles(apply a 10 percent solution of cell salt in waterto the face). Chafed skin (Nat Mur). Acnerosacea. T ubercles (nodules) on the skin. Scalyherpes on the shins. Tissues – Bones weak, easily broken; when
broken, bones will not unite or, when new bonematerial is needed. Rickets. Tabes, or atrophy ofany organ tissue. Poor nutrition through indi-
gestion. Ulceration of bone substance. Stuntedgrowth. Defective development, with pale,greenish-white complexion. Polyps. Disease ofthe pancreas. Emaciation, chlorosis, anemia.Intercurrently in all bone affections, constitu-tional weakness. As a tonic for delicate, anemicpersons (Ferrum Phos). All ailments caused bya deficiency or disturbance in the phosphate oflime (Calc Phos) molecules. Febrile conditions – Chilliness and shiver-
ing, when beginning of fever (Ferrum Phos).Excessive perspiration, night sweats in cases of
phthisis (tuberculosis). Phthisis. Cold, clammysweat on the face and body. After typhoid and
other fevers, as the disease recedes, to promotethe deposit of new material in place of thatdestroyed. Sleep – Restless sleep due to worms (Nat
Phos), drowsiness, sleepiness, difficulty wakingin the morning. Vivid dreams. Modalities – Symptoms are generally worse
at night in damp, cold weather (Nat Sulph), with
change of weather, upon getting wet, etc. Better
in warm weather and in warm room. FACIAL SIGNS OF CALCPHOS
DEFICIENCY
A waxy appearance is often seen on areas
with cartilage such as the nose, ears, etc. Themore facial surface having this waxy quality, thegreater the deficiency. Ears may appear waxy on the cartilage and
ear muscle. Look for a waxy intensity. Eyebrows Look for a waxy appearance to the
skin. There may also be waxy-looking stripescoming diagonally from the eyebrows. White spots on the teeth and nails show a
Calc Phos deficiency. We also see teeth withtranslucent tips (Calc Fluor). Stretched cheekbone musculature is another
sign. People with this symptom exhibit a biting orhard-bitten look or character, as though life hasdealt them a hard hand. Small lips also suggest a hard life. These sig-
nify poor mineral absorption. Yogurt appearance, a creamy-whitish look. This can occur in the case of Calc Sulph deficien-cy as well. THERAPEUTIC INDEX OF CALCPHOS
Adapted from: Therapeutic Index (1890) by Dr. W. H. Schuessler
Anemia, first remedy. Bone diseases, see also Rickets. 32 FACIAL DIAGNOSIS OF CELLSALTDEFICIENCIESCalc Phos
Summary
ORGAN AND TISSUE AFFINITIES
Nutrition, bones, tendons, teeth,
protein binder,muscles, cartilage, chest. MODALITIES
Symptoms worse < teething, loss of
fluids, exposure to cold, wet wind,thinking of symptoms, puberty, eatingfruit. Symptoms better > summer warmth,
dry weather, lying down, rest. DEFICIENCY SYMPTOMS
Muscles are sensitive to cold. White
marks on fingernails and teeth. Tips ofteeth are translucent. DISEASE CONDITIONS
Bone problems, weak ankles,
teething problems, osteoporosis, spinabifida, stiff neck, rickets.CHAPTER 4: C ALCPHOS 33Calc Phos (a)
The tips of the teeth clearly show the translucent quality of a Calc Phos deficiency. A Calc Fluor deficiency
can also show up as translucence of the teeth. The chin is red and thus shows a Nat Phos deficiency. Thereare brownish spots on the skin that show a Kali Sulph deficiency. Calc Phos (b)
This picture shows a Calc Phos deficiency with a waxy appearance around the eyes, root of the nose and
into the eyebrows. The redness of the cheeks shows a Kali Mur deficiency. 34 FACIAL DIAGNOSIS OF CELLSALTDEFICIENCIES
CHAPTER 4: C ALCPHOS 35Calc Phos (c)
This woman shows a Calc Phos deficiency by the waxy appearance around her eyes, nose and forehead. She also has a Nat Phos deficiency because of the appearance of the red acne blemishes. The brownish-black of the inner eye area is a Calc Fluor deficiency sign. The middle of her forehead has a greenish tinge,suggestive of a Nat Sulph deficiency. Calc Phos (d)
This woman has the Calc Phos deficiency symptoms of a waxy appearance of the root of the nose, eyes
and into the eyebrows. She has the reddish overlay indicative of a Mag Phos deficiency, and a Calc Fluordeficiency can be noted in the raised pattern in the corner of the eyes. The bags under her eyes denote aNat Sulph deficiency. Her squinting appearance, horizontal lines on the root of the nose, and short eye-brows also show a hypothyroid condition. Such conditions accompany a weak liver. Another sign of livermalfunction is seen in the greenish appearance, a Nat Sulph deficiency. 36 FACIAL DIAGNOSIS OF CELLSALTDEFICIENCIES
CHAPTER 4: C ALCPHOS 37Cancer, in scrofulous (swelling of the lymph
nodes) constitutions. Catarrh (mucus congestion), in chronic or ane-
mic persons. Chlorosis (greenish tint to skin) type of anemia. Convalescence, during and after acute diseases. Convulsions, from teething, without fever, if Mag
Phos fails. Cough, in consumption (tuberculosis). Delicacy, in growing girls and children. Diabetes mellitus. Diptheria, first remedy, to reduce the fever and
limit inflammation of throat. Dropsy (swelling), from non-assimilation or ane-
mia. Eczema, with anemia. Eczema, with dry, crusty affections. Enuresis (urinary incontinence), nocturnal, from
general weakness. Eyelids, spasmodic affection, if Mag Phos fails. Face ache (neuralgic, rheumatic), worse at night. Fits (epileptic), during development in child-
hood and youth. Fits, in the scrofulous. Fontanelles, remaining open too long. Fractured bones, to promote union. Glands (lymphatics), enlarged, chronic. Gonorrhea, with anemia. Gout, rheumatic. Hemorrhoids, chronic, in anemic or weak
patients. Headache, the head feeling and being cold to the
touch. Hernia, in anemic patients. Housemaid’s knee (swelling of the knee), with
anemia. Hydrocele (clear fluid in a cavity), if Nat Mur
fails. Hydrocephalus (water in the head). Inflammation of the eyes, during dentition, after
Ferrum Phos. Intestinal worms, predisposition to, in anemic
patients.Intermittent fever, chronic, in children. Kidney disease (Bright’s). Lameness, rheumatic, obstinate, after Kali Mur. Leucorrhea (white discharge from the vagina), as
a constitutional tonic. Lumbago, if Ferrum Phos fails. Lupus, if a partial manifestation of scrofulosis;
see also Kali Mur. Ozena (foul-smelling nasal discharge), with
scrofulous symptoms. Pains (rheumatic), in the head, worse during the
night. Pains in the head, worse with heat or cold. Rheumatism, worse at night. Rheumatism, aggravated by heat or cold. Rheumatism, worse in bad weather. Rheumatism, worse with change of weather. Rheumatism, chronic, of the joints, with cold or
numb feeling. Rickets.Skin affections, in anemic persons. Suppuration (discharge of pus from infection), of
bone. Teeth, too rapid decay of. Teething, disordered. Teething, too late. Teething, minor ailments caused by it. Tonsils, chronic swelling,
Toothache, worse at night. Toothache, worse in bad weather. Tubercles (nodules), in the skin. Whooping cough, obstinate cases. “EVERY DISEASE WHICH AFFLICTS HUMANITY
REVEALS A LACK OF ONE OR MORE OF THESEINORGANIC CELL
-SALTS.”
– J.B. C HAPMAN, M.D. ASTROLOGY OF CALCPHOS
Capricorn: The Goat of the Zodiac
December 21 to January 19
Adapted from: Cell Salts of Salvation by Dr. George
Carey
Persons born be-
tween the dates Dec-ember 21 and January


 him, “In every
atom, there are worlds within worlds.” Demolishing one’s
own boundaries does not make the relative world vanish; it
adds anothe r dimension of reality to it—reality becomes
unbounded. When the walls are down, the world can
expand. And that, according to the rishis, makes all the
diﬀerence between a world that could be a heaven and one
that becomes a hell. —
The mechanism behind phobias can be used in exactly the
opposite way, to take down a wall rather than build  one. We
could just as easily, and far more happily, talk about people
who overcome fears that are supposed to be normal. The
construction workers on skyscrapers used to include a
large propor tion of Mohawk Indians, who were raised
without a fear of heights. The same courage can be
gradually built into oneself by practice—for example, by
walking a tightrope. Such ﬂexibility is not limited to psychological states. Nutritionists have abundant scientiﬁc evidence to show
that the body must be given certain vitamins and minerals
every day in order not to fall prey to deﬁciency diseases—
the classic instance is scurvy, which aﬄicted the British
navy when sailors were fed solely on hardtack biscuits and
grog and deprived of the vitamin C in fruits and vegetables. Nonetheless, native cultures around the world have
existed for centuries without rigorous daily vitamin
requirements and have adapted perfectly well. TheTarahumara Indians of northern Sonora in Mexico have
become famous in physi ological circles because they can
run twenty-ﬁve to ﬁfty miles a day in high altitudes without
discomfort. Whole tribes run these marathons every week;
when the winner of one race was tested two minutes after
crossing the ﬁnish line, an American physiologist
discovered that his heart rate was slower than when he
began. What ampliﬁes this inexplicable feat is that the
Tarahumara typically live on two hundred pounds of corn a
year for the average family, half of which is made into corn
beer. Other sources of nutrition, such as root vegetables,
become available in small quantities during the limited
growing season. By being able to thrive on an absurdly
substandard diet, these people show the nearl y inﬁnite
ﬂexibility of the mind-body system. Ironically, their
adaptation is so perfect that when placed on a “balanced”
diet fortiﬁed  with vitamins and minerals, many native
people devel op heart disease, hypertension, skin disorders,
and rotten teeth, none of which they had before, in
epidemic proportions. Obviously, these examples throw down a challenge to our
whole conception of what is normal. We have ample
evidence in our own culture that what is most normal about
us is our ability to create our own reality. As Sir John Eccles
told the parapsychologists, it is incomprehensible that our
thoughts can move molecules, and yet we live quite
comfortably with this impossibility all the time. The rishis
simply exten d our comfort zone all the way, into the
normality of the inﬁnite. We already know that if an impulse of intelligence  wants
to do something, then it does it, using intelle ct, mind,
senses, and matter to ﬁnd its outlet. Intelligence can create
a physiology  where healing thoughts take place, but it can
also create the reverse. If we were “hard-wired”  like acomputer, then every physiology would be predictable; in
reality, no physiology is. Intelligence creates new circuitry
at will, and this makes each person unique. Every
experience in life changes the brain’s anatomy. The new
dendrites created in the brain cells of active old people are
just one instance. Even more extraordinary  is the following experiment: Dr.
Herbert Spector of the National Institutes of Health took a
group of mice and gave them poly-I:C, a chemical known to
stimulate the activity of natural killer T-cells in the immune
system and thus strengt hen the animal’s defens e against
disease. Every time a mouse received his dose of poly-I:C,
the smell of camphor was released in the vicinity at the
same time. For a few weeks the pattern continued, injecting the
chemical and releasing the camphor smell. When the
chemical was taken away, Spector exposed the mice to only
the camphor, and he found that their immune-cell count
again increased, even without the chemical. In other words,
the smell alone made them stronger against disease. Could
he have done the reverse and lowered their immunity with
a smell? A team at the University of Rochester later showed that
this is possible. They took a group of rats and fed them
cyclophosphamide, a chemical known to diminish the
eﬀiciency of the immune  response. At the same time, the
rats were given saccharine-sweetened water, which
substituted for camphor as the neutral agent. When the
drug was withdrawn, the animals still dropp ed their
immune-cell count just by tasting the water. What excited
the research ers at the time was the realization  that the
immune system has learn ing ability. It directly responds to
outside stimuli, not just to the internal environme nt of the
bloodstream.In a larger sense, however, these experiments tell us that
the body is not tied to predictable responses. The
intelligence of a cell is creative. The predictable
mechanism that responds positively to poly-I:C and
negatively to cyclophosp hamide can transform itself and
respond to anything. Moreover, it can turn around and
respond with opposite results—the smell of camphor could
have been associated with either drug. There is no ﬁxed connection, then, between what kind of
experience you put into the body and the result that comes
out—your nervous system is set up for unboundedness. The
more we dwell on this, the more remarkable the
implications are. The smell of camphor did not do anything
to cause the change in immune cells: the mice could have
smelled roses or listened to a Mozart quartet. What
actually happened inside them was the creation of an
impulse of intelligence, a totally ﬂuid entity that
coordinates a piece of the nonmaterial world with a piece
of the material world. The ancient rishis understood this
very well. A verse from the Veda says, “What you see, you
become.” In other words, just the experience of perceiving
the world makes you what you are. This is a quite literal
statement. Children growing up in homes where there is
inadequate love can show a variety of symptoms—they may
be unhappy, neurotic, schizophrenic, sickly, angry, or any
number of other responses. But one of the strangest  is a
condition called psychosocial dwarﬁsm. Such children do
not grow up; they induce in themselves a deﬁciency of
growth hormone from the pituitary, and as a result, they
remain small and undeveloped in their physiques. Ignoring the biological clock, the onset of puberty  can be
delayed; so can the acquisition of mental skills associated
with older children, which is not directly controlled by the
pituitary. It is not a dysfunction of the pituitary that is at
fault, for when these children are placed in lovingsurroundings, their condition can spontaneously  reverse,
and they quickly catch up with their peers in size. Growing up is a built-in, genetically programmed
outcome of being born—yet these children defy it simply
because they feel unloved. Even if a doctor injects them
with growth hormone, many refuse to grow. A study with
adult male victims of heart attacks showed that the most
signiﬁcant factor in their recovery—meaning whether they
lived or died—was not anything to do with diet, exercise,
smoking, or a will to live. The men who lived felt that their
wives loved them, while those who felt unloved tended not
to survive; no other correlation the researchers could ﬁnd
was as strong. For years I have been haunted by the memory of one of
my ﬁrst patients, an Indian villager named Laxman
Govindass. I was still a medical student in New Delhi,
conﬁned to the drudgery  of working up physicals on the
patients whom the hospital staﬀ doctors were too busy to
see. The hospita l in question was a teaching hosp ital
attached to my school, the All-India Medical Institute, and
the academic doctors there had scant interest in a broken-
down alcoholic like Laxman Govindass. He was a peasant farmer whose drinking had gotten out
of hand to the point where his family deserted him. One son
had bundled him oﬀ to the door of our hospital and left him
there with the words, “Here’s where you will probably die.”
Like all villagers consign ed to us, Mr. Govindass was very
apprehensive and totally out of his element. The interns
took good enough care of his cirrhosis of the liver, but
without spending any time to become acquainted with him
personally. I got to know


 with a dose of standardized
senna extract. W e recommend Senokot. Most people will get a good
elimination with four tablets before bedtime. Expect a few loose bowel
movements within the next six to eight hours. Eat lightly the next day, gradually reintroducing more complex foods
into your diet. REJUVENA TION
The final step is to fill the space previously occupied by the noxious
substance with something nouri shing. W e find the most important “thing”
to fill the emptiness is the peace, comfort, and awareness that come from
meditation.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        When the immune system is functioning at an optimal level, it
responds to challenges proportionate to the threat, neither under - nor
overreacting. Many reports have documented that aging is associated with
altered i mmune function, which makes people susceptible to infections and
cancer. In many ways, our a bility to discriminate between potentially
nourishing and toxic influences is the essence of a healthy imm une system
and a healthy lif e. T o grow you nger and live longer, it is essential that we
maintain a healthy immune system. The nutritional aspects of im munity have been studied for several
decades, and it is clear that a well-nourished person is much more likely tomount a healthy immune resp onse than one who is underno urished. In
particular, the antioxidant system  plays a key role. Ample levels of vitamins
E, C, A, and th e carotenoids along with the minerals selenium, zinc, and
copper a re essen tial for responding to the inner and outer challenges to our
well-being. For example, a recent study from T ufts University found that
supplemental doses of vitamin  E can improve the immunity of healthy
subjects, at an optimal daily dose of 200 IU. Other studies looking at
vitamin C and beta-carotene ha ve also suggested that abundant levels of
these antioxidants are important for optimal immunity. Nutrients on the Horizon
As interest in the role of nutrition in health expands, we are seeing a
number of new substances coming to market with the promise that they can
reverse a ging while improving health and vitality. Most of thes e claims are
based on  limited  studies that ar e intriguing but not conclusive. It may turn
out t hat some of these nutraceuti cals have real value, but we believe it is too
soon to justify their routine inclusion in our nutritional program. In this
section we review a variety of these “horizon” substances and  encourage
you to research them yourself  before adding them to your  nutritional
program. S-ADENOSYL-METHIONINE (SAME)
SAMe is a natur al compound that your body manufactures from  the amino
acid methionine. It is involved in many essential metabolic reactions
including the production of key  brain chemicals. Studies on people with
depression have suggested that at supplemental doses of 1,600 milligrams
per day, over 60 percent will show improvement in their mood, often within
one to two weeks. SAMe h as only been available in the United States for a few years and
remains expensive. It is usually sold in 200-milligram tablets t hat can cost
more than $2. 50 per pill, so a standard dose may cost $20 pe r day. Side
ef fects t end to be mild but may include nausea, headaches, weakness, and
rare pal pitations. Some SAMe advocates discourage its use  in bipolar
disorder, sugges ting that it can aggravate the manic phase. It has been used
in lower doses of 800 milligrams per day to treat fibromyalgia. It is often
recommended that SAMe be taken along with vitamins B6, B1 2, and folic
acid to enhance its ef ficacy. SAMe m ay be an ef fective alternative to antidepressant medications, but
we believe that more scientific research is necessary before we can
recommend its routine use. If you are feeling persistently sad and depleted,
please see your health-care p rovider to discuss all potentially helpful
treatment options, including SAMe. GROWTH HORMONE
In 1990 an intriguing article on aging by Dr. Daniel Rudman and his
colleagues appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine. Men between
sixty and eighty years of age were given human growth hormone (hGH)
injections three times a week for six months. At the completion of the study,
the men who ha d received hGH shots had an increase in their lean body
mass, a decrease in their fat content, and an increase in the t hickness of
their skin. Initially, these results were enthusiastically advertised as
evidence that hGH was the sou ght-after fountain of youth. Unfortunately,
subsequent reports found that several undesirable side ef fects developed
with its ongoing  use. Growth hormone injections had to be discontinued in
a number of men due to the development of carpal tunnel syndrome, edema,
joint aches, or breast swelling. Other reports found that although a person
developed greater muscle mass on hGH, they did not increase their strength. In fact, adding growth hormone  to an good exercise program did not add
additional benefit. Due to the high  cost and inconvenience of hGH injections, there have
been attempts to stimulate the production and release of growth hormone
through amino acids taken oral ly. It has been known for many years that
giving th e amino acid ar ginine intravenously increases the level of growth
hormone. Ef fort s to boost growth hormone levels with oral ar ginine have
met with  mixed results. Conside ring all the currently available i nformation,
we d o not believ e that there is enough current evidence to suppo rt the long-
term value of pharmacologically manipulating growth hormone levels. W e
will continue to follow the research in this area with great interest. DEHYDROEPIANDROSTERONE (DHEA)
This natural hormone produced by the adrenal glands must hav e a purpose,
but desp ite the fact that it was id entified over fifty years ago, scientists have
not yet determined what it does. It is known that we make very little DHEA
during the first ten years of life, we make a lot of it between the ages of
twenty a nd forty, and then we gradually discontinue making it, so by the
time we  are seventy, we have l ess DHEA than we had as teenagers. The
ef fects o f giving  animals and p eople supplementary DHEA h ave yielded
contradictory results, generating a lot of controversy. Some enthusiastic
advocates promote DHEA as the antiaging elixir, while most medical
scientists believe that further study is necessary to determine its lasting
benefits and risks to health. Among the thousands of studies on this
intriguing chemi cal, there are reports that it can relieve depressi on, improve
certain aspects of memory, red uce body fat, and enhance immunity. In a
recent study from France, men and women between the ages of sixty and
eighty years were given a daily DHEA dose of 50 milligrams and compared
to other subjects taking a placebo. At the conclusion of the one-year
experiment, mild benefits to the skin were seen in the younger men, while
women over seventy showed modest improvements in their skin, bones, and
libido. W hether these ef fects are due to the conversion of DHEA to male
and fem ale sex hormones or a specific action of DHEA on its own is notknown. Unfortunately, for almost every study that suggests a benefit there is
usually another one that fails to support it. Although seriou s side ef fects a re uncommon, DHEA is converted into
male an d female hormones and may contribute to health concerns ranging
from ac ne to activation of b reast and prostate cancer to psychiatric
problems. The other issue of concern with DHEA is that we really don’ t
know what long-term side ef fec ts it may cause. Although the recent French
study las ted a year, most investigations showing either benefit or no benefit
have las ted less than three months. W e believe that too many qu estions still
need to be ans wered before we can endorse the routine use of this
fascinating horm one. W e’ll continue to watch DHEA with great interest and
provide you with updates as new information unfolds. In the meantime, we
can take some reassurance fr om a study which showed t hat regular
practitioners of meditation have higher DHEA levels than people who are
not meditating. PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS
Nutritional scien tists have identified many health-enhancing sub stances that
come from our f ood. Members of the natural plant chemical family known
as phenolic compounds are receiving a lot of attention for their potent
antioxidant properties. Some o f the chemicals that you may have heard
about include bioflavonoids, iso-flavonoids, catech ins, and
proanthocyanidins. Found in green tea, berries, grape skins and seeds, as
well as pine bark, some of these  natural chemicals have been fo und to be as
much as fifty tim es more powerful scavengers of free radicals th an vitamins
C and E. The an


 too, was once thought to
be a wonder drug, until we found it was maiming and killing people.) In a 1997
study conducted at Northwestern University, sixteen rats fed DHEA for eighteen
months experienced color changes in their livers from pink to brown. Fourteen
developed liver cancer.Neurologists and other sleep specialists have warned against taking melatonin
supplements. In September 1996, the National Institutes of Health sponsored a
meeting in Bethesda, Maryland, where researchers reported that we do not have
sufficient knowledge about how melatonin works to predict all its potential adverse
effects, especially at the high doses in over-the-counter preparations. The data
showed melatonin could cause nausea, headaches, nightmares, worsening of existing
depression or a drop in body temperature, which increases the risk of developing
viral infections. Richard J. Wurtman, M.D., professor of neuroscience and director
of the clinical research center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
described widespread use of over-the-counter melatonin as “scary.”
The original experiments with mice, suggesting that melatonin prolonged life,
used genetically selected mice that were unable to produce melatonin. When given
some melatonin, they did measurably better than having none. However, repeated
experiments with normal mice resulted in shortened life span, because they
developed tumors of the reproductive tract. (Of course, the public hears only of the
“benefits.”)
Taking hormones on a regular basis, such as the numerous women on birth control
pills and others on hormone replacement therapy (HRT), imbalances the hormone
system. Millions of women are put on HRT, presumably to help prevent heart attack
and osteoporosis. Little reliable evidence exists that HRT prevents either; in fact
evidence shows that it promotes these conditions. Want to prevent hormone disruption in your body? Avoiding certain toxins is
critical. More than fifty different chemicals are known to disrupt the normal
communication jobs of hormones, including pesticides, PCBs and dioxins,
phthalates leached from PVC and other plastics, and bisphenol-A (from
polycarbonate water bottles and the plastics used to coat the interior of cans used to
contain food). Dietary considerations are important, because most of our exposure to
these hormone-disrupting chemicals comes from eating meat and dairy products. Sugar and white flour disrupt hormone balances, so minimize consumption. Rest and
exercise help balance hormone levels; moderate exercise doubles or even quadruples
beneficial growth hormone levels. Most critically, our society must stop such
constant and widespread use of hormone drugs. As John Mills, M.D., chief of
infectious diseases at San Francisco General Hospital said, steroid hormones are
“probably the most sleazy of modern-day medications.”
Digestive Destruction
As you know, one way in which drugs cause disease is by interfering with the
digestion of food and absorption of nutrients. By damaging gut tissue, killing off
beneficial bacteria, and creating an environment that inhibits the growth of normal,beneficial gut bacteria, we lose our ability to digest food and absorb nutrients
properly. This condition creates both deficiency and toxicity, the two causes of
cellular malfunction and disease. Three classes of drugs are responsible for much of this damage: NSAIDs,
antibiotics and hormones. NSAIDs physically damage gut tissue and destabilize the
normal composition of bacteria living in the gut, especially if combined with
antibiotics. Antibiotics kill friendly bacteria essential to health and result in a
variety of intestinal infections. Hormones, such as birth control pills, create
chemical imbalances in the gut, thus promoting yeast infections such as candida. Once yeasts change the environment in the digestive system, a long chain of events
damage health and cause disease. Gut tissue that is damaged becomes more permeable (“leaky”) to large molecules
of undigested food and to microorganisms that enter the bloodstream and circulate
throughout the body. This occurrence provokes chronic immune responses
manifested as food allergies and other inflammatory conditions, and such
inflammatory conditions may be the basis of all chronic disease. These immune responses sometimes create antibodies that match certain body
tissues and attack them, resulting in autoimmune diseases such as lupus or arthritis. A person who has a damaged gut may eat an excellent diet but still suffer
malnutrition because of nutrient malabsorption. Adding malabsorption to an already deficient diet is catastrophic to long-term
health. Excessive immune reactions produce much debris, called immune
complexes, which can overburden the kidneys and cause kidney disease. In fact,
allergic reactions may be the leading cause of kidney disease. Major and uncorrected
maldigestion can lead to extreme weight loss and greater susceptibility to
opportunistic infections, commonly experienced in people with AIDS. Vaccinations
Popular opinion regards vaccinations as one of modern medicine’s greatest
achievements, preventing more suffering and saving more lives than any other
medical procedure. Nothing could be further from the truth. Any risks or “side
effects” from vaccinations supposedly far outweigh the inherent benefits. However,
finding benefits is difficult and finding risks is easy. You have a better chance of being healthy if your cells are healthy; vaccinations
damage your cells. In fact, modern medicine’s practice of mass vaccinations may be
a blunder that ranks with X rays and antibiotics for damage done to health. No
reliable safety study has ever been performed on any vaccine, and evidence suggests
that they are both ineffective and harmful. Yet, individuals are forced, without
consent, to risk injury or even death.In October 2000, at the annual meeting of the Association of American Physicians
and Surgeons (AAPS), a resolution called for an end to all government-mandated
vaccinations. Even more astounding, the resolution passed without a single
dissenting vote. Jane Orient, M.D., executive director of the AAPS, said, “Our
children face the possibility of death or serious long-term adverse effects from
mandated vaccines that aren’t necessary or that have limited benefits.” The AAPS’s
resolution read that “mass vaccination is equivalent to human experimentation and
subject to the Nuremberg Code, which re-quires voluntary informed consent.” By
failing to inform us of the dangers, and taking away our power to choose otherwise,
mandated vaccinations become a crime against humanity. The dramatic decline of infectious diseases, such as smallpox, diphtheria and
polio, often is cited (inaccurately) as proof of vaccinations’ effectiveness. The
incidence of infectious disease dramatically decreased
before
the introduction of
vaccines; in other words, vaccines get credit for something they did not do. In 1950,
the polio epidemic was at its height in Great Britain. By the time polio vaccine was
introduced in 1956, polio had already declined by 82 percent. Similarly, tuberculosis
was a persistent killer throughout the 1800s and by 1945 had already declined by 97
percent. Other infectious diseases that already were in decline before the
introduction of their vaccines include pneumonia, influenza, whooping cough and
measles. Continuing decline merely followed the existing trend. Countries that did
not vaccinate against specific diseases experienced similar declines as countries
that did. A strong argument for the decline of infectious diseases can be made for a variety
of factors, including better sanitation, less crowded living conditions and the
absence of hunger. In addition, diseases tend to have their own evolutionary cycles;
they go away as the population gains “herd” immunity. Diseases like bubonic plague
and scarlet fever experienced declines similar to other infectious diseases; they
disappeared without any immunization programs. Finding any studies that prove vaccines’ effectiveness is difficult. To prove
efficacy, we must analyze studies of vaccinated groups versus unvaccinated ones. Very few of such studies ever have been conducted; the few that have been indicate
that the vaccines are ineffective. Recent worldwide outbreaks of virulent forms of
TB have demonstrated that alleged “protection” by TB vaccine has little to do with
whether or not anyone contracts the disease. Not only ineffective, vaccines can also be harmful. Viera Scheibner, Ph.D., a
world authority on immunizations and author of the 1993 book
Vaccination,
wrote:
“Immunizations... not only did not prevent any infectious diseases, they caused
more suffering and more deaths than any other human activity in the entire history
of medical intervention.” Having assembled and researched the world’s largest
collection of data on immunizations, Dr. Scheibner concludes that “there is noevidence whatsoever that vaccines of any kind— but especially those against
childhood diseases—are effective in preventing the infectious diseases they are
supposed to prevent.... One hundred years of orthodox research shows that
vaccines represent a medical assault on the immune system.”
Each generation is subjected to more vaccinations and, as a result, is experiencing
more immune dysfunction diseases. Many children have as many as twenty-two
vaccinations before they go to the first grade, and as more vaccines become
available, the number keeps increasing. At an international conference in 1997,
Terry Phillips, Ph.D., D.Sc., professor of medicine at George Washington University
Medical Center, reported that the foreign proteins in virtually all vaccines wreak
havoc on the human immune system. Vaccines are toxic mixtures loaded with
various substances that never should be injected into a human body—including
foreign proteins and dangerous viruses from chickens, guinea pigs, calves and
monkeys. Some researchers believe these viruses put a permanent burden on our
immune systems and do continuous damage both to the immune and nervous
systems. Vacc


 publicly available as poss ible. Medicinal herbs  were planted, hospitals were formed, and the a rt of
nursing (as described by Charak a) was widely systematized. But it
wasn’ t until the Buddhist period  (323  BC  to 642  AD ) that A yurveda
began to be ex ported outside India’ s shores. During this time
Buddhist missionaries and monks took knowledge of A yurv eda,
along w ith other aspects of Ind ian culture, to Europe (Rome and
Greece), the Middle East (Baghdad) and China. Closer to home, theneighboring countries of Sri Lanka, T ibet, Thailand, Burma and
Indonesia all accepted its teachin gs. In fact, its influence can still be
seen in many of  their healing systems: Acupressure, for example, is
a direct descendent of  marma  massage. In India,  A yurveda’ s heyday was probably from the 6th century
to th e 10th century  AD : During this time, many universities and
teaching hospita ls were founded to cater to students from all over
the w orld, and there are numero us references to the ef ficacy of  the
Indian system of medicine. Bu t by the 12th century, A yurveda’ s
influence began to wane. W aves of Muslim invaders in nort hern
India fro m the 10th to the 12th centuries burned books, destro yed
hospitals and libraries, and slaughtered Hindu sages and Buddhist
monks as infidels. They brought with them their own  hakims  or
Unani doctors (a form of medicine formulated by Arabian
physicians, see pages 36–37) — so the system fell into decline. Early A yurvedic texts were engraved on palm leaf manuscripts. Ayurvedic physician in Kerala. This wa s further exacerbated by the arrival of the British. The
East India Company denied state patronage to A yurveda, closed
down e xisting schools and government medical colleges, and
substituted it with W estern me dicine. Of course, at a local level,
A yurveda conti nued to be practiced, but it wasn’ t until Indian
Independence that of ficial initiatives were taken to revitalize
indigenous med ical forms — and A yurveda once again began to
rise. What is Ayurveda. A yurveda advocates that each person is born with a b asic
constitution or genetic make-up called  prakruti  in S anskrit. If th ere
is a  changing nature or situat ion in the body during one’ s life
(vikruti ), im balance occurs. This ma y pass over time or may
become a disease. The aims of A yurveda are  ayus  (“long life”) and
arogya  (“diseaselessness“) with ultimate spiritual goals. Health is
achieved by balancing what are known as the bodily humors or
doshas  at all levels, according to an individual’ s constitution,
lifestyle and nature. There are many similar holistic medical
systems in other communities, including the Chinese, Amer ican
Indians, Africans and South Americans. DiagnosisBefore a ny A yurvedic treatment is prescribed, patients first of all
undertake a consultation with an A yurvedic physician to ascertain
their body type and present health status. “Body type is the variation
in percentage of  vatha,  pitta  and  kapha  (air, fire and water) in our
body,” explains A yurvedic physician Dr Y ogesh. “Based on the
present  dosha  state or  vikruti, suitable therapies, oils, medications,
advice or more may be prescribed. ”
Most A yurvedic  physicians point out that A yurvedic treatments
vary from place to place, doctor to doctor and according to  the
nature of the client/doctor relationship. This makes it confusing to
many, and dif ficult to analyze,  research and compare with o ther
medical systems. “However, the purpose is always the same,”
explains Dr Renja Raphel, “Each body has its own defined
constitution from birth to death that is af fected by many dif ferent
things. W e doctors try to bring the body back to equilibrium: we
find out what is lacking and modify it, we add things and we request
changes in diets, climates, stres s levels, lifestyle habits and more. ”
He goes on to add that the body has the power to help itself;
A yurveda simply helps it with the healing process. Shirodhara  or the pouring of medicated oil on to the forehead or “third eye” is one
of Ayurveda’ s best known therapies outside India. A student of the Vedas seeks understanding through a copy of one of the treatises
in Sanskrit. The use of  agarabathi  or incense sticks to promote clean air is an age-old
practice. Diagnosis is an extremely imp ortant part of A yurveda. In a
clinic or hospital, it is undertak en first thing in the morning be fore
the patient has c onsumed anything. The doctor inspects the tis sues
and the skin; examines the “nine doors” (two eyes, two ears, two
nostrils, mouth and throat, an us and penis or vulva) and their
secretions; takes faeces and urine samples to assess the  analam  or
digestive fire; takes the patient’ s pulse and assesses body
temperature; interrogates the patient on their sleep patterns, health,
lifestyle habits, climate preferen ces and more; and generally takes a
great de al of time to consider the  patient as a whole. Nothing can be
prescribed without this extremely thorough consultation. Many visitors to India aren’ t seeking medical treatment, but are
intrigued by this ancient wellness system and want to try a
treatment. This is perfectly possible in a spa whre the consultation is
shorter, but still important. “A t a spa, we look at  darshana  or
appearance,  sparshana  or touch ie pulse and body temperature,
and undertake  prasnai  or discussion,” explains Dr Y ogesh, “this
gives us enough information to decide on a patient’ s b asic
imbalances and which medicated oils we should use in a treatment. ”A leaf from the  Ramayana  in Mahala yam called “Medicine Mountain”: it depicts
the monke y god Hanuman using a mountain of medicinal herbs to help his fellow
monkeys. Even in the Epics, much is made of India’ s healing heritage. Ayurvedic equipment from Kerala: medicine box, oil containers, mortar and pestle. Prognosis and Treatment
After the  diagnosis, the doctor d ecides whether the disease falls into
one of four cate gories: Curable with ease, curable with dif fic ulty,
ameliorable, or  incurable. At this point an astrologer may be
consulted to find the best time  and place for treatments to take
place. S ri Krishnakumar, the managing director of one of the most
famous A yurvedic hospitals in India, the Arya V aidyaChikitsalayam in Coimbatore, says that every avenue must be
pursued for the benefit of the patient. “Everything is inter -relat ed,”
he expla ins, “the mind and the body, the person and the unive rse,
the d isease and the lifestyle. A c onsultation with an astrologer may
bring up something that the doctor has not noticed. ”
This is one example of how A yurveda may be dif ficult for non-
Indians to grasp. Skepticism of s uch practices runs high in the W est,
even though looking holistically at patients and problems is
increasingly gaining credence. Another dif ficulty may be had with
some of the treatments. These are literally multi-faceted  and depend on a huge number
of factors including disease, client personality and habits, work
practices,  dosha  imbalance, clim ate, and many more. The basic
premise is to cleanse and de toxify the body and balance the
doshas, restoring them to their original state of equilibrium. But
how this is achi eved varies hugely. There are hundreds of levels of
practice, from of ficial to folk, an d thousands of prescriptions — and
no treatm ent is a panacea. One thing is for sure though: a cours e of
treatments is rarely shorter than  three weeks, and after the course is
completed, follow-up is very important. India is home to a vast cornucopaeia of healing plants; many of Ayurveda’ s
ancient recipes are now supported by modern scientific research. Ancient form of pressure point massage. In the following pages, information on some common therapies
is given, but if you visit an A yu rvedic doctor, you may expect to be
prescribed any — or many — of the following: purifica tion
therapies, medication, special diet, herbs and minerals, massage and
other body work, exercise, yoga, meditation, aromatherapy, flower
and gem essences, advise on lifestyle