 a half-teaspoon
of blessed thistle or milk thistle, star anise, marshmallow root, or licorice to
your sweet water lactation tea on occasion. Include fenugreek in your diet
by drinking strong fenugreek tea or using fenugreek as a cooking herb;
fennel as a cooking herb also supports lactation. Taking a half-teaspoon of
shatavari in the morning and evening will help with low milk supply (but do
not take shatavari until ten or more days postpartum to ensure your
digestion is strong). MASTITIS : Mastitis is inflammation and infection of the milk ducts. This
happens when a milk duct gets clogged and then leads to an infection. Themost common cause of mastitis is when mama does too much too soon. The
main remedy is rest, though daily breast massages can also prevent this
condition. If you notice a clogged duct (sometimes you can feel it) do everything
you can to mobilize the duct and prevent it from stagnating further. Before
nursing, massage the breast with oil using steady and firm pressure, moving
from the outside of the clogged duct toward the nipple. You can add warmth
by using a heating pad before the massage, or by doing the massage in the
shower or bath. Another option is to have your babe nurse until it unclogs—getting on
all fours, hovering over baby as you feed so that gravity can assist the duct
in unclogging. If your baby is not willing to nurse that long, use a breast
pump. This may prevent the clog from leading to an infection. If an
infection does occur, a washcloth or towel soaked in hot water used as a
compress can help soothe it. Use a breast pump on the infected breast so
that your babe does not drink the infected milk. Ayurvedic Cow’ s Milk Formula
For babies who for whatever circumstances are not drinking breast
milk, Ysha Oakes of fers this recipe for a replacement formula made
from cow’ s milk (from Touching Heaven: T onic Postpartum Recipes
with Ayurveda ). Ingredients
2 cups non-homogenized cream-top organic whole milk
2 cups distilled water
⅛ teaspoon turmeric
⅛ teaspoon cardamom
½ tablespoon fennel seed
1 thin slice fresh ginger⅛ to ¼ cup sucanat (you need much less for older babies)
Instructions
1. Bring all ingredients except sucanat to a boil. Let the boiling milk
climb the pot and then lift the pot of f the heat so the milk falls; put
the pot back on the heat and repeat three times. This makes
much smaller, easier-to-digest protein molecules.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>
Q: What is the recommended duration for breastfeeding in Ayurveda?,
A: According to the text, Ayurveda recommends exclusively breastfeeding for the first 5-6 months, and then continuing to breastfeed as a supplemental form of bonding and nourishment for up to 1-3 years.
Q: What are some foods that can help with low milk supply?,
A: The text mentions that foods like oats, soaked and husked almonds, raw dairy, ghee, roasted garlic, fennel seeds, and saffron can help with lactation.
Q: What is the recommended approach to introducing solid foods to a baby?,
A: The text advises introducing solid foods in a methodical and harmonious way, starting with a single ingredient, and gradually increasing the complexity of the food as the baby's digestive system adapts.
Q: What are some signs of a healthy digestive system, according to Ayurveda?,
A: The text states that a healthy digestive system is characterized by a normal appetite, clear tongue, appreciation of taste, good digestion, balanced metabolism, proper elimination, steady weight, high energy, and a calm mind.
Q: What is the recommended approach to cooking and serving food during pregnancy and postpartum?,
A: The text advises against eating cold, dry, or rough foods, and instead recommends cooking with a focus on warm, oily, and grounding ingredients, as well as avoiding fermented foods and leftovers.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>Add the vegetables to the cooked rice and mung bean mixture and
cook twenty minutes longer. In a separate saucepan, sauté the seeds in the ghee until they pop. Then add the other spices. Stir together to release the flavors. Stir the sautéed spices into the cooked mung bean, rice, and
vegetable mixture. Add chopped fresh cilantro and salt to taste
(avoid salt until after three days postpartum in the case of swelling;
avoid cilantro until after two weeks postpartum). Steamed V eggies with T ahini Sauce
Steaming or boiling is the best way to have your veggies postpartum,
as these methods add liquidity that helps to balance the dry quality
of vata. I prefer steaming, as the veggies do not lose as many of the
nutrients into the water as they do when boiled. Any root vegetable
can be used in this recipe (besides white or red potatoes), as root
veggies are very grounding for a postpartum mama. Tahini (sesame
seed paste) is delicious and rich with calcium—a critical postpartum
nutrient, especially for nursing mamas. This veggie and tahini
combination is best served after two or three weeks postpartum. Ingredients
For the steamed veggies:
½ cup cubed yams
½ cup peeled, cubed beets
½ cup chopped fennel bulb
½ cup cubed zucchini or asparagusFor the tahini sauce:
⅓–½ cup tahini
½ small lime, juiced
2 bulbs roasted garlic
water as needed
salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
Add suf ficient water to the steamer and insert the steamer basket,
making sure that the water is below the steamer basket. Place yam and beets into the steamer basket. Cover with lid, and
steam the root vegetables over medium heat for twenty to twenty-
five minutes. Add fennel and zucchini to the steamer basket and steam until all
vegetables are very soft. Separately, blend all ingredients for tahini sauce, adding water 1
tablespoon at a time until the sauce reaches the desired consistency. Serve veggies topped with as much tahini sauce as desired. Sautéed and Stewed Apples
A cooked apple serves as a gentle daily cleanse for the digestive
system. It supports regularity, strengthens digestion, lowers acidity
and excessive hunger, boosts immunity to prevent most colds and
flus, and is a simple and delicious way to start the day. Apples are best eaten starting seven to ten days postpartum. Prior to that, stewed dried fruits that are rich in iron (such as raisins,
dates, and prunes) are recommended. You can follow this apple
recipe and substitute iron-rich fruits for the apples.Ingredients
1 large apple
1 tablespoon ghee
3–5 saf fron threads
1 teaspoon cardamom
3 cloves
½ teaspoon fennel seeds
3 soaked dates (optional)
3 soaked prunes (optional)
¼ cup water
Instructions
Peel the apple and cut it into bite-sized pieces. In a pan, add ghee with saf fron, cardamon, cloves, and fennel
seeds. Sauté the spices in the ghee for about two minutes to enhance flavor
and extract their medicinal potency. Add the apples, stirring them occasionally as you let them sauté for
three minutes. ( Optional:  sauté dates or soaked prunes along with
the apples.) Add ¼ cup of water and then cover until the apples are soft and
transparent. Tahini Cookies
Sesame is revered in Ayurveda as an ojas builder and breast milk
enhancer; its naturally balanced composition of qualities makes it a
tonic for increasing strength and immunity. High in healthy fats fromthe oily sesame seeds, tahini paste nourishes and strengthens
nervous, muscle, and fat tissue. Because tahini is also high in
calcium, it supports the maintenance of bone strength. Its earthy
quality and magnesium content help soothe and relax tension in the
muscles, allowing you to unwind after a period of stress. Enjoy these
tahini cookies throughout pregnancy. Resume this nutrient-filled treat
again after two weeks postpartum. Ingredients
1 cup tahini
2 cups oat flour
1 cup sucanat
2 tablespoons yogurt or apple sauce
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ginger powder
2 teaspoons black and white sesame
seeds, plus extra for topping
1 tablespoon shatavari powder (optional)
Instructions
Mix all ingredients together, adding one at a time in the order listed. Make little balls with the batter and gently flatten with a fork on a
greased cookie sheet, leaving space between. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for twelve to fourteen minutes and
let them cool completely.Mama Jill’ s Cookies
This is a delicious, nourishing cookie recipe from my sister ’s
husband’ s mama. Enjoy throughout pregnancy and after six weeks
postpartum. These cookies are the perfect ojas booster! My family uses
husked almond flour and ghee to nourish the tissues and maple
syrup to nourish vata dosha. Feel free to play with added ingredients
such as dates instead of the chocolate chips, black sesame seeds,
and nuts! Ingredients
¼ cup coconut oil or ghee
¼ cup date sugar or maple syrup
1 spoonful yogurt (vegan is fine too!)


enzyme stomach or its equivalent that allows their exclusively
raw food diet to be predigested, relieving their digestive
organs of excess work. Humans also possess a food-enzyme
stomach which, as we have shown, is capable of relieving the digestive burden when food enzymes are included in the diet. In the chapters that follow, I will explain the role of food
enzymes in health and show how we can harness their energy-
giving properties for healing, greater health, and longer life. I
will also cover their application in the treatment of various
degenerative illnesses affecting mankind today. About Dr. Howell
   Dr. Edward Howell was born in Chicago in 1898. He holds
a limited medical license from the State of Illinois. (The
holder of a limited practice license must pass the same Board
Examination as a medical doctor. Only materia medica, obstetrics, and surgery are excluded.) In 1924, after obtaining his license, Dr. Howell joined the
staff of the Lindlahr Sanitarium in Illinois, where he remained until 1930. He then established a private practice for the treatment of advanced illness utilizing nutritional and physical therapies. For the next 40 years until his retirement
he spent three days each week with patients, while the balance of his time was devoted to various kinds of research. Dr. Howell is the true pioneer in his field, having been the
first researcher to recognize and delineate the importance of
the enzymes in food to human nutrition. In 1946 he wrote The
Status of Food Enzymes in Digestion and Metabolism, which
has recently been reprinted. He then took more than 20 years
to complete Enzyme Nutrition, of which this book is a
published abridgment. The original is approximately 700
pages long and contains over 700 references to the world's
scientific literature. Dr. Howell, now eighty-seven, is presently living in
Southwest Florida where he serves as Research Director for the Food Enzyme Research Foundation and continues his
writing and research.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        Soil and Health Library
This document is a reproduction of the book or other copyrighted material you
requested. It was prepared on for the exclusive use of Oriana, whose email address is
orianaoriana@gmail. com. This reproduction was made by the Soil and Health Library only for the purpose of
research and study. Any further reproduction or distribution of this copy in any form
whatsoever constitutes a violation of copyrights. ENZYME NUTRTIION
   The Food Enzyme Concept

   Dr. Edward Howell
   With research contribution by
Maynard Murray, M. D. AVERY PUBLISHING GROUP INC. Wayne, New Jersey

     The medical and health procedures in this book are based on the
training, personal experience, and research of the author. Because each
person and situation is unique, the author and publisher urge the reader to
check with a qualified health professional before using any procedure
where there is any question as to its appropriateness. The publisher does not advocate the use of any particular diet and
exercise program, but believes the information presented in this book
should be available to the public. Because there is always some risk involved, the author and publisher
are not responsible for any adverse effects or consequences resulting from
the use of any of the suggestions, prep arations, or procedures in this book. Please do not use the book if you are unwilling to assume the risk. Feel free to consult a physician or other qua lified health professional. It is a
sign of wisdom, not cowardice, to seek a second or third opinion. Cover art by Tim Peterson Cover design by Rudy Shur
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Howell, Edward, 1898— Enzyme nutrition. Includes index
   1. Enzymes--Therapeutic use. 2. Nutrition. 1. Murray, Maynard. II. Title. [DNLM: 1. Enzymes.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>
Q: What is the author's philosophy regarding the concept of enzymes and vital energy?,
A: The author believes that enzymes are inhabited by a vital energy factor, which is separate and distinct from caloric energy. He argues that this vital energy factor is not synthesized by chemists and is essential for the proper functioning of the body.
Q: According to the author, what is the primary function of digestive enzymes?,
A: The author states that digestive enzymes are not the primary function of the body, but rather the body's metabolic enzymes that run the entire body.
Q: What is the significance of the Law of Adaptive Secretion of Digestive Enzymes?,
A: The Law of Adaptive Secretion of Digestive Enzymes suggests that the body adapts to the type of food being digested and adjusts the production of digestive enzymes accordingly. This means that the body will produce fewer digestive enzymes when food enzymes are present, which can lead to a conservation of the enzyme potential and a reduction in the risk of disease.
Q: What is the author's view on the relationship between the human digestive system and the use of raw food?,
A: The author believes that humans are the only species that relies solely on cooked food, which destroys enzymes and forces the body to produce more digestive enzymes, leading to an imbalance in the body's enzyme potential. He suggests that this is a major factor in the development of disease.
Q: What is the significance of the research on the pancreas in rats and dogs?,
A: The author uses these studies to demonstrate the negative consequences of wasting the enzyme potential by forcing the body to produce excessive amounts of digestive enzymes. He argues that this can lead to serious health issues and even death.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>OceanofPDF.comALSO BY DAVID R. HAWKINS, M.D.,
Ph.D.
Books
Power vs. For ce: The Hidden Determinants of Human Behavior
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Enlightenment
Discovery of the Pr esence of God: Devotional Nonduality
Reality, Spirituality and Modern Man
Healing and Recovery
Along the Path to Enlightenment
Dissolving the Ego, Realizing the Self
Letting Go: The Pathway of Surr ender
Success Is for Y ou: Using Heart-Center ed Principles for Lasting
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All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced by any mechanical, photographic, or
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form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician,
either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to of fer information of a general nature to
help you in your quest for emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of
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OceanofPDF.comGloria in Excelsis Deo! OceanofPDF.comCONTENTS
Introduction
PART I: The Nature of the self (Ego/Mind)
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“Spiritual processing is like positioning
oneself


 the
foundations be awarded only to medical schools committed to
scientic research based on models developed in the nineteenth
century. All therapies not based on the Cartesian model were
considered unscientic and would therefore be disenfranchised. Only 20 percent of the existi ng medical schools survived. The other
80 percent adhered to the “vitalist doctrine,” which asserted that
“man assists, but nature heals.” Naturopathy, homeopathy, and
herbology were forced out of the mainstream and relegated to thestatus of folk medicine. They were ultimately driven under by lack
of funds and political harassment. Formerly the majority of physicians were helpers, allies, and
comforters to people struggli ng with maladies in their daily life. The
new doctor became the exclusive source of specialized knowledge
and the heroic slayer of disease. Increasingly a delegation of
authority and power went to the doctor. Patients were educated to
believe that doctors alone knew what made them sick and that only
their technology or drugs could make them well. As the depth and breadth of scientic information about the body
grew, both doctors and people lost faith in the capacity of the
human organism to heal itself. How could anyon e but an
enlightened and sophisticated engineer run such an awesomely
complex and vulnerable machine? This faith was withdrawn from
the body’s self-healing abilities and put into the hands of the
“experts”—the physicians. OUTCOMES OF  THIS MEDICAL  MODEL
Medicine was not set up to advise people on how to stay or become
well. The doctor could only x what had broken down. He could
miraculously remove evil (tumors, infections, stones) with drugs and
surgery. He could manipulate  function (thyroid hormones, diuretics,
steroids) and replace worn parts (plastic hips and hearts). As a
heroic soldier he could wage a valiant short-term battle. He could
remove the “evil,” but there was no mechanism built into the system
to discern or promote the “good.” Medicine’s strengths  were the
source of its weakness. The research and clinical institutions of
medicine are still dened by the existing conceptual model and
more oriented toward intervention than prevention. Furthermore, as doctors became the experts, they acquired a type
of power over their patients. Mastery of medicine became a
technically sophisticated and exclusive high priesthood. The
common person could not possibly gain access to and interpret the
data necessary to administer medical care. Even the medicalprofession itself diversied into more highly specialized elds: the
general practitioner who cared for a whole person was replaced by
the cardiologi st, who cared for the heart; the orthopedist, who
ministered to the bones; the neurologist for the nerves; the
oncologist for the cancer; the psychiatrist for the mind; and so on. When power was taken from the person by the general
practitioner, and from the general practitioner by the specialist,
there was no longer one doctor who cared for the whole person and
knew her in the context of her total environment. The once intimate
relationship between helper and helped shifted to an impersonal one
between strang ers. Doctors lost knowledge of their patients as real
people. This shift in the organization of medicine taught people to feel
that science knew more about them than they could ever know or
understand about themselves. People as patients began giving away
the responsibility to care for their own health. The phrase health-
care delivery system  sugges ts the doctor is like a mail carrier who can
deliver health at the doorstep. This situation is reminiscent of
Plato’s image of a “househo ld” in which the “master,” the mind,
knows but does not act and the “slave,” the body, acts but does not
know. Doctors  function as the master (mind) and patients as the
slave (body). Now divided, the body loses its intelligen ce and the
mind loses its power to actualize: not only is self-understanding
undermined, but possibilities  for action are limited as well. People
mistakenly feel that the power to cure comes from outside
themselves, administered by an alien intelligence. This distortion of power often instigates an antagonistic
relationship between doctor s and patients. When doctors cannot
perform the heroic role and x the broken machine, they sometimes
blame the victim, judging patients guilty of not getting better. Isolated, abandoned, underm ined, and invalidated, patients then
feel condemned to a circle of pain with no escape. Along  with their
physical pain, they are frustrated and angered by their feelings of
powerlessness. They then become quick to blame the doctor for
their problems, jumping into malpractice litigation. Suing for
malpractice becomes an act of revenge, an attempt on the part ofthe patient to gain power over the doctor, not a reclamation of true
self-power. The doctor is either a hero or villain—heralded for
recovery or blamed for poor outcomes. OTHER PARADOXES
Power, no matter who has it, does not confer wisdom. Doctors
sometimes equate their authority with sagacity. Some interventions
produce disastrous long-term eects on health. Iatrog enesis, or
doctor-induced illness, can result from drugs, surgery, radiation, and
chemotherapy. Iatrogenesis is one of the leading causes of fatal
disease. Appro ximately one out of every ve people admitted to a
research hospital acquires an iatrogenic illness. Nobel prize-wi nning microbio logist René Dubos describes the new
threats to health arising out of technological innovation. He says it
is a painful and richly documented paradox that every drug of
proven worth can itself become a cause of disease. Some of the toxic eects are extremely indirect and delayed. They result from disturba nces in the physiologica l and
ecological equilibrium of the organism. Their mechanism  does
not reside in chemical or physiological reactions involving
direct cause-eect relationships, but rather in complex
interrelated responses made by the whole integrated organism,
including its indigenous microbiota. 8
Another consequence of focusing more attention on the disease
than the patien t is that the doctor can eradicate the tumor but has
no means of promoting the health of the patient. This enables one to
say, “The treatment was a success, but the patient died.” For
example, chemotherapy claims success at treating the disease and
yet cannot necessarily impro ve the longevity of the patient. John
Cairns of the Harvard School of Public Health states:Each year about 3,000 patients under age 30 are being cured by
chemotherapy who would otherwise have died. Only two
percent of the patients who die of cancer are under 30,
however. For the vast majori ty of cancers, which arise in older
patients, the results of chemotherapy are much more
controversial.…  Apart from the success with Hodgkin’s disease,
childhood leukemia and a few other cancers, it is not possible
to detect any sudden change in death rates for any of the major
cancers that could be credited to chemotherapy. 9
The other major paradox of the Western medical model is that it
separates the indivisible. Western medicine has so successfully
dissected the human body that it suers from “overseparation,”
where the whole is no longer perceived as a meaningful entity. What was one indivisible circle, an unbroken continuum, became a
straight line of successive causality in which events became random,
losing their intrinsic relation ship to each other. The mind has been
separated from the body; the disease from the person who has it; the
specic pathogen from the disease process as a whole; the parts
from each other; the sympto ms from the source of the ailment; and
the patients from their self-responsibility and self-power. This overseparation occurred at the dawn of modern Western
civilization when matter was severed from the immaterial, human
from nature, and process was frozen in xed and absolute laws. Dualism shatte red unity. This division has made us susceptible to an
inversion of process whereby the means (technological, industrial,
and scientic innovation) governs our ends (human values) and
people become the “objects” rather than the “subjects” of their own
activity. This has distorted our image of what the world is and who
we are within it. The world man has made is impressive but lacks
integrity—it no longer ts together, and neither do we know our
place within it. When people are like machines, modern medicine
becomes oblige d to keep the machine running. Its purpose is dened
as avoiding death rather than enriching life. Bodies must be kept
alive at all costs because to die is considered intrinsically evil—death is the enemy to be conquered. Life and death are no longer
part of a continuous cycle. In ancie nt culture nothing was intrinsically good or evil, it was
simply a matter of how one stood in relation to it. For an old person,
it could be a gift to die with grace and ceremony just as it had been
a gift to live— to preserve the tissue without the spirit would have
been an oense, an insult worse than death. The center of Western civilization has been commerce, industry,
and information—the proliferation of economic transactions,
manufactured products, and


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Philosophy and Art, 1982.Pellegrino, Edmund, and David Thomasma, A Philosophical Basis of
Medical Practice. New York: Oxford University Press, 1981. Porkert, Manfred. Essentials of Chinese Diagnostics. Zurich,
Switzerland: Chinese Medicine Publications Ltd., 1983. ——. The Theoretical Foundations of Chinese Medicine. Cambridge,
Mass. : MIT Press, 1974. Purce, Jill. The Mystic Spiral. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1974. Reid, Daniel. Chinese Herbal Medicine. Boston, Mass. : Shambhala,
1987. Requena, Yves. Morphological Hand Diagnosis in Acupuncture. Marseilles, France: Solai, 1986. ——. Terrains  and Pathology in Acupuncture. Brookline, Mass. :
Paradigm, 1986. Revolutionary Health Committee of Hunan. A Barefoot Doctor’s
Manual  Seattle, Wash.: Cloudburst, 1977. Rodis-Lewis, Genevieve. “Limitations of the Mechanical Model in
the Cartesian Conception of the Organism.” In Descartes, edited by
Michael Hooker. Baltimore, Md. : Johns Hopkins Universi ty Press,
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Thorsons, 1988. Selye, Hans. The Stress of Life. Rev. ed. New York: McGraw-Hill,
1978. Siegerist, Henry. Civilization and Disease. Chicago, Ill.: University of
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York: Basic Books


iverse	happens	by	chance	or	accident. The	universe	is	a
coherent	concurrence	and	interaction	of	innumerable	conditions	attendant
on	the	infinite	number	of	energy	patterns. In	the	state	of	Awareness,	all
this	is	obvious	and	can	be	clearly	seen	and	known. Outside	that	level	of
awareness,	it	could	be	likened	to	innumerable,	invisible	magnetic	fields
that	automatically	coalesce	or	repel	one’s	position	and	interact	according
to	the	positions	and	relative	strengths	and	polarities. Everything	influences
everything	else	and	is	in	perfect	balance. In	Awareness,	the	subtle	inner	workings	of	the	universe	reveal
themselves	as	a	magnificent	dance	of	incredibly	complex	design	and
execution. It	becomes	clear	that	what	the	world	calls	miraculous	occurs	as
the	consequence	of	a	shift	of	energy,	such	as	that	created	by	love	or	prayer. It	is	also	possible	to	arbitrarily	select	any	aspect	of	human	activities	and
interactions	and	calibrate	the	power	of	the	energies	involved. The	intrinsic
energies	associated	with	all	that	exists	determine	their	fate,	depending	on
all	prevailing	conditions	in	an	entire	universe. In	the	entire	universe,	these
are	expressed	locally	as	prevailing	conditions. No	accident	or	unfairness	is
possible. Every	action,	decision,	thought,	or	choice	alters	the	interacting
balances	and	has	consequences.Q:	Is	karma	then	a	general	condition? A:	The	entire	unfolding	and	interaction	in	evolution	of	everything	in	the
universe	is	totally	karmic. Human	life	is	no	exception. Likewise,	all
possibilities	are	determined	by	the	entire	set	of	the	universe	and	everything
in	it. A	cat	does	not	suddenly	turn	into	a	dog. It	is	‘karma’	that	results	in
the	selection	of	the	genes	and	chromosomes	of	one’s	birth,	as	well	as	the
place,	location,	and	conditions	of	it. A	potential	cat’s	energy	field	does	not
get	attracted	to	enter	the	body	of	a	dog. One	can,	with	muscle	testing,	track
the	‘karma’	of	any	entity. Within	each	entity,	karma	is	a	field	of	possible
choices	as	well	as	consequences	of	past	choices. Commonly,	these
prevailing	sets	of	conditions	are	referred	to	as	destiny,	fate,	or	luck. Q:	What	is	the	interaction	between	the	visible	and	invisible	domains? A:	Any	separation	between	the	two	is	arbitrary	and	one	of	perception	only. Both	the	manifest	and	the	unmanifest	are	an	integrated	whole. The
physical	world	of	perception	is	a	world	of	effects. That	which	is	the
ordinary	world	has	no	power	to	cause	anything. The	power	of	causality
exists	only	in	the	invisible	domain. The	Empire	State	Building	came	into
existence	first	as	a	thought	and	design	within	the	mind	of	its	creator,	which
was	then	empowered	by	volition	to	appear	as	a	consequence	in	the	visible
world. As	a	physical	building,	it	has	no	power	of	causality	to	cause
anything	to	happen. Its	presence	represents	a	local	condition	that	has
consequences,	such	as	wind	currents	or	shadows,	but	the	power	of
causality	is	not	intrinsic	to	the	structure	or	its	parts. Q:	What	accounts	for	the	existence	of	anything? A:	Divine	Grace	determines	all	Creation	in	all	its	expressions	and	aspects. We
say	that	the	unmanifest	comes	into	expression	as	manifestation	by
ordinance	of	Divine	will. This	is	made	possible	and	activated	by	the
Presence	whose	quality	is	to	potentiate	the	evolution	of	possibility	into
actuality. We	could	say,	for	instance,	that	a	seed	is	dormant	and	inactive,
but	in	the	Divine	Presence,	it	begins	to	grow. The	potential	patterns	for	the
emergence	of	materiality	reside	within	the	invisible	domain	as	energy
patterns. The	quality	of	‘realness’	is	only	the	radiance	of	the	Self	that
imbues	the	quality	we	call	realness. The	ordinary	mind	attributes	this
quality	of	realness	to	any	material	and	imagines	that	the	realness	emanates
from	the	material	itself. The	only	thing	that	is	real	is	the	Self	that,	by	the
nature	of	its	divinity,	radiates	forth	the	qualities	of	life,	reality,	and
existence. Life	is	either	present	or	not. There	is	no	self-existent	reality	such	as	death,	just	as	there	is	no	suchthing	as	‘off-ness’	in	an	electrical	wire	that	is	without	current. Divinity
expresses	itself	as	form	and/or	life,	depensding	on	local	conditions	and
potentialities. Without	the	prior	potentiality	(‘karma’)	for	life,	no	one
could	be	born. The	entire	universe	and	everything	in	it	is	actually	a
synchronous	karmic	display	and	single	event. Q:	It	sounds	as	though	all	life	is	pretty	much	predetermined. Isn’t	that
predestination? A:	No. Predestination	is	something	quite	different. As	a	term,	predestination
implies	limitation	and	outcomes,	whereas	karma	sets	up	opportunities	and
areas	of	freedom	for	choice. The	range	of	choices	available	is	limited	by
prevailing	conditions	that	are	attracted	or	set	by	one’s	karmically	patterned
energy	field. Choice	supersedes	karma	and	can	overrule	it	or	change	it	by
an	act	of	the	will. Q:	What	of	free	will? A:	As	part	of	one’s	energy-pattern	inheritance	at	birth,	there	is	an	innate
capacity	for	choice	and	decision. These	are	available	in	quality	and
quantity,	depending	on	one’s	calibrated	energy	field. Within	an
individual’s	inheritance	and	evolution	into	the	world,	we	experience	that
one	has	the	opportunity	to	forgive	or	to	hate	and	condemn. It	might	be	said
that	one’s	spiritual	buoyancy	goes	up	with	the	choice	of	forgiveness	and
down	with	hatred. Each	choice	then	moves	one	into	a	different	‘locale’	in
an	overall	energy	field	of	human	life. We	say,	“Birds	of	a	feather	flock
together”;	“Like	seeks	like”;	“Birds	go	home	to	roost”;	“What	goes	around
comes	around”,	and,	“We	reap	what	we	sow.”	The	Buddha	said	there	is	no
need	to	attack	or	punish	one’s	enemies	for	they	will	bring	themselves
down	as	a	result	of	their	own	natures. All	religions	teach	that	this	life
influences	the	next	one;	whether	the	next	is	actually	physical	or	not	is
therefore	irrelevant. Life	cannot	become	nonlife;	it	can	only	change	form
and	expression. Q:	Is	not	an	energy	field	of	a	higher	calibration	‘better’	than	a	lower	one? A:	It	is	not	‘better’,	only	different. Each	entity	has	its	work	to	do	in	its
contribution	to	the	whole. One	brick	is	not	better	than	another	because	it	is
bigger	or	higher	up	in	the	building. ‘Greater’	or	‘lesser’	or	‘better’	are
judgmental	terms	arising	from	positionality. Each	entity	that	lives	takes
equal	joy	from	the	awareness	of	existence. The	Divine	Presence	in	All
That	Is	imbues	that	quality	as	a	consequence	of	Creation. The	animal,	the
plant,	or	the	human	are	equal	in	their	joy	of	existence. The	human	mindcan	think	and	ponder. A	plant,	if	it	had	a	mind,	would	probably	consider
thinking	as	superfluous	and	stupid.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        In	the	spiritual
Will,	the	goals	that


 less judgmental. But for any
of these beneﬁts to come about, you have to e xperience
what wholeness is r eally lik e. Let’s go into that now. Wholeness W ants to Heal Y ou
Wholeness always tries to r estor e itself. Your body has a
complete ar ray of healing techniques. Wholeness and
healing ar e intimately connected (the two wor ds derive fr om
the same r oot wor d in Sanskrit). What does the body do to
restor e wholeness. It seeks balance. Every cell communicates with every other. No part is mor e important than the whole. Rest and activity ar e har monized. In the midst of constant activity, ther e is a stable
foundation (known as homeostasis). Every cell adapts to change in the envir onment. Stress is counter ed and br ought under contr ol (disease
and discomfort ar e basically the r esult of str ess). In each case, the body is k eeping itself whole. The healing
system e xtends everywher e. Your heart, brain, and liver
cells all perfor m diﬀer ent functions, but k eeping alive and
healthy is their common goal; ther efore, wholeness is mor eimportant than any single activity. If you look at your body
as a metaphor for your life, what does it mean. You will value balance. The separate aspects of your life will work towar d a
common purpose. Every aspect of living will assume equal value. Rest will ﬁnd a nor mal r hythm with activity. Your cor e self, which is calm and at peace, won’t be
disturbed in the midst of activity. As your situation changes, you will adapt and r emain
resilient. At the ﬁrst signs that str ess is thr owing you out of your
comfort zone, you will notice and r espond. You will value your well-being over any individual
experience. I’ve couched these points in general ter ms, but consider
how diﬀer ently two people would live if one chose
wholeness and the other didn’t. Wholeness Is Always a Gain, Never a L oss
To be whole is to be fully healed. If that is true, then no
matter how well you live your life, you ar e not fully healed
until the split self has been transfor med. Ther e are many
ways to achieve a good life, and countless people ﬁnd
reasons not to seek wholeness (one of the biggest r easons
for this is that they have never been e xposed to a vision of
the higher self as it r eally e xists). It’s crucial to know that
you won’t stop being yourself if you seek transfor mation. The world of contrasts is seductive and dramatic. W ithout
contrast, would we be doomed to eter nal sameness. Thestronger the light, the gr eater the shadow. This isn’t
something cr eated by humankind; it’s the way natur e works. The alter native isn’t work able. If the universe did not have
creative for ces simultaneously opposing the for ce of decay,
or entr opy, ther e would be no universe. Let’s say only the evolutionary, cr eative impulse e xisted in
the universe. What would happen. The cosmos would
rapidly run out of matter and ener gy to use for new for ms,
since the old ones would never wear out or become
obsolete. In personal ter ms, we speak of becoming an
evolved person, but if you only evolved without dissolving
the old person that you wer e in the past, you would be a
perpetual infant, child, adolescent, and adult at the same
time. Y our body would have countless layers of skin because
old, dead cells wer en’t sloughed oﬀ; your stomach lining
would swell gr otesquely without the work of digestive
enzymes that constantly devour it so that it can be r eplaced
every month. On the other hand, if only the impulse of inertia or
destruction e xisted, the universe would rapidly bur n itself
out. Entr opy would cause “heat death” in short or der, as the
cosmos devolved into a cold, static void. W e need these two
opposing for ces, but that isn’t an ar gument for dualism. In
fact, it’s a str ong ar gument for wholeness, since it tak es a
larger perspective than that fr om either side to k eep them
in balance. Your body is capable of going into hyper drive when the
stress response is trigger ed. A ﬂood of adr enaline speeds up
the heart, draws e xtra ener gy from the bloodstr eam, alerts
the mind, heightens the senses, and kicks you into gear for
ﬁght or ﬂight. But if the str ess response goes uncheck ed, it
will kill you very quickly, in a matter of minutes. This has
actually been observed in patients who have spent a length
of time on ster oids. The drugs they tak e to suppr ess
inﬂammation, for e xample, also suppr ess the body’s
hormone system. If you suddenly withdraw those drugs, thebody has no ability to secr ete the right balance of
hormones. Ther efore, you can walk up behind one of these
patients, shout “ Boo. ” and send the person into a state in
which str ess hor mones speed up the heart to a danger ous
degree, of ten with fatal r esults. At the ego level we constantly fool ourselves into thinking
that being absolutely good is possible. Never again will we
lie, cheat, feel jealous, lose our temper, or give in to anxiety. This intention never works out, because being good all the
time is as rigid as being anything else all the time. Ther e are
moments when it’s absolutely right and healthy to get angry
or be afraid. The ﬂaw in positive thinking is that you can’t
be positive all the time. It’s sane to ﬁght against dictators,
oppose oppr ession in all its for ms, tell cor rupt power br okers
that they ar e wrong, and on and on. Life pr esents challenges
from the dark side. W e don’t have to demonize the shadow;
it’s the sour ce of almost every challenge worth facing. The illusion that we fall into is thinking that life for ces us
to choose between good and evil. In r eality ther e’s a thir d
way, which is to be whole. F rom the perspective of
wholeness, you can balance the darkness and the light,
being a slave to neither. The opposition between the two
can be tur ned into cr eative tension. The good guys have to
keep winning, but the bad guys better not lose altogether,
because that would be the end of the story. The universe
would become lik e a museum, fossilized and mummiﬁed
forever. The ideal is that the for ces of truth, goodness, beauty, and
harmony stay a step ahead of the dark for ces. Y our body
manages to achieve that, as does the universe as a whole. We can’t deny the fact that life-for ms ar e constantly
evolving, moving to higher levels of abstraction, cr eativity,
imagination, insight, and inspiration. Something is
maintaining the balance, but tipping it slightly in favor of
evolution. In many ways, spirituality does no mor e than
imitate natur e. If you can help tip the balance towar devolution rather than entr opy and decay, you ar e a true
spiritual war rior. Wholeness Is Close, Not F ar Away
There is a map of human consciousness that holds true in
every wisdom tradition. In this map a timeless God serves
as the sour ce of cr eation. Even when the wor d “God” isn’t
used, as in Buddhism, ther e is a state without division; it is
whole; it contains everything both visible and invisible. The
undivided state of Being then divides itself into the visible
and invisible aspects of cr eation. Out of itself, oneness
creates the many. You can imagine the map as a cir cle with
a point in the middle. The point r epresents God as the
source, which is smaller than the smallest particle of
anything. The cir cle also r epresents God, but God as the
manifest universe, which is lar ger than the lar gest anything. But for the map to be accurate, you must see the cir cle as
constantly e xpanding, lik e the universe af ter the big bang. Unlik e the physical cosmos, though, God e xpands at inﬁnite
speed in all dir ections. This signiﬁes the limitless potential of
Being once it enters cr eation. So far, the map may seem
esoteric, and many people would not see much practical
value in it. (I once had a woman say to me that she was
repelled by the wor ds “One” or “ All” as applied to God. T o
her, they signiﬁed being swallowed up in a sea of blankness,
a divine void. ) Our minds can’t grasp inﬁnite e xpansion in all


 section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        242 YourExtraordinaryHealingSystem
Merry’sStoryofExtraordinaryHealing
MerrywasayoungnurseIworkedwithwhousedtobeadancer. AsMerrybegantoattendtoherpatientsandconcentratemoreonherprofessionalcareer,however,hertimefordancingbecamelessand
less. Tryingtomaintainanactivelifestyle,insteadofdancingshe
tooktoaprogramofregularexercise,includingjogging. Soon,how
ever,Merrybegantonoticepainsinherhips. Atfirstthepainoccurredonlywhenshetriedtoexercise. Then,sheexperiencedpainwhenshewasgettinginandoutofhercar,walkingupstairs,andperformingothersimplemovements. Overaseveral-yearperiod,the
hippainbecameworseandworse,andalthoughshewasnotyet30
yearsold,shebegantoexhibitanoticeablelimp. Merryhadtocur
tailallexercisesotherthanslowwalking,andeventhatcausedherconsiderablediscomfort. Merryeventuallycouldignoretheproblemnolonger,andshe
hadtogotoseeseveraldoctors. ThedoctorsdidX-raysandblood
tests,andafterextensiveinvestigationsmadethediagnosisofsevere,progressiveosteoarthritis. TheyplacedMerryonstronganti-inflam
matorymedications,includingcorticosteroids,buttheytoldher
thateventuallyshewouldneedadoublehipreplacement. BecauseIwasworkingwithMerry,Ihadonlyaprofessionalrelationshipwithherandwasnotfamiliarwithhermedicalhistory. WhenIwentforawalkwithheronedayafterwork,however,Inoticedherlimp. Iaskedherwhyshewaslimping. Itwasthenthat
Ifoundoutaboutherdiagnosisofosteoarthritis. Shesharedher
painwithme,andtoldmethatshewasnotlookingforwardtohavingherhipsreplacedatsuchayoungage. Asanalternativetosurgery,eventhoughthereweren’talotofscientificstudiestosupportmywork,Ihadhadsomepreviousclin
icalsuccesseswithyogaandgentlephysicaltherapyformypatientswithvarioustypesofarthritisandjointdeformities. Byhavingan
openmind,self-discipline,andagenuinewilltoimprove,manyof
thesepatientswereabletoavoidsurgeryandimprovethehealthof
theirjoints. IspokeofthisworkwithMerryandsuggestedseveralspecific
yogastretchesandothergentletherapeuticactivitiesthatmighthelp
openupthejointspacesinherhipsandreverseherarthritis. Shewas
YourHea’ingSystematWork 243
lookingforamorepermanentsolutiontoherproblemandwanted
toavoidsurgery,andsoshewasveryopentothismoreconservativeapproach. Sheappliedthestretchingandotheractivitiesdiligently
andpersistently. Soon,however,mymilitarydutyandclinicaltrainingtookme
farawayfromMerry’sworld. Itwasn’tuntilnineyearslaterthatourpathscrossedagain,whenwemetatamedicalconference. Wewalkedaswetalked,catchinguponoldtimes. ItwasthenthatInoticedthatherlimpwasgone,whichremindedmetoaskheraboutthearthritisinherhips. Merrytoldmethatherhipswerenowdiseasefree. Shewasdancingagain,anditfeltwonderful. Shetoldmethatshehadfollowedmyregimenfaithfullyduringthefirstseveralmonths,and,afterfeelinggreatimprovement,decidedtostickwithit. Shehasstuckwithittothisdayandcontinuestoenjoyexcellenthealthin
bothherhips. Merry’shealingsystemwaswillingandabletogointoaction,butitneededhercooperation. Byworkingwithherhealingsystemusingnatural,noninvasivetechniques,Merrywasableto
reverseherarthritisandliveherlifetothefullestonceagainwith
outresortingtotheextremesolutionofsurgery,whichalsomight
nothavebeenalong-termsolution. Clyde’sStoryofExtraordinaryHealing
Clydewasaphysicsprofessorwhohadsufferedfrombackpainfor
manyyears. Oneday,whilehewasliftingluggagefromthetrunkof
hiscar,hisbacklockeduponhimanddroppedhimtohisknees. Thepaininhisbackwasexcruciating,anditshotdownhisrightleg
likeaboltoflightening. Hecouldn’tmove,notevenwithhiswife’s
help. Luckily,shehadtheircellphoneandcalled911. Theambu
lancecrewarrivedshortlyafter. Intheemergencyroom,Clydewasgivenstrongnarcoticinjectionstorelievehispain,relaxhismuscles,andhelpbreaktheintensemusclespasms. HisspinewasX-rayed,andtheorthopedicsurgeon
wascalledin. Clydewasadmittedtothehospitalandunderwentan
M~thenextday. TheMRIshowedaseverelyherniateddiscinthelowerlumbarspineandasynovialcystinthejointspacebetween
244 YourExtraordinaryHealingSystem
theadjacentvertebrae. Otherspecialistswerecalledin,includingtheneurosurgeon,anditwasdeterminedthatspinesurgerytorepairthe
discandremovethecystwouldbenecessary. Clyde,however,wasnotreadytoundergospinesurgery,andhe
askediftherewasanyurgencytothesurgery. Clydewashesitatingbecauseoneofhisfriendshadhadapooroutcomewitharecent
spineoperation. Hisfriendhadendedupwithaninfectionthatalmostkilledhim,andthathadkepthimhospitalizedforthansixmonthsafterhissurgery. Clydewastoldthatifhewantedtogohomeandrest,thesurgerycouldbescheduledwithinthenextcoupleofweeks. WhenClydewenthome,hedecidedtofindoutwhetherthere
wereotheroptionsthatdidn’tinvolvesurgerytocorrecthisspineproblem. HeresearchedontheInternetandfoundabookaboutadoctor’sownjourneythroughbackpainandanultimatecurethatinvolvedholisticmethods,includingnutrition,exercise,stretching,
andstress-managementtechniques,suchasrelaxation,meditation,
andguidedimagery. Clydethoughthewouldgivethisalternativeapproachathree-monthtrial,andifitdidn’twork,hewouldthenconsenttothe
surgery. Hecontactedthedoctorwhowrotethebook,andthedoctorconcurredthatthismightbeawiseapproach. Afterthreemonthsofdiligentlyapplyingthisdoctor’sprogram,Clyde’sbackpainandthepaindownhislegwerecompletelygone. Hisherniateddischadshrunksignificantly,andtherewasnoevidenceofhissynovialcyst. Morethan300,000peopleundergobacksurgeryeachyearin
theU. S. Manyofthesepeoplewillundergoasecondoperation. It
isnotuncommontomeetpeoplewhohavehad20ormoreoperations,andmanyofthesepeopleendupwithchronicpain. FortunatelyforClyde,heisnotoneofthesepeople. Norishe
everlikelytobe. Becausehelearnedtoworkwithhishealingsystem,Clydewasabletohealhisbackpainnaturallyandrestorehealthto
hisspinethroughtheregularpracticeofsimple,effectivemethods
thatworkwithhishealingsystem. Thepeopleyouhavejustmetareonlyahandfulofthethou
sandsI’veeitherknownmyselforheardaboutwhohavelearnedtocooperatewiththeirhealingsystemstoeliminateavarietyofhealth
YourHeaHngSystematWork 245
problems. Fromserious,life-threateningillnessessuchascancerorheartdiseasetomorebenignconditionsthat,whilenotnecessarilylife-threatening,significantlycompromisethequalityofyourlife,
yourhealingsystemcanperformremarkablefeatsifyoujustlearn
howtoworkwithit. Youhavethepowertostrengthenandfortif~r
yourhealingsystem,justasRani,Steve,Rose,andtheotherpeople
inthissectiondid,and,withextraordinaryhealing,overcomeanyhealthchallengesyouface. PARTTWO
ActivatingYourHealingSystemWhenYou’reSick
BeforeYouBegin
owthatyouunderstandhowyourbody’shealingsystemworksandhowyoucanstrengthenandfortifyit,youcanapplythisknowledgetothetreatmentofspecifichealthproblems. Beforeyoubegin,however,therearesevenkeypointstokeepinmindwhile
youareworkingwithyourhealingsystem:
1. Rememberthatyouarenotamachine. Keepinmindthatyouarenotamachine,butacompletehumanbeingwithabody,mind,andspirit,andthatallareinterconnected. Youneedtotakeallthreeaspectsintoconsider
ationifanyphysicaldiseaseistobetruly


	blood	sugar,	infection,	kidney	failure	and	fluid	retention,	uncontrolled	bleeding,
coma,	and	death. The	capability	of	the	liver	to	recover	from	major	damage,	though,	is
truly	remarkable. Once	the	liver	cleanses	have	removed	all	gallstones,	and	the	afflicted
person	discontinues	using	alcohol	and	medicinal	drugs,	there	usually	are	no	significant
long-term	consequences,	even	though	many	of	the	liver	cells	may	have	been	destroyed
during	the	illness. When	the	cells	grow	again,	they	will	do	so	in	an	ordered	fashion	that
permits	normal	liver	functions. This	is	possible	because	in	liver	failure	(as	opposed	to	liver
cirrhosis)	the	basic	structure	of	the	liver	has	not	been	substantially	compromised. Figure	4
:	A	liver	lobule

Acute
hepatitis
	results	when	whole	groups	of	liver	cells	begin	to	die	off. Gallstones
harbor	large	quantities	of	viral	material,	which	can	invade	and	infect	liver	cells,	causing
cell-degenerative	changes. As	gallstones	increase	in	number	and	size,	and	as	more	cells
become	infected	and	die,	entire	lobules	begin	to	collapse,	and	blood	vessels	begin	to
develop	kinks. This	greatly	affects	blood	circulation	to	the	remaining	liver	cells. The
extent	of	the	damage	that	these	changes	have	on	the	liver	and	its	overall	performance
largely	depends	on	the	degree	of	obstruction	caused	by	the	gallstones	in	the	liver	bile
ducts. Cancer	of	the	liver	only	occurs	after	many	years	of	progressive	occlusion	of	the
liver	bile	ducts. This	applies	also	to	tumors	in	the	liver	that	emanate	from	primary	tumors
in	the	GI	tract,	lungs,	or	breast. Most
liver	infections
	(type	A,	type	B,	type	non-A,	and	type	non-B)	occur	when	a
certain	number	of	liver	lobules	are	congested	with	gallstones,	which	can	even	happen	at	a
very	early	age. The	now-common	practice	of	prematurely	cutting	or	clamping	the
umbilical	cord	that	connects	a	newborn	baby	with	its	mother	leaves	the	child	with	justtwo-thirds	of	its	required	blood	volume,	a	lot	of	toxins	normally	filtered	out	by	the
placenta	during	the	first	hour	after	birth,	and	nearly	no	antibodies	to	protect	it	against
disease. It	usually	takes	at	least	40	to	60	minutes	before	the	umbilical	cord	stops	throbbing
completely. Cutting	the	cord	too	early	constitutes	an	act	of	medical	negligence	that	can
affect	the	baby’s	liver	right	from	the	start	and	set	it	up	for	gallstone	formation	even	during
childhood. This	can	subsequently	lead	to	liver	infections. A	healthy	liver	and	immune	system	are	perfectly	able	to	destroy	viral	material,
regardless	of	whether	the	virus	has	been	picked	up	from	the	external	environment	or	has
entered	the	bloodstream	in	some	other	way. The	majority	of	all	people	exposed	to	these
viruses	never	fall	ill. In	fact,	we	all	have	most	viruses	that	exist	outside	the	body	in	our
body	right	now. However,	when	large	amounts	of	gallstones	are	present,	the	liver	becomes
congested	and	toxic,	which	turns	it	into	a	conducive	environment	for	viral	activity. Viruses
are	intracellular	parasites	that	enter	a	host	cell	and	take	over	the	host’s	cellular	machinery
to	produce	new	viral	particles	(it	also	has	been	proved	that	viruses	can	be	created	from
bacteria	within	the	cells). But	viruses	don’t	develop	and	attack	cells	randomly. Contrary	to
common	belief,	viruses	tend	to	“hijack”	the	nuclei	of	the	weakest	and	most	damaged	cells
to	prevent	them	from	mutating. Not	all	viruses	succeed,	though,	and	liver	cancer	may
result. Their	presence	in	cancer	cells	should	not	be	misconstrued	to	have	cancer-producing
effects. Gallstones	can	harbor	plenty	of	live	viruses. Some	of	these	viruses	break	free	and	enter
the	blood. This	is	known	as	chronic	hepatitis. Nonviral	infections	of	the	liver	may	be
triggered	(not	caused)	by	bacteria	that	spread	from	any	of	the	bile	ducts	obstructed	with
gallstones. The	presence	of	gallstones	in	the	bile	ducts	also	impairs	the	liver	cells’	ability	to	deal
with	toxic	substances	such	as	chloroform,	cytotoxic	drugs,	anabolic	steroids,	alcohol,
aspirin,	fungi,	food	additives,	and	the	like. When	this	occurs,	the	body	develops
hypersensitivity	to	these	predictable	toxic	substances	and	to	other	unpredictable	ones
contained	in	numerous	medicinal	drugs. Many
allergies
	stem	from	such	conditions	of
hypersensitivity. For	the	same	reason,	there	may	also	be	a	drastic	increase	in	toxic	side
effects	resulting	from	the	intake	of	medicinal	drugs,	side	effects	that	the	Food	and	Drug
Administration	(FDA)	or	pharmaceutical	companies	may	not	even	be	aware	of. The	most	common	form	of
jaundice
	results	from	gallstones	being	stuck	in	the	bile	duct
leading	to	the	duodenum,	and/or	from	gallstones	and	fibrous	tissue	distorting	the	structural
framework	of	the	liver	lobules. The	movement	of	bile	through	the	bile	channels
(canaliculi)	is	blocked,	and	the	liver	cells	can	no	longer	conjugate
4
	and	excrete	bile
pigment,	known	as
bilirubin
. Consequently,	there	is	a	buildup	in	the	bloodstream	of	both
bile	and	the	substances	from	which	it	is	made. As	bilirubin	begins	to	build	up	in	the	blood,
it	stains	the	skin. Bilirubin	concentration	in	the	blood	may	be	three	times	above	normal
before	a
yellow	coloration
	of	both	the	skin	and	the	conjunctiva	of	the	eyes	becomesapparent. Unconjugated	bilirubin	has	a	toxic	effect	on	brain	cells. A	tumor	in	the	head	of
the	pancreas	caused	by	bile	duct	congestion	may	also	cause	jaundice. Diseases	of	the	Gallbladder	and	Bile	Ducts

The	liver	secretes	bile,	which	passes	via	the	two	hepatic	ducts	into	the	common	hepatic
duct. The	common	hepatic	duct	runs	for	1.5	inches	before	joining	the	cystic	duct	that
connects	it	with	the	gallbladder. Liver	bile	continues	its	journey	through	the	common	bile
duct	into	the	intestinal	tract,	but	most	of	it	must	first	pass	into	the	gallbladder. The
gallbladder	is	a	pear-shaped	pouch	that	protrudes	from	the	bile	duct. It	is	attached	to	the
posterior	side	of	the	liver	(see
Figure	5
). A	normal	gallbladder	generally	holds	about	2	fluid	ounces	of	bile. The	bile	stored	in	the
gallbladder,	however,	has	a	different	consistency	than	the	bile	found	in	the	liver. In	the
gallbladder,	most	of	the	salt	and	water	contained	in	the	bile	is	reabsorbed,	thus	reducing	its
volume	to	a	mere	one-tenth	of	its	original	quantity. Bile	salts	(as	opposed	to	regular	salt)
are	not	absorbed,	though,	which	means	their	concentration	is	increased	about	tenfold. On
the	other	hand,	the	gallbladder	adds	mucus	to	the	bile,	which	turns	it


 The Holy Spirit, similarly, sends out its own
messengers to seek evidence of our br other’s innocence. The important thing is that we decide what we want to see
befor e we see it. W e receive what we r equest. “ Projection
makes per ception.” W e can ﬁnd—and in fact, we will ﬁnd—
whatever it is we’r e looking for in life. The Course says that
we think we will understand a person enough to know
whether or not they ar e lovable, but that unless we love
them, we can never understand them. The spiritual path
involves taking conscious r esponsibility for what we choose
to per ceive—our br other’s guilt or innocence. W e see a
brother’s innocence when it’s all we want  to see. P eople ar e
not perfect—that is, they do not yet e xpress e xternally their
internal perfection. Whether we choose to focus on the guilt
in their personality, or the innocence in their soul, is up to
us. What we think of as people’s guilt is their fear. All
negativity derives fr om fear. When someone is angry, they
are afraid. When someone is rude, they ar e afraid. When
someone is manipulative, they ar e afraid. When someone iscruel, they ar e afraid. Ther e is no fear that love does not
dissolve. Ther e is no negativity that for giveness does not
transfor m.
Darkness is mer ely the absence of light, and fear is
merely the absence of love. W e can’t get rid of darkness by
hitting it with a baseball bat, because ther e is nothing to hit. If we want to be rid of darkness, we must turn on a light. Similarly, if we want to be rid of fear, we cannot ﬁght it but
must r eplace it with love. The choice to love is not always easy. The ego puts up
terrible r esistance to giving up fear -laden r esponses. This is
wher e the Holy Spirit comes in. It’s not our job to change
our own per ceptions, but to r emember to ask Him to change
them for us. Let’s say your husband has lef t you for another woman. You can’t change other people, and you can’t ask God to
change them, either. You can, however, ask to see this
situation diﬀer ently. You can ask for peace. Y ou can ask the
Holy Spirit to change your per ceptions. The miracle is that,
as you r elease judgment of your husband and the other
woman, the pain in your gut begins to subside. The ego might say in that situation that you’ll never be
at peace until your husband comes back. But peace isn’t
deter mined by cir cumstances outside us. P eace stems fr om
forgiveness. P ain doesn’t stem fr om the love we’r e denied
by others, but rather fr om the love that we deny them. In a
case lik e that, it feels as though we’r e hurt by what
someone else did. But what r eally has occur red is that
someone else’s closed heart has tempted us to close our
own, and it is our own denial of love that hurts us. That’s
why the miracle is a shif t in our own thinking: thewillingness to k eep our own heart open, r egardless of what’s
going on outside us. A miracle is always available in any situation, because no
one can decide for us how to interpr et our own e xperience. ‘Ther e are only two emotions: love and fear.’ We can
interpr et fear as a call for love. Miracle work ers, says the
Course, ar e gener ous out of self -inter est. W e give someone
a break so we can stay in peace ourselves. The ego says that we can pr oject our anger onto another
person and not feel it ourselves, but since all minds ar e
continuous, whatever we pr oject onto another we continue
to feel. Getting angry at someone else might mak e us feel
better for a while, but ultimately all the fear and guilt comes
back at us. If we judge another person, then they’ll judge us
back—and even if they don’t, we’ll feel lik e they did! Living in this world has taught us to instinctively r espond
from an unnatural space, always jumping to anger, or
paranoia, or defensiveness, or some other for m of fear. Unnatural thinking feels natural to us, and natural thinking
feels unnatural. A Course in Miracles  is not about pouring pink paint over
our anger and pr etending it doesn’t e xist. What is
psychologically unsound is spiritually unsound. Denial or
suppr ession of emotions is unsound. Y ou don’t say, “I’m not
angry, r eally I’m not. I’m on of A Course in Miracles  and I
don’t get angry anymor e,” when inside you’r e seething. The
Holy Spirit tells us, “ Don’t try to purif y yourself befor e
coming to me. I am the puriﬁer.” I was once on my way to
giving a lectur e on the Course, and I thought about a
woman I knew who I was feeling annoyed at. V ery quickly, I
tried to hide the thought, as though it wasn’t holy enough
for me to be thinking at such a time. Then it seemed asthough a voice in my head said, “ Hey, I’m your friend. Remember?” The Holy Spirit wasn’t judging me for my
anger; He was ther e to help me move past it. We mustn’t for get what the Holy Spirit is for. We don’t
deny we’r e upset, but at the same time we own up to the
fact that all our feelings stem fr om our own loveless
thinking, and we’r e willing to have that lovelessness healed. Growth is never about focusing on someone else’s lessons,
but only on our own. W e aren’t victims of the world outside
us. As har d as it is to believe sometimes, we’r e always
responsible for how we see things. Ther e would be no savior
if ther e wer e no need for one. Of course things happen in
this world that mak e it almost impossible to love—cruel,
horrible things—but the Holy Spirit is within us to do the
impossible. He does for us what we can’t do for ourselves. He will lend us His str ength, and when His mind is joined
with ours, ego thinking is cast out. But we must be awar e of our ego feelings in or der to
release them. “ He cannot shine away what you k eep hidden,
for you have not oﬀer ed it to Him and he cannot tak e it fr om
you.” It would be violating our fr ee will for the Holy Spirit to
change our mental patter ns unask ed. But when we ask Him
to change them, He will. When we’r e angry, or upset for any
reason, we’r e ask ed to say, “I’m angry but I’m willing not to
be. I’m willing to see this situation diﬀer ently.” We ask the
Holy Spirit to enter into the situation and show it to us fr om
a diﬀer ent perspective. Once I was having por celain ﬁnger nails applied, and my
manicurist’s friend came into the r oom. I couldn’t tolerate
her personality. From the moment this woman opened her
mouth, I felt lik e someone was running ﬁnger nails over a
blackboar d. Since my hands wer en’t fr ee, I couldn’t leave
the room, and since the manicurist was someone who cameto my lectur es, I felt ashamed of my own r eaction. I prayed
and ask ed God for help. His r esponse was dramatic. W ithin
moments, the “ obno xious” woman began talking about her
childhood, and particularly her r elationship with her father. As she began to describe her upbringing, it became
perfectly clear to me how she would have gr own up with
little self -esteem, and an inor dinate need to develop
grandiose personality characteristics, which in her mind
would denote str ength. Her defenses didn’t work, of course. Coming fr om fear, they mer ely put people oﬀ. Suddenly, the
same behavior that had so ir ritated me ﬁve minutes befor e,
now elicited in me a deep compassion. The Holy Spirit had
pointed me to the infor mation that would melt my heart. Now I saw her diﬀer ently. That was the miracle: Her
behavior hadn’t changed, but I had. 5. LEVELS OF TEACHING
“Therefore, the plan includes very speciﬁc
contacts to be made for every teacher of God.”
Relationships ar e assignments. They ar e part of a vast plan
for our enlightenment, the Holy Spirit’s blueprint by which
each individual soul is led to gr eater awar eness and
expanded love. R elationships ar e the Holy


 about presence,  and the
mind can’ t understand it. Understanding presence is being  present. T ry a little experiment. Close your eyes and say to yourself: “ I wonder
what my next thought is going to be. ” Then become very alert and wait
for the next thou ght. Be like a cat watching a mouse hole. Wha t thought
is going to come out of the mouse hole. T ry it now. W ell. I had to wait for quite a long time befor e a thought came in. Exactly. As long as you are in a state of intense presence, you a re free of
thought. Y ou are still, yet hig hly alert. The instant your c onscious
attention sinks below a certain l evel, thought rushes in. The men tal noise
returns; the stillness is lost. Y ou are back in time. T o t est t heir deg ree of presence, some Zen masters have been k nown to
creep up on their students from behind and suddenly hit them with a
stick. Quite a shock. If the student had been fully present and in a state
of al ertness, if he had “kept his loin girded and his lamp burning,” which
is one of the analogies that Jesus uses for presence, he would have
noticed the master coming up from behind and stopped him or stepped
aside. But if he were hit, that w ould mean he was immersed in thought,
which is to say absent, unconscious. T o s tay present in everyday life, it helps to be deeply roote d within
yourself; otherwise, the mind, which has incredible momentum, will drag
you along like a wild river. What do you mean by “r ooted within yourself”. It m eans to inh abit your body fully. T o always have some of your
attention in the inner ener gy fie ld of your body. T o feel the body from
within, so to speak. Body awareness keeps you present. It anchors you in
the Now (see chapter 6 ). THE ESOTERIC MEANING OF “W AITING”
In a sense, the state of presenc e could be compared to waitin g. Jesus
used the analogy of waiting in s ome of his parables. This is not the usual
bored or restless kind of waiting that is a denial of the present a nd that I
spoke about already. It is not a w aiting in which your attention i s focused
on some  point in the future and t he present is perceived as an undesirable
obstacle that prevents you fro m having what you want. There is a
qualitatively dif ferent kind of waiting, one that requires your totalalertness. Something could happen at any moment, and if you are not
absolutely awak e, absolutely still, you will miss it. This is the  kind of
waiting Jesus talks about. In tha t state, all your attention is in the Now. There is none left for daydreaming, thinking, remembering, anticipating. There is no tensi on in it, no fear, just alert presence. Y ou are pre sent with
your wh ole Being, with every cell of your body. In that state, the “you”
that has a past a nd a future — the personality, if you like — is hardly
there an ymore. A nd yet nothing of value is lost. Y ou are still essentially
yourself. In fact, you are more fully yourself than you ever were before,
or rather it is only now  that you are truly yourself. “Be like a serva nt waiting for th e return of the master,” says Jesus. The
servant does not know at what hour the master is going to com e. So he
stays aw ake, alert, poised, still, lest he miss the master ’ s arrival. In
another parable,  Jesus speaks of the five careless (unconscious) women
who do not have  enough oil (co nsciousness) to keep their lamps burning
(stay present) and so miss the br idegroom (the Now) and don’ t get to the
wedding feast (enlightenment). These five stand in contrast to  the five
wise women who have enough oil (stay conscious). Even the  men who wrote the Go spels did not understand the me aning of
these parables, so the first misinterpretations and distortions crept in as
they were written down. W ith subsequent erroneous interpretations, the
real meaning was completely lost. These are parables not abou t the end
of th e w orld but about the end of psychological time. They po int to the
transcendence of the egoic mind and the possibility of living in an
entirely new state of consciousness. BEAUTY ARISES IN THE STILLNESS OF YOUR PRESENCE
What you have j ust described is something that I occasionally ex perience
for brief moments when I am alone and surr ounded by natur e. Y es. Zen  maste rs use the word  satori  to  describe a flash of insight, a
moment of no-mind and total presence. Although satori  is not a lasting
transformation, be grateful whe n it comes, for it gives you a  taste of
enlightenment. Y ou may, indeed, have experienced it many times withoutknowing what it is and realizing its importance. Presence is needed to
become aware of the beauty, the majesty, the sacredness of nature. Have
you eve r gazed up into the infinity of space on a clear night, a westruck
by t he absolute stillness and i nconceivable vastness of it. Have you
listened, truly listened, to the sound of a mountain stream in the forest. Or to the song of a blackbird a t dusk on a quiet summer evening. T o
become aware of such things, th e mind needs to be still. Y ou ha ve to put
down fo r a moment your personal baggage of problems, of past and
future, a s well as all your knowledge; otherwise, you will see but not see,
hear but not hear. Y our total presence is required. Beyond the beauty of the extern al forms, there is more here: so mething
that cannot be named, someth ing inef fable, some deep, inner, holy
essence. Whenever and wherever there is beauty, this inner essence
shines through somehow. It only reveals itself to you when you are
present. Could it be that this nam eless essence and your presence are one
and the same. W ould it be there  without your presence. Go de eply into
it. Find out for yourself. When you experienced those m oments of presence, you likely didn’ t
realize th at you were briefly in a  state of nomind. This is because the gap
between that state and the influx of thought was too narrow. Y our satori
may only have lasted for a few seconds before the mind came in, but it
was ther e; otherwise, you would not have experienced the beauty. Mind
can neither recognize nor create  beauty. Only for a few seconds, while
you were completely present, was that beauty or that sacredness there. Because of the narrowness of that gap and a lack of vigilance and
alertness on your part, you were probably unable to see the fundamental
dif ference between the perception, the thoughtless awareness of beauty,
and the naming  and interpreting of it as thought: The time ga p was so
small th at it seemed to be a sing le process. The truth is, however, that the
moment thought came in, all you had was a memory of it. The wider the time gap between perception and thought, the more depth
there is to you a s a human being, which is to say the more consc ious you
are. Many pe ople ar e so imprisoned in their minds that the beauty of nature
does not really exist for them. They might say, “What a pretty flower,”
but that’ s just a  mechanical mental labeling. Because they are  not still,
not pres ent, the y don’ t truly se e the flower, don’ t feel its essence, its
holiness — just as they don’ t know themselves, don’ t feel their own
essence, their own holiness. Because we live in such a mind-dominated culture, most mo dern art,
architecture, music, and literatur e are devoid of beauty, of inner essence,
with ver y few exceptions. The reason is that the people who cre ate those
things ca nnot —  even for a moment — free themselves from their mind. So they are never in touch with  that place within where true creativity
and beauty arise. The mind lef t to itself creates monstrosities, and not
only in art gal leries. Look at our urban landscapes and industrial
wastelands. No civilization has ever produced so much ugliness. REALIZING PURE CONSCIOUSNESS
Is pr esence the same as Being. When you become conscious o f Being, what is really happening is that
Being becomes conscious of itself. When Being becomes conscious of
itself — that’ s presence. Since Being, consciousness, and life are
synonymous, we could say that presence means consciousness becoming
conscious of itself, or life attaining self-consciousness. But don’ t get
attached to the words, and don’ t make an ef fort to understand this. There
is nothing that you need to understand before you can


 just one of many meditation procedures that we
could describe. Meditation is a purposefully directed and harmonious application of the
mind. And the Indian Yogi Maharishi’ s teachings ask: “What is the mind? Itis only a bundle of thoughts. Stop thinking and show me then, where is the
mind?”
Psychotherapist Lawrence LeShan, Ph.D., another pioneer who explores
therapeutic and ethical implications of meditation and visualizations, offers
us a means of reaching into the mind by counting breaths. It is a technique
used in Zen training, and the object is to be doing just one thing as
completely and fully as possible. The single thing, in this case, is counting
one’s exhalations. “Strive to be aware of just counting breaths and be as fully aware of it as
possible,” Dr. LeShan advises. “All your attention is gently and firmly and
repeatedly broug ht to bear on this activity. The goal is to have your whole
being involved in the counting.... In this exercise one is paying as full and
complete attention as possible to the counting itself. Thoughts, feelings,
impressions, sensory perceptions, to the degree that they are conscious, are
a wandering away from the instructions.”
We suggest that you draw in your senses by counting the breaths up to
four counts. Then begin the coun t again. To fill up the time elaps ed between
counts, add the word “and” after each of the exhalation counts. Thus you
would count “one”—“and”—“two”—“and”—“three”—“and”—“four.”
Then repeat the count. This is a very fine technique for bringing you into a
meditative state.6
Repeatedly Use Affirmations
Among the most important elements of creative visualization are
affirmations, strong and positive statements declaring that something exists
or is already so.7 When an individual states, “I am getting better and better,”
the mind tells the body. Be assured: The body believes everything that it
hears the mind say. The stream of thoughts that runs through one’s mind are
vital to the body’ s health, for if the ideas and words we use are
unknowingly negative, a small amount of this negation attaches itself to
one’s physical self. Those words get stuck in the mind and seep out to the
rest of oneself. And, if the nega tive notions are knowingly painful to others, those ideas
are disaffirmations that come back to destroy you. Remember that oldcliché which has proven itself all too true: “What goes around comes
around.”
The practice of silently verbalizing affirmations (or speaking them aloud)
allows the verbalizer to replace negative, stale, worn-out programming from
the past with positive or constructive concepts and themes to transform
attitudes and expectations abou t life and health. You can write down the
affirmations too or chant them as rhymes or sing them as songs. Repeatedly
using af firmations is vital for bringing about healing. Exponents of the Gerson Therapy encourage the application of tangible
health-producing affirmations having to do with acute or chronic illnesses
and infectious or degenerative diseases that are causing difficulty. Here we
offer just a few samples of affirmations you might create and use for
yourself:
• Every day in every way I am getting better, better, and better. • I am vibrantly healthy and radiantly beautiful! • I am healthy and whole and complete in myself. • I give thanks now for my life of perfect health and happiness. • I am happy to be alive and well, anticipating what the future brings. • I now recognize and accept the excellence of my healing path. • I love and appreciate myself just as I am. • I am conquering illness because the treatment is working. At this point we have some suggestions about how to use affirmations to
create health and happiness:
1. Always phrase affirmations in the present tense, as if what you aim for
already exists. See your goal as being reality now and as something to
come. That’ s because everythin g is created first in the mind before it
becomes manifest in the physical. 2. Phrase affirmations in the most constructive manner possible by
stating what is definitely wanted, rather than what is not wanted. Avoid
disaf firmations except when eliminating emotional blocks or bad habits. If it is necessary  to say somethi ng negative, follow up immediately with
another thing that’ s positive. 3. Use shorter affirmations instea d of longer ones so that they remain
clear and convey strong feelings. 4. Hold on to the affirmative statement only if it fits you well and feels
right for your body and mind.5. Have the affirmation produce a feeling of belief within you by
suspending doubts or hesitations about its practicality. 6. Use affirmations repeatedly whether alone or in combination with
creative visualizations. (Affirmations accompany visualizati ons very
well.) Develop the Imaginative Power of the Right Brain
It’s only in the last century and a half that real progress has been made in
understanding the mind’ s work ings, and even that progress has shown us
how much is yet to be learned. Just when scientists think they have located
areas where activities such as thinking, remembering, and speaking are
based, a new situation appears which proves that the answer is by no means
certain. Yet we are gathering knowledge about the imaginative power of the
right brain—at least we know that the mind is infinitely more subtle than
was previously thought. Everyo ne who possesses what has been called a
“normal” mind actually owns a much larger ability and potent ial than had
been determined a mere fifty years ago.8
The brain of each human being has two sides, the left hemisphere and the
right hemisphere. Each side of the brain has different mental functions
which scientists refer to as lateralization,  meaning that various mental
abilities are parceled out laterally (to the left or right side). The left hemisp here functions most effectively for purposes of reading,
writing, arithmetic and number skills, calculation, spoken language and
language skills, scientific skills, reasoning, linear processing, logical
procedures, and right-hand control. The right hemisphere best controls
music awareness, spatial construction and artisitic intelligence, holistic
thinking, imagi nation, insight,  intuition, three-dimensional and pattern
perception, and left-hand control. Added to these, the right brain deals with
relaxation, imagination, creativity, visualization, medit ation. and
affirmations.9
As an interesting aside, women have more-developed left hemispheres
and thus outperf orm men on tests of verbal fluency. And wom en do better
on remembering  details. In navigating through the world, however, men
possess more of a sense of a spatial map in their mind, while women payattention to and use local landmarks as guides. The mental differences
between the sexes may be partly due to hormones.10,11,12
Inasmuch as the right hemisphere provides more efficacy with the
psychology of surviving cancer, we highly recommend that the person with
a degenerative disease develop the imaginative power of the right side of
the brain using the methods we have described. References for Chapter Eighteen
1
Cousins, N. Anatomy of an Illness. New Y ork: W.W. Norton & Co., 1979,
p. 86. 2
Bishop, B. “Psychological considerations for the Gerson patient.” In
Gerson Therapy Physician’ s Training Manual. Bonita, Calif.: The Gerson
Insititute, 1996, p. 62. 3
Silva, J.; Stone, R.B. You the Healer. Tiburon, Calif.: H.J. Kramer, 1989,
p. 18. 4
Gawain, S. Creative Visualization. Novato, Calif.: Nataraj Publishing,
1995, pp. 27-28. 5
Ozaniec, N. Meditation for Beginners. London: Hodder & Stoughton
Educational, 1995, p. 2. 6
LeShan, L. How to Meditate. Boston: Little, Brown & Co., 1974, pp. 58-
59. 7
Gawain, S. Creative Visualization. New  York: Bantam Books, 1982, pp. 21-26. 8
Buzan, T. Use Both Sides of Your Brain. New  York: E.P Dutton, 1974, p.
13. 9Leviton, R. Brain Builders! (West Nyack, N.Y: Parker Publishing Co.,
1995, pp. 330-331. 10
Herlitz, A.; Nilsson, L.G. ; Back man, L. “Gender Differences in Episodic
Memory.” Memory and Cognition  25(6):801–81 1, 1997. 11
Sherwin, B.B. “Estrogen and cognitive functioning in women.”
Proceedings of the Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine
217(1): 17-22, 1998. 12
Fink, G.; Sumner, B.E. ; Rosie, R.; Grace, O.; Quinn, J.P “Estrogen
control of central neurotransmi ssion: effect on mood, mental state, and
memory.” Cellular and Molecular Neur obiology  16(3):325-344


 you’re the biggest jerk in the world right now—I might not yet
be beyond thinking that—but with enough practice, I can get myself to the
point where I’m not dumb enough to text you that. Every action has a reaction, and every thought takes form on some
level. “A neutral thought is impossible”* (WB-26). A miracle is a
fundamental correction on the causal level of thought. It is useless to try to
change our lives  by simply tinkering with its effects. That’ s like trying to
change the plot of a movie by manipulating the screen. Everything we
experience in life is simply the projection of a thought. The shift from fear to love is literally a transformation of world s; it’s a
change on the causal level of existence that then changes the realm of
effects. God Himself will not violate the Law of Cause and Effect because
His creations are unalterable. The mystic Jesus transforms our lives by
transforming how we think. As humanity changes our thinking, the world
will miraculously change. How often our appetites, our reactivity, our lack of impulse control, our
anger, our defen siveness, our fear get in the way of our good. It can take
more than garden-variety “positive thinking” to get past all that. Perhaps we
were betrayed, or injured, or abandoned, or lied to. Perhaps we lost a loved
one, or we know  that we or someone close to us is dying. Of course we’re
thinking angry, negative, or desperate thoughts. It’s not always easy to
change our mind. Life can be painful and depressing. It’s easy enough to
love when the love around us is obvious—when we’re being treated kindly;
when we feel loved; when circumstances are going well. The difficulty sets in when things are not going well; when we do not
feel loved; when circumstances are not as we’d wish. That’ s when the ego isvery good at convincing us all this love and forgiveness is pure nonsense,
not to be believed, or acted on, or taken seriously in any way. Jesus transform s all that by transforming our mind. That’ s the same
thing as saying he is the light that dissolves the darkness. To “follo w Jesus” means to align our thoughts with unconditional love. In him there are no conditions, no excuses, no illusions that stand in the
way of his love. In him, therefore, our illusions of separation disappear. As
we become his disciples, our minds become more disciplined. We achieve too little because we have undisciplined minds. All of us
have those areas  of life where we are wounded—places in ourse lves where,
usually because of some drama that occurred in the past, the muscles of our
personality have become misshapen. We’re weak where we might be
stronger, if we’d had different parents. We’re harsh where we might be
gentle, had we not been abused. We’re negative where we might be more
positive, had we not been betrayed or hurt. The sum of our accumulated
woundings, from  birth until this moment, takes a toll on our emotional
body. We carry internal scars and bruises, the emotional wounds that have
never healed. It’s one thing to come to see those wounds; it’s another thing
to heal them. All of us are privy to the darkness of the world, and carry it within
ourselves. A traditional psychot herapeutic approach involves analyzing the
darkness, while praying for a miracle means turning on the light. The Light
of the World is a light in your mind. He has risen, and so can we. Dear God,
Please make me who Y ou would have me be
that I might do as Y ou would have me do. Transform my mind and heal my heart. Release me fr om torment
that I might help r elease others. Show me my innocence
that I might mor e clearly see theirs. Bless me that my life might be a blessing on the world. May love and love only be my way, dear God. Amen
OceanofPDF.comChapter Two
Reflections of Light
PEOPLE CAN HAVE an almost pathological need to “make something of
themselves,” as though who they are already simply isn’ t enough. To the ego, you will never be enough. It doesn’ t tell you that you did
something wron g; it just tells you that you are wrong. Few of us, no matter
how kind our parents or how healthy our upbringing, survive into adulthood
without an arsenal of rockets in our head shouting us down before anyone
else has a chance to. That’ s why knowing who you are spiritually is essential to a healthy
sense of self. If we only accept the world’ s estimation, then we’ll never feel
like we’re enough, because the world is dominated by the ego’s vicious
nonsense. If we accept ourselve s as God created us, we recognize we’re no
better and no worse than anyone else. All of us are special, and none of us is
special. At the deepest level of our spiritual identity, all of us are perfect
creations of God. Central to understanding this is recognizing where we came from. A
Course in Mirac les says we have an authorship problem. We seem  to think
we authored ourselves, which if you think about it is incredibly arrogant. Or
we think we were created by our parents, a sperm and egg apparently
carrying magical powers to produce feelings, hopes, great art, and an
ultimate yearning for transcendence. The mortal you is a result of your parents having sex, of course, and
your mortal personality is in many ways a result of how your parents
behaved since the moment you were born. But none of that is the Real you. Your worldly parents parented your worldly self, but God is the parent of
who you really are. We have always lived in Him, and we will always livein Him. Our problem is when we fail to individuate from our parents, yet
individuate too much from God. The ego is like an impostor, a veil, a wall made of broken shards of
glass behind which lies an endless field of roses. It’s a mask we wear that
convinces not only others, but even ourselves, that this imposto r is who we
are. But you are not a body, you are not your personality, and you are not the
mere sum of your human experiences. You are something so infinitely,
magnificently beyond all that, and all your deep grief is you longing to be
you. There are many ways to expres s all this, none better or worse than any
other. God is loving thought, and you are an extension of that thought. God
is loving cause, and you are its effect. God is Father, and you are His
beloved child. Jesus is someone who actualized all that, and in identifying
with him you begin to identify yourself. OceanofPDF.comApocalyptic Beginnings
When I look back over the span of my life, I sum it up pretty much like
this: “It could have gone either way.”
I’ve met so many people living in dire circumstances I know could have
been mine. One different turn here or stupid choice there, and it could be
me spending years in prison, addicted, on the streets, or even  dead. I’ve
been up close and personal with some of the deepest suffering, and I know
that there but for the grace of God go I.
I was a bit wild when I was young, and I had many opportunities to self-
destruct. The fact that I barely escaped disaster delivered a very powerful
message to me: to spend the rest of my life doing whatever I could to
persuade others not to be as stupid as I had been. To take life more
seriously. To be more responsib le toward myself and others. To try my best
to be the woman God would have me be. This isn’t some goody-goody mentality. It’s simply the gratitude and
praise that millions of us feel, knowing that something bigger than
ourselves delivered us from the lowest rings of hell. A lot of good things
come out of that too, including the develop ment of emotional antibodies of
some kind. Once  you’ve seen the worst, when you see it again you’re not so
scared. Ironically, that this is true for so many people is one of the most hopeful
things happening in our world today. It means we’re ready for what comes
next. While many traditional Christians believe we face the Apocalypse up
ahead, after which there will be a thousand years of peace, the mystic reads
that chapter of the Bible dif ferently. A lot of us have already experienced our personal apocalypse. For some
it was the diagnosis of cancer. For some it was getting sober. For some it
was unutterable loss. For some it was bankruptcy. For some it was divorce. And from the experience, we have grown more wise. Just as Jesus wouldappear during those thousand years of peace, in a way he has appeared to
us. And each of us now carries a piece of the wisdom that, when combined
with the wisdom of others, can and will save the world in time. Either that, or it’s absolutely within the realm of possibility that we
could bring about a global apoc alypse. It’s not up to us what we learn, but
only whether we learn through joy or through pain. If we choo se not to be
wise, we might blow up the world. If enough of us choose