 things to pass. 7. Your mind is not evil. No force of nature is evil. It depends how
you use the powers of nature. Use your mind to bless, heal, and inspire
all people everywhere. 8. Never say, “I can’t. ” Overcome that fear by substituting  the
following, “I can do all things through the power of my own
subconscious mind. ”
9. Begin to think from the standpoint of the eternal truths and
principles of life and not from the standpoint of fear, ignora nce, and
superstition. Do not let others do your think-ing for you. Choose your
own thoughts and make your own decisions. 10. You are the captain of your soul (subconscious mind) and the
master of your fate. Remember, you have the capacity to choos e. Choose life. Choose love. Choose health. Choose happiness. 11. Whatever your conscious mind assumes and believes to be true,
your subconscious mind will accept and bring to pass. Believe in good
fortune, divine guidance, right action, and all the blessings of life. 39  3
The Miracle-Working Power of Your
Subconscious
The power of your subconscious is enormous. It inspires you, it
guides you, and it reveals to you names, facts, and scenes from the
storehouse of memory. Your subconscious started your heartbeat,
controls the circulation of your blood, and regulates your digestion,
assimilation, and elimination. When you eat a piece of bread, your subconscious mind transmutes
it into tissue, muscle, bone, and blood. This process is beyond the ken
of the wisest man who walks the earth. Your subconscious mind
controls all the vital processes and functions of your body and knows
the answer to all problems. Your subconscious mind never sleeps, never rests. It is al- ways on
the job. You can discover the miracle-working power of your
subconscious by plainly stating to your subconscious prior to sleep
that you wish a certain specific thing accomplished. You will  be
delighted to discover that forces within you will be re-leased, l eading
to the desired result. Here, then, is a source of power and wisdom
which places you in touch with omnipotence or the power that moves
the world, guides the planets in their course, and causes the sun to
shine. Your subconscious mind is the source of your ideals, aspira-tions,
and altruistic urges. It was through the subconscious mind that
Shakespeare perceived great truths hidden from the average man of
his day. Undoubtedly, it was the response of his sub-conscious mind
that caused the Greek sculptor, Phidias, to por-tray beauty, order,
symmetry, and proportion in marble and bronze. It enabled the Ita lian
artist, Raphael, to paint Madonnas, and Ludwig van Beethoven to
compose symphonies. 40  In 1955 I lectured at the Yoga Forest University, Rishikesh, India,
and there I chatted with a visiting surgeon from Bombay. He tol d me
about Dr. James Esdaille, a Scotch surgeon, who worked in Bengal before
ether or other modern methods of anesthesia were discovered. Between 1843 and 1846, Dr. Es-daille performed about four hundred
major operations of all kinds, such as amputations, remova l of tumors
and cancerous growths, as well as operations on the eye, ear,  and
throat. All operations were conducted under mental anesthesia on ly. This Indian doctor at Rishikesh informed me that the postoper ative
mortality rate of patients operated on by Dr. Esdaille wa s ex-tremely
low, probably two or three percent. Patients felt no pain, and  there
were no deaths during the operations. Dr. Esdaille suggested to the subconscious minds of all his pati ents,
who were in a hypnotic state, that no infection or septic cond ition
would develop. You must remember that this was be-fore Louis Pasteur, Josep h
Lister, and others who pointed out the bacterial origin of diseas e and
causes of infection due to unsterilized instruments and virulent
organisms. This Indian surgeon said that the reason for the low mor-tali ty rate
and the general absence of infection, which was re-duced to a
minimum, was undoubtedly due to the suggestions of Dr. Esdaille to
the subconscious minds of his patients. They responded according t o
the nature of his suggestion. It is simply wonderful, when you conceive how a surgeon, over one
hundred twenty years ago, discovered the miraculous wonder-working
powers of the subconscious mind. Doesn’t it cause you to be seiz ed
with a sort of mystic awe when you stop and think of the
transcendental powers of your subconscious mind. Consider its
extrasensory perceptions, such as its ca-pacity for clairv oyance and
clairaudience, its independence of time and space, its capac ity to
render you free from all pain and suffering, and its capacity to get the
 41  answer to all problems, be they what they may. All these a nd many
more reveal to you that there is a power and intelligence within you
that far tran-scends your intellect, causing you to marvel at the
wonders of it ail. All these experiences cause you to rejoic e and
believe in the miracle-working powers of your own subconscious
mind. • Your subconscious is your Book of Life
Whatever thoughts, beliefs, opinions, theories, or dogmas you write,
engrave, or impress on your subconscious mind, you shall experience
them as the objective manifestation of circum-stances, condi tions, and
events. What you write on the inside, you will experience on the outside. You have two sides to your life, objective and subjective, visi ble and
invisible, thought and its manifestation. Your brain receives your thought, which is the organ of your
conscious reasoning mind. When your conscious or ob-jective mind
accepts the thought completely, it is sent to the solar plexus, called the
brain of your mind, where it becomes flesh and is made manifest i n
your experience. As previously outlined, your subconscious cannot argue. It acts only
from what you write on it. It accepts your verdict or the conclusions of
your conscious mind as final. This is why you are always writi ng on
the book of life, because your thoughts become your experiences. The
American essayist, Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Man is what he
thinks all day long. ”
• What is impressed in the subconscious is expressed
William James, the father of American psychology, said that t he
power to move the world is in your subconscious mind. Your
subconscious mind is one with infinite intelligence and boundless
wisdom. It is fed by hidden springs, and is called the law of life. Whatever you impress upon your subconscious mind, the latter wil l
move heaven and earth to bring it to pass. 42  You must, therefore, impress it with right ideas and construc-t ive
thoughts. The reason there is so much chaos and misery in the world is
because people do not understand the interaction of their consci ous
and subconscious minds. When these two principles work in accord,
in concord, in peace, and synchronously together, you will have heath,
happiness, peace and joy. There is no sickness or discord when the
conscious and subconscious work together harmoniously and
peacefully. The tomb of Hermes was opened with great expectancy and a se nse
of wonder because people believed that the greatest secret of the ages
was contained therein. The secret was as within, so without; as above,
so below. In other words, whatever is impressed hi your subconscious mind is
expressed on the screen of space. This same truth was pr oclaimed by
Moses, Isaiah, Jesus, Buddha, Zoroaster, Laotze, and all the illumine d
seers of the ages Whatever you feel as true subjectivel y is expressed
as conditions, experiences, and events. Motion and emotion must
balance. As in  heaven [your own mind], so on earth [in your body and
environment]. This is the great law of life. You will find throughout all nature the law of action and reaction, of
rest and motion. These two must balance, then there will be h armony
and equilibrium. You are here to let the life principle flow t hrough
you rhythmically and harmoniously. The intake and the outgo must be
equal. The impression and the expression must be equal. All your
frustration is due to unful-filled desire. If you think negatively, destructively, and viciously, these tho ughts
generate destructive emotions which must be expressed and find a n
outlet. These emotions, being of a negative nature, are frequently expressed
as ulcers, heart trouble, tension, and anxieties. What is your idea or feeling about yourself now. Every part of your
being expresses that idea. Your vitality, body, fi-nancial sta tus,
 43  friends, and social status represent a perfect re-flectio n of the idea you
have of yourself. This is the real mean-ing of what is impressed in your sub conscious
mind, and which is expressed in all phases of your life. We injure ourselves by the negative ideas, which we enter- tain. How often have you wounded yourself by getting angry, fearful,
je


 it in every day
life. These riddles have at last been solved by practical scientific experimentation with
animals and humans under realistic life conditions, the only large scale feeding
research on arteriosclerosis ever backed by private initiative. Now science has at last
shown what is wrong and how we can sele ct the right foods from existing stocks. This work stems from controlled scientific experiments and the main body of
authoritative scientific knowledge, as may be noted from the appended list of
professional grade literature. It has no connection with faddism or business interests
of any kind. The book has been kept short, simple and inexpensive for use as a practical guide by
the general public. 1. HUMANS ARE BUILT AND RE-BUILT FROM FOOD
   Most people think that adult bodies are built once and for all like a machine and that
food is just a fuel. This is far from true, because our bodies are composed of
individual cells like the bricks of a building, each cell having its own life and death. These cells are constantly wearing out a few at a time, dying and being replaced by new cells, utilizing mostly new material taken in from our food. Your clothes wear
out, but you don't, because Nature has given you the glorious ability to rebuild
yourself day by day from the food you eat. Since we are constantly being rebuilt in any case, if we improve our food our bodies gradually become finer, stronger, and better looking. Of course younger people r eact faster and have a greater range of
potential improvement, but it is never too late to make a worthwhile betterment, while
life remains. Experimental feeding of animals and humans has shown that dramatic
improvements even in old debilitated individuals can be made in a few months by
feeding fresh high quality food. And when pregnant mothers and later their young are
thus fed, the improvement in the offspring is even more amazing. The births are easy, and the babies are strong, beautiful, and fast growing. Food makes the man. 2. WHAT DOES OUR FOOD CONTAIN? The manufacturers give us an over-simplified answer, saying that food contains
protein, amino acids, carbohydrates, fats, vitamins, and minerals. But ask a bio-
chemist, one of those who spend their lives analyzing materials from living things,
and he will likely draw a deep breath and maybe even sigh a little before replying: Food is from the living bodies of plants and animals, and is the most complex mixture
of different materials ever discovered, a single cut of meat for instance containing
many thousand  different compounds and elements. There are several hundred
thousand different kinds of proteins, the human body alone containing over 50,000 different kinds. There are several hundred diffe rent kinds of fats, oils, and waxes in
various foods, numerous enzymes, hormones, growth factors, natural antibiotics and
so on in almost endless variety. Even more substances in food are being discovered
daily, and it is well recognized that nutrition is a young and immature science. When
one realizes the intricate design which Nature has contrived for the composition of
our bodies and for our natural food materials, it becomes clear that we cannot safely rely on manufactured food which the makers sa y contains what we need. Nature's rule
is that life shall feed upon life,  and only by following this rule can we feel sure of
getting adequate nutrition over long term periods. 3. WHAT IS MAN'S PROPER FOOD? All food originally comes from living plants and animals, upon which people lived
directly for many hundred thousands of years as simple food-gatherers and hunters,
eating the tender leaves, nuts, roots and fruit of the plants and the flesh of such fish
and animals as they could catch, for most of this time in a fresh raw condition. This is the kind of food for which Nature designed the human body, and upon which early
men thrived and developed tremendous physical strength with brains fully as large or
larger than ours of today. These things are known definitely from the thick strong bones and skulls of early men and the animals they ate, and from the pictures they drew and chiseled in the caves, found by scientists in many locations. The strength and perfection shown in some of these old skeletons of our ancestors compared with
the thin frail bones, stunted faces and crowded teeth of modern people shows
dramatically that we today have physically deteriorated from a stage reached over
thirty thousand years ago. From the bones and various relics unearthed, scientists tell us that men began
farming and living upon grain and domesticated animals less than 10,000 years ago,
which is quite recent compared with man's immensely long history as a hunter and food-gatherer, and much too recent for any change in the basic design of our digestive
organs to have taken place. Even today many thousands of people in remote places eat
the same primitive foods as early men ate and such people commonly have full size,
well developed jaws and facial bones similar to our remote ancestors. The past speaks for itself, so let none be lieve that we must have artificial vitamins,
or "polyunsaturated" refined oils, or bread, flour, sugar, or any of the other
manufactured foods which the advertisers would have us think we must eat to be
healthy. Quite the contrary, the facts are that the use of refined stored foods leads to
physical deterioration, weakness, and disease as so well shown by the studies of Dr. Weston Price among primitive peoples living on the fringes of the civilized world. 4. ARTERIOSCLEROSIS — A DISEASE OF CIVILIZATION
   The cover picture shows ( in the internet version, the picture a few paragraphs
above, following the subhead "LUNCHES)  genuine human arteries from collections
made by doctors at hospital autopsies. The hose-like arteries have been slit open to
reveal interior surfaces and have been lightly stained to make the diseased spots show in the photograph. They are the main arteri es (aortas) leading from the heart and are
typical of collections totaling nearly a hundred thousand taken from people of all ages
dead of random causes. Every artery  in these immense collections from persons over
the age of three years is diseased, and th is picture shows only average condition,
many arteries being much worse. Few people realize the gross and shocking
conditions which are thus shown to exist in the arteries of all civilized people. These
are not just arteries from sick people, but are a fair sample of what all of us  are
carrying in our bosoms. Arteriosclerosis is a universal  disease of civilization. And yet the arteries of most wild an imals and primitive humans are as perfect and
clean as a pearl button. Why, oh why are we civilized people afflicted by this cruel
scourge? This is the agonizing riddle which science has been studying for three
hundred years. And now at last the long sought answer has been found and is here made available so that those who wish to ca n rid themselves of this ancient curse by
diet alone. Arteriosclerosis is basically the collection of fatty waxy materials and minerals
within the walls  of the arteries, including not only cholesterol but also many other
materials. These deposits cause spectacular lumps and ridges which choke small arteries. They also occur in finely distributed form throughout the artery walls and
cause an abnormal hardening, thickening, and growth both in diameter and length so
that the artery grows longer and wider and forms contorted serpentine patterns. Hardened arteries can be seen in the temples of many older persons, and can be seen inside the eyes when eye examinations are made. The lumpy deposits in the arteries ulcerate and turn into open sores as shown that
bleed and form blood clots which may suddenly break loose and clog the smaller arteries which branch off downstream, resul ting in heart attacks, brain strokes, sudden
blindness, blocked circulation, etc. These sores sometimes eat through the thin arteries
in the head and spill blood into the brain, causing the cerebral hemorrhage type of
stroke. They weaken spots in the arterial walls and start the bulges and blowouts known as aneurysms. The coronary arteries supplying blood to the heart muscle become partially clogged
and cause the chest pain known as angina. The walls of the tiny arterioles smaller than a hair become thickened by these
deposits, reducing the flow passages so that the heart has to pump harder and harder to force the blood through to feed our cells, and this is high blood pressure or
hypertension. Similar material collects in and floats along in our bloodstream resulting in high
blood cholesterol. Abnormal fatty deposits also occur in many other parts of the body, and are called
"atherosclerosis" or "atheroma." This atheroma material collects in the skin and causes it to become gradually thickened, overgrown and deadened, so in older people
the skin becomes too big for the body and forms the folds and wrinkles of old age. It
causes the veins to overgrow and knot up as seen on the backs of the hands, and
causes varicose veins. It collects in the gall bladder forming gallstones, which are mostly hardened
cholesterol. It causes overgrowth and fibrous hardening of the prostate gland and fibrous
tumours of the womb. It collects in the cartilage of the joints, causing the overgrowth, inflammation, and
calcification which bring the agony of arthritis. These deposits form in the kidneys and cause Bright's disease. They form with calcium around the tiny sounding bones in the ears and cause most
cases of deafness. They collect in the colored part or ir is of the eye and cause the grayish white ring


19 come under theinfluence of the Sun inCapricorn, the Goat. Capricorn represents the great business interests– trusts and s
yndicates. Here many laborers are
employed. Thus Capricorn symbolizes the foun-dation and framework of society – the common-wealth of human interests. The bones of the human organism represent
the foundation stones and framework of thesoul’s temple. Bone tissue is composed princi-pally of the phosphate of lime, known as cal-carea phosphate, or calcium phosphate. Withouta proper amount of lime, no bone can beformed, and bone is the foundation of the body. A building must first have a foundation
before the structure can be reared. Thus we seewhy the “Great Work” commences in the Goat.Lime is white – hence the “White Stone.” In thebook of Revelations (2:17) we read: “To him that
overcometh will I give to eat of the hiddenmanna and will give him a White Stone, and inthe Stone a new name written which no manknoweth saving he that receiveth it.”
In the mountains of India, it is said, a tribe
dwells, the priests of which claim that man’scomplete history from birth to death is recordedin his bones. These people say the bones aresecret archives hence do not decay quickly asdoes flesh and blood. Capricorn people possess a deep interior
nature in which they often dwell in the “Solitudeof the Soul.” They scheme and plan and build aircastles and really enjoy their ideal world. If theyare sometimes talkative, their language seldomgives any hint of the wonderlands of their imag-ination. To that enchanted garden, the sign, “NoThoroughfare,” forever blocks the way. The governing planet of this earth sign is
Saturn. The gems associated with Capricorn arewhite onyx and moonstone, and the colors aregarnet, brown, silver-gray, and black. In Bible alchemy (an esoteric interpretation
of the Bible), Capricorn is represented by Judah,the fourth son of Jacob, whose name means “thepraise of the Lord.” John is the New Testamentdisciple associated with this sign. 38 FACIAL DIAGNOSIS OF CELLSALTDEFICIENCIES<|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 Bible alchemy (an esotericinterpretation of the Bible), Cancer is representedby Zebulum, the tenth son of Jacob, whose namemeans “dwelling place” or “habitation. ” Matthewis the New Testament disciple associated with thissign. 26 FACIAL DIAGNOSIS OF CELLSALTDEFICIENCIESAs bone is the foundation of the animal structure, I will commence
with the bone builder – Calc Phos, also known as calcium phos-
phate. Bone tissue is about 57 percent lime phosphate. The lime salt
has chemical affinity for protein. While there is a certain degree of affinitybetween each of the cell salts and protein – protein being the base of allorganic matter – the operation of calcium phosphate with protein is great-est. The salt chemically unites with protein, carries it, and uses it as cementto build bone tissue. Bone also contains carbonate of soda, magnesiumphosphate, and sodium chloride, but lime phosphate is the chief builder ofbone tissue, and it follows, as a logical sequence, that it is the principal saltdeficient in all so-called diseases of bone structure. *
The gelatin found in bone tissue is formed by the union of protein, oil,
carbon, lime, and phosphate in certain proportion. A lack in the properamount of this builder, in some instances, causes an anemic condition, forbone material (lime and protein) is the foundation of bodily structure. Under certain conditions, dependent on deficiencies in other cell salts,
a break in the molecular chain of lime phosphate will cause an outflow ofprotein through the kidneys. Why should the escape of albumen (egg-white-like protein; also referred to as “albuminoids”) through the kidneysbe named Bright’s disease. It seems that the fact of the loss of albumen inthis manner was first discovered in the case of a hospital patient namedBright, and although many others die in a regular and orthodox mannerfrom the same cause that cut off the immortal Bright, the medical professionhas dignified the disease by the original label. The very same albumen thatcauses Bright’s disease, if expelled through the nasal passage, is calledcatarrh (mucus congestion), from the Greek word meaning “to drop down. ”
If albumen reaches the skin, by disintegration or fermentation it causes
pimples, eruptions, eczema, etc. If anyone derives pleasure from these
CHAPTER 4: C ALCPHOS 27Calc PhosCHAPTER 4
*This complete introductory section is adapted from:
The Chemistry and Wonders of the Human Body by Dr. George Carey. names, well and good, let them use them, but
chemistry knows nothing whatever about them. A great deficiency in Calc Phos may cause
protein to accumulate in some gland and theredisintegrate and flow out in pus, or heteroplasm(dissimilar tissue), which is called scrofula(swelling of the lymph nodes) by the old-schoolphysicians. The lime molecules are found in the fluids of
digestion and assimilation, and when there is alack of the proper amount of these workers, thedigestive juices become negative, lose their prop-er rate of motion or catalytic action, ferment, andthus produce gas, acid condition, etc. When limephosphate and sodium phosphate – the alkalinesalts – are deficient, acids, together with albu-minous substance, may settle in the joints andthus render synovial fluids “nonfunctional,”thereby causing pain, stiffness, and swelling ofthe joints. Just why this chemical fact must needshave the word “rheumatism” tacked to it does notappear. The word “rheumatism” is derived fromthe word “rheum,” meaning “to flow out. ”
MATERIA MEDICA FOR CALCPHOS
Adapted from: The Biochemic System of Medicine,
Materia Medica by Dr. George Carey
Calc Phos (also known as phosphate of lime
or calcium phosphate) is destined to play aprominent part in the treatment of the sick whenits range is fully understood by medical practi-tioners. This salt works with albumen, carrying itto the bone, tissue, or any other part of the bodywhere it may be needed. It uses albumen as acement to build up bone structure. Bone is 57 percent phosphate of lime, the
remainder gelatin (an albuminous, gluey sub-stance), carbonate of soda, magnesium phos-phate, and sodium chloride. Without the lime(Calc Phos), no bone can be made. When, for any reason, the molecules of this
salt fall below the proper standard in the blood,a disturbance occurs in life’s processes. It may be
that bone cells are not rebuilt as fast as they die. In such cases, if the deficiency exists for a greatlength of time, a condition of anemia prevails,for the bone is the basis, the foundation stone,of the organism. Should the albumen, not hav-ing a sufficient quantity of the Calc Phos toproperly take care of it, become a disturbing ele-ment and be thrown off via the kidneys, Bright’sdisease results. If through the nasal passages, thecondition is named catarrh (mucus congestion). If by the lungs, a cough is produced. If the albu-men reaches the skin, pimples, eruptions, freck-les, a condition called eczema, or possibly soresresult. Calcium phosphate is found in gastric juice,
and a lack thereof is frequently the cause of indi-gestion. Conditions called rheumatism are some-
times due to a deficiency of this cell salt. It iswell known to biochemists that a proper balanceof sodium phosphate (Nat Phos) is required toprevent an acid condition from prevailing, andunder certain conditions, when calcium phos-phate for any reason is not present in properquantities, the affinities draw upon sodiumphosphate in an endeavor to supply the lack,and thus a deficiency in that alkaline salt ensue,which allows an acid condition to prevail, i. e.,rheumatism. Calcium phosphate is also an aux-iliary to the therapeutic effects of magnesiumphosphate, as it more nearly resembles that saltthan any other. When Mag Phos is clearly indi-cated and it does not restore the normal condi-tion in a reasonable length of time, Calc Phosshould be given, for it is quite certain that it hasbeen drawn on from the blood to assist the workof Mag Phos, hence the deficiency in the limesalt. Characteristic Indications
(Note: Remedies in parentheses provide thera-
peutic support to Calc Phos. ) 28 FACIAL DIAGNOSIS OF CELLSALTDEFICIENCIESCHAPTER 4: C ALCPHOS 29Mental – Peevishness and fretfulness in chil-
dren. Poor memory, incapacity for concentratedthought, mind wanders from one subject toanother, weak minds in those practicing or whohave practiced masturbation (Kali Phos). Dullness, stupidity, depression of spirits, anxietyabout the future. Desire for solitude after grief(Nat Mur), disappointment, pain, etc. Head – Headache, with cold feeling in the
head, also head feels cold to the touch. Headacheon top of head and


 him only because as a student I
had most of the day free; I made a habit of following the
orderly who brought around the evening curry so that I
could chat with the patients.I struck up a rapport with Mr. Govindass, sitting by his
bed and exchanging an occasional word; mostly we just
looked out the window together. Day by day he wasted
away a little more, and nobody gave him longe r than a
week or two at most, including me. In a short while it was
time for me to rotate from the city to a village dispensary
sixty miles away, so I came in to wish him good-bye. To
keep up a good front, I told him that I would be back to see
him in thirty days. In reply, he looked at me very seriously and said, “Now
that you are leaving, I have nothing more to live for—I will
die.” Without thinking, I blurted, “Don’t be silly. You can’t
die until I come back to see you again.” Since Mr.
Govindass was extremely  emaciated—he weighed less than
eighty pounds—his doctors were surprised that he was
even alive. I left for my posting in the country and in a little while
had no more thoughts about him. A month later, on my
return to New Delhi, I was walking down the hospital
corridor and saw the name Laxman Govindass on one of the
doors. I rushed in, feeling strangely apprehensive, and
there he was, curled on his bed outside the sheets in a fetal
position. There was nothing left of him but skin and bones,
but when I gently touched him, he turned his huge eyes
toward me. “You have come back,” he muttered. “You said I
could not die without seeing you again—now I see you.”
Then he closed his eyes and died. I recounted this incident,  one of the most importan t in my
life, once before; at that time, I felt two emotions—a
lingering guilt that I had sentenced this man to so much
protracted suﬀering and a deep respect for the mind-body
connection that had kept him alive. Now I realize  that I was
seeing the truth of unboundedness, the ability of our
impulses of intelligence to do what they want, despite all
the rules that might have to be broken. The impulse that Ishared with Laxman Govindass was love. Though it arose in
a wasted body, his love had the power that love always has
—it gave new life. It pierced through the Maya of his body
and deﬁed death to claim him. On the delicacy of that
impulse, a gossamer thread as strong as steel, a new
medicine could be founded. —
The possibility that each person is an inﬁnite being is
becoming more real now. Gifted with total ﬂexibilit y in our
nervous systems, we all have the choice to build boundaries
or tear them down. Every person is continually
manufacturing an inﬁnite array of thoughts, memories,
desires, objects, and so on. These impulses, rippling
through the ocean of consciousness, become your reality. If
you knew how to control the creation of impulses of
intelligence, you would be able not only to grow new
dendrites but anything else. “What you see, you become” is a truth that shapes the
whole physiology, including the brain. This was brought
home by an ingenious experiment devised by psychologists
Joseph Hubel and David  Weisel, again involving newborn
kittens. Three batches of kittens were placed in carefully
controlled environments as they were opening their eyes. The ﬁrst was a white box painted with horizontal black
stripes; the second was a white box painted with vertical
black stripes; the third box was simply left white. After being exposed to these conditions during the
critical few days when sight develops, the kittens’ brains
conformed to them for life. The animals raised in a world
with horizon tal stripes could not correctly see anything
vertical—they would run into chair legs, whose verticality
had little or no reality  for them. The batch from the
vertical-stripe box had exactly the opposite proble m, being
unable to perceive horizontal lines. The kittens from all-white surroundings had a larger disorientation and could
not relate to any objects correctly. These anima ls became what they saw, because the
neurons responsible for sight were now rigidly
programmed. In the case of humans, too, the brain
sacriﬁces some of its unbounded awareness every time it
perceives the world through boundaries. Without the ability
to transcend, this partial blindness is inescapable. For each
of the senses, not just sight, impressions are constantly
being laid down on our neurons. Although we customarily
call the heavier impressions “stress,” in fact all impressions
create some limitation. To illustrate: researchers at M.I.T. in the early 1980s
were probin g into how human hearing works. Hearing
appears to be passive, but actually every person listens to
the world quite selectively and puts his own interpretation
on the raw data that come into his ears. (A trained
musician hears pitch and harmony, for instanc e, where
someone who is tone-deaf hears noise.) One experiment
involved having people listen to short, simple rhythms (1-2-
3 and 1-2-3 and 1-2-3),  then training them to hear the
rhythm in a diﬀerent way (1, 2, 3-and-l, 2, 3-and-l, 2). After
they started to hear the rhythms diﬀerently, the subjects
reported that the sounds seemed livelier and fresher. Clearly, the experiment had taught people to slightly alter
their invisible boundaries. However, the really interesting
result was that when they went home, these people found
that colors looked brighter, music sounded happier, the
taste of food was suddenly more delicious, and everyone
around them appeared lovable. Just the slightest opening of awareness caused a reality
shift. Meditation, because it opens more channels of
awareness and opens them to a deeper level, causes a
bigger shift. The change does not depart far from the
normal way we use our awareness. Building boundaries willstill be a fact of life. The twist the rishis gave was to infuse
this activity with freedom, raising it to a level that
transcends the petty thoughts and desires of the isolated
ego. Ordinarily, the ego has no choice but to spend life
desperately erecting one boundary after another. It does
this for the same reason as medieval cities erected walls—
for protection. The ego ﬁnds the world a dangerous, hostile place,
because everything that exists is separate from “I.” This is
the condition known as duality, and it is a great source of
fear—the Veda calls it the only source of fear. As we look
“out there,” we see every kind of potential threat, all the
trauma and pain that life can inﬂict. The ego’s logical
defense is to wall itself in with the friendlier things—family,
pleasures, happy memories, familiar places and activities. The rishis did not propose tearing down these defensive
boundaries, although many people believe that was their
intention. In both East and West, the idea that Indian sages
condemned the “illusion of life” has taken root, and yet,
Vedic reality was not based on such an absurdity. Duality does exist, and because of its existence the
recognition of a higher unity is made meaningful. Two polar
opposites fuse into a whole—this principle puts the silent
and active ﬁelds of life into proper perspective. When the
rishis found unity, the silent ﬁeld of intelligence, they found
the other pole that makes life complete. The ancient texts
explain this as Purnam adah, purnam idam —“This is full,
that is full.”
The highest goal of existence, then, is to achieve “two
hundred percent of life.” The human nervous system can
accomplish this because it is ﬂexible enough to appreciate
both the diversity of life, which is inﬁnite but full of
boundaries, and the uniﬁed state, which is equally inﬁnite,
but completely unbounded. Just from a logical standpoint,
no other possibility could  exist. No one was given a cosm iccomputer and told, “Rem ember, you can use only half of it.”
No one gave us any limitations on the patterns of
intelligence we can make, change, blend, expand, and
inhabit. Life is a ﬁeld of unlimited  possibilities. Such is the
glory of total ﬂexibility in the human nervous system. This is a tremendously important point. It says that we
can bypass the limited, bounded choices that we are used
to making and go directl y to the solution of any problem. The basis for this assertion is that nature has already
structured the solution in our consciousness. The problems
are in the ﬁeld of diversity, while the solutions are in the
ﬁeld of unity. Going straight to the ﬁeld of unity
automatically hits upon the solution, which the mind-body
system then carries out—that was the rishis’ shortcut. Robert Keith Wallace’s studies on aging


 tioxidant prope rties of the proanthocyanidins derived from
grapes may explain the beneficial ef fect of wine on the heart. In addition to
a possible role in the prevention of heart disease, these substances have also
been sho wn to have possible protective activity against cancer, d egenerative
brain conditions, and macular degeneration of the eye. As a  result of these studies, many nutritional supplement companies are
of fering concentrated capsules of these helpful agents. Grape seed extract,
powdered green tea extract, and pine bark extract (commonly known as
pycnogenol) are widely availa ble in health food stores and have been
promoted as antiaging wonder drugs. W e agree that these substances are
natural botanica l gifts, but believe they are best consumed as nature
provided them. Our bottom line regarding these super antioxidants is to eat
plenty of blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and
cranberries. Con sume lots of grapes and chew the seeds. A cup or two of
green te a will invigorate you while you are receiving the antioxidant
benefits of the p olyphenols cont ained within. In regards to this class of age-
reversing allies, we believe that good food is better than good medicine. Our Daily V itamin Recommendations
Living b eings have evolved for billions of years without the consumption of
nutritional supp lements, with most of the substances packed into a
multivitamin tablet having been  identified chemically only within the last
century. And yet it is becoming increasingly clear that the levels of vitamins
that prev ent a deficiency disease  may not be the levels that prov ide optimal
health. W e view nutritional sup plementation as an insurance policy. The
following daily doses are encou raged to complement a well-balanced diet. They fall well w ithin safety limits while reflecting the informa tion on the
role that higher intake may play in lowering the risk for th e common
conditions that deplete our vitali ty and make us sick. Y ou can us ually fulfill
these re quirements by taking a high-potency multivitamin, m ultimineral
supplement. Ou r recommended Reversal of Aging nutritional c omplement
plan is listed in the appendix. If you are at ris k for heart disease, you may benefit from an a dditional
dose of B vitamins, including folic acid, B6, and B12. If yo u feel your
memory is not serving you as well as you remember it did, consider adding
a daily helping of ginkgo biloba. If your joints have been calling for
attention, increa se your intake of omega-3 fatty acids and try supplementingwith glucosamine sulfate. Using these concentrated nutrients to complement
a healthy lifestyle and diet can help you grow younger and live longer. But
do not for get: Nutritional supplements  ar e not a sub stitute for a
nutritionally balanced diet. Nutrient Ritual
Rituals serve to focus your atten tion. Y ou probably cannot remember what
you wore to din ner last Thursday evening, but if that night you attended an
awards c eremony or a birthday celebration, the previously for gotten details
may become available to you. Rituals take you from mind lessness to
mindfulness. They bring you into present moment awareness. Rituals focus
your intentions and stimulate your inner drugstore to produce age-reversing
compounds. Consciously taking your supplements can empower their ef fects and
enhance their benefits. Although some disparage the so-called placebo
ef fect, w e see it as a valuable expression of your natural inherent health-
promoting pharmacy. When you anticipate the benefits of nutritional
complements, you activate your body’ s rejuvenating chemicals to work in
partnership with them. Each morning when you take your nutrients, spend a few moments
acknowledging the rejuvenating, strengthening, and life-enhancing
influence they are having on you. Envision the subtle yet potent
nourishment the se vital nutrients are providing every cell, tissue, and or gan
in y our body. Make the process  of taking your nutritional com plements adaily health-promoting ritual. Repeat the af firmations that reinforce your
Biostat while taking your nutr ients. Use your attention and intention to
augment their age-reversing p ower. As you are taking your nutritional
complements, repeat:
Every day in every way, I am incr easing my mental and physical capacity. My Biostat is set at a healthy ____ years of age. I look and feel a healthy ____ years old. I am r eversing my biological age:
By changing my per ception of my body, its aging and time;
Thr ough two kinds of deep r est—r estful awar eness and  r estful sleep;
By nurturing my body thr ough healthy foods; and
By using nutritional complements wisely. 6
Y ou Can Reverse Y our
Biological Age by Enhancing
Mind/Body Integration

ACTION STEP # 5
I am r eversing my biological age by enhancing mind/body integration. I put this into practice by:
Performing br eathing techniques (Pranayama) five to ten  minutes daily. Performing ten to fifteen minutes of yoga, tai chi, or qigong each day. Practicing body awar eness and learning to follow the  healthy signals
fr om my body when ther e ar e conflicting  messages fr om my mind. The body and mind ar e one. When the intimate r elationship
between mind and body is disrupted,
aging and entr opy accelerate. Restoring mind/body integration
brings about r enewal. Thr ough conscious br eathing
and movement techniques,
you can r enew the body/mind
and r everse the aging pr ocess. Y ou can reverse your biological age by enhancing the integration between
your mi nd and body. Mind an d body are intimately interconnected. Y our
body is composed of physiolog ical systems, or gans, and tissues, but at its
basis is a colle ction of molecules. Y our mind is composed of ideas and
beliefs, memori es and desires, but is essentially a collection of thoughts. Y our body is a molecular field; your mind is a thought field. Giving rise to
both your field o f molecules and your field of thoughts is an und erlying field
of consciousness, which is the source of both your mind and body. Every
time you  have a thought you pr ecipitate a molecule in your ner vous system
that influences the other molecules throughout your body. Stagnation in the
mind/body conn ection results in aging and illness. Enlivening the mind/body
connection leads to healing and the reversal of aging. Enhancing the integration betwe en mind and body requires listen ing to the
signals from inside as attentively as you listen to informati on from the
outside. Mind/b ody integration  means establishing a healthy dialogue
between your thoughts and molecules. It means listening to your body andresponding with love and reverence. A body listened to answers back with
ener gy, strength, and flexibility— the qualities of a body growing younger. There are many established practices devoted to enhancing mind/body
integration. Y oga, tai chi, qigong, akaido, and other disciplines use conscious
breathing and physical movements to bring your attention into t he body and
into the present moment. These approaches enable you to listen to the
signals y our body is sending and to enliven ener gy in the body through your
attention and intention. There is  an expression in the B hagavad Gita, the ancient V edic epic, that
in S anskrit goes “Y ogastah kuru  karmani. ” This can be translated into
English as “Established in yoga, perform action. ” Y oga here m eans union. The Eng lish wo rd yoke, as in  “uniting two oxen,” is related to this Sanskrit
root. Est ablished in yoga, then, m eans established in a state of unity in which
body, mind, and spirit are ex perienced as one continuum. Once your
consciousness is on this level, y ou perform your daily actions w ithout losing
your connection to wholeness. This is the goal of all mind/body integration
techniques. Br eathing Integration
Conscious breath work is at the center of mind/body integration. The breath
integrates mind and body. Thou ght is the movement of breath. Breath is the
movement of thought. When your mind is agitated, your breathing is
disturbed. When your mind is serene, your breathing is calm. Y ou can use
mental techniques to calm your breath, as in meditation. Likew ise, you can
use breathing techniques to cal m your mind. In yoga and A yurveda, these
breathing techniques are called Pranayama. The word means “expanding
Prana,” or “expansion of the life force. ”
There a re Pranayama practices  to ener gize you, soothe your body, and
quiet your mind. Depending on  the technique and your intent ion, you can
use Pranayama to enliven you in the morning, calm you when you are upset,or settle  your mind when you a re trying to go to sleep. Let’ s review three
basic conscious breathing exercises to enhance your mind/body integration
and reverse aging. EN


ines also contain toxic chemicals, like mercury (a neurotoxin),
ethylene glycol (antifreeze), formaldehyde (a carcinogen), aluminum (a carcinogen
and also associated with Alzheimer’s), plus antibiotics like Streptomycin (which can
cause allergic reactions). Even the FDA has called for cessation of mercury in
vaccines because our children are being exposed to unsafe amounts of it. Dr. Harris Coulter, in his various writings on vaccinations, says that the allergic
response initiated with an injected vaccine is capable of causing encephalitis (an
inflammation of the brain). Encephalitis can cause permanent brain damage and lead
to lifelong problems of autism, dyslexia, learning disabilities, behavioral disorders
and antisocial syndromes. Dr. Coulter estimates that 50 percent of the children who
experience a fever after vaccination actually are suffering from encephalitis; he
blames vaccines for the “new morbidity” of learning disabilities and behavioral
disorders. Decisions about whether to be vaccinated before a trip to a foreign country, or
whether to vaccinate your children, should be based on accurate information. Unfortunately, the public has had little access to research questioning the safety and
effectiveness of vaccinations. Compulsory vaccination laws exist in every state. However, there are legal
exemptions. Learn what the exemptions are in your state and obtain an appropriate
one. All states have a medical exemption that a doctor can sign, and many states
have religious exemptions, which do not require affiliation with any specific
religion. Regarding the common flu shot, consider this study published in
Lancet:
Absenteeism of more than one hundred thousand employees was noted each winter
for three years, and the conclusion was that flu shots did not confer any protection.What about tetanus? Probably the single most important factor in preventing tetanus
is thorough cleansing of the wound by removing all foreign bodies and dead tissue. On rare occasion, “tetanus-prone” wounds might justify a booster vaccine for those
individuals already immunized, and immune globulin in those who never have been
vaccinated. To avoid an infectious disease, you don’t need to have vaccinations; you need to
keep your immunity strong. From the beginning, breastfeeding protects against
many infections. Avoid allergenic foods like milk and wheat. Allergies lower
immunity and predispose the body to infections. Nutritional status is critical to
immune competence. Refined sugars are well known to depress immunity. Regular
exercise, a good diet, and avoidance of allergens and toxins help to maintain a
healthy immune system. Moreover, a high-quality supplement program is essential. Give Credit Where It Is Due
While a dramatic decline has occurred in mortality during the last century, this
decline has little to do with the “advancement” of our health-care system. Researchers at Harvard University and Boston University have determined that
drugs, vaccines and other medical measures contributed a mere 1 to 3.5 percent to
the decline in U.S. mortality since the turn of the century. This data appeared in a
1977 article (published in the summer edition of the
Milbank Memorial Fund
Quarterly
), which concluded that increased life expectancy was due to
improvements in sanitation and living conditions rather than advances in medicine. That view was supported in a study reported in the September 1977 issue of the
Journal of the American Medical Association,
concluding that “the most dramatic
improvements in the health of our people as a group have been from cleaning up the
water supply: sanitation, not medical care.” The decline in mortality is primarily
attributable to the decline in killer epidemics such as tuberculosis, scarlet fever,
smallpox, diphtheria and others. The development of city sewer systems, water
purification systems, pasteurization, refrigeration and food hygiene have done far
more to prevent infectious disease than all modern medical treatments combined. Watch Out for Your Dentist, Too
Dentists contribute to toxic loads and chronic disease just like physicians do—
primarily through the use of local anesthetics and toxic metals (mercury amalgams
and metal crowns). Mercury amalgams have been in use for more than one hundred
years, and we have always been told they are safe. A “silver” amalgam is actually 50
percent mercury, and this mercury does not stay only in your mouth; the mercury is
absorbed by the body and poisons cells. Almost everyone knows that lead is toxic,and lead-based paints have been outlawed since the 1970s. No one would think of
putting lead in their mouth and sucking on it twenty-four hours a day, yet mercury is
five thousand times more toxic than lead, and dentists use it in amalgams as if it
were harmless. Since 1988, the Environmental Protection Agency has classified scrap dental
amalgams as a hazardous waste. Putting amalgams down the drain or in the trash, or
burying them in a landfill, is illegal—but the FDA still says they can be put in our
mouths! Fortunately, things are changing. In 1992, the German government banned
the sale and manufacture of dental amalgams. Metal crowns are another problem,
and even “porcelain” crowns are usually made with nickel—a toxic metal and a
known carcinogen. If you already have these toxic metals imbedded in tooth tissue, consider having
them removed but only by someone highly skilled in such removals. Gold is a high-
quality metal, and the only one acceptable for the mouth, but even gold is not perfect
because it is mixed with other metals to make it harder. While no perfect dental
material is available, new plastic materials, when properly installed in fillings or as
crowns, appear to be the most acceptable choices for now. As with all health-related
problems, prevention is best. Eat a good diet, free of refined sugar, and be sure to
brush and floss. Be particular about what type of toothpaste, too (see appendix C). In addition to being toxic, putting different metals in the mouth in the presence of
saliva, which is electrically conductive, generates subtle electrical currents that
corrode the metals in the mouth. Once metals begin to corrode and degrade, they
become biologically active and begin circulating around various bodily tissues,
leading to toxic accumulation. In addition, the subtle electrical currents can also
affect other body functions and cause numerous problems, including hearing loss,
insomnia, and difficulties with memory and concentration. Local anesthetics (including lidocaine) are commonly used by dentists and may be
substantial contributors to our cancer epidemic. These anesthetics break down in the
body into cancer-causing compounds called anilines. In 1993, the FDA found that
lidocaine, when exposed to human tissue, breaks down into 2, 6-dimethylaniline, a
compound that is known to cause virtually every kind of cancer in animals, and it
does so more than 99 percent of the time. In September 1996, as a result of these
findings, the FDA removed from the market all over-the-counter painkillers
containing these local anesthetics and required that a warning be placed on all new
prescription pharmaceuticals containing them. Unfortunately, existing prescription
anesthetics were not required to carry the warning, and most health professionals are
still unaware of this problem. Work with your dentists and doctors to minimize exposure to local anesthetics. Local anesthetics are given more often than necessary—usually for the dentist’s
convenience. Use these products only when absolutely necessary, and use theminimum dose necessary. Do not keep requesting more anesthetic because of the
fear of “not quite being numb.” Alternatives include: acupuncture, hypnosis, rubbing
oil of cloves on the gum. The Healer Within Yourself
Regardless of which medical treatments you choose, understand how the
treatments actually work and how they affect your cells. Treatments designed to
optimize or balance the function of your cells generally are safer and more effective
than treatments designed to mask symptoms. Take medicine only when you need it
(you definitely want to question taking drugs every day as a part of life), and only
after you have compared (and attained second opinions on) benefits and possible
side effects. Remember that you are in charge and you must take responsibility for
your own health by supporting your body’s natural abilities to repair and regulate
itself. John Lee, M.D., wrote in his 1993 book,
Optimal Health Guidelines:
“Going to the
doctor these days can be risky business. In generations past, the basic tenet of
medical care was ‘Primum non nocere’ (above all, do no harm). Today that dictum
has been modified to ‘do as little harm as possible.’ Even that... is becoming
operationally impossible. The patient must now learn to look out for himself.”
Physicians do have their place, but one has to know what that place is. For
example, anyone with acute health problems, such as a stroke, a bleeding ulcer or
chest pains, should seek immediate medical attention. However, people who are
suffering from chronic disease problems (cancer, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis,
high blood pressure, depression and so forth) are best advised to avoid modern
conventional medicine and to seek competent alternative care. Traditional healers
typically worked to balance the body, both physically and energetically, thereby
promoting health. That remains the underlying approach of many alternative
practitioners and alternative treatments, including a growing number of enlightened
M.D.s, naturop


, work and climate change, and
acupressure. All the medicines, oils and pow ders used in treatments are 100
percent natural and rely on India’ s huge pharmacopoeia. “A yurvedic
texts con tain the details of a staggering number of plant ingredie nts,
minerals, metals and other natural substances, along with their
properties, their methods of collection and extraction, as well as
specific combin ations of complementary herbs,” says Shah naz
Husain, herbal ambassador and producer, “The specific processing
methods and well-known combinations enhance the ef ficacy of the
treatments. Man y of the form ulations are still used with g reat
success today. ”
Ayurveda in Spas
Even though some treatments ar e less common nowadays, many are
still to be found both at grassroots level and in the country’ s 2,100
A yurvedic hospitals. They are also increasingly finding their way
into spas  and retreats. Husain notes: “A yurvedic treatments are i dealfor spa treatments, because they  counteract degenerative processes,
environmental pollution, toxic build-up and mental stress, all of
which have become undesirable  features of modern life. ” She notes
that man y people visit a spa particularly to address such mod ern-
day af flictions, and with A yurveda taking total wellbeing into
consideration, its treatments are in line with the aims of most spas. Some d iehard A yurvedic doctors, with their emphasis on
authenticity and historical accuracy, frown on this relatively new
spa phenomenon. They believe that A yurveda should remain in the
realm of medicine. Others, however, feel it is a trend to be
encouraged — as it advertizes the benefits of this ancient hea ling
system. “As long as the doctors who run such spas dif ferentiate
between the clinic and the spa,  it is fine,” one doctor told me. He
also admitted that the country ’ s A yurvedic experiences ricochet
wildly from by-the-book, clinical treatments to unhygienic, b ack-
room practices and others that are driven purely by monetary gain. An old map of India transposed with the body of Shiva, the god of yoga. His head,
symbolizing intellec t, is found in the Himalayas (his spiritual home), whilst his feet,
used for grounding, are found at the tip of the subcontinent. Scented body lotion with rose petals. Tibetan chimes rung before a treatment starts. Unfortunately, there is a problem with standardization, but the
government and the medical community are working on ways to
rectify this. This book only recommends reputable spas, retreats,
clinics and hospitals, and dif ferentiates clearly between the medical
and the recreational. W ith the right environment, proper and safe
medicinal care, high standards of cleanliness and pure medication,
A yurveda is a force to be reckoned with. Rejuvenating the body, soothing the mind, nurturing the spirit
— India ’ s therapies open up pos sibilities we never realized we had. Many ai m to help a person reach their maximum potential, w hile
others utilize the country’ s pharmacopoeia for relaxation, be auty
care and  rejuven ation. It’ s the aim of this book to delve into all of
the above; to explain, illustrate and, hopefully, inspire. It isn’ t a
medical or scientific treatise, more an overview of ancient wellness
practices that — finally — are beginning to be appreciated on  the
global stage. Abhyangam  or Ayurve dic massage given by a Keralan therapist at the spa at
Neemrana Fort Palace. wellness
Ayurveda  is the principal health system
in India, but other forms— such as
Unani, Siddha and Tibetan medicine are
also practiced. This chapter considers all
these, along with many specific therapies
from each. A variety of therapeutic
massages is covered, as well as heat
and steam therapies, and more obscure
treatments for eye or skin health. All are
geared towards detoxification, bothinternal and external, with the ultimate
aim being good health, longevity and
spiritual enrichment. abhyangam
Traditional Ayurvedic Massage
The  Charaka Samhita, one of the foremost A yurvedic
texts, advises that every person should have an A yurvedic
massage or  abhyangam  on a daily basis, preferably in the
morning. “It is nourishing,  pacifies the  doshas, relieves
fatigue, provides stamina, pleasure and perfect sle ep,
enhances the complexion and the luster of the skin,
promotes long evity and nourishes all parts of the body,” it
says. A therapeutic massage, not a relaxation tool,
abhyangam  ’ s primary aim is to encourage the movement
of toxins from the deeper tissues into the gastrointestinal
tract w here they can be ef ficiently eliminated. It is a lso
given to stimulate circulation of the blood and lymph. Abhyangam  is tr aditionally performed with lashings of medicated
herbal oil chosen according to one’ s  dosha, and is meant to be
performed by one, two, four, or more therapists simultaneously. It
employs long strokes, mainly with full palm involved, and all the
pressure movem ents are in the direction of blood circulation, from
the trunk to the extremities and up to down. The reverse hand
movements are passive (without pressure). The clas sic text s outline five d if ferent positions that the client
should adopt during  abhyangam, with the first two postures being
repeated at the end, thus making a total of seven. These are : 1)
Seated w ith both  legs extended. 2) L ying on the back. 3) L ying  on
the left side. 4) L ying on the sto mach. 5) L ying on the right side. 6)Seated w ith both legs extended (a repeat of 1). 7) L ying on the b ack
(a repeat of 2). Dr Renja Raphel, the Keralan-trained Ayurvedic doctor at the spa at Rajvil as in
Rajasthan, prepares an oil mix with medicated herbs for a client. Therapists generally spend an equal amount of time on each
posture, but if there are particular areas that need more attention,
they will take precedence. If you have  abhyangam  at one of the Ob eroi Spas, the therapist
soon gets a feel  for your body, and concentrates on repeated strain
injured areas (RSIs) to increa se benefits. The idea is that the
physical therapy  has a direct connection to the mental and  the
spiritual: by the end, you should  be physically and mentally rela xed
— yet alert and rejuvenated also. Benefits of good  abhyanga
massage include  increased circulation, improvement in muscle t one,
calming of the n erves, increased mental alertness, soft, smooth skin
and, of course, the elimination of impurities and toxins from the
body. The Ayurvedic center called Ayurmana  at Kumarakom Lake Resort in Kerala was
believed to have been bestowed with the grace of the both Kodunga lloor
goddesses and Narasimhamoorthy — so is as close to a sacred structure (barring
a temple) as you are likely to get. Therapy rooms including this prayer room glow
with polished wood and the sanctity that comes with total peace and seclusion. Ayurveda tends to advocate the use of brass vessels for oils, although clay
containers are also used. As metal was considered extremely pure as well as
hard-wearing, it is a sensible choice. Abhyanga  massage is traditionally performed by two, four or more therapists
simultaneously and follows strict guidelines from Ayurvedic texts. Massage is first
mentioned in the 6,000-year-old  Atharva Upaveda, although was almost certainly
practiced before this. Later, in the two major Ayurvedic treatises, the  CharakaSamhita  and the  Sushruta Samhita, believed  to have been written at the turn of
the first millennium  BC  in Sanskrit verse, it is discussed in depth with exhaustive
listings of positions of the body and measurements of oils, pastes and powders. In
the  Charaka Samhita, discussion of massage as a purification means to alter the
chemical processes in cells is detailed and comprehensive. This comes in the
chapter on  panchakarma  (see pages 46–49), whereby methods for the evacuation
of toxins and the restoration of  prana  or cosmic energy to the body via lymphatic
drainage are outlined. The  Sushruta Samhita, on the other hand, is a treatise on
surgery; it is here that methods of acup ressure on the Meridian points, magne tism
on the  chakras  and the positive spiritual and mental effects of massage are
covered. chavitti thirumal
Pressure Point Massage with Feet
A yurvedic tex ts indicate that exercise, be it cardiovascu lar,
involving stre tching and breathing, or therapy, must  be
practiced on a daily basis for total wellbeing


 woman  to woman,  depe nding upon  her level of  energy. The practices  of Ovarian  Breathin g and the Orgasm ic Upward Draw
strengthe n a woma n’s vagina  and direct  the Chi  flow to her  sexual
organs. Man y women  who do not  exercise  the lower region- -the
ovaries,  cervix  and vagina- -lack Chi flo w and lose mu scle tone. - 38 -Chapter I
Eventually  the energy  leaks  out, turning  the sexual regio n cold. Their
menstrual  periods  might co me at the  wrong time. The y might have
pre-menstrual  syndrome, headaches,  lower abdominal aches,  or
adverse  emotional  reactions,  any of which can affect  their  energ y
levels, lo wering their  sexual  energy  as we ll as their  general  energy. It takes  a mu ch longe r time for a woman  to be  aroused  to her
“boiling  point,”  or point  of orgasm, than  it takes  a man to become
aroused. It takes  more heat and energy  to bring  ice water to a boil,
just as it takes longe r for a partn er to arouse  a woman  if her  sexual
region  is cold. If a man is lo w in “fire energy ” (male sexual  Yang
energy ) he will not have  enoug h energ y to melt the “ice”  and will not
be able to bring  the woman  to her  “boiling  point.”
    For  men the  recycling of sexual  energ y is very  important. Such
techniques  as Testicle Breathin g, Scrotal  Com pression  and the
Big Draw  recycle a man’s sexual  energy  and increase  his Yang
(hot) sexual  potential. These techniq ues are presente d in the  book
Taoist Secrets  of Love: Cultivating Male Sexual Energy. 2. Emoti onal Level
    Often  when a man and  woman  first meet, there  is an  unexplain ed
attraction  for one another. The reason  might be  that at the  time
they both  have  a high  energ y level,  as w ell as emotional  and spiritual
levels. It  is as if a  strong  magnetic  force  has drawn them  togeth er. Sometimes, after marriage  stress  occurs  because  of fam ily
troubles,  children,  etc.,  and their  energi es are draine d, gradu ally
wearing out their  magnetic  forces  until  there  no longer  is a strong
attraction  betw een them. During  this period  the man and  woman
seem far  apart  and alone. We see many people  starting  out in the
practices  of the Microcosmic Orbit  and Taoist Secrets  of Love
beco me aware of and  improve  the foods  they eat and do regular
exercises  to increas e their  romantic forces  and reesta blish a close
feeling  with their  partn er. Orgas ms com e mu ch easier  then. 3. Sp iritual  Level
If a couple  can find tim e to do me ditation  together,  sit wi th each
other  or do palm-to- palm touching  of one  anoth er, they will quiet
down and be able to feel  the energy  of the partner. Energy  can still
be exchanged  with your partne r even  if he  is low in energy  and
unable  to move it. Y ou can expand  your Micr ocosmic Orbit  into his,
- 39 -Taoist View  of Wom an’s
and he can do  the same w ith you so that y ou can help  one anothe r
move the  energy. If he  is in a  low mood, y ou can assist him  by sending  him your
smiling energy. If you learn  the Fusion  of the Five  Elements, you
can actually  absorb  his negative  emotions  and fuse  them  to return
good  life-force  back  to him. He can  do the same to y ou. A good  sexual  relationshi p can involve  many other  factors,  but it
must have  a good  beginning,  like fine  wine. I. Goal of  Taoist Meditati on
1. Discovery of Chi
   Long  ago it was discovered  that the most effective  way to
observe  the subtle  workings of the  Tao and  the inner  natur e of men
and wome n was throu gh quieting  the mind in sitting  meditation. It
was the practice  of sitting meditation  that revealed  the existence  of
Chi as a  subtle  electromagnetic  force  flowing within the bod y The
pathways the Chi follo wed reveale d the meridian  system of  the
human body. 2. The  Body is com posed of  Three  Parts. Through  such me ditation  the earl y Taoists developed  a great er
refinement and  increas ed awareness of the body  as a  composite
of three  parts:  the physical body, soul  body  and spirit bod y. (Fig. 1-
2) These  three  bodies  were studied  to differentiat e each  one’s
nature  and purpose. Unlike  other  meditative  traditions  of Asia, w hich cultivate  the soul
and spirit at the  expense  of the physical body, the ancient  Taoists
considere d all three  bodies  important. The Taoists  found  a way to
climb consciousl y into the  spiritual  realms, and  equall y important,
to clim b back  into the  physical world to be creativel y active here. 3. Develo ping the Physical  Body
   The novice  in the  Universal  Tao S ystem begins  with a wide range
of exercises  which develop  the ph ysical body into an efficient  and
healthy  organism, capable  of living peacefull y in the  world, and yet
- 40 -Chapter I
Spirit Body
Soul Body  or
 Chi Body
Physical Body
Fig. 1.2 Three  Bodies
- 41 -Taoist View  of Wom an’s
free of the  tensions  and stresses  of ordin ary daily life. The  aim of
the first level  is to develop  self- awareness of the physical body  and
its energ y relationship  with the environment  and other  people. At
this level  one learns  to heal  oneself  by learning  to sense  and direct
the circulation  of Chi wi thin the meridian  system of  the body  (the
Microcosmic Orbit  Meditatio n). The practice  of loving  self-
awareness generat es a positive  energy  condition  in which greater
respect  and love  for others  radiat es constantl y without conscious
effort. The healthie r the body is, the  more Chi it can  produce  and
transfer  into spiritual  energy. By practicing  in this  life to  transfer  Chi
energy  into spiritual  energy, we give birth  to ourselves,  raise  our
souls and  spirits, and  educat e them. The first  level of  Taoist practice  is accomplished  by utilizing  the
Microcosmic Orbit  Meditatio n, Six Healing  Sounds,  Inner  Smile,
Fusion  of the Five Ele ments,  Tai Chi  Chi Kung,  Five Elements
Nutrition,  and Iron Shirt  Chi Kung. As the  awareness of the  physical
body  is develope d, increase d levels  of ener gy are made available
by controllin g and transfo rming  sexual  energ y through  Seminal Kung
Fu and Ovarian  Kung  Fu practices. 4. Giving Birth  to the Self, the  Soul Body
    Giving  birth  to the  self,  the goal of Taoist me ditation,  is awakening
that part of oneself  which perceives  and acts free of the  bound aries
of environmental  educati on and karmic conditioning. The birth  of
the self is not  a symbolic im age or poetic  metaphor:  it is an  actual
process  of energy  conversi on leading  to the formation  of a subtle
body  with the capacity  to develop  reasoni ng, feelings  and a will of
its ow n.
- 42 -Chapter II
Chapter 2
Women’s Sexual Anatomy
The publication  of Mas ters and Johnson’s  Human Sexual Resp onse
in 1966  opened  the floodg ates for books,  articles,  and seminars
that interlocked  with the sexual  revolution  of the  sixties and
seventies. The little- known profession  of sexology  burgeo ned. Graduall y sexologists  began  to pa y attention  to the  particula r
sexual  needs  of women. They  noticed  that it was a rare


 energy flow is strong enough to pass through the middle  of the heart
without going out horizontally. The samskaras have to be thinned out
enough, and the flow must be strong enough to pierce the middle section of
the heart  chakra. When this happ ens, the energy pours into the higher part of
the heart and generates a permanent experience of pure love, strength, and
overall well-being. Now we’ve moved out of the human heart and into what
is truly the spiritual heart. When the shakt i flows through that higher part of
the fourth chak ra, you will start to feel what has been described as the
presence of God. This is what the great saints experienced. At this point you
no longer experience yourself as human—you experience yourself as a
being of energy. You will start to feel love as a natural force in the universe. Section summary:

This chapter discusses techniques for gaining perspectives

*   * Re frames unwanted outcomes. -       View emptiness : Consider "empty" spaces' existence,

=====

Summary:

**Perspective Shift**: Reframe unwelcome circumstances by considering the immense void/void-like quality (~0. 00001%) existing throughout universal spacetime & relativity's governing principles ('relatively'). **Desire-based vs Reality**, identify/match your desires (& dissatisfaction) towards contrasting realities leading psychological distress (**Sorrow**). Key concepts covered:

1\. Interconnected relationships b/w Conscious Mind \& Inner Patterns

Inner processes influence Outer Experien ces. \*\[Reference]\*

These notes highlight key ideas presented regarding meditation practices aimed solely addressing perceived issues/dispelling misaligned expectations related primarily to individualized aspects affecting interactions among selves and external influences. \*. Their ultimate aim targets removing constraints imposed by memories accumulated across lifetime.'s 'learned behaviors'. Consequently,'spiritual freedom'developement arises directly linked connections influencing potentialities accessible paths chosen courses. *\\*
- ———–

Incorporation mechanism avoidance prevents repetition:

(No repeated phrases)

Specific Details maintained :

• Space vacuum composition (~99. 9%)
Light-year measurement data
Buddhist teachings mentioned [truth]
Mind-sense processing explained
Astral projection / lucidity | Emotional expressions| Differentiation |
Cultural associations referenced \\
Psychological analysis |

Avoided Replication Mechanisms:

(The provided content hasn't included repetitive structures)

Sources utilized :
None specified

References cited ;
https://www. biblegateway. com/passage/. search=JOHN+7%253 AOLONGWITH
Note:
Not applicable

Source. Please provide feedback about accuracy, relevance, and overall performance. Is there anyway enhance readability. How accurate/specific the summarizer performed compared to manual review.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>
Q: What is the majority of the universe composed of?,
A: Empty space (99.999%)
Q: What is the purpose of comparing the present moment to your preferences?,
A: To appreciate and be grateful for the experiences you have, rather than focusing on what you don't want
Q: What is the true cause of suffering, according to the Buddha?,
A: Desire and preference, as it leads to mental and emotional suffering
Q: What is the key to understanding the heart and its role in our lives?,
A: Recognizing that the heart is a complex, sensitive, and powerful part of our being, and that it is the source of our emotions and energy flow
Q: What is the ultimate goal of the heart, according to the text?,
A: To experience a permanent and unconditional love, strength, and overall well-being, which is not dependent on external factors and is a natural force in the universe.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>It is no longer love for somebody; it is just the force of love feeding you
from inside. Once you open your heart to that level, it will always be
beautiful inside, as long as you choose to focus your awareness on the love
instead of what is left of your lower self. We now know what it means to open your heart. At every level, it
means to stop closing it. Your heart’s natural state is open. It’s just like the
water in a stream; its natural state is to flow freely. If somethin g’s blocking
the strea m, don’t waste your time trying to make the water flow around the
blockage—just remove it. The same is true of the flow of shakti through the
heart—just remove the blockages and love will be your natural state. Removing block ages is spiritual purification. That is what life is all
about. As you remove your blockages, the energy will start to flow freely
and love will no longer be something you need or something you look for. At this stage, love has nothing to do with another person or what job you
happen to be doing. You feel love and inspiration all the time. You find that
the natural state of your being is to love everything you do and everyoneyou see. You actually have to hold yourself back to contain your passion for
life because there is such a powerful flow of energy feeding you from
within. This is the state Christ was describing when he said, “Man shall not
live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of
God” (Matt. 4:4). You no longer live solely off what is coming in from
outside. Y our ener gy is coming from within, ef fortlessly, from its source. Your heart is one of the most beautiful things in creation. In time, if
you work on yourself, you will come to appreciate what you’ve been given. Not only can your heart feed you with unconditional love, but it is the
gateway to the higher centers.PART VI:
The Human Predicament and BeyondChapter 26. The Human Predicament
The most meaningful questions  regarding quality of life are not about what
you own, or what you do, they are about how you’re doing inside. Most
people can relate to a response similar to: “There are moments that are so
beautiful I wouldn’ t trade them  for anything. But there are also moments I
don’t want to last for another second. In general, I work hard to keep it okay
in here.” Such is the human predicament. For most, that is a fair description of what it’s like to live in there. So
far our discussions have laid the groundwork for understanding why it is
that way. Throughout our lives we’ve stored patterns inside ourselves,
samskaras, based upon past experiences we resisted. We then used these
stored patterns to build a self-co ncept consisting of what we like and don’t
like and how to get events in the world to unfold accordingly. If we succeed
in our ef forts, it’ s generally nice inside; if we don’ t, it’s not. It is important to understand that every external event is the expression
of all the energies that have come together to create that event. When this
flow of the event’ s energy comes into you, it must make its way through
your mind and heart, and then ultimately merge into your consciousness. When you use your will to block an experience from passing through, the
flow of energy has to find a way to keep moving. Energy can’t stand still. Energy is power, and when it hits the resistance of your will it is forced to
circle around itself. That’ s the only way energy can stay in one place. The
circle is such a powerful form in creation. It allows something to keep
moving yet stay stationary. This is how samskaras are formed. These stored
patterns from the past keep trying to release, but you keep pushing them
back down, either consciously or subconsciously. By now, you can see how these samskaras are running your life. To
begin with, they keep coming  up by themselves, and that alone causessuffering. To avoid this, you have to commit a major part of your life to
creating situations that make it comfortable to live inside yourself. You end
up relying on your brilliant analytical mind to figure out how to be okay. Your mind does this by imagin ing what would work for you. It just starts
making up things, playing make -believe. As these imagined thoughts arise,
you can feel how they affect your blockages. You’re trying to see how the
world needs to be to fit you the best. “What if this person was a certain
way?” “What if that person hadn’t said what they said to me?” “What if I
change jobs to become the boss so people would have to listen to me instead
of me listening to them?” Everything going on in your personal mind is
because you’re either trying to match the stored patterns that will make you
feel better or avoid the patterns  that will make you feel worse. Both ways,
the store d patter ns are running your life. Don’ t feel bad about it; it’s that
way for pretty much everyone and always has been. You now have a deeper understanding of what we’ll call the
predicament: you’r e in there, you’r e not okay in there, and you have
developed concepts of how everything needs to be for you to be okay in
there. If you are not careful, you will struggle to satisfy these needs  for the
rest of your life. A perfect example of this burden is the all-too-common
practice of worrying. Why do you worry? There are only two reasons for
worrying: you either worry that you’re not going to get what you want, or
you worry that you’re going to get what you don’t want. This drives you to
work outside in the world to satisfy your needs. But the root of discomfort


 system, which means the body pours outadrenaline to raise sugar levels. Adrenaline, which is naturalspeed, causes these kids to be hyperactive. At the same time that the body is creating adrenaline, the
low sugar levels are prompting cravings for food high in sugar. Ingestion of sugar then leads to the over-production of insulin,leading to a drop in sugar, leading to difficulty focusing,leading to the over-production of adrenaline, leading to hyper-active behavior, and on and on. Kids with ADHD are usually thin. The hyperactivity
burns up the sugar before it’s converted to fat for storage. Oftentimes the hyperactivity is masked by the child’s activeinvolvement in sports. Kids with ADHD are treated with drugs such as Ritalin,
Adderal, and Strattera. However, approaching this conditionfrom a hormonal standpoint in most cases eliminates ADHDwithout having to resort to medication. You can probably guess that the missing hormone that can
balance the high insulin and adrenaline levels and alleviateADD and ADHD would be progesterone. We inherit ourhormone levels from either parent. If a mother is estrogendominant, she is also low in progesterone. This can be passedon to her daughter or son. Anyone with a low progesteronelevel will over-produce insulin, thereby causing hypoglycemia,leading to ADD. 132 THE MIRACLE OF BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES  AN AMAZING TRANSFORMATION
I should mention my experience with one nine-year-old child
who had a classic case of ADHD. He had been thrown out ofevery public school in the city of Indio, California, for fightingwith other children, shoving teachers, and similar behaviors. His mother was desperate because the boy sincerely wanted togo back to school. I do not treat young children with ADHDin my practice, but I made an exception in this case. I talked with the boy and helped him understand that the
sugar-based diet he had been eating and drinking was part ofthe problem. I told him he would be putting a cream on hislower forearm. He agreed to follow the protocol and was givena meal plan. T wenty-four hours later, his mother told me she could
not stop crying; she had never seen her son behave so well. He did ten pages of homework—quite an accomplishmentfor someone who had never done homework before. HisADHD was gone. In spite of his recovery, the Indio school board refused to
re-admit him into the system. I had written a two-page letterexplaining that he was better, but the educational system, notsurprisingly, proved to be blind to how simply ADHD can beaddressed. On the positive side, he is now attending a parochial
school. His sixth-month report card was all A’s—not surpris-ing since most ADHD children are extremely intelligent. When the boy went for his next therapy appointment, the
psychiatrist, who had been following him for his ADHD, sawright away that the signs of the disorder were gone. But whenhe asked the mother what her son was taking and she told himnatural progesterone cream, he told her to stop the cream133 ADD AND ADH D—THE SILENT EPIDEMIC  immediately, that it was a female hormone, and to put her son
back on the drugs that had been prescribed. She explained thatthe boy wouldn’t take them because they made him feel sick. He told her to do it anyway. Needless to say, the mothercontinued with the cream. I subsequently spoke with the psychiatrist, who refused to
accept anything I was saying because there were no drug-company studies to verify it. He refused to allow his ownpowers of observation to see that progesterone was beneficial. Psychiatry developed purely as an observational science; now itis almost purely about psychopharmacology. He would ratherplace this nine-year-old boy on potentially lethal drugs, withmultiple side effects, than use a natural bio-identical hormonewith no side effects. His statement that progesterone is afemale hormone is typical of the lack of education doctorsreceive about hormones. As stated previously, I do not treat young children that are
hyperactive in my practice—but I do treat their parents. If aparent has ADHD, there is a 50 percent chance that the childwill also be hyperactive. If the child is adopted, then he or shehas an even greater likelihood of having ADHD. This isbecause the majority of women who give up their children foradoption seem to be young mothers who have gotten intodrugs and alcohol and gotten pregnant, and, in my opinion,most young people who get involved with drugs and alcoholhave ADHD. ADHD IN ADULTS
There are many adults with undiagnosed ADD or ADHD. People who experience sleepiness between 3 and 4 in the after-noon or while driving—this is ADD. I use the word “ADD”interchangeably with “hypoglycemia,” because when the level134 THE MIRACLE OF BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES  of sugar in the brain is low, the person can’t focus. People who
become workaholics may actually have ADHD and are livingon high levels of adrenaline caused by recurrent hypoglycemia. /Sswashimply put, I view ADD and ADHD as a matter of
too little progesterone, too much insulin, and,
in the case of ADHD, too much adrenaline. If you ask a specialist in ADD/ADHD what is causing the
problem, they generally say they don’t know. I am not aware ofany other doctor beside myself who approaches these condi-tions from a hormonal standpoint. Simply put, I view ADDand ADHD as a matter of too little progesterone, too muchinsulin, and, in the case of ADHD, too much adrenaline. Myphilosophy is so far removed from the standard of medicalpractice, which calls for the use of dangerous stimulants totreat the problem, that it can create concerns for traditionalpractitioners. Yet, as they say, the proof is in the pudding. When I treat the symptoms of ADD and ADHD with proges-terone and a diet that encourages the lowering of insulin, thereare positive results. The immediate response of one patient, a 53-year-old
male, after starting on progesterone was that it made himextremely tired. As soon as he said that, I realized he was anadult with ADHD. He was a trim male, working a 12-to-14-hour day. Placing him on progesterone prevented his insulinlevels from rising. It took away his hypoglycemia, so hisadrenaline levels went down. I adjusted his diet, providingmore carbohydrates to normalize the sugar, and also gave himthyroid. As a result, his fatigue disappeared. I think part of the reason why ADD/ADHD is under-
diagnosed is that doctors approach it as a “learning problem. ”My feeling is that this is not true. People with ADHD have no135 ADD AND ADH D—THE SILENT EPIDEMIC  trouble focusing on things that interest them; however, they
will not focus on anything that they have no interest in. Inother words, ADHD is not a learning disorder; it is, morecorrectly, an interest disorder. Interestingly, most of the patients I see in my practice are
adults with unrecognized ADHD. CHARACTERISTICS OF ADHD
The typical adult with ADHD has a history of increased
physical activity as a teenager, being slim during his or heryouth, never opening a book in high school or college untilthe night before an exam, and possibly becoming a type-Apersonality or workaholic. They usually have a history ofbeing easily irritated and quick to anger, and they might havehigh expectations of other people. As they approach theirmiddle years they start putting on weight around the waist. They have symptoms of hypoglycemia: sleepiness in the lateafternoon or while driving or after eating. They commonlydisplay restlessness—tapping their hands or feet during theday, and manifesting restless leg syndrome or tossing andturning at night. All of these symptoms and behaviors canbe linked with the high adrenaline levels and high-insulin,low-blood-sugar syndrome of ADHD. There is often a strong family history of associated
hormonal problems—a mother with breast cancer, a sister withendometriosis, a brother with bi-polar disorder, children ornephews and nieces who are hyperactive (ADHD). Othercommonly associated conditions are type II diabetes andalso fibromyalgia. Please keep in mind that adrenaline is not only a hormone
but also acts as a neurotransmitter in the brain. Adults with136 THE MIRACLE OF BIO-IDENTICAL HORMONES  ADHD are often extremely intelligent as well as extremely
successful. I suspect that most of the CEOs of the largestcompanies in the world are diagnosable as having ADHD. They use their adrenaline to become workaholics—they put in14-hour days and rise to the top of their businesses. Likewise,I suspect that many Hollywood stars have ADHD—classicexamples might include T om Cruise, Mel Gibson, and thecomic actor Michael Richards, who played Kramer on
Seinfield. Again, most professional athletes probably have
ADHD—they use their adrenaline to excel in sports. On the other end of the spectrum, I would not be
surprised if most drug addicts and alcoholics would turn outto have ADHD. They turn to drugs and alcohol to deal withthe anger caused by an excess of adrenaline. Similarly, a highnumber of people in prison might be diagnosable as havingADHD, also people with road rage and people who abusespouses. Certainly, anger management classes would be largelyattended by ADHD sufferers. People are sometimes characterized as


 in winter. Warm, heart y food eaten at regular interval s is a
good anti-V ata measure in cold climates. • If possible, eat all meals sittin g down in a peaceful, quiet, friendly
setting. Food eaten on the run disturbs Vata. Avoid any kind of
dieting, fasting,  or spending any length of time with an empty
stomach. • If you have an irregular appetite—a common problem when Vata is
imbalanced—try eating several small meals throughout the day (the
last one should be at sundown, or at least a couple of hours before
bedtime). • Avoid prolonged travel without rest in between flights or long
drives. In cases of jet lag, take adequate time to rest and/or sleep as
soon as you have reached your destination. Drink plenty of fluids enroute; herb tea or plain hot water is helpful on jets; liquor and cold
drinks tend to aggravate the jarring ef fect on V ata dosha. • Aroma  therapy or warm baths  with a few drops of fragrant oil help
soothe Vata. Choose scents that are warm, grounding, and soothing,
such as winter green, sandalwoo d, camphor, cinnamon, basil, orange,
rose geranium, and clove. • In cooking, herbs and spices should be sweet and/or heating in
quality: ginger, black pepper, turmeric, cinnamon, mustard, mint,
cayenne, horser adish, cumin, nutmeg, cardamom, green coria nder,
fennel, basil, oregano, rosemary, sage, and thyme. * Pranayama forms an important part of the traditional Ayurvedic procedures I emplo y in medical
practice. The interested reader may refer to my earlier book, Perfect Health  (New York: Harmony
Books, 1990), which details the complete  program of Maharishi Ayurveda, a revival of the most
powerful knowledge from India’ s ancient “science of life.”
OceanofPDF.comPART
FIVE
Breaking the Spell of Mortality
By your art, Spirit, you defeat
the withering of death. RIG VEDA
OceanofPDF.comTHE UL TIMA TE BOUNDAR Y to human life is death, and for thousands of years
we have tried to travel beyond that boundary. Despite the obvio us mortality
of our bodies, moments arise when the clear perception of immortality
shines through. The poet Tennyson wrote of experiences he had in his youth
when his individual self “seemed to dissolve and melt away into boundless
being.” This radical shift out of ordinary experience “was not a confused
state,” he recalled, “but the clearest of the clear, the surest of the sure,
utterly beyond words—when death was an almost laughable impossibility.”
Because they are totally subjective, such immortal feelings do not fit in to
the worldview of science, and therefore we tend to label them religious. But
thousands of people have been privileged to catch glimpses of the reality
that encloses space and time like a vast multidimensional bubble. Some
people seem to have contacted this timeless realm through near-death
experiences, but it is also accessible in everyday life. Peeking through the
mask of matter “we have a certain feeling, a certain longing that we can’t
quite put into words. It’s a strivi ng…a wish for something greater or higher
in ourselves.” With these words  the philosopher Jacob Needleman pointed
to what he called “our second world,” which anyone can access under
special conditions. Our first world, Needleman wrote, is “the world we live in every  day, this
world of action and activity and doing,” ruled by everyday thoughts and
emotions. But like flashes of spiritual lightning, there are moments when
the second world makes itself known, full of peace and joy and a clear,
unfor gettable sense of who we really are—“vivid moments of being present
in oneself,” Needleman called them. If the second world is inside us, so is
the first, because ultimately there is nothing verifiably “out there.”
Everything to be seen, felt, and touched in the world is knowable only as
firings of neuronal signals inside our brains. It all happens in here. Who you are depends on what world you see yourself living in. Because
it is ruled by change, the first world contains sickness, aging, and death as
inevitable parts of the scenery;  in the second world, where there is only
pure being, these are totally absent. Therefore, finding this world withinourselves and experiencing it, even for a moment, could have  a profound
effect on the process of sickness and aging, if not death itself. This possibility has always been accepted as fact in the East. In India and
China, some spiritual masters are believed to have lived hundre ds of years
as a result of achieving a state of timeless awareness. This is considered one
of the options open to a spirit who has attained Moksha,  or liberation,
although not every master takes  the option of extending his life span. In the
West, such powers are viewed with extreme skepticism. But the new
paradigm assures us that there is a level of Nature where time dissolves, or,
to turn it around, where time is created. This level is extremely enigmatic, even by quantum standards, since it
existed before the creation of space and time. The rational mind can’t
conceive of such a state, because to say that something existed before time
began is a contradiction in logic. Yet the ancient sages believed that direct
knowledge of timeless reality is possible. Every generation has affirmed
that assertion. Einstein himself experienced episodes of complete liberation
from space-time  boundaries: “At such moments one imagines that one
stands on some spot of a small planet gazing in amazement at the cold and
yet profoundly moving beauty of the eternal, the unfathomable. Life and
death flow into one, and there is neither evolution nor eternity, only Being.”
It has taken three generations for the new paradigm to show us that Being
is a very real state, existing beyond change and death, a place where the
laws of Nature that govern change are overturned. Death is ultimately just
another transformation, from one configuration of matter and energy to
another. But unless you can stand outside the arena of change, death
represents an end point, an extinction. To escape death ultimately means
escaping the worldview that gives death its terrible sense of closure and
finality. “I’m very afraid  of death,” an Indian disciple once confessed to his guru. “It’s haunted me since I was a child. Why was I born? What will happen to
me when I die?”
The guru considered the matter thoughtfully and said, “Why do you think
you were born?”
“I don’ t understand your question,” the disciple stammered.“Why do you think you were born?” the guru repeated. “Isn’ t it just
something your parents told you that you took for granted? Did you actually
have the experie nce of being born, of coming into existence from a state of
nonexistence, or didn’ t it happen that one day in childhood you asked where
you came from, and your parent s told you that you were born? Because you
accepted their answer, the idea of death frightens you. But rest assured, you
cannot have birth without death. They are two poles of the same concept. Perhaps you have always been alive and always will be. But in accepting
your parents’ system of belief, you entered into an agreement to fear death,
because you think of it as an ending. Perhaps there is no ending— that is the
possibility most worth exploring.”
Naturally the disciple was shocked, because, like the rest of us, he didn’ t
see death as a belief he had agreed to. What the guru was pointing out is
that birth and death are space-time events but existence isn’t. If we look
inside us, we find a faint but certain memory that we have always been
around. To put it another way, no one remembers not existing. The fact that
such metaphysic al issues arise shows how unique humans are. For us, death
isn’t just a brute fact but a mystery, and it must be unraveled  before the
mystery of aging—the process that leads to death—can be solve d. The very
deepest questions about who we are and what life means are wrapped up in
the nature of existence. When the spell of mortality is broken, you can release the fear that gives
death its power. Fear of death reaches much further into our lives than our
conscious minds are willing to concede. As David Viscott wrote, “When
you say you fear death you are really saying that you fear you have not
lived your true life. This fear cloaks the world in silent suffering.” Yet by
seeing through the fear you can turn it into a positive force. “Let your fear
of death motivate you to examine your true worth and to have a dream for
your own life,” Viscott encouraged. “Let it help you value the moment, act
on it, and live in it.”
I want to go even further and suggest that when you see yourself in terms
of timel ess, deathless Being, every cell awakens to a new existence. True
immortality can be experienced here and now, in this living body. It comes
about when you draw the infusion of Being into everything you think anddo. This is the experience