 are full of nourish
ment and will help your GAPS patient to detoxify quicker in order to
achieve his or her full potential.
"We had bad experiences with phenols. Tom used to get red ears, would
become irritable, basically "off the wall" When we started the diet (she
means the correct diet for GAPS) we tried the phenol foods again. Now we
have no phenol problems. Hooray!"
Tom's mother,
Correspondence via e-mail
The Anti-Candida Diet
As we discussed before the era of antibiotics and steroids gave yeasts and
moulds a special opportunity. These ubiquitous micro-organisms always
lived in our bodies. However, in a healthy body they are controlled by the
beneficial bacteria and do us no harm. As these good bacteria get
destroyed by antibiotics and other modern influences, yeasts get out of
control and turn from a harmless neighbour into a terrible menace. One
particular family of yeasts called Candidahas received the most attention. It is a large family of fungi which cause a commonly known problem, called
"thrush" When that happens Candida transforms from its harmless one
cell state into an invasive active state, when it grows long stringy hyphae
and puts "roots" through the tissues of the body This sort of growth can
happen in the digestive system and many other internal organs producing
a whole host of toxic substances, alcohol and acetaldehyde being some of
them. Pretty much every chronic degenerative disorder has been con
nected to Candida overgrowth from arthritis and digestive problems to
ME, MS, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromialgia and neurological dis
orders. GAPS children and adults almost without exception are seriously
affected by Candida species and possibly other fungi.
As Candidaand other yeasts thrive on sugars, the anti-candida diet aims
to remove all food sources for these pathogens: sugar and everything, that
contains it, fructose, maltose, lactose and other sugars, including maple
syrup and honey. Fruit is excluded as it is viewed as a source of simple
sugars. As Candida overgrowth can cause an allergy to other fungi and
moulds, all fungi and fermented foods are also eliminated: yeast and baked
foods made with yeast (breads, pastries, etc.), soured milk products, all
cheeses, all fermented beverages, vinegar, malt, mushrooms, tea and
coffee, dried fruit and fruit juices. However, grains are not excluded from
the diet: corn, barley, wheat, rye, millet, oats, rice, etc. and foods, made out
of them, as long as they do not contain yeast. Starchy vegetables are not
excluded either: potato, yams, sweet potato and Jerusalem artichoke....
And this is where the problem is. Let us see, why?
Candida is never alone in the digestive system. It lives in company with
some other 500 or more different microbes which can cause disease. And
indeed, when the gut flora of a GAPS patient is tested apart from Candida
there are many other pathogens detected, Clostridia family being the most
common one. These pathogens and their toxins damage the gut lining,
making the enterocytes (major digesting and absorbing cells of the gut)
unable to perform their duties of splitting up carbohydrates into small
enough molecules to be absorbed. The result is that complex carbohy
drates, those found in grains and starchy vegetables, do not get digested
and become food for the pathogenic flora. They undergo fermentation and
putrefaction in the gut, instead of proper digestion, and become a source
of toxins, which would further damage the gut wall and undermine the
immune system. The majority of pathogens, including different bacteria,
fungi, protozoa and worms feed on undigested carbohydrates.
The anti-Candida diet in combination with GFCF diet and often with phenol free diet is promoted for autistic children. In practise what it boils
down to is lots of rice and things made out of it, potato, potato crisps,
gluten free breads, biscuits and other baked goods, as autistic children
crave processed carbohydrates. Unfortunately these carbohydrates will
allow their inflamed and damaged gut to stay inflamed and damaged,
keeping up the toxicity in the body. That very toxicity which makes these
children autistic.
So, what exactly should GAPS people avoid in their diet?
To understand that we need to look at how foods are absorbed in our
human digestive tract The absorption of digested foods happens in the
small intestine, mainly in its first two parts: the duodenum and jejunum.
The walls of these parts of digestive system form tiny finger-like protru
sions, called villi, to increase the absorptive surface. These villi are lined by
the cells, called enterocytes. These are the cells, which absorb our food and
pass it into the blood stream to nourish our bodies (FIG. 3).
The importance of these cells in our health simply can not be overesti
mated. These cells are born at the base of the villi and through the course
of their short life travel to the top of the villi, slowly getting more mature on
the way. When they reach the top of the villi they get shed off, because by
then they have performed so much work that they become old and worn
out. This process of constant renewal of enterocytes is ruled by the benefi
cial bacteria, which live on them. As already mentioned in the chapter on
gut flora, the beneficial bacteria ensure that enterocytes are healthy and
capable of performing their jobs. When the beneficial bacteria are not
there and instead of them the absorptive surface of the intestine is popu
lated by pathogenic microbes, the enterocytes can not be healthy and can
not perform their duties. The animal research shows that in the absence of
good bacteria enterocytes change their shape, their travel time to the top of
the villi becomes too long which can turn them cancerous. But most
importantly they become unable to perform their jobs of digestion and
absorption of food. Let us have a look how enterocytes absorb different
groups of nutrients: carbohydrates, proteins and fats.
Carbohydrates
All carbohydrates are made of tiny molecules, called monosaccharides.
There are many of them. The most common ones are glucose, fructose and FIG. 3 The absorptive surface of intestines. galactose. These monosaccharides or monosugars can easily penetrate the
gut lining, they do not need digestion. Glucose and fructose are found in
abundance in fruit and vegetables. Honey is made of fructose and glucose
and does not require much digestion. Galactose is found in soured milk
products, like yoghurt. Monosugars from fruit and some vegetables are the
easiest carbohydrates for us to digest and should be the main form of
carbohydrate in the diet of any person with a digestive disorder.
The next size carbohydrates are disaccharides or double sugars, made
out of two molecules of monosaccharides. The most common ones are
sucrose (the common table sugar), lactose (the milk sugar) and maltose
from digestion of starch. These double sugars can not be absorbed without
quite a bit of work on the part of enterocytes. The tiny hairs (microvilli) on
the surface of enterocytes, called the brush border, produce enzymes dis-
accharidases which break down the double sugars into monosaccharides
to be absorbed. This is where the biggest problem lies for people with
digestive disorders. The sick enterocytes loose their ability to produce
brush border enzymes. As a result double sugars, like sucrose, milk sugar
lactose and products of starch digestion can not be split into monosugars
and hence can not be absorbed. They stay in the gut becoming major food
for pathogenic bacteria, viruses, Candida and other fungi, getting con
verted into a river of toxic substances which damage the gut wall even fur
ther and poison the whole body. Deficiencies in disaccharidases almost
always accompany all sorts of digestive disorders. Recent studies per
formed by Dr K. Horvath in Maryland University and Dr T. Biiie in Harvard
confirmed these deficiencies in autistic children. So double sugars or dis
accharides have to be out of the diet for GAPS children and adults in order
not to feed abnormal flora and to allow the villi time to recover by shedding
off sick enterocytes and building a layer of healthy ones.
We have mentioned maltose - the result of starch digestion. Apart from
sugar (sucrose) starch is the main form of carbohydrates we consume. All
grains and some root vegetables (potato, yams, sweet potato, Jerusalem
artichoke, cassava) are very rich in starch. Starch is made of huge
molecules with hundreds of monosugars connected into long strands with
many branches. Digestion of starch requires quite a bit of work on the part
of the digestive system and apparently even in healthy people, due to its
complex structure, a lot of starch goes undigested. Undigested starch pro
vides a perfect food for pathogenic flora in the gut, allowing it to thrive and
produce its toxins.
Whatever starch does get digested, the result of this digestion are molecules


 144Healing the Gerson Way—Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases
www.thegersonway.comthree daily meals and coffee concentrate for enemas, plus securing the constant supply of large
amounts of organic produce needed for the smooth running of the program. The produce needs
to be washed and prepared for juicing and cooking, salads and vegetables have to be made ready
as near mealtimes as possible in order to safeguard their freshness—and of course all this is
accompanied by the constant washing of dishes. Moreover, this daily routine, taking up nearly
eight hours, must continue non-stop seven days a week.
 Obviously seriously ill patients, or even less ill ones, cannot cope with such a demanding
schedule. Irrespective of their condition, patients must rest if they are to heal.  This cannot be
repeated too often, for many people, especially members of the patient’s family are not clear
about this. Healing, the body’s heroic effort to defeat disease requires energy; a sick person’s
already diminished energy must be reserved for that.
In other words, a whole person is needed to fulfill the Therapy’s requirements. In many cases
a spouse or some other family member is willing and able to do the work, but the intensity of the
non-stop tasks will soon exhaust a single person. In this case a kitchen helper has to be hired and
trained. In fact it is best to have two helpers, each one working several days a week.
Choosing the right helper is important. It is unwise to engage a nurse trained in allopathic
medicine, since she might not approve of the nutritional regime and could try to add items of
her choice. Likewise, a ‘gourmet cook’ would probably find the Gerson way of food preparation
difficult to handle. The ideal choice would be a kind and open-minded person, willing to be
trained in the exact requirements of the job. Some patients have found it helpful to approach
their Church to provide volunteers. The best way is to arrange for several volunteers to schedule
continuous assistance, so that they take turns if one or the other is unable to attend.
 Since the hourly preparation of juices with all the other tasks keeps the helper busy, a cleaner
may also be needed once or twice a week. As pointed out earlier (see Chapter 9, The Gerson
Household, pg. 95 ) no toxic cleaning materials are to be used in the patient’s home.
 After 8-12 months on the Therapy the patient is usually in a much better condition and can
take on a number of food preparation tasks, including juicing. However, if this extra effort brings
on new symptoms or excessive fatigue, outside help must be brought in. Some people, particularly
the breadwinner, are able to return at first to part-time work, later to a regular job. There is just
one important condition: the patient must never eat lunch in a restaurant. He/she needs to eat the
usual Gerson lunch at home, together with the freshly made green juice (which cannot be taken
along to work), and also have some rest plus the midday enema. The carrot/apple juices can be
taken to work in the morning, in a glass-lined thermos flask; another thermos full of juice needs
to be ready for the patient to drink during the afternoon. Then on returning home the balance of
the green juices can be taken, along with the missing enemas and followed by  rest.
This arrangement only works if there is a person at home able to prepare all the Therapy
Copyright © Charlotte Gerson, 2007.  All rights reserved.
This material may not be reproduced in any medium, print or electronic without prior written permission from the author.Page 145Healing the Gerson Way—Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases
www.thegersonway.comitems needed by the patient.
The Trouble With Sunshine
Sunshine can be a source of good health; it can also be a killer. The difference lies in the degree
of exposure we choose. The human body needs Vitamin D, which helps to maintain several organ
systems and is essential for forming and maintaining healthy bones. However, very few foods are
naturally rich in Vitamin D (some commercial foods are fortified with synthetic versions of the
substance), so we need the Vitamin D, which is produced in our skin exposed to sunlight.
The trouble is that the ultra-violet (UV) rays contained in sunlight can cause severe damage
to cells. This partly explains why the widespread fashion for deep tanning has been accompanied
by the doubling of skin cancer cases in the last few decades. Even those who don’t lie for hours
practically naked on a sunny beach but have an outdoor job may develop skin cancer, since 30-
50% of UV rays reach us even on a cloudy day.
All this means that Gerson patients must take great care to avoid sunburn, which causes
immediate harm in the form of blisters, reddening and discomfort, but can also produce long-term
damage, with dry, wrinkled skin as its mildest, and melanoma as its worst effect. The first rule
is to keep out of sunshine between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. in the summer and in hot climates all the
year round. It is still possible to enjoy brightness from a shady spot, but not close to water, which
reflects back sunshine powerfully.
Even at other times of day it is important to be well covered when outdoors. Light, white,
long-sleeved cotton shirts, full length pants and wide-brimmed hats or white caps with visors give
necessary protection.
Healthy children need to be able to play outdoors and swim in summer, but they are even more
sensitive to sunburn than adults. Unfortunately 90% of commercial sunscreens and sunblocks
contain a chemical called Octyl methoxycinnamate (OMC), which is toxic and doubles its toxicity
when exposed to sunlight. As the skin absorbs 60% of everything applied to it, obviously such
preparations cannot be used by children. However, effective non-toxic sunscreens containing
natural ingredients, such as Green Tea, are available and can be tracked down with a little effort.
Complementary Therapies
These days there is a bewildering array of complementary treatments on offer and the question
arises whether Gerson patients should use any of these. The simple answer is that anything that
promotes healing and does not clash with the requirements of the Therapy is permissible and
potentially helpful. However, there is no margin for error, so let us see which techniques are safe
to use.
Copyright © Charlotte Gerson, 2007.  All rights reserved.
This material may not be reproduced in any medium, print or electronic without prior written permission from the author.Page 146Healing the Gerson Way—Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases
www.thegersonway.comReflexology or Zone Therapy dates back to Ancient Egypt, China and India. It is based
on the principle that the feet and hands are a mirror image of the body, and that by applying
pressure to certain points, especially on the feet, corresponding parts of the body are affected.  The
purpose of the treatment is to break up congestion, blockages and patterns of stress, and restore
homeostasis, the body’s internal equilibrium. Reflexology does not claim to diagnose or cure, but
it has a good record of improving general well-being. It must be used gently and cautiously with
cancer patients, avoiding reflex points that correspond to affected areas of the body.
Reiki  is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that promotes healing. Its
practitioners claim that there is an invisible life force energy that flows through us and keeps us
alive. If this energy becomes low, we fall sick and suffer from stress, so in order to heal the Reiki
master channels the energy through his or her hands into the patient’s body. There is no need for
massage, only for very gentle touch, but although the patient feels very little, the treatment is
truly holistic, affecting body, emotions, mind and spirit. Because of its non-specific nature Reiki
is able to help in any disease and works well with other medical or therapeutic techniques. The
word itself consists of two parts: Rei means higher power, Ki stands for life force energy, so the
implication is that Reiki is a spiritually guided way of restoring universal life force energy in
those who need it.
Acupuncture  originated in China some 2000 years ago, and has been known and increasingly
practiced in the U.S. since 1971. Its essence is the stimulation of certain anatomical points on the
body by penetrating the skin with thin metal needles and manipulating them by hand or electrical
means. This is claimed to regulate the nervous system, activate the body’s own painkilling
biochemicals and strengthen the immune system. Acupuncture has a proven record of good pain
control and of hastening recovery from surgery. It can impart a sense of well-being and boosts
depleted energy. Acupuncture needles, which cause minimal pain, were approved by the FDA
for use by licensed practitioners in 1996. Today this ancient technique is used in the U.S. by
thousands of physicians, dentists and other practitioners for the prevention or relief of pain, and
members of the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture use it on cancer patients in many
hospitals and clinics.
Yoga  first emerged in India some 5000 years ago. It has several varieties, including hatha
yoga,  a physical discipline consisting mainly of stretching and breathing exercises, which has
grown in popularity in the West since the mid-20th century. Being non-competitive, gentle, and


, to iodine
deficiency.
In the U.S., every few years the government surveys vitamin, mineral, and toxicity levels from a cross section of the U.S.
population. It is reported as the National Health and
Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). From 1970-2012 NHANES
reports iodine levels have fallen by over 50%.
1
Keep in mind that nearly all conventional doctors are under the misinformed opinion that iodine supplementation causes
autoimmune thyroid diseases. I was taught that concept in medical school and I can assure you that it is still taught today.
However, the research does not support this hypothesis as, over the last 40 years, iodine levels have significantly fallen while
autoimmune thyroid disorders have markedly increased.
This concept of falling iodine levels resulting in a rising incidence of autoimmune thyroid disorders was illustrated in a
European study. Researchers in Europe reported on the incidence of hyperthyroidism in two areas of Denmark (Aalborg and
Copenhagen). The two areas were chosen because Aalborg had slightly lower iodine levels (53μg/L—measured on urinary
excretion) as compared to Copenhagen (68μg/L). The results are shown in
Figures 11
 and
12
 (next page).
For comparison to the Denmark results, the average iodide excretion in the U.S. is 134μg/L.
2
 In the U.S., nearly 60% of
women of pregnancy age are deficient in iodine and 16.5% of women in their reproductive age have a remarkably low iodide
excretion (below 50μg/L).
3

4
 The World Health Organization (WHO) claims iodide excretion below 50μg/L is classified as
moderate/severe iodide deficiency.
5

Figure 11: Iodine Excretion in Two Areas of Denmark
 Figure 12: Iodine Deficiency and the Relationship of Hyperthyroidism
If iodine caused autoimmune thyroid problems, you would expect the rate of hyperthyroidism to decline as iodine levels fall.
As illustrated in the European study above, that is just not the case. This study clearly illustrates that lowered iodine levels in
Aalborg are associated with a 260% elevated incidence of
autoimmune thyroid problems (hyperthyroidism) when compared to
an area with slightly higher iodine levels–Copenhagen.
6
X-RAY FLUORESCENCE SCANNING
If iodine was causing autoimmune thyroid (AIT) disorders, it is reasonable to expect that subjects with higher thyroid iodine
levels, when compared to a group with lower thyroid iodine levels, would have an increased incidence of AIT disease. However,
that is not what the research has found. The subjects who had AIT disorders had less iodine in their thyroid as compared to the
subjects without AIT disorders.

Figure 13: Thyroid Iodine Levels and Autoimmune Disorders

X-ray fluorescence scanning measures the stable iodine content of the thyroid gland. A mean value of 10mg/thyroid was
reported in a normal population. Fifty-six subjects with
autoimmune thyroiditis had a mean value of 4.7mg iodine/thyroid–these
subjects had normal thyroid levels. Thirteen subjects with autoimmune thyroiditis and hypothyroidism had a mean value of
2.3mg/thyroid.
Figure 13
 (previous page) illustrates this study.
7
DOES IODINE TREAT AUTOIMMUNE THYROID DISORDERS?
When I was in medical school, I was told that no one needed to supplement with iodine. I was also told that there was
enough iodine in salt. Furthermore, it was implied that iodine supplementation caused autoimmune thyroid disorders including
Graves’ and Hashimoto’s disease. Finally, I was taught that patients with AIT disorders need to avoid ingesting all sources of
iodine. At that point in my medical career, I did not question these statements. However, years later, when I did question those
ideas, I found the medical literature did not support those conclusions.
In fact, the use of iodine to treat AIT disorders, including Graves’ disease, dates back hundreds of years. The first treatment
of toxic goiter (an earlier term for Graves’ disease) was reported in 1840 by Von Basedow and in 1854 by Sokes.
8

9
 In 1863,
the first double-blind cohort study was done with the use of iodine in a Graves’ disease patient.
10
 Dr. Armand Trousseau
inadvertently treated a Graves’ disease patient with iodine (75-
100mg of Lugol’s solution) instead of digitalis—which was the
treatment of choice for Graves’ disease at that time. Dr. Trousseau was surprised as his patient improved. Upon realizing his
mistake, he stopped the iodine and resumed the digitalis treatment. The patient worsened. Since Dr. Trousseau and the patient
were both unaware of what the patient was initially being treated with–iodine–this could be considered a “double-blind” study.
Dr. Trousseau wrote, “In the course of October, 1853, I was consulted by a young married lady…She was suffering from sub-
acute exophthalmic goiter {i.e., Graves’ disease}…. I found her heart beating at the rate of 140-150 times in the minute…I
wished to administer at the same time tincture of digitalis, but preoccupied with the idea that there would be some danger in givingiodin (
sic)
, I wrote iodin (
sic)
 instead of digitalis, so that the patient took from 15-20drops of tincture of iodin (
sic)
 a day for a
fortnight. When she came back to me her pulse was only 90. I found out my mistake, and I substituted tincture of digitalis for that
of iodin (
sic
), but, after a fortnight, the pulse had again gone up to 150, so that I at once returned to the iodin (
sic
).” Keep in mind
that Dr. Trousseau’s dose of iodine was 94-131mg of iodine per day.
In 1923, Dr. Henry Plummer was administering Lugol’s iodine pre-op (130-195mg) and post-op (62.5mg) to prevent
thyroid
storm during surgery of Graves’ disease. He reported that mortality declined from ‘high’ to zero with the use of iodine.
11

12
There are many other older research articles touting the benefits of using iodine in treating Graves’ disease.
13

14

15
 As a
treatment for hyperthyroidism, iodine fell out of favor with the advent of radioactive iodine treatment.
CONVENTIONAL APPROACHES TO AUTOIMMUNE THYROID DISEASE: RADIOACTIVE IODINE
The conventional approach to treating autoimmune thyroid disorders revolves primarily around alleviating the symptoms of the
autoimmune illness–mainly the symptoms of hyperthyroidism. This includes the use of antithyroid drugs (e.g., Propylthiouracil,
Methimazole) that block the production of thyroid hormone. Other conventional treatments include surgery and radioactive
iodine. Both of these destructive modalities work by reducing the volume of thyroid tissue. However, neither of these treatments
addresses the underlying causative factor of these illnesses. In fact, in conventional medicine, there is rarely a search for an
underlying causative factor. If you don’t search for an underlying causative factor, then how can you formulate an effective
treatment plan?
Radioactive iodine is the preferred method in conventional medicine for treating autoimmune thyroid disorders.
16
 In one of
the
most respected books on thyroid problems, radioactive iodine is reported as “effective, safe, and relatively inexpensive”
17
. Let’s
look at all three of these claims.
IS RADIOACTIVE IODINE EFFECTIVE?
If the goal of treating an autoimmune thyroid disorder is to destroy the thyroid gland, then yes, radioactive iodine is effective.
It is well known that iodine is taken up by the thyroid gland. By using a radioactive form of iodine (I
131
), the theory is that
wherever the radioactive form of iodine binds, the radioactivity will destroy the surrounding cells. In the case of autoimmune
thyroid disorders, the binding of the radioactive iodine to the thyroid gland will result in the destruction of thyroid tissue by the
radioactive isotope.
If the cause of autoimmune thyroid disorders is too much thyroid tissue that needs to be destroyed, then the use of radioactive
iodine could be considered effective. However, excess thyroid tissue is not the cause of autoimmune thyroid disorders; it is a
consequence of the illness.
Radioactive iodine has never been considered a treatment which addresses the underlying cause of the illness. Radioactive
iodine is solely a palliative treatment for the hyperthyroid symptoms of autoimmune thyroid problems. I believe there are more
effective ways to treat autoimmune thyroid illnesses using natural items, which will be covered below.
IS RADIOACTIVE IODINE SAFE?
Not only will radioactive iodine bind to the thyroid gland destroying thyroid cells, it will also bind to other sites in the body
besides the thyroid gland. It was established in
Chapter 1
 that iodine is present in all of the cells of the body. Radioactive iodine
will be concentrated where iodine accumulates in the body, including the breasts in women. With breast cancer at epidemic rates–
affecting one in seven women–I don’t believe a therapy should be used that may potentially increase this rate.
Researchers have


Manomaya	Kosha
,
	the	mental	body:	Develop	positive	uses	of	the	mind.	Read
and	appreciate	what	is	finest	in	human	expression.
Become
	aware	that	you	are
a	wholeness,	and	allow	ideas	to	come	in	that	support	wholeness	over
separation.	Resist	us-versus-them	thinking.	Examine	your	automatic	reactions
and	secondhand	beliefs.	Find	every	opportunity	to	welcome	signals	from	your
higher	self.
Vigyanmaya	Kosha
,
	the	ego	body:	Find	a	vision;	go	on	a	quest.	Fit	yourself
into	the	larger	pattern	of	growth.	Seek	ways	to	evolve	personally.	Celebrate
the	vast	traditions	of	spirit	and	wisdom	that	unite	cultures.	Be	as	humane	asyou	can	in	every	way,	following	the	dictum	“The	world	is	my	family.”
Anandamaya	Kosha
,
	the	body	of	bliss:	Develop	your	own	practice	for
transcending	and	finding	bliss.	You	already	know	the	phrase	“Follow	your
bliss”;	now	put	it	into	practice	through	some	kind	of	“alpha	wave”	exercise
like	meditation	and	deep	relaxation.	Devote	yourself	to	discovering	what
Samadhi,	the	silence	of	deep	awareness,	is	really	like.	Experience	your	own
being	as	a	reason	to	be	here.11
G
UIDES	AND
	M
ESSENGERS
“HAVE	I	LEARNED
	enough	now?”	Savitri	asked.	She	was	beginning	to	change,
she	could	feel	it.	Many	things	she	once	considered	real	now	seemed	like
phantoms,	while	the	most	profoundly	real	things	were	invisible.
“I	think	so,”	said	Ramana.	“Go	home.”
“Will	you	come	with	me?”
He	shook	his	head,	smiling.	“I	wouldn’t	want	to	scare	Yama	to	death.”
Savitri’s	heart	skipped	a	beat.	“But	how	do	I	get	back?	I	don’t	know
where	I	am.”
“Or	so	you	imagine.”	Ramana	pointed	into	the	darkest	part	of	the	forest,
and	Savitri	saw	a	swarm	of	lights	that	might	have	been	fireflies,	only	it	was
midafternoon.	Ramana	nodded	toward	them.	“Go,”	he	said.	“I	know	you	think
I	won’t	be	with	you.	That’s	just	another	bit	of	imagination.”	Seeing	her
reluctance,	Ramana	bowed	his	head.	“Everything	will	be	as	it	will	be.”
Savitri	remembered	that	those	were	Yama’s	exact	words	to	her.	She
lingered	for	a	moment	until	Ramana’s	form	disappeared	into	the	heart	of	the
forest.	Then	she	walked	toward	the	hovering	lights.	They
grew
	larger,	and	she
knew	she	was	seeing	a	band	of
devas
.	(A	deva	is	the	same	as	an	angel,	but	it
can	also	be	a	Nature	spirit.)
“Who	are	you?”	she	asked.	“Are	you	tree	devas?”	In	India	devas	inhabit
every	level	of	Nature	to	infuse	them	with	life.
But	instead	of	answering,	the	lights	darted	away.	Savitri	had	the	distinct
feeling	that	they	were	afraid	of	her.	In	her	gentlest	voice	she	begged	them	to
come	back.	One	of	the	lights	said,
Why	should	we	when	all	you	want	to	do	is
kill	us?
	The	voice	was	not	outside	Savitri’s	head	but	inside.
Savitri	was	shocked.	“Kill	you?	I	would	never	do	such	a	thing.”
The	light	replied,
You	are	doing	it	right	now.	We	are	the	devas	assigned	to
you,	yet	look	how	feeble	we	are
.
Savitri	said,	“Tell	me	how	I	did	this,	because	if	I	ever	needed	you,	it’s	at
this	moment.”
The	light	said,
You	have	been	full	of	secret	sorrow.	You	are	anxious	about
death.	You	think	nothing	of	us,	and	you	never	call	upon	us.	That’s	how	you	are
trying	to	kill	us
.
Savitri	had	never	thought	of	devas	that	way,	that	they	needed	attention.But	now	the	very	mention	of	death	drew	her	mind	back	to	fear,	and	when	it
did,	the	lights	grew	smaller	and	dimmer.
She	exclaimed,	“Wait!	Don’t	let	me	kill	you.”
To	which	the	light	replied,
You	can’t.	We	are	immortal.	The	danger	isn’t
that	you	can	really	hurt	us	but	that	you	can	break	our	connection	to	you.	We
need	your	love	and	attention,	and	in	return	we	will	help	you
.
“How?”
Through	inspiration.	We	bring	messages.	We	can	let	you	see	us,	as	you	do
now,	and	that	will	help	you	see	your	place	in	the	divine	plan
.
“Is	it	in	the	divine	plan	for	Satyavan	to	die?”	Savitri	asked.	The	devas	had
been	coming	closer,	but	now	they	scattered	and	moved	away	from	her.	Savitri
caught	herself	and	took	a	deep	breath,	asking	for	hope	and	courage.	The	lights
cautiously	drew	closer.
The	divine	plan	is	life	itself.	It	includes	all	creatures	in	their	proper	place.
The	proper	place	for	humans	is,	first,	in	eternity	and	second,	here	on	earth.
Death,	like	the	pause	between	two	breaths,	is	how	you	cross	from	one	home	to
the	other
.
Savitri	felt	a	rush	of	gratitude,	which	brought	the	lights	even	closer.	They
began	to	gleam,	lighting	the	way.	Savitri	found	that	she	wasn’t	lost.	In	fact,
her	hut	was	close	by,	and	with	determined	steps,	led	by	a	flickering	host	of
lights,	she	headed	home.
HOW	TO	MAKE	AN	ANGEL
Drawing	a	sharp	line	between	real	and	unreal	ignores	how	consciousness
really	works.	If	you	say	to	me,	“I	have	a	guardian	angel,”	I	can	interpret	that
statement	through	several	states	of	awareness.	You	could	mean:
I	imagine	I	have	a	guardian	angel.
My	religion	teaches	me	that	I	have	a	guardian	angel	in	heaven.
I	have	read	eagerly	in	the	mythology	of	angels,	and	the	one	that	attracts	me
is	the	guardian	angel.
I	see	my	guardian	angel	and	experience	its	presence.
Having	a	guardian	angel	is	my	cherished	wish.
I	saw	my	guardian	angel	in	a	dream.
Certain	states	of	awareness,	such	as	dreams	and	imagination,	are	accepted
in	our	society,	but	they	press	close	to	other	states	that	modern	people	often
relegate	to	superstition,	such	as	seeing	departed	spirits	and	having	holy
visions.	Yet	I’ve	met	too	many	people	who	tell	me	soberly	of	having	saints
appear	to	them	in	meditation,	and	others	who	have	been	visited	by	gurus,	thearchangel	Michael,	Jesus,	Buddha,	ancient	Tibetan	lamas,	and	incarnations	of
themselves.	Access	will	not	be	denied.
Other	cultures	have	felt	more	comfortable	navigating	the	subtle	dimension
than	we	do;	our	tendency	is	to	wall	this	region	off	from	the	physical	world
and	to	make	arbitrary	judgments,	like	the	following:
People	who	see	angels	are	imagining


 about losing them, you will feel that original
samskara again  in all its glory. You will feel the underlying fear and
weirdness you used to feel, and it may even be stronger than before. In other
words, you’ve tied your energy flow to somebody else, and the state of your
heart is now dependent upon their behavior. Surely you have noticed this
pattern numerous times in your life. This is called human love. It is very
beautiful, but fortunately, there is a much higher form of love that is
unconditional and can last forever.
The greatest secret of the heart is revealed when you get rid of the
samskaras instead of finding a way around them. If you get rid of the
blockages that are restricting the energy from flowing into and through your
heart, you will feel love all the time. It will always be brimming through
you. Once you reach that state,  if you simply wave your hand in front of
your heart, you will feel waves of ecstatic love pour through you. That’ s
how easy it will be to experienc e love. Love will become the core of your
being. Now, go share it. By all means, share the beautiful love you are
feeling. You will be able to do this without attachment or need because your
love is not dependent upon anyone or anything else. You are whole and
complete within  yourself. We call that self-effulgence. To reach this great
state, you must do the necessary work on yourself to release your samskaras
instead of constantly trying to find a way around them.
You now understand much more  about the inner workings of the heart.
Thus far we’ve focused on how the energy can flow through the lower part
of the heart or be blocked from doing so. We can call this lower part of theheart the human heart because depending upon how open it is, the energy
flow can create the entire range of human emotions. Energy blocked in the
lower part of the heart can be experienced as feelings of jealousy, insecurity,
or pangs  of yearning. Even ange r is the result of a strong energy flow hitting
blockages in the heart and shooting out. On the other hand, if the heart is
open enough for the energy to make it to the middle of the heart chakra
where it can flow out horizontally, the energy will be experienced as human
love. It’s all the same energy doing this—the only difference  is how it’s
blocked.
There is anothe r level of the heart that can be experienced when the
upward 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.
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 is
your stored patterns from the past. You are deciding you need to do things
outside in order to appease these patterns that are inside.


 void the pain of their problems by saying to themselv es: ‘This
problem was caused by other people, or by social circumstances
beyond my control, and therefore it is up to other people to solve
this problem for me.’ ”
Peck gi ves vivid examples to illustrate his point, such as the
case of a woma n who had jus t tried to slash her wrists. She was an
army w ife on the Pacific isla nd of Okinawa, where the younger
Peck was an army psychiatrist.In the emergency room he asked the woman, who had managed
to i nflict only superficial cu ts on herself, why she wa nted to
commit suicide. She said it all came down to living “on th is dumb
island.” Not satisfied with her answer, Peck began a dialogue that
would b e comical if the woma n weren’t so miserable and unhappy.
The back-and-forth between him and his patient can be
summarized as follows:
P ECK:  Why do you find being on Okinawa so painful?
P ATIENT:  I have no friends, and I’m alone all the time.
P ECK:  Why don’t you have any friends?
P ATIENT:  I  live off bas e in the villag e, and nobody speaks
English.
P ECK:  Wh y don’t yo u drive to the American base to find
some friends?
P ATIENT:  My husband needs the car to drive to work.
P ECK:  You could drive him to work.
P ATIENT:  It’s a stick shift. I only know how to drive an
automatic.
P ECK:  You could learn to drive a stick shift.
P ATIENT:  Are you crazy? Not on these roads.
What m ade the scene tragic and comical at the same time is
that the woman, despite her absurd stubbornness, was in genuine
pain; sh e was crying during most of their conversation. We all
believe in our story, almos t at any cost. From a therapist’s
perspective thi s woman was skirting any hope of getting b etter by
exhibiting all the classic signs of denial. Who among us hasn’t shut
our eye s when a situation was simply too hard to face? Lif e would
be m uch easier if our proble ms had cut-and-dried solutions, but
they don’t.
Denial is only one element in the big picture, which is that we
live by stories. Denial comes down to ignoring anything that
disrupts your story or contradicts it. Even the healthiest person
psychologically ignores an enormous part of reality. If we see, once
and for all, th at being attached to stories is what we want toovercome, we recognize that there are people who have done just
that. Their inner world isn’t cluttered with the baggage of the past.
They do n’t def end “I am X”  as if their survival depende d on it.
Rather, they live effortlessly in the present. The real issue isn’t
whether such people exist; th e real issue is why we have ignored
them for so long.
T h e  A w a k e n e d
States of awareness long considered mystical in the West—if
not bogus—exist all around us, affecting ordinary people who
almost always keep their ex periences private. A few years ago I
became acquainted with Dr. Jeffery Martin, a PhD social
researcher who had conducted groundbreaking research into
higher consciousness. What made his studies revolutionary is a
single b asic dis covery: many more people are awake than anyone
ever supposed.
Martin gave them a voice. After gaining his doctorate at
Harvard’s School of Education, he started publishing his findings,
which in dicated the prevalenc e of enlightenment as a natu ral state
of awareness, one that many people have already accessed.
Martin’s resear ch began with him posting an online query asking
for responses from people who thought they were enlightened.
To h is surprise, he got more than 2,500 replies, and from  this
pool Martin intensively inter viewed around 50 subjects. At first it
was ha rd to find a comm on language. Feeling that you are
enlightened is personal, and  it also sets you apart from normal
society. Martin’s subjects were sensitized by being outsiders, often
being stigmatized in adolescence for being different. They also
knew o n the inside that the y weren’t normal according to the
social standards around them. For many, revealing their unusual
mental state had led to such things as being sent to a psychiatrist,
put on medication, or even being committed to a mental hospital.
However, very early on, Martin realized that as different as
each of his su bjects was, their experiences fell on a con tinuum.There wasn’t a single enlight ened state, but rather a slidin g scale.
To find some common ground, and to fit the accepted model of
what do ctoral research in psychology must look like, he dropped
the loaded term enlightenment, an d in its place adopted the
cumbersome tag persistent non-symbolic experience. When
someone begins to have such experiences, “[t]here is a shift in
what it feels like to be you,” Martin notes. “You move away from
an individual sense of self, which is considered normal, to
something else.”
Defining what that “something else” is wasn’t easy, because
these people came from different backgrounds an d were
influenced by diverse cultural factors. However, Martin was able
to ident ify specific areas that seemed to stand out as markers of
higher consciousness.
Typically these people said they had lost a sense of being a
separate self—they had no lingering notion of personal identity.
Putting himself in his subjects’ shoes, Martin comments, “I would
be sayin g, ‘There’s no Jeffery here talking to you.’ That’s literally
what they would say to me.”
Another comm on experience was a dramatic reduction in
thinking. “In fact,” Martin sa ys, “they would often report having
no thoughts.” This wasn’t lite rally true, as Martin discovered when
he did further research, but as a self-report, having no thoughts at
all is startling.  Another common experience was a sense of unity,
oneness, and wholeness. This state of completeness, Martin says,
led to a tremendous sense of personal freedom. “There’s a loss of
fear tha t comes with this, a loss of identification with a p ersonal
story.” Many felt that their b odies were no longer bounded by the
skin but extended beyond the physical body.
So now  we have an objecti ve profile of shifting into h igher
consciousness in everyday life, the state of metahuman. Personal
awakening isn’t rare, and according to those who have actually
experienced it, their awakenin g led to a wide range of possibilities.
The implications for human nature are intriguing, beginning with
what it feels like not to defen d “I, me, and mine.” The source of so
much anger, fear, greed, and jealousy is rooted in the insecurity of
the ego and its endless demands.Putting ourselves in their shoes, these awakened people don’t
keep a runnin g story in the ir heads about what’s happening to
“me.” W hen they think about themselves, “me” fades away as soon
as they  notice it. The same i s true for their emotions, w hich are
fewer and more spontaneous. When anger arises, it fades almost
immediately. Emotions were still positive and negative but rarely,
if ev er, were t hey extreme. Martin’s subjects could be irritated
when somethin g bad happened at work, yet they didn’t c arry the
residue of stress around with  them afterward, and it wou ld never
build in to angry frustration. They felt a sense of inner peace that
could b e interrupted, but quite soon it would return. In a word,
these people were very good at letting go.
To bring order to his findin gs, Martin divided the awakened
state into several “locations” as separate stages of awakening,
according to their intensity. His subjects regarded waking up as a
definite shift, which for some occurred as recently as six months
previously, for  others as long as forty years before. On ce they
arrived in Location 1, as Martin calls the opening stage of
awakening, pe ople usually kept progressing and rarely  slipped
back or jumped ahead. In o ther words, they were experiencing
personal evolution, and the process showed no prospect of
stopping. As Martin described their attitude, they “agreed that
their initial transition was just the beginning of a process that
seemed to be able to unfold, and deepen, endlessly—a never-
ending adventu re.” Everything happened internally, and for many
the shif t wasn’t something they would define as spiritual. It was
just the way they experienced themselves.
“If y ou sat in a roomful of peo ple and a small percentage b elong
to th is a ltered sense of self,” says Martin, “you wouldn’t be able to
spot them. To all outer appearances they are just like you and me.”
So w ho exactly are these peo ple? At the outset, before Ma rtin’s
research began  to expand to many universities and countries, his
typical subject was a white m ale from the United States or Europe.
Martin was disappointed to find that women, for


he	should	have	her	own
bedroom,	and	they	refurbished	a	room.	Knowing	that	brand-new	room
furnishings	can	be	quite	toxic,	I	focused	on	environmental	toxins	as	the	probable
cause	of	the	little	girl’s	problems.	I	learned	that	before	the	onset	of	the	seizures,
Anne’s	new	bedroom	had	been	given	a	fresh	coat	of	paint	and	was	furnished
with	new	wall-to-wall	carpeting,	a	new	television	set	and	new	furniture,
including	a	new	bed	and	mattress.	In	fact,	that	new	bedroom	had	just	about	every
amenity	that	any	set	of	loving	parents	could	give	to	their	beloved	daughter,	but	it
was	also	a	poison	gas	chamber!	The	new	paint,	carpet,	mattress,	television	and
furniture	(constructed	of	particleboard,	which	contains	formaldehyde)	were	all
giving	off	toxic	gases.	You	recognize	the	typical	“new	paint	smell,”	that	“new
carpet	smell”	and	that	“new	furniture	smell.”	They	are	all	toxic,	especially	when
they	are	brand-new,	at	which	time	they	emit	higher	concentrations	of	chemicals.
Shut	anybody	inside	a	bedroom	like	little	Anne’s	for	eight	or	ten	hours	a	night,
and	the	person	is	exposed	to	a	lot	of	toxins.
Anne	was	in	toxic	overload,	and	her	seizures	were	the	result.	Often,	in	a	case
like	this,	when	you	remove	the	source	of	the	toxins,	you	cure	the	disease.
Instead,	Anne’s	physicians	had	prescribed	antiseizure	medications,	which	added
to	her	toxic	overload,	making	her	sicker.	I	suggested	an	experiment	to	Anne’s
parents:	Close	off	the	toxic	bedroom	and	allow	Anne	to	sleep	in	another	room
for	a	few	weeks.	The	result:	The	seizures	stopped,	and	Anne	returned	to	being	a
normal	and	healthy	child.
Fight	Back	with	FoodsWhy	isn’t	our	society	taking	more	action	to	protect	us	from	toxins?	Why	don’t
our	physicians	routinely	warn	us	about	toxins	and	check	for	them?	One
explanation	lies	in	a	1988	report	issued	by	the	National	Academy	of	Sciences
titled,
Role	of	the	Primary	Care	Physician	in	Occupational	Environmental
Medicine,
which	concluded	that	while	toxic	environmental	chemicals	play	an
increasingly	important	role	in	modern	chronic	diseases,	almost	all	physicians	are
ignorant	about	the	degree	to	which	low-level	toxins	affect	health.
One	of	the	most	direct	sources	of	our	toxic	exposures	is	the	foods	we	eat.	A
meal	that	looks,	smells	and	tastes	good	is	a	wonderful	thing,	but	you	owe	your
body	more.	You	need	to	make	sure	your	food	is	free	of	toxins	and	filled	with
nutrients	that	support	your	body’s	natural	ability	to	detoxify.
You	need	to	find
out	what	is	in	your	food,	where	your	food	came	from	and	how	your	food	has
been	altered	from	the	way	nature	provided.
One	of	the	best	ways	to	minimize	the	toxins	is	to	buy	organic	foods.	Organic
is	a	method	of	growing	and	producing	food	free	from	chemical	fertilizers	and
pesticides,	artificial	ripening	agents,	preservatives,	genetic	modification	and
radiation.	The	term	“organic”	applies	to	more	than	fruits,	vegetables	and	grains;
organically	grown	animals	are	fed	organic	feed	and	are	produced	without	the
customary	use	of	antibiotics,	hormones	or	other	supplemental	medications.
Organic	foods	may	be	more	expensive	and	somewhat	more	difficult	to	obtain,
but	they	almost	always	contain	fewer	toxins	and	better	nutrition.	Read	labels;	the
U.S.	Department	of	Agriculture	has	approved	organic	certification	and	the	label
should	bear	the	logo.	Unless	a	product	clearly	says	that	it	is	organic,	it	almost
certainly	is	not.	If	you	live	in	an	urban	area,	organic	foods	purchased	at	local
farmers’	markets	are	most	likely	the	freshest,	most	nutritious,	least	toxic	foods
you	can	obtain.	Despite	that,	almost	90	percent	of	the	food	dollars	spent	in
America	today	are	spent	on	toxic,	processed	foods	that	are	not	organic.	To	make
matters	worse,	we	eat	almost	no	fresh	food,	limiting	the	nutrients	available	to
help	us	detoxify	all	the	bad	stuff	we	constantly	take	in.
Feeding	into	Behavior	Problems
Several	years	ago,	a	grandmother	came	up	to	me	at	a	break	in	one	of	my
workshops	and	asked	what	to	do	about	her	psychotic	four-year-old	grandson,
Gerald.	She	described	the	boy’s	fits	of	uncontrollable	anger	and	said	that	he
would	strike	out	at	everyone	and	everything	in	his	path.	Gerald	had	been	taken
to	a	number	of	medical	centers	and	examined	by	numerous	physicians,	who	only
offered	powerful	tranquilizers	to	calm	the	psychotic	behavior.	As	is	often	the
case,	the	prescribed	drugs	did	not	solve	the	problem;	they	just	compounded	it.The	drugs	made	Gerald	sick	and	lethargic,	but	did	not	eliminate	his	terrifying
behavior.
The	boy	faced	an	uncertain	future.	That	Gerald	could	ever	be	able	to	attend	a
regular	school	or	hold	a	regular	job	seemed	unlikely.	I	asked	Gerald’s
grandmother	many	questions	but	was	unable	to	find	any	obvious	explanation	for
his	psychotic	behavior.	One	thing	I	learned	about	Gerald	was	that	he	drank	a	lot
of	milk	and	apple	juice.	Walking	back	to	the	podium	to	continue	my
presentation,	I	told	the	grandmother	that	while	I	honestly	did	not	know	what	was
wrong	with	her	grandson,	I	did	know	that	both	milk	and	apple	juice	contain	a	lot
of	toxic	chemical	residues.	Regardless	of	what	was	wrong,	feeding	him	toxins
was	certainly	not	going	to	help	him	improve.	I	recommended	a	simple
experiment:	Stop	feeding	Gerald	milk	and	apple	juice.
About	six	months	later,	I	was	speaking	at	a	meeting	and,	out	of	the	corner	of
my	eye,	I	spied	Gerald’s	grandmother	running	toward	me	with	an	enthusiasm
and	a	rate	of	speed	that	was	almost	alarming.	She	breathlessly	exclaimed	great
news	about	the	health	of	her	grandson.	Milk	and	apple	juice	were	completely
eliminated	from	the	boy’s	diet,	and	he	made	a	miraculous	recovery.	The
psychotic	behavior	disappeared,	and	Gerald	has	been	well	ever	since.
How	the	removal	of	milk	and	apple	juice	(two	presumably	healthful	foods)
from	a	boy’s	diet	could	make	such	a	difference	is	hard	to	imagine.	We	have	no
way,	however,	to	know	exactly	how	much	damage	the	toxins	in	our	food	are
causing.	Too	many	factors	are	involved,	and	each	person’s	biochemistry	is
unique.	Some	people,	like	this	little	boy,	can	be	more	sensitive	to	certain	toxins,
such	as	the	ad	exec	David	may	have	been	to	mercury.	The	solution,	regardless	of
individual	biochemistry,	is	to	choose	a	diet	that	is	low	in	toxins.	A


 deeply and discolored it.7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 173/250FIG. 96. A, illustrates the permeability of decayed dentin to
silver nitrate. B, illustrates the decreased permeability of
decayed dentin to silver nitrate due to mineralization, after
saliva has been improved by correcting the nutrition.
   There is still another test that demonstrates Nature's protective mechanisms. Ordinarily, when the
pulp of a tooth is exposed by dental caries, the pulp becomes not only infected, but dies opening
up a highway of infection direct from the infected mouth to the inside of the fort at the end of the
root. One expression of this is a dental abscess, the existence of which is usually unknown to the
individual for sometime and the infecting germs pass more or less freely throughout the body by
way of the blood stream and lymph channels. This infection may start the degeneration of organs
and tissues of other parts of the body.
   Among some of the primitive races, whose nutritional programs provided a very high factor of
safety, even though the teeth were worn down to the gum line and into what was formerly the pulp
chamber, the pulp was not exposed. Nature had built a protecting zone, not in the cavity of the
tooth in this case, but within the pulp chamber. This entirely blocked off a threatened exposure and
kept the walls of the fort sealed against bacteria. This process does not occur in many instances in
people of our modern civilization. Pulp chambers that are opened by wear provide exposed pulp
which becomes infected with subsequent abscess formation. If a reinforced nutrition as efficient as
that of many of the primitive races, is adopted, the pulp tissue will seal up the opening made by
decalcification of the dentine, by building in a new layer of normal dentine which is vital and quite
unlike the petrified decay exposed to the saliva, thus completely walling off the impending danger.
This is illustrated in Fig. 97 with three cases. At the left are shown x-rays of teeth of three children
in one of my experimental clinics in a poor district in Cleveland. The pulp chambers and pulp
tissues of the root canals are shown as dark streaks in the center of the tooth. The very large
cavities which had decalcified the tooth to the pulp chamber are shown as large dark areas in the
crown. Temporary fillings had to be placed because of pain produced by the pressure of food on
the pulp below the decayed dentine. After the nutrition was improved, the tissues of the pulp built
in secondary dentine thus reincasing itself in a closed chamber. This process is shown in each of
the three cases presented in Fig. 97, in the views to the right.7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 174/250FIG. 97. Three cases that illustrate how nature can close an
exposure of the pulp due to dental caries by building a
protecting wall within the pulp chamber when the nutrition is
adequately improved.
   Under the stress of the industrial depression the family dietary of the children shown in Fig. 97
was very deficient. They were brought to a mission where we fed them one reinforced meal at
noon for six days a week. The home meals were not changed nor the home care of the teeth. The
preliminary studies of each child included complete x-rays of all of the teeth, a chemical analysis of
the saliva, a careful plotting of the position, size and depth of all cavities, a record of the height, and
weight, and a record of school grades, including grades in deportment. These checks were
repeated every four to six weeks for the period of the test, usually three to five months. It is
important to note that the home nutrition which had been responsible for the tooth decay was
exceedingly low in body building and repairing material, while temporarily satisfying the appetite. It
usually consisted of highly sweetened strong coffee and white bread, vegetable fat, pancakes made
of white flour and eaten with syrup, and doughnuts fried in vegetable fat.
   The nutrition provided these children in this one meal included the following foods. About four
ounces of tomato juice or orange juice and a teaspoonful of a mixture of equal parts of a very high
vitamin natural cod liver oil and an especially high vitamin butter was given at the beginning of the
meal. They then received a bowl containing approximately a pint of a very rich vegetable and meat
stew, made largely from bone marrow and fine cuts of tender meat: the meat was usually broiled
separately to retain its juice and then chopped very fine and added to the bone marrow meat soup
which always contained finely chopped vegetables and plenty of very yellow carrots; for the next
course they had cooked fruit, with very little sweetening, and rolls made from freshly ground whole
wheat, which were spread with the high-vitamin butter. The wheat for the rolls was ground fresh
every day in a motor driven coffee mill. Each child was also given two glasses of fresh whole milk.
The menu was varied from day to day by substituting for the meat stew, fish chowder or organs of
animals. From time to time, there was placed in a two quart jar a helping similar to that eaten by
the children. This was brought to my laboratory for chemical analysis, which analysis showed that
these meals provided approximately 1.48 grams of calcium and 1.28 grams of phosphorus in a
single helping of each course. Since many of the children doubled up on the course, their intake of
these minerals was much higher. I have shown in the preceding chapter that the accepted figures
for the requirements of the body for calcium and phosphorus are 0.68 grams of calcium and 1.32
grams of phosphorus. It is obvious that this one meal a day plus the other two meals at home
provided a real factor of safety. Clinically this program completely controlled the dental caries of
each member of the group.7/29/13 Nutrition and Physical Degeneration
gutenberg.net.au/ebooks02/0200251h.html#toc 175/250   The chemical analysis of the saliva (1, 2) revealed a marked improvement which progressively
increased. At the beginning of the test the average for the group showed a very low factor of
safety, so low that we should expect tooth decay to be active. In six weeks the average changed
to a condition which we should expect would be accompanied by a cessation of tooth decay. The
saliva factor of safety continued to improve for five months at which time the special program was
discontinued for the summer.
   Several incidents of special interest occurred. Two different teachers came to me to inquire what
had been done to make a particular child change from one of the poorest in the class in capacity to
learn to one of the best. Dental caries is only one of the many expressions of our modern deficient
nutritions.
   I have referred to the importance of a high vitamin butter for providing the fat-soluble activators
to make possible the utilization of the minerals in the foods. In this connection, it is of interest that
butter constitutes the principal source of these essential factors for many primitive groups
throughout the world. In the high mountain and plateau district in northern India, and in Tibet, the
inhabitants depend largely upon butter made from the milk of the musk ox and the sheep for these
activators. The butter is eaten mixed with roasted cereals, is used in tea, and in a porridge made of
tea, butter and roasted grains. In Sudan Egypt, I found considerable traffic in high vitamin butter
which came from the higher lands a few miles from the Nile Basin. This was being exchanged for
and used with varieties of millet grown in other districts. This butter, at the temperature of that
area, which ranged from 90° to 110° Fahrenheit, was, of course, always in liquid form. Its brilliant
orange color testified to the splendid pasture of the dairy animals. The people in Sudan, including
the Arabs, had exceptionally fine teeth with exceedingly little tooth decay (Chapter 9). The most
physically perfect people in northern India are probably the Pathans who live on dairy products
largely in the form of soured curd, together with wheat and vegetables. The people are very tall
and are free of tooth decay.
   Probably every housewife is familiar with the low melting quality of the butter produced in early
summer when the cows have been put on the green pastures. This is particularly true of butter that
has the grassy flavor and the deep yellow to orange color. This butter is usually several times as
high in fat-soluble activators including vitamins A and D as butter produced from stall fed cattle or
cattle on poorer pasturage. In Chapter 15, I have explained why this butter is not favorable for
shipping and why dairymen so frequently give the cows a ration that will produce less of these
qualities. One of the principal foods used for accomplishing this is made of cotton seed meal and
cereals.
   There are many illustrations of the low efficiency of this type of fodder for providing vitamins
essential for dairy products. In one of the recent severe droughts in the Mississippi Valley several
thousand cattle were shipped to Ohio for water and green pasture as a means of saving their lives.
They were fed enroute on concentrates said to consist of cotton seed meal and grain. Professor
Oscar Erf of the Department of Dairying of Ohio


 able to influence
functions in your body that you may have previously not thought possible.
Healing Visualization
Sit quietly with your eyes closed for a few moments. Then bring your
attention into your heart and acknowledge all the things for which you feelgratitude.
Now have the intention to release any grievance, regrets, or hostility you
may be carrying  in your heart or mind. Later, if you so choose, you can bring
those grievance s back into your consciousness. But for the time of this
meditation let them go.
Now, for a moment or two, silen tly repeat the phrase “ Thy will be done.”
Address this to your own visio n of universal consciousness, whether you
refer to it as God, or Spirit, or in any other way. Repeat “Thy will be done,”
like a mantra.
Have the intention of quieting your internal dialogue—and allow your
attention to move through your body. If you discover an area of tension,
intend that it should be relaxed.
Next, bring your attention to your breathing. At first, just observe your
breath—then intend for your breath to slow down.
Move awareness to your heart. Become aware of its beat, as sound and as
feeling. Have an intention for your heart rate to slow down. Now bring
attention to your hands. Feel the throbbing of your heartbeat in your hands.
Feel the tingling and warmth that emanates from your heart. Intend to
increase the blood flow and the temperature of your hands.
Move your awar eness to your eyes. Feel the throbbing of your heartbeat in
your eyes, and then in your face.
Now let your awareness move freely through your body. Feel the warmth,
tingling, and throbbing of your heartbeat wherever you choose. If you find
an area of your body that you believe needs healing, intend warmth for that
area. If you are not aware of such an area in your body, just return awareness
to your heart. But bring the throbbing warmth of your heartbeat to any point
that you wish to nourish and heal.
Now, with awareness and intention of the healing area of your body,
repeat for several minutes these two words, like a mantra: healing andtransformation.
Move awareness back to your heart, without intention now. Just be aware
of your heartbeat. Then move  awareness to your breath. After a few
moments, open your eyes to complete the healing meditation.
This meditation first raises the temperature and blood flow to areas of the
body that require nourishing attention, and then introduces the intention of
healing. This is a very powerful meditation, and it’s important to remember
to go through the whole sequence, including the intentions of gratitude and
relinquishing of grievances. Practice the healing meditation as often as
possible. With time, you’ll be able to experience warmth and tingling
wherever you choose and be able to activate healing energy in your body
through attention and intention.
MARMA  THERAPY—STIMULA TING THE POINTS
WHERE MIND AND BODY  MEET
Because there is intelligence in every cell, the mind and body meet
everywhere, not just in the brain. In fact, once you strip off its physical
mask, a cell is really a junction point between matter and consciousness, a
station where the quantum mechanical body and the outside world intersect.
Certain junction points are more vital than others, however. Ayurveda makes
use of certain extremely sensitiv e points located on the skin. There are 107
of these marmas, as they are called. Though invisible to the eye, marmas are
accessible through the sense of touch and are considered critical for
maintaining balance throughout the body. A massage technique called
marma therapy stimulates them; it is offered at our Center and once taught
can be practiced at home.
Ancient Ayurvedic surgical texts warn the physician never to cut across
the marmas, which have been mapped out precisely according to site and
function. This is similar to but not exactly the same as the meridians mapped
out by Chinese acupuncture; marma therapy predates the Chinese approach
and is likely its direct ancestor. Avoiding damage to the marmas is a wiseprecaution. Although they do not usually intersect with prominent blood
vessels or nerves, marmas are just as vital, since they mark out where the
flow of inner intelligence is moving, indicating spots of maximum
sensitivity and awareness.
STIMULA TING THE MARMAS
By stimulating the marmas, the connection between consciousness and
physiology can be enlivened. There are various ways to activa te a marma.
One is through the gentle yoga movements prescribed in part III under
exercise. As you move your body in a yoga position, you are gently
stretching specific marma points. The oil drip on the forehead used in
panchakarma (called shirodhara) is profoundly soothing because the warm
oil lands directly on a major marma point in the center of the forehead.
Similarly, the daily oil massage (abhyanga) taught under daily routine
reaches all the marmas on the skin. This contact is immediately registered
throughout the nervous system. Marma points thus allow you to “talk”
directly to Vata dosha and keep it in balance.
Since the marmas are not super ficial but penetrate deep into the system,
they can be stimulated mentally. Meditation enlivens all the marmas, but
particularly the three “great marmas” (Mahamarma ) situated in the area of
the head, heart, and lower abdom en. These are not located on the surface of
the skin and have to be stimulated by going directly to the quantum
mechanical body; they are also the marmas you want to stimulate most,
since they have a strong influence over the lesser marmas.
CLINICAL  MARMA  THERAPY
At the Chopra Center a specia l marma therapy is given that includes
instruction for home treatment. Marma points are identified with each of the
three doshas and stimulated with an appropriate essential oil mixture. A
patient is first diagnosed according to specific imbalances. Let’s say that a
chronic headache has been associated with imbalance of Prana Vata, thesubdosha of Vata located in the head. Trained technicians would gently
massage in precise order those marma points that correspond to Prana Vata,
applying prescribed herbalized oils. Patients find this treatment extremely
relaxing, with some reporting alleviation of pain and other longstanding
chronic symptoms.
MARMAS AT HOME
Since marmas have to be located with a trained eye, being slightly
different from person to person, the clinical therapy cannot be taught in a
book. You can take advantage of marmas in a more general way, however. A
cluster of the most important points is located on the soles of the feet. To
enliven them, a gentle foot massage with sesame oil lasting three to five
minutes every day is recomme nded. A good time for this is at bedtime,
because the soothing effect on the nervous system, and on Vata dosha in
particular, makes this massage a good prelude to sleep.
Also, when you do your daily abhyanga, pay special attention to the three
important marmas illustrated on page 181.
One is located between your eyebrows, extending to the center of the
forehead. Gently  massaging this area with eyes closed is good for worry,
headaches, mental strain, and other upper Vata problems. The one connected
to the heart (its actual location is just below the sternum, where  the rib cage
ends) is good for settling upset emotions. The one on the lower abdomen,
about four inches below the navel, is good for constipation, gas, and other
lower Vata problems. Use a light circular motion, taking a few minutes at
each site. The forehead marma can be selected by itself as an aid to falling
asleep at night, as long as you make sure that you never press hard or rush—
that would tend to disturb your Vata rather than inducing it to be more
settled.Three important marma points to massage at home.
ACCESSING THE BLISS OF  NATURE
If you think about an experience  of joy—the birth of a child, the sight of a
glorious sunset, or an alpine lake at dawn—and then carry your feelings
beyond a fixed moment, you arrive at a new state called “pure joy.”
Ayurveda tells us that pure joy is a fundamental quality of life. In Sanskrit
this quality is called ananda, which is usually translated as “bliss.”
With the popula rity of Eastern teachings in the West, people have come to
use the word bliss to express many kinds of positiv e emotions. To be precise,bliss is too abstract to be expe rienced by itself. By analogy, how do you
experience being intelligent? Like intelligence, bliss is an abstraction. It
resides in the quantum mechan ical body in pure form and bubbles to the
surface only under the right conditions. You cannot see or touch the
thousands of processes in brain  and body that need to be coordinated in
order to create bliss, but there is a definite feeling—pure joy— that can be
felt and which proves that bliss exists.
According to the Ayurvedic sages, all of our joys stem from pure joy. It is
the bright light we do not see directly but only by reflection in smaller joys.
These lesser lights could not exist without the greater


allow	your	body	to	optimize	its	own	ability	to	maintain
health	and	beauty.	Thankfully	it’s	much	simpler	to	stay	on	track	this	way.
Starting	today,	look	at	your	food	from	a	big-picture	perspective	that	will	allow
you	to	adhere	to	general	guidelines	instead	of	becoming	a	slave	to	numbers.
Here	are	some	of	the	top	Radical	Beauty	ratios	to	know	to	help	you	bring	forth
your	maximum	beauty.
Radical	Beauty	Ratio	#1:	Essential	Fatty	Acids
Many	people	who	are	trying	to	lose	or	maintain	their	weight	focus	on	steering
clear	of	fat,	but	the	correct	kind	and	amount	of	fat	is	essential	for	optimal	and
sustained	beauty.	We	all	need	fat	to	nourish	our	skin	properly,	sustain	proper
energy	levels,	regulate	our	hormones,	and	build	shiny	hair	and	strong	nails.
Essential	fatty	acids	(EFAs)	perform	many	different	functions	in	the	body
that	are	vital	for	health	and	beauty.	In	particular,	they	help	build	beautiful,
radiant	skin.	These	fats	help	maintain	the	integrity	of	cellular	walls,	which	helps
to	maintain	water	and	vital	nutrients	while	allowing	for	the	release	of	wastes.
This
is	critical	to	skin	health.	When	your	skin	is	fully	hydrated	and	able	toretain	water	within	its	cells,	it	appears	youthfully	supple.	This	is	where	these
EFAs	are	key,	because	they	are	the	components	that	help	keep	your	skin	cells
healthy	and	your	skin’s	membrane	functioning	optimally.	A	more	supple	and
flexible	cellular	structure	may	also	reduce	the	appearance	of	cellulite.
A	lack	of	these	important	fats	can	lead	to	dry	skin	that	doesn’t	maintain	its
plump,	healthy-looking	structure	and	ends	up	sagging	like	a	slowly	deflating
helium	balloon	(obviously	the	look	you	do
not
	want).	Healthy	cellular	walls,
reinforced	by	essential	fatty	acids,	help	to	continually	remove	wastes.	This	can
also	be	very	helpful	for	eradicating
acne.	When	you	consider	acne	you	might
naturally	think	it’s	better	to	avoid	all	oils,	but	getting	in	some	essential	fats	is
actually	helpful.	EFAs	maintain	an	ideal	level	of	fats	so	that	your	skin	doesn’t
overproduce	sebum.	The	wrong	balance	of	fats	and	a	deficiency	of	the	right	fats
produce	imbalances	in	sebum	and	leads	to	breakouts.
1
In	this	section	we	will	focus	on	the	two	main	families:
omega-6	fatty	acids
and
omega-3	fatty	acids.	Excessive	omega-6	fatty	acids	ingested	through
vegetable	oils	are	thought	to	induce
inflammation	in	the	body	(acting	as	“pro-
inflammatory	mediators”)	and	have	been	associated	with	specific	conditions
like	the	development	of	inflammatory	acne.
2
	In	the	right	balance,	EFAs	help
ensure	that	wastes	leave	the	skin	in	a	healthy	way,	which	prevents	clogged	pores.
Essential	fats	also	nourish	skin	that	has	already	been	damaged	by	blemishes
(and	from	picking	at	your	skin!).
The	I-word—
inflammation
—should	be	everyone’s	concern.	In	2015	the
National	Institutes	of	Health	made	this	a	major	medical	priority,	assigning
hundreds	of	millions	of	dollars	to	discover	what	the	hidden	damage	of	chronic
inflammation	actually	is	and	how	to	prevent	it.	For	most	people,	inflammation
is	a	new	issue,	because	they	don’t	realize	that	low-level	chronic	inflammation	is
pervasive	in	society.	When	you	burn	or	cut	yourself,	the	inflammation	response
is	a	natural	part	of	healing.	There	is	warmth,	redness,	and	swelling	at	the
affected	area.	But	inflammation	can	exist,	not	as	a	healing	mechanism	but	due
to	the	constant	irritant	of	things	like	stress,	leaky	gut,	and	residual	toxins	in	the
tissues.
You	will	be	hearing	much	more	about	chronic	inflammation	in	years	to
come.	Even	without	signs	like	warmth,	redness,	and	swelling—in	fact,	without
symptoms	at	all—inflammation	contributes	to	serious	health	issues	like
cardiovascular
disease	and	autoimmune	diseases,
3
	but	it	can	also	lead	to	free
radicals
4
	that	exacerbate	wrinkles	and	contribute	to	new	ones,
5
	aging	your	skin
and	body	in	general.
Fatty	acids	play	a	key	role	in	inflammation	on	both	the	good	and	bad	side.
Omega-3	fats	help	oxygen	circulate	throughout	the	body,	ensuring	that	cellactivity	is	healthy	and	that	your	organs	and	red	blood	cells	are	functioning
properly.	This	is	essential	for	maximum	energy.	These	fats	are	also	important	to
help	abate	inflammation
6
	and	nourish	the	skin.	Not	having	enough	omega-3
fats	can	lead	to	a	variety	of	issues,	such	as	eczema,	allergies,	and	depression.
7
The	major	omega-3	acid	is	converted	into	two	others—eicosapentaenoic	acid
(EPA)	and
docosahexaenoic	acid	(DHA)—which	are	also	important	for	a	healthy
heart	and	brain	(your	brain	is	actually	made	up	of	60	percent	fat),
8
	as	well	as
helping	to	balance	a	person’s	moods.
9
	Sometimes	the	conversion	of	fatty	acids
isn’t	optimal.	If	you	are	concerned,	try	algae-based	supplements.	Fish	obtain
most	of	their	omega-3	fats	from	algae,	and	these	supplements	don’t	pose	the
possible	contamination	or	rancidity	risks	of	fish	oil	pills.
The	other	type	of	EFA,
omega-6	fatty	acids,	is	also	important.	As	with	omega-
3s,	it	also	converts	into	two	other	acids—linoleic	acid	(LA)	and	gamma-linolenic
acid	(GLA).	Omega-6	fatty	acids	are	a	precursor	for	a	hormone-like	substance
called	prostaglandins,	which	have	an	impact	on	many	functions	of	the	body,
including	calcium	movement,	cell	growth,	the	kidneys’	filtration	rate,	and	the
constriction	and	dilation	of	the	smooth	muscle	cells	in	your	veins.
Whether	your	diet	is	well	rounded	or	full	of
junk	food,	you’re	probably
getting	enough	(or	even	more	than	enough)	omega-6	fatty	acids.	That’s	because
omega-6s	are	found	in	vegetable	oils	like	corn,	canola,	and	soybean,	which	are
used	in	nearly	every	packaged	chip,	cookie,	cracker,	and	treat	on	grocery
shelves.	Omega-6s	are	also	plentiful	in	seeds,	nuts,	vegetables,	grains,	eggs,	and
poultry.	You	really	don’t	have	to	boost	this	nutrient	in	your	diet;	it’s	already
there.	Omega-3s,	on	the	other	hand,	are	much	less	common	in	the	standard
Western	diet.	This	is	a	problem	because	the	ratio	between	these	two	types	of
EFAs	can	have	a	dramatic	impact	on	your	health	and	beauty.
The	ideal	ratio	of	omega-6	to	omega-3	fats	is	anywhere	between	1:1	and	4:1,
but	due	to	the	large	amount	of	animal	products,	fast	food,


. If pulse and temperature, ei ther or both,
are above or below normal at the beginning of a fast, they will descend or ascend to natural register when disease disappears, or
perhaps while some of its symptoms are still displayed. Due to the removal of food stimulation, as has been said, in many
instanc es both temperature and pulse may drop to register slightly below the average shortly after entering upon a fast. And the
author lists a few cases with pulse at the beginning of abstinence at about fifty beats to the minute, while one is recorded with the
very low rate of twenty -eight. Temperature in these subjects was not, however, sufficiently sub -normal to occasion surprise. While
the rates noted in these cases were chronic and most exceptional, they gradually rose to standard for the individuals as the fast
progressed to completion.

When the fast is concluded and the body is in the process of rebuilding, a properly balanced vegetarian dietary assures a
temperature and pulse with no apparent tendency to rise or fall above individual normal. If, however,  the dietetic change has been
one from a regimen that formerly included flesh foods to one that is wholly vegetarian in character, pulse register will very
probably show a reduction of several counts from its former average.

Several references have heret ofore been made to the known absence of hunger in disease. This truth should be self -evident. But
additional confirmation is offered in connection with changes of body heat as observed in health and in illness. Physiology a sserts
and scientific investigati on proves that there can be no digestion in the absence of digestive juices, and that there is virtually no
secretion of these fluids when body temperature is above normal. Why, then, feed during fever? Without digestion, there can b e no
nutrition, no upbu ilding of tissue structure. Why add the burden of eliminating matter that is not digested, that is useless and
noxious excess, to the already extreme effort that nature is making in order to reduce over -stimulated heart action and super -
normal body heats T o correct this condition the only effective measures are to withhold food, to remove the fermenting waste that
is causing disease, and to rest those organs that have been functionally unable to cope with tasks beyond their ability to pe rform. A
fever is re ally a blessing in disguise; it indicates organic activity, which means vitality in reserve. It should never be suppressed,
since it is the result of a struggle between the forces of health and disease in which the vital organs will prove the victor s if th ey are
correctly, and this means naturally, assisted. Habitually low temperature, on the other hand, predicates organic inactivity, small
reserve vitality, a condition that is usually chronic in character, and yet one that admits of improvement under treat ment with
perhaps surer prospect of correction than do febrile crises in their more extreme forms. But because sub -normal temperature and
lowered pulse rate are ordinarily confined to chronic illness, duration of treatment is correspondingly more extended than in those
in whom fever and heightened pulse denote acute disease.

Page 28 of  72 Depending upon the physiological tendencies of the individual, after the beginning of a fast and during its several stages, m any
symptoms not specifically described may develop alone or in combination with others. While some of the phenomena that occur at
this time may be ascribed to the depression that succeeds food stimulation, by far the larger number are due to the extreme
elimination of body waste in progress. Bowels, kidneys, lun gs, and skin are utilized to the limit of their abilities, and, when any
one of these means of discharge becomes obstructed because of excess, or has its function impeded because of defect in struct ure,
nature at once seeks another organ to serve as a chan nel of egress, selecting the latter with no apparent consideration of either its
fitness for the service demanded or its ability to perform it. But always the least resistive passage becomes what in this in stance
may be called the victim.

A few of the si mpler symptoms encountered in the earlier stages of fasting have been mentioned, but others more or less common
appear in consequence of the unvarying tendency of nature to utilize toxemic elimination paths of least resistance. In some s ubjects
a rash upon  the skin occurs; in others a cold with excessive discharge from the nose, bronchial tubes, throat, and eyes is the form in
which the results of the purifying process in action is displayed. The salivary glands may excrete in quantity, causing const ant
expectoration of spittle that may be either fluid or viscous in consistence. The last named functional sign is apt to prove most
annoying and disagreeable, so much so that, because of it, fasts at times have been altered in procedure from protracted to
interr upted, in order that partial resumption of digestion might change, which in this juncture it never fails to do, the unusual
course through which elimination is occurring.

When headaches occur with other symptoms, they are of course due to sudden release of toxic matter, are commonly located in the
frontal portion of the brain, and are coincident with the prior stages of abstinence, when the system is accommodating itself  to the
physiological change of habit then in progress. As purification proceeds, head aches vanish, and in purely functional disturbances
the brain experiences more rapid relief than do the organs of the trunk. Connected with headache, in severe functional
derangement and when there is organic deficiency, are visual spectra, fiashes of whit e or colored light. And in the graver forms of
organic disease a muscular tremor, accompanied with a rotary motion of the eyeball, or even with crossed eyes and faulty visi on,
sometimes takes place. The latter peculiar variation in symptom has been observe d shortly before death, and in extreme form it
would seem to indicate approaching dissolution.

Again, partial deafness with humming in the ears is apt to befall. This may ordinarily be relieved locally by careful and con stant
springing of the inner ears with hot water, assisted by proper manipulation with the tips of the index fingers. This procedure will
usually disclose collections of wax, after the removal of which the symptoms disappear. The presence of this secretion at thi s time
in quantity above no rmal again discloses the extreme of elimination to which the organism is subjected while the function of
digestion is suspended. Subjects which, before fasting, have suffered from partial deafness, find this defect much aggravated  until
the removal of the wax is accomplished and congestion is relieved.

Types that suffer from extreme congestion of the liver or from obstruction of the upper portion of the small intestines may
intermittently experience contraction of the muscles of the hands and arms with cr amping pains --the legs are rarely affected. Local
relief may here be obtained through hand vibration and deep manipulation along the spinal column in its cervical and upper do rsal
regions.

Emaciation in the fast cannot properly be regarded as a symptom p athologic in origin. It is the result of the elimination of toxic
substances from the system, and there is also a loss occasioned by the use by cell organism, and by brain and nerves, of the
reserve -pabulum stored in the interstices of tissue. Diminution i n weight due to the latter reason is, however, slight in comparison
with that arising from toxemic elimination. It may be stated that wasting of the body is usually greater in cases in whom org anic
atrophy or cirrhosis exists than in those who suffer other wise from disease, but, in a fast, loss of weight is proportionately less in
the instances referred to than it is in the presence of functional disease or of organic hypertrophy.

In his True Science of Living Dr. Edward Hooker Dewey quotes from Yeo's Physiology a table purporting to show the estimated
loss of the several tissues of the body in instances of starvation. The table follows:

Fat 91%
Muscle  30%
Liver  56%
Spleen  63%
Blood  17%
Brain and Nerve Centers  0%

Dr. Dewey terms this table, "Nature's Bill of Fare for the Sick," assuming that, in the absence of ingested food, both in fas ting and
in starving, the body is supported upon the tissues lost. It is natural and correct to infer that a portion of this missin g material is in
the circumstances utilized in the maintenance of cell structure, but by far the larger portion of it is purely waste, is matt er that is
Page 29 of  72 not constructive but pathogenic. As is shown in the chapter dealing with death during fasting, there is  no certainty that the
proportions given in the table above result in all instances. One point, however, is observed as constant and invariable --the brain
and the nerve centers with their branches are never reduced in structure nor in quality, notwithstand ing the duration of the period
of abstinence, unless in themselves they are organically diseased.

Delirium in disease is not always to be regarded as an alarming symptom. Temporary conditions of mental aberration apparent i n
confusion of thought, incoher ency of speech, and, in some instances, unconsciousness, are characteristic of certain constitutions
whenever body temperature rises above a fixed point. This, possibly, is an inherited tendency, for, on the other hand, there are
many temperaments who reta in control of the mind in any and all forms of disease, when the brain itself is not the


 temperature for hig h-en d ovens [7].
1,000˚	 Drip pans in stovetop burner
	     	 Gas flam e on range top [8].
800˚	 Electric coil on rang e top [8].
750˚	 Surface temperature of PTFE-coated pan after
	 heating  for 8 minutes on
	 conventional stove [9].
700˚	 Preheated g rill [10].
536˚ 	 Birds killed in DuPont lab experiments [5].
500˚	 Searing  temperature for meat in oven or g rill
	 Maximum temperature for many ov ens
396˚ 	 Temperature of PTFE-coated light bulbs
	 under w hich Missouri birds died [11].
350˚ 	 Common baking  temperature
325˚ 	 Birds died from preheated oven [12].
All temperatures are in degrees Fahrenheit.Teflon can't stand the heat...
1,202˚	 CF4 (carbon tetrafluoride): Global w arming  gas; affects
heart, lung s, and nervous system [1].
1,112˚	 CF3COF (trifluoroacetic acid fluoride): deg rades to HF & TFA
OFCB (octafluorocyclobutane): Linked to heart palpitations
PFB (perfluorobutane): Global w arming  gas [1].
932˚	 COF 2 (carbonyl fluoride): fluorinated v ersion
of chemical w arfare agent
HF (hydrog en fluoride): Corrosive gas. Kills tissue on contact [2].
887˚	 PFIB (perfluoroisobutene): Chemical w arfare agent [3].
878˚	 SiF4 (silica tetrafluoride): hig hly toxic by
inhalation and ing estion [1].
680˚	 Toxic gasses released:
TFE (tetrafluoroethylene): animal carcinogen
HFP (hexafluoropropene): w orker toxicant
TFA (trifluoroacetic acid): poisonous to plants
DFA (difluoroacetic acid): Animal kidney toxicant
MFA (monofluoroacetic acid): lethal to humans at low  doses
PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid): an imal carcinogen [4].
554˚	 Ultrafine particulates released
(oxidized Teflon particles) [5].
464˚ Low est temperature at w hich Teflon
particles have been measured [6].Chemical Releases Common cooking temperatures
References[g]yritobNHNandNSodabNRdNgpnndNPyrolysisNproductsNofNpolytetrafluoroethyleneNandpolyfluoroethylenepropyleneNwithNreferenceNtoNinhalationNtoxicitydNynnNOccupNHygNhf[i]rNhknclld[h]ScheelbNLDdbNLanebNWCNandNColemanbNWEdNgpmodNTheNtoxicityNofNpolytetrafluoroethyleneNpyrolysisproductsNincludingNcarbonylNfluorideNandNaNreactionNproductbNsiliconNtetrafluoridedNymNIndNHygyssocNJNhp[g]rNkgcod[i]WaritzbNRSNandNKwonbNzKdNgpmodNTheNinhalationNtoxicityNofNpyrolysisNproductsNofpolytetrafluoroethyleneNheatedNbelowNlffNdegreesNcentigradedNymNIndNHygNyssocNJNhp[g]rNgpchmd[k]EllisbNDydbNMaburybNSydbNMartinbNJWNandNMuirbNDCdNhffgdNThermolysisNofNfluoropolymersNasNapotentialNsourceNofNhalogenatedNorganicNacidsNinNtheNenvironmentdNNatureNkgh[mokk]rNihgckd[l]WaritzbNRSdNgpnldNynNindustrialNapproachNtoNevaluationNofNpyrolysisNandNcombustionNhazardsdEnvironNHealthNPerspectNggrNgpnchfhd[m]SeidelbNWCdbNSchererbNKVbNJrddbNClinebNDbNJrddbNOlsonbNyHdbNzonesteelbNJKdbNChurchbNDFdbNNuggehallibNSandNPryorbNWydNgppgdNChemicalbNphysicalbNandNtoxicologicalNcharacterizationNofNfumesNproducedNbyheatingNtetrafluoroetheneNhomopolymerNandNitsNcopolymersNwithNhexafluoropropeneNandperfluoro[propylNvinylNether]dNChemNResNToxicolNk[h]rNhhpcimd[n]VikingdNProfessionalNSeriesNVGSCdNyvailableNonlineNatrhttpreewwwdvikingrangedcomecookingevgscimdhtmld[o]SmartNSpacesdNSafetyNInformationdNyvailableNonlineNatrhttpreewwwdsmartspacesonlinedcomesafety_informationdhtmd[p]WellsbNREdbNSlocombebNRFNandNTrappbNyLdNgpohdNycuteNtoxicosisNofNbudgerigarsN[Melopsittacusundulatus]NcausedNbyNpyrolysisNproductsNfromNheatedNpolytetrafluoroethylenerNclinicalNstudydNymNJVetNResNki[n]rNghiockhd[gf]NottinghamNInternetNResourcesdNhffhdNPopularNGasNGrillsdNNCookingNonNTheNGasNGrilldNyvailableonlineNatrNhttpreewwwdbarbecuendcomegasccookdhtmd[gg]zoucherbNMdbNEhmlerbNTJNandNzermudezbNyJdNhfffdNPolytetrafluoroethyleneNgasNintoxicationNinbroilerNchickensdNyvianNDisNkk[h]rNkkpclid[gh]StewartbNRobertdNNMayNpbNhffiNpersonalNcommunicationdFahrenheit (°F) to Celsius (°C) conversion:gblffN°FN[ogmN°C]nffN°FN[ingN°C]gbhfhN°FN[mlfN°C]mofN°FN[imfN°C]gbgghN°FN[mffN°C]mmhN°FN[ilfN°C]gbfffN°FN[lioN°C]limN°FN[hofN°C]pihN°FN[lffN°C]lffN°FN[hmfN°C]oonN°FN[knlN°C]ipmN°FN[hfhN°C]onoN°FN[knfN°C]ilfN°FN[gnnN°C]offN°FN[khnN°C]ihlN°FN[gmhN°C]nlfN°FN[ippN°C]ghhN°FN[lfN°C]<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>Copyright © 2015 by Michael A. Singer
All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Harmony Books, an imprint of the Crown
Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
www.crownpublishing.com
Harmony Books is a registered trademark, and the Circle colophon is a
trademark of Penguin Random House LLC.
The Surrender Experiment™ is a trademark of Shanti Publications, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon
request.
ISBN 9780804141109
eBook ISBN 9780804141116
eBook design adapted from printed book design by Amanda Dewey
Cover design by Fort & Jess Morphew
Cover illustration by Shutterstock/David M. Schrader
v4.1
aTo the MastersC o n t e n t s
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Section I
W a k i n g  U p
The Premise
1. Not with a Shout—But with a Whisper
2. Getting to Know Me
3. The Pillars of Zen
4. Absolute Silence
5. From Absolute Peace to Absolute Turmoil
6. South of the Border
7. Disconnecting the Panic Button
8. Unexpected Inspiration
9. The Promised Land
10. Building a Sacred Hut
11. Get Thee to a Monastery
12. When the Disciple Is Ready, the Master Appears
Section II
T h e  G r e a t  E x p e r i m e n t  B e g i n s
13. The Experiment of a Lifetime
14. Life Takes Charge
15. The Prince and the Pauper
16. Following the Invisible into the Unknown
17. My First Job Interview
18. Letting Go of the Rope
19. Acceptance, Acceptance, and More Acceptance
20. The Most Important Thing I Was Ever Asked to DoSection III
F r o m  S o l i t u d e  t o  S e r v i c e
21. The Call of a Living Master
22.