 you want them to learn. By expressing to them that it hurts when
they bite, they may learn how to express themselves when they are hurt in a
respectful way; when you provide them with an alternative relief for
teething, they may learn that they can count on you for support when they
need you. By being clear in your ener gy and intentional with your responses
—rather than becoming triggered and then responding unconsciously—you
support them in learning how to regulate their own emotions and create the
boundaries necessary for them (and you. ) to feel safe. You will feel much, much better as a mama when your actions come
from a place of responsiveness, compassion, presence, and care. You will
also notice that it is a much more ef fective way to teach your little one. You have to be so mindful as a mama, and simultaneously so gentle,
patient, and for giving toward yourself. Mamas tend to put so much pressureon themselves to be “perfect”; but you deserve just as much grace and
forgiveness as you are giving your child. You are learning. You will become
triggered at some point. It is an opportunity for your growth. And like any
spiritual endeavor, conscious motherhood is a practice. We are all conditioned by our past experiences—by the ways that our
parents dealt with us and the ways we have seen others being treated. We
are af fected by our friends, by the media, and by society. When you are a
new mother, many new things arise that you have never experienced before
and therefore may not know how to respond to in ways that are actually
supportive. Guilt is a common emotion among mamas, though rather than getting
stuck in it, know that it is there to show you what you value. The experience
of guilt makes it crystal clear when you have acted out of alignment with
what you care about, and thus it helps you self-correct the next time around. The important part is to be able to notice the way you reacted, to become
aware of the way in which you wish you showed up, and to keep refining. Children do not need a perfect mama. They need a mama who is genuine
and who is committed to the work of becoming better. Apologize to your
little one when you step out of line. Let them know that it wasn’ t okay how
you spoke to them, ignored them, or touched their body. Let them know that
it wasn’ t their fault and that there is nothing they could do to make you not
love them. Take responsibility for your actions so that they eventually learn
how to take responsibility for theirs. This repairing also supports your little
one, from the youngest of ages, to rewrite—or reintegrate—what happened
in a way that is supportive for their development. You are a newborn mama. You are learning how to love in the deepest and
most profound way possible. Swami Prabhupada would often say that the closest thing to God’ s love
that we can experience in this world is the love that a mother has for her
child. Experiencing this love from the inside out, from the heart of a mama,has revealed much to me about the way God loves us all. Wow, God loves
me without reason. There is nothing I could do to make Him not love me. There is no way that I could act that would make the Divine turn away from
me. I am not “good” or “bad” in His eyes. I am simply me, and that is
perfect. How can I become an instrument of that boundless, shoreless ocean
of love in my little one’ s life. In the Puranas, the Ultimate Mother is known as Sri Radha. Both the
Padma Purana and the Brahma Vaivarta Purana elaborate on her pastimes of
love with Lord Krishna and reveal how the divine couple is the Source of
all that is. Sri Radha is the embodiment of love and compassion. You can
pray to her to become an instrument of divine, motherly grace: to know
how to love your little one without conditions. Mother Yasoda is Lord
Krishna’ s mother. You can pray to her for the wisdom of how to raise your
little one with devotional love. Goddess Bhumi is Mother Earth: the
epitome of generosity, care, nourishment, and reciprocation. You can honor
Mother Earth for being the perfect example of how to love no matter what. The ancient Vedic scriptures guide us toward living a life where we
intentionally support each other, respect the world, and honor God as the
source of all that is. When we show up in our relationships, of fering our
gifts without selfish motives, without the need for validation or recognition,
we will feel a deep satisfaction and fulfillment that might otherwise feel
elusive. While this may be hard to conceptualize, the living example of
millions of mothers gives us an insight into what selflessness really is. Devotional service is love expressed. I remember when I was learning to love my little one: the kind of love
that is beyond what I could feel, but rather a love that stemmed from
learning what he needed and how I could serve him. I remember the depth
of experience I began to move into as I took full responsibility of caring for
him, and the realization that the experience of love is deeply enhanced
through service. When you really love someone, you will naturally go out
of your way to make them feel happy, content, and at peace. It will give you
the greatest joy to see them joyful, and the greatest satisfaction to know
they are satisfied. My first experience of loving him was a knowing that there was nothing
I would not do to protect him. There is nothing I would not give up or give
away if it meant that he would be safe. Through serving him, I began to
know a love that I had only heard about from others. My own needs
effortlessly became secondary, as the well-being of my little one moved to
become my top priority—a constant meditation and full absorption. The
way a mama serves her little one is unmotivated and uninterrupted, which
births a love consisting of those same qualities. un·mo·ti·vat·ed: without a reason or motive. un·in·ter·rupt·ed: without a break in continuity. You are here to love, and thus serve, your little one—to let them feel the
way that God loves them through the way that you care. When you can
remember who they really are, beyond the limited scope of “your” child,
you can see the pure spirit soul within their tiny little body; this eternal
spirit who has been traveling from one body into the next since time
immemorial searching for the lasting happiness that can only be found in
connection to their true Self and in relation with God. You can understand
that the greatest service, while caring for their basic needs and loving them
with attention and intention, is to raise them to know who they really are,
beyond their body, mind, and emotions. Instill within them, through your
own example, the real value of living a deeper life and the importance of
spiritual connection. Nama Karana Samskara: Name-Giving
Ceremony
In Vedic tradition, it is auspicious for the parents to have the
name-giving ceremony— nama karana —on the 10th day,
12th day, 101st day, or first year after the birth of their baby. After the father spends the morning bathing and worshipping
the Lord with certain of ferings and mantras, the V edic name-
giving ceremony is done with the father of fering ghee-
soaked wood into a fire while saying specific prayers. If you will be doing a baby-naming ceremony, you can
bring your own sacred intention into naming your baby. Start
the morning by cleaning your house and then taking a
shower. Make a small fire or light some candles, and
arrange some flowers, leaves, or fruits in a mandala shape
around the fire with the intention of creating a sacred space. Say the following prayer, or a prayer that you write
yourself with similar intention. I offer my respects to the earth. I offer my respects to the space between the heavens
and the earth. I offer my respects to the heavens. I offer my respects to the universe. With your family sitting around the fire, you can hold your
baby in a clean cloth and sit on the father ’s right side. Handing the baby to their father, mama walks behind papa
and comes to his left side. At this point you should be facing
east. The father touches the mouth, nostrils, eyes, and ears
of the baby with his right hand and says:
Your essence is spiritual, immortal like the Lord, O
[baby’ s name] enter in this solar month. May the Lord
consign you to the day. May the day consign you to the
night. May the night consign you to the day and night. May day and night consign you to half-months. May the
half-month consign you to the full months. May the
months consign you to the seasons. May the seasonsconsign you to the year. May the years consign you to
long life, O [baby’ s name]. The father then whispers the name of the baby into the
left ear of the mother, saying, “[baby’ s name] is your
son/daughter. ”
The father then gives the baby back to the mother and
places more ghee-soaked wood into the fire


 certain to afford. This course was pursued for a period of eighty days, when death occurred. The case when
first seen showed a cyanosed condition of the skin; the cheeks were blue and veined, as was the nose, and the entire surface of the
body exhibited deplorable deficiency in venous circulation. This state impro ved to some extent after entering upon the dietary
regimen. Examination of the body after death revealed a liver and stomach cirrhosed, the stomach walls showing no evidence of recent
function, being approximately three -quarters of an inch in thickne ss. The small intestines, infantile in size, were of the consistency
of cartilage in sections, and adhesions were present at various points. The colon was no larger than an adult thumb throughou t its
length, and it also exhibited adhesions. The only organs  of the body that were in anything like a condition of functional capability
were the lungs and the heart. The kidneys, the spleen, and the pancreas, as in the previous case, were incipiently hardened. In several of the cases quoted it has been menti oned that the patient after the beginning of a fast, experienced a renewal of
vitality for which no solid physiological foundation existed. Nature, struggling to restore organic function, invariably make s the
effort commensurate with the gravity of the exi stent defect. By the removal of the labor of digestion at least one -half of the total
organic work of the body is lifted, and relief that simulates recuperation is manifested despite structural deficiency in the  machine. In the presence of serious organic disease this seemingly favorable symptom is of short duration, and, as it passes, very evident
decline begins and progresses until nerve centers and brain no longer receive adequate support and the body dies. In Cases 3 and 4
the relief experienced after t he first fast was sufficient in each case, with organs still partially able to function, to enable the system
to maintain itself until accumulation again became too great to permit of continuance. Defects in organism, too serious to ha ve
been corrected in the earlier treatment or in the interim, now reached the stage either of degeneration or of atrophy, until finally
liberation of the life principle became no longer possible. When a case is first presented for examination the presence of serious orga nic defect cannot always be determined, but no doubt
is permitted shortly after entrance into a fast, for within a week or ten days symptoms are displayed that fix conditions. Th e third
week positively decides the outcome. In the two cases last described s igns of organic disease were such as not to be mistaken from
the very first. Soon or late the result in these and like instances must be death, and all that can be done towards possible recovery
must in the circumstances prove of no avail. Because of the h opeless outlook the cases described were placed upon restricted diet;
a diet that put no undue strain upon failing function, but that, nevertheless, did not ameliorate the distress of disease as would an
absolute fast. Family anxiety and outside criticism prevented the employment of the latter agency. In the circumstances life was
prolonged for several weeks, but it is virtually certain that, if food had been entirely excluded, relief would have been gre ater and
days would have been added to existence. Disease that is functional in character is self -limited. The amount of poison manufactured within the body is determined by the
intake of food or of drugs, and eradication of disease is fixed in limit of time by the ability of vital organs to resist and  east out
toxic products. The possibility always exists that these organs may prove unequal to their work, and this possibility becomes  a
certainty, with death as the outcome, in two situations --one, when the organs themselves are structurally defective, an d the other,
when, though fully capable of normal function, their powers are stimulated by food or by drugs, or by both, to the point of
exhaustion. But one of these conditions, that of irreparable organic defect, presents itself when disease is treated by  means of the
fast. Both are encountered in the therapeutics of medicine. In the majority of instances in medically treated cases the passing of life occurs under the influence of opiates that deaden  pain
and paralyze consciousness. Virtually from th e beginning of a fast pain ceases, consciousness is usually maintained with
exceptional mental clarity, and death, if it occurs, is like falling into gentle sleep. The results displayed in the post mortem findings cited, and the comparisons made in t he statement that follows, are tangible
assets in the claim that, in the absence of defects in the organs of the body, abstinence from food, together with the needfu l health -
giving and health preserving accompaniments elsewhere described in the text, is th e unfailing remedy for the correction of
functional ills. Both physician and patient from the outset of treatment possess the assurance of recovery; and confidenee th at rests
on infallible natural law is in itself of the greatest assistance in accomplishin g results. Comparative statement of post mortem findings is death by starvation (medical), and post mortem findings in death during the
fast as noted in the text. EMACIATION
Death by starvation:
Marked. Death by fasting:

    In cases where cirrhosed state of liver or stomach existed, emaciation was similar to that in chronic ailments, but in the ot her
instances it was not at all marked. Page 68 of  72 SKIN
Death by starvation:
    Shrivelled and wrinkled; emits a fetid odor; sometimes  dark brown, varnishy coating; tightly adherent to parts beneath; rough,
scurvy surface. Death by fasting:
    Smooth and pliable in all cases; free from odor; no coating; not adherent. Except in eases of cirrhosis of liver or stomach,
perfectly white. In the latter cyanosed condition as noted

SUB -CUTANEOUS FAT
Death by starvation:
    Absent. Death by fasting:
    In all eases sub -cutaneous fat was present. This was especially so where disintegration of the liver is noted. POST MORTEM RIGIDITY
Death by starvation:
    Pronounced. Death by fasting:
    Very slight. PUTREFACTION
Death by starvation:
    Sets in at once and progresses very rapidly. Death by fasting:
    Very slow in progress. No preservatives were used on any body before holding the autopsy. In one instance post mortem was
held one month after death, and putrefaction was hardly noticeable. Slowness of decay is attributable to the constant employm ent
of both external and internal baths during treatment. Fasting is a process of elimination in immediate result, and the product s that
tend to swift decomposition are removed from the body as rapidly as formed. HEART
Death by starvation:
    Usually contr acted, containing only a small amount of blood. Sometimes distinct atrophy. Death by fasting:
    Normal in all cases. LUNGS
Death by starvation:
    Normal but smaller. Death by fasting:
    Normal except as noted. BLOOD
Death by starvat ion:
    Lessened in amount, but thin and fluid from anemia. Death by fasting:
    Abundance of blood. No apparent anemia. BLADDER
Death by starvation:
    Invariably empty. Sometimes much atrophied. Death by fasting:
    In all cases contained some water. Pus as noted. No atrophy except in Case 7. Page 69 of  72 STOMACH
Death by starvation:
    Small, contracted; walls thin; mucosa corrugated and pale. Death by fasting:
    Several cases showed extreme dilation; two were in st ate of cirrhosis; none showed contractions except Case 3 (hour -glass), and
Cases 10 and 11 (cirrhosis). Other variations as noted. INTESTINES
Death by starvation:
    Show uniform contraction as to lumen and length; walls usually thin and transparent t o light; their atrophy in this connection is
characteristic. Sometimes empty; sometimes containing dark mucus; sometimes distended with gas. Death by fasting:
    The condition of the intestines is specifically noted in all cases. There were no general characteristics, but in no instance were
the walls unduly thin. KIDNEYS
Death by starvation:
    Do not seem to suffer. Death by fasting:
    Suffered as noted. SPLEEN
Death by starvation:
    Not noteworthy. Death by fasting:
    Normal in majority of eases. Disintegration noted in Case 4, atrophy in Cases 6 and 7. PANCREAS
Death by starvation:
    Always atrophied, sometimes to practical disappearance. Death by fasting:
    Atrophy noted in Cases 6 and 7; hypertrophy wi th cirrhosis in Case 4; incipient cirrhosis in Cases 10 and 11. Others normal. OMENTUM
Death by starvation:
    Transparent and destitute of fat. Death by fasting:
    In all cases some fat; in Case 4 excessive fat. Transparent in no case. LIVER
Death by starvation:
    Unaltered except in size, which is lessened. Death by fasting:
    Noted in all cased There were no general characteristics; the organ varied in size and structure with the individual. GALL BLADDER
Death by starvation:
    Usually full; contents staining adjacent tissues. Death by


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


 one day and provided her with
nutrition. She then progresse d to eating small portions of herb broth
and rice gruel. Acupuncture every six hours enable d her to
discontinue the use of morphine that had been leaving her groggy
and tired. She complained of feeling that her upper body felt
disassociated from her lower  body. Minutes after the needles were
in place, she began to feel as if her abdomen and lower limbs were
again joined to her upper body, returning to her the sense of
connectedness that she was craving. The acupuncture not only
altered her perception of pain, but seemed to soothe and lighten her
consciousness. She felt more charged and a greater sense of calm. What is it that we want. To fully experience our aliveness. To feel
in our bodies a streaming, like the rush of a river over stones. To be
awake, alert, and responsive in our limbs and sensitive in our
ngertips to the textures we touch; to be infused with our own
whispering current of wind; to feel as if our outer and inner realityis congruent and that our eorts are rewarded by a sense of
satisfaction. We carve out our own identity and possess our own
purpose, and yet we also yearn to shed the isolation we feel within
the envelope of our skin. We desire union. We aspire to have our
private lives nestle within the valley of a public world that we can
arm. We long to feel connected with each other. Like the woods
that harbor wild creatures, creekbeds, and fertile pastures that rest
upon a mound  of earth that spreads into a vast range of mountains
and plains—we want to feel a part of a community that spills into
and becomes part of a larger universe. We want to be able to
embrace and be embraced. We want to live the life of our bodies
and want our bodies to permit us to fully live our lives. Chinese medicine is a beginning. OceanofPDF. comA CKNOWLEDGMENTS
A book takes on a life of its own, nudged along by diverse currents
and nurtured by multiple energies. This one began as a two-page
brochure, which in stages grew into an eighty-page essay, and then,
after realizing there was so much more to say, assumed the form of
a full-edged book. Subhuti Dharm ananda, himself author of many publications on
herbal medicine, after reading our essay gave us the assignment:
“Write a book. ” The prospec t was daunting. Our friends Bernardine
Dohrn, Bill Ayers, Yeshi Neumann, Evie Talmus, Linda Saraf, Mary
Ashley, Micha el Tierra, Trent Schroyer, Joanna Rinaldi, Kosta
Bagakis, Melod y James, Susan Collins, Kathy Coyne, and Susan and
Malcolm Terrence assured us that we could do it and cheered us on. We have attempted to emul ate the style of provocative inquiry
exemplied by Ted Kaptchuk  and Michael Broman and have been
encouraged by their support. Paul Unschuld provided inspiration. His thorough, reective examination of the history of Chinese
medicine challenges the myth that it is a strictly dened orthodoxy,
a xed, unchanging entity. Instead he insists we perceive any
medicine as a uctuating mode of thinking and practice that
inevitably takes on the hue and shading of its social and historical
context. Indire ctly he gave us permission to interpret the meaning
and signicanc e of Chinese medicine from the vantage point of our
own experience and culture. We have also built upon the somatic
psychology of Stanley Kelem an. Our study with him helped us to
develop the frame of reference from which our expression of
Chinese ideas emerges. It’s one thing to write a book and another to prepare it for
publication. Judy Olasov taught us that words could be processed aswell as written. Throughout  the writing process we relied on our
free-lance edito r, Deke Castleman, for his abundant good humor and
camaraderie as well as his expertise. That he could consistently
transform discouragement into mirth was no small feat. In reading
early versions, Dan Nevel, Angus McKenzie, Ani Chamechian,
Roberta Gardner, and Garry Meyers made suggestions which we
valued. Determined to bring awareness and knowledge of complementary
approaches to health into greater public view, Cheryl Woodru, our
editor at Ballantine, armed the value of this project from the start,
contributing her talent to its fruition. Our auspicious liaison with
her was fostered by our agents John Brockman and Katinka Matson. We gratefully acknowledge artists Susanne Panasik, Bruce Wang,
and Val Mina for creating the graphic images that accompany our
text. We owe a debt of gratitud e to our family. Dr. Gayle Pierce
provided lucid counsel throughout. Efrem’s father, Murray
Korngold, invited us to our rst acupuncture seminar, engaging with
us in animated dialogue about Chinese medicine ever since. The
unqualied faith of Harriet’s parents, Marjorie and Malcolm
Beineld, in our mission of communication buoyed our spirits and
determination. Our parents may not have taught us everything we
know, but from their ground our owers bloom. Harriet’s lineage of
physicians—grandfathers, Harry Koster and Henry Beineld; father,
Malcolm; sister, Lynn; uncles Robert Koster and Barry Singer;
cousins Harry Koster and Susie Singer; and our extended family
brothers, Alan Steinbach and John Edoga—have together
demonstrated several generations of devotion to the wonders and
perplexities of medicine. From them we gained perspective. And our
children, Natasha, Shem, and Bear Korngold, have patiently
witnessed how much longer it takes to write a book than to read
one. For their tolerance they deserve credit. Countless herbal meals were shared with Nam Singh, who
initiated us into the tradition of cooking Chinese medicinal food. Later, Edward Espe Brown contributed his poetic sensibility and,
along with Patti Sullivan, critically tasted these creations with us. Our teachers in Chinese medicine, Miriam Lee, Jane Tang, C. S. Cheung, Andrew Tseng, Zheng Wen Tao, Wang Weng-Jing, and Y. K. Tan, generously passed on their knowledge. No persons other than
ourselves are responsible for the fallibility of our ideas or their
expression. And our patients, who, through us, have placed their trust in
Chinese medic ine, have guided our experience and explanation of it. Their stories about how it has altered not only their symptoms, but
their deeper selves, in ways that often elude precise articulation,
continue to demonstrate to us the power of Chinese medicine to
shift consciousness, promote integrity of relationship, and, in that
way, assist us in the perpetual remaking of our world.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>
Q: What is the author's inspiration for writing the book?,
A: The author's co-author's enthusiasm and the author's own discipline, as well as their Water and Metal, enabled them to complete the book.
Q: What is the role of the doctor in Chinese medicine, according to Nathan Sivin?,
A: The physician's role is to mediate between the cosmic and somatic, just as the emperor's role is to mediate between the cosmic and political orders.
Q: What is the concept of "correspondence thinking" in Chinese medicine?,
A: It is a logical system that describes the interaction between the organism and its environment, and is used to analyze and diagnose diseases.
Q: What is the difference between the Chinese concept of "archetype" and the Western concept of "archetype"?,
A: The Chinese concept of archetype refers to universal human characteristics, while the Western concept is used to describe the collective unconscious.
Q: What is the purpose of the book, according to the author's co-author?,
A: The book aims to bring awareness and knowledge of complementary approaches to health into greater public view, as acknowledged by the editor, Cheryl Woodruff.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>Cheng, Xinnong. Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion. China:
Foreign Language Press, 1987. Cheung, C. S. Rationale and Correct Organization of Prescription of
Traditional Chinese Medicine. San Francisco: Traditional ChineseMedical Publisher, 1980. Cheung, C. S., and U Aik Kaw. Synopsis of the Pharmacopeia. San
Francisco: American Colleg e of Traditional Chinese Medicine,
1984. Cheung, C. S., Yat Ki Lai, and U Aik Kaw. Mental Dysfunction As
Treated by Traditional Chinese Medicine. San Francisco: Traditional
Chinese Medical Publisher, 1981. China, The Beautiful Cookbook. Los Angeles: Knapp Press, 1986. Chinese-English Terminology of Traditional Chinese Medicin e. Hunan,
China: Hunan Science and Technology Press, 1981. Chinese Massage. Comp iled at Anhui Medical School in China. Washington, D.C.: Hartley and Marks, 1983. Dharmananda, Subhuti. Chinese Herbal Therapies for Immune
Disorders. Portland, Ore: Institute for Traditional Medicine, 1988
[ITM: 2442 S.E. Sherman,


quite
different? A:	They	are	decidedly	and	altogether	different. One	might	say	that	one	is
transcendent,	and	the	other	is	considered	paranormal. An	out-of-body
experience	can	arise	at	any	time,	even	in	sleep	or	dreams. It	is	often
triggered	by	physical	calamity	or	illness,	such	as	an	accident	or	surgery. In
the	out-of-body	experience,	there	is	location,	position,	and	duration. An
almost	invisible	energy	body	leaves	the	physical	body	and	travels	to	a
different	location	in	the	room	or	perhaps	even	at	some	distance. Sensory
awareness	accompanies	the	energy	body	and	stops	being	associated	with
the	physical	body,	which	is	then	experienced	as	being	separate. The	sense
of	‘I’	is	also	associated	with	the	energy	body	and	not	the	physical	body. Eventually,	there	is	a	returning	of	the	energy	body	to	the	physical	body
and	life	resumes	as	before. This	adventure	is	recallable	and	often	related	to
other	people. The	calibrated	level	of	consciousness	of	the	individual	does
not	change	significantly. The	personality	does	not	change;	however,	there
may	be	a	dawning	that	the	‘I’	is	not	just	a	physical	body. In	contrast,	the	near-death	experience	is	not	local	in	setting. One	enters
a	much	grander	and	more	splendid	domain. An	infinite,	radiant	love	is
always	present. There	is	a	distinct	awareness	that	a	state	of	revelation	is
occurring,	and	calibrated	levels	of	consciousness	show	a	sharp	increase. One	sign	of	the	experience	is	that	the	personality	changes	and	results	in
transformation. These	changes	are	often	quite	noticeable. Often,	there	is	a
major	shift	of	attitudes	and	diminished	interest	in	worldliness. The	fear	of
death	disappears. There	may	even	be	a	shift	of	vocation. Generally,	there
is	an	attraction	to	spiritual	subjects	as	well	as	a	marked	lessening	in	the
level	of	overall	fear. This	is	reflected	in	greater	peacefulness,	grace,	and
the	replacement	of	negative	attitudes	by	positive	ones. The	transformation
of	personality	may	be	quite	profound	in	some	cases. In	others,	it	could
only	be	aptly	described	as	saintliness. Some	people	who	have	theseexperiences	become	healers	and	are	drawn	to	the	healing	professions	or
ministries. Q:	What	spiritual	practices	are	practical	to	pursue	in	a	busy	world? Most	people	have	jobs,	families,	and	many	distractions. A:	The	conscious	pursuit	of	spiritual	goals	is	the	result	of	a	choice	and	a
decision. It	actually	requires	only	willingness	and	the	capacity	to	follow
through. Even	a	simple	spiritual	concept	is	a	deceptively	powerful	tool. The	simple	decision	to	be	kind,	forgiving,	and	compassionate	to	all	life	in
all	its	expressions,	including	one’s	own	self,	is	a	scalpel	that	is	capable	of
removing	the	major	impediments	to	spiritual	progress. With	humility,	one	can	see	that	the	mind	is	limited	and	incapable	of
seeing	all	the	circumstances	surrounding	any	event. Out	of	this	arises	the
willingness	to	let	go	of	condemnation	and	judgment. This	process	results
in	a	willingness	to	surrender	one’s	experience	of	the	world	to	God. It
becomes	apparent	that	the	world	does	not	really	need	one’s	personal
opinions	about	anything	at	all. If	one	decides	to	take	a	charitable	view	of
life’s	events,	then	alternate	ways	of	interpreting	circumstances,
appearances,	and	other	options	open	up. Q:	The	Buddha	said	that	desire	is	the	source	of	the	ego. How	does	one
overcome	this	attachment? A:	There	is	a	meditation	we	might	call	“What	for?”	When	we	note	a	desire,
we	can	ask,	“What	for?”	The	answer	is	always,“…and	then	I’ll	be
happier.”	Thus,	the	locus	of	happiness	is	always	something	that	is	outside
oneself	and	in	the	future. This	results	in	viewing	oneself	as	the	victim	of
outer	circumstances. This	is	also	a	projection	of	one’s	power. The	possible
source	of	happiness	is	actually	coming	from	within. There	is	neither	time
nor	locus	of	happiness	other	than	at	this	very	instant. The	true	source	of	joy	and	happiness	is	the	realization	of	one’s
existence	in	this	very	moment. The	source	of	pleasure	always	comes	from
within,	even	though	it	is	occasioned	by	some	external	event	or	acquisition. In	any	one	instant	of	time,	no	such	thing	as	a	problem	can	exist. Unhappiness	arises	from	going	beyond	the	reality	of	the	Now	and	creating
a	story	out	of	the	past	or	the	future	that,	because	neither	exists,	has	no
reality. Q:	What	are	some	other	useful	tools? A:	There	is	another	meditation	we	could	call	“What	if,	and	then	what?”	This
exercise	is	based	on	the	willingness	to	surrender	the	ego’s	illusions	to	thereality	of	God. We	start	with,	“What	if	we	let	go	of	something	we	desire	or
value?”	and	ask,	“And	then	what?”	That	brings	up	the	next	obstacle. We
ask	if	we	are	willing	to	surrender	it	to	God,	which	brings	up	the	next
obstacle. Eventually,	the	willingness	to	surrender	every	illusion	that
happiness	is	‘out	there’	brings	an	awareness	that	one’s	existence	from
moment	to	moment	is	solely	by	the	grace	of	God. One’s	life	is	sustained	as
a	function	of	the	presence	of	God,	and	the	materiality	that	we	thought
sustained	it	is	in	itself	an	expression	of	God’s	will	for	us. One’s	own
efforts	to	sustain	life	is	a	‘given’	and	not	a	personal	invention. The	ego
thinks	we	survive	in	spite	of	God’s	will	rather	than	because	of	it. Q:	Is	spiritual	progress	sudden	or	gradual? A:	There	is	actually	no	contradiction	in	this	question,	which	implies	the
either/or	state	of	duality. Both	conditions	prevail	simultaneously. Seemingly	small	steps	in	spiritual	evolution	often	occur	almost	unnoticed,
but	it	is	the	small	shifts	which	occur	out	of	sight	below	a	mountain	of
snow	that	result	in	an	avalanche. Sudden	leaps	in	consciousness	can	occur
with	no	warning. Therefore,	it	is	best	to	be	prepared	for	such	a	possible
eventuality. Q:	What	about	getting	past	the	great	block	of	the	intellect? A:	This	leap	is	also	made	as	a	result	of	willingness	and	inspiration. Only	four
percent	of	the	world’s	population	is	able	to	transcend	the	consciousness
level	of	500,	the	level	of	Love. Love	approaches	Unconditional	Love	at
level	540,	which	is	the	level	of	Healing. In	the	calibrated	level	of	the	500s,
progress	becomes	clear	and	obvious. The	goal	is	best	described	as
lovingness	towards	all	life	and	dedication	to	its	support. Thus,	in	the	500s,
one	becomes	forgiving,	charitable,	benign,	peaceful,	and	easygoing. One’s
happiness	is	independent	of	external	circumstances	or	events. Judgmentalism	disappears	and	is	replaced	by	desire	for	understanding	and
compassion. The	innate	beauty	and	perfection	of	all	things	begin	to	be
revealed. It	is	common	to	break	into	tears	at	the	extent	of	the	beauty	that	is
apparent	in	all	that	exists. The	recurrence	of	any	thoughts	or	feelings	that
are	less	than	loving	is	experienced	as	painful	or	unwelcome. Q:	What


 dissected by brilliant think ers, e xplor ed and e xplained
by the gr eatest intellects of all time, most of us ar e still
living in the dark, perple xed by the behavior of our friends,
our family members, our idols, and—mor e often than not—
ourselves. Disappointed by the condition of our own lives,
we for ge ahead each day hoping that our dark er impulses
and bad behaviors will miraculously disappear. Hurt time and again by the ﬂaws that we can’t seem to
shake free of, we silently pray that we will ﬁnd the courage
to give up our pr ocrastination, our overspending, our
chocolate, our r esentments, or our sharp tongues. Y et we
continue to succumb to our lower impulses, sabotage our
own desir es, and neglect our futur e. In an attempt to hide
our discontent, we put on a happy face, muster our best
“everything is ﬁne” look, and continue acting out in ways
that under mine our self -esteem and defeat our best-laid
plans. In the course of raising our childr en, chasing success, and
struggling to put enough away for vacation or r etirement,
answers to the very questions that will help us gr ow elude
us. Our deeper year ning for self -understanding gets buried
beneath the daily news, family issues, a health crisis, or a
common cold. An indignant neighbor, a disgruntled e x, or achild who has lost their way will literally suck the hours out
of our days and the money out of our bank accounts while
twisting our minds into believing that we can’t and won’t
ever have everything we want. Sometimes, we even for get
that we ever wanted anything diﬀer ent fr om what we have. The r epetitiveness of our to xic memory can lur e us into
years of accepting mor e of the same and wasting away in a
mediocr e existence that fails to meet even our own
expectations. Unfortunately, this method of survival strips us of the
ability to live the life that we wer e meant to live. The
emotional pain that surfaces as part of everyday life has us
wish away our past and become r esigned about our futur e.
If we feel we have been deceived or conned or that we have
acted out of character, we become victims of the past and
hopeless about what’s to come. Cynical and sk eptical, we
fall pr ey to judgment, opting to point our ﬁnger at others
rather than look inside ourselves for the answers to our
woes. The r obotic natur e of our egocentric self rises up to
help us over come our feelings of insecurity and shame by
protesting our innocence and pr oclaiming our diﬀer ences. We think that if only we could just get that one person or
thing to change, we would feel better. We believe that if we
handle the one issue that we k eep complaining about or get
that one thing that we’ve been striving for, we will be happy. Rather than taking the time to pier ce the veil between who
we think we ar e and who we r eally want to be, we allow the
illusional life of a self that e xists in our minds to be in
contr ol. The pr oblem with this appr oach to life is that it pr events
us from discovering our true self, and it endangers the ar eas
of our lives that ar e most important to us. When we ar e
busy pr otecting ourselves fr om the demons that lurk in the
dark, we miss out on feeling joyful, fulﬁlled, and deeply
connected with those we love. Intent on hiding the dark erhalf of our human natur e, we fail to r each our full potential
and e xperience the depth and richness of our lives. We wer e bor n whole, and yet most of us ar e living as
partial human beings. W e each have the capacity to be an
important part of a grander whole. W e have the capacity to
leave this world a better place than we found it. W e are
meant to discover our authentic natur e—the state of being
in which we ar e inspir ed by ourselves, tur ned on, lit up, and
excited about who we ar e. We are meant to over come
adversity and manifest the gr eatest version of our own
individual soul, not a version of a self that is birthed out of a
fantasy. Big, blown- out fantasies about our lives stem fr om
the pain of our unr ealized potential, but true dr eams ar e a
reality we ar e willing to work for, ﬁght for, stay up late for—
this is a futur e that is within our r each. And ther e is only one
thing that can r ob us of that futur e, and that is our shadow—
our dark side, our secr ets, our r epressed feelings, and our
hidden impulses. The gr eat Swiss psychologist C. G. Jung tells us that our
shadow is the person we would rather not be. The shadow
can be seen in the person in our family whom we judge the
most, the public oﬃcial whose behavior we condemn, the
celebrity who causes us to shak e our head in disgust. If we
understand this cor rectly, we come to the startling and
sometimes sobering r ealization that our shadow is
everything that annoys, hor riﬁes, or disgusts us about other
people or about ourselves. W ith that wisdom in hand, we
begin to see that our shadow is all that we try to hide fr om
those we love and all that we don’t want other people to
ﬁnd out about us. Our shadow is made up of the thoughts, emotions, and
impulses that we ﬁnd too painful, embar rassing, or
distasteful to accept. So instead of dealing with them, we
repress them—seal them away in some part of our psyche,
so we won’t have to feel the bur den and shame they car ry
with them. P oet and author R obert Bly describes the shadowas an invisible bag that each of us car ries ar ound on our
back. As we’r e growing up, we put in the bag every aspect
of ourselves that is not acceptable to our families and
friends. Bly believes we spend the ﬁrst few decades of our
life ﬁlling up our bag, and then the r est of our life trying to
retrieve everything we’ve hidden away. Our shadow, ﬁlled with r hetoric and a hypocritical set of
rules that we can never adher e to, leads us to glorif y some
and demonize others. It began with the teacher who called
us stupid, the bully who taunted us, or the ﬁrst love who
ever abandoned us. W e have all hidden away and r epressed
pain-ﬁlled, shame-ﬁlled moments, and, over time, these
emotions har den into our shadow. These ar e the
unexpressed fears, the hor rifying shame, the gnawing guilt. These ar e all the issues of the past that we have never
faced. Our shadow might stem fr om one deﬁning moment,
and most do, or it can accumulate over years of denial. As
the shadow tak es shape, we begin to lose access to a
fundamental part of our true natur e. Our gr eatness, our
compassion, and our authenticity get buried beneath the
parts of ourselves that we’ve disconnected fr om. Then our
shadow gains the upper hand. It can trick us into believing
that we ar e too unworthy, incapable, undeserving,
unlovable, or stupid to be the superstar of our own life. It is our dark side, the r epressed and disowned aspects of
our personality, that cuts us oﬀ our true self. The fact is that
whatever we have hidden away in shame or denied out of
fear holds the k ey to unlock a self that we feel pr oud of, a
self that inspir es us, a self that is pr opelled into action by
great vision and purpose rather than one that is cr eated out
of our limitations and the unhealed wounds of our past. This
is why we must e xplor e our shadow. This is why we must
unveil and r eclaim our whole self, our true natur e. This is
why we must look within to e xamine the underpinnings of
our life. Hidden her e is the blueprint, a template, a vision of
our authentic self.My own study of the shadow began as I made the
transition fr om a clumsy pr eadolescent to a pr etty young
teen. Confused and alone, I set oﬀ on a jour ney to ﬁt in. I
work ed har d to feel good about myself, despite the fact that
I was riddled with insecurities about everything fr om being a
friend and girlfriend to being a sister and daughter. I fought
to understand why I felt so bad about who I was. The voices
in my head that seemed to overtak e me—even at the young


	contain	large	amounts	of
enzymes. Once	a	certain	number	of	liver	cells	are	ruptured,	their	enzymes	will	start
showing	up	in	the	blood. When	detected	through	a	blood	test,	this	increased	count	of	liver
enzymes	indicates	abnormal	liver	functions. In	such	an	event,	however,	the	damage	has
already	occurred. It	takes	many	years	of	chronic	liver	congestion	before	liver	damage
becomes	apparent. Standard	clinical	tests	almost	never	reveal	the	occurrence	of	gallstones	in	the	liver. In
fact,	most	doctors	don’t	even	know	they	grow	there. Only	some	of	the	most	advanced
research	universities,	such	as	the	prestigious	Johns	Hopkins	University,	describe	and
illustrate	these	liver	stones	in	their	literature	or	on	their	websites. They	refer	to	them	as
“intrahepatic	gallstones. ”
2

By	understanding	how	gallstones	in	the	liver	contribute	to	the	occurrence	or
deterioration	of	nearly	every	kind	of	illness,	and	by	taking	the	simple	steps	to	remove
them,	you	will	put	yourself	in	charge	of	restoring	your	own	health	and	vitality,
permanently. The	implications	of	applying	the	liver	cleanse	for	yourself—or,	if	you	are	a
health	practitioner,	for	your	patients—are	immensely	rewarding. To	have	a	clean	liver
equals	having	a	new	lease	on	life. The	liver	has	direct	control	over	the	growth	and	functioning	of	every	cell	in	the	body. Any	kind	of	malfunction,	deficiency,	or	abnormal	growth	pattern	of	the	cell	is	largely	due
to	poor	liver	performance. Even	when	it	has	lost	up	to	60	percent	of	its	original	efficiency,
the	liver’s	extraordinary	design	and	resourcefulness	may	allow	it	to	perform	“properly,”	as
indicated	by	normal	blood	values. As	misleading	as	this	may	be	to	the	patient	and	his
doctor,	the	origin	of	most	diseases	can	easily	be	traced	to	the	liver. The	first	chapter	of	this
book	is	dedicated	to	this	vitally	important	connection. All	diseases	or	symptoms	of	ill	health	are	caused	by	an	obstruction	of	some	sort. For
example,	a	blood	capillary	that	is	blocked	can	no	longer	deliver	vital	oxygen	and	nutrients
to	a	group	of	cells	it	is	in	charge	of	supplying. To	survive,	these	cells	will	need	to	enforce
specific	survival	measures. Of	course,	many	of	the	afflicted	cells	will	not	live	through	the
“famine”	and	will	simply	die	off. Yet	other,	more	resilient	cells	will	adjust	to	this	adverse
situation	through	the	process	of	cell	mutation	and	learn	to	utilize	trapped	metabolic	waste
products,	such	as	lactic	acid,	to	cover	their	energy	needs. These	cells	may	be	compared	to
a	man	in	the	desert	who,	for	lack	of	water,	relies	on	drinking	his	own	urine	in	order	to	live
a	little	longer	than	he	would	otherwise. Cell	mutation	leading	to	cancer	is	only	the	body’s
final	attempt	to	help	prevent	its	immediate	demise	through	septic	poisoning	and	a
collapsing	organ	structure. Although	common	practice,	it	is	farfetched	to	call	the	body’s
normal	response	to	the	accumulation	of	toxic	waste	matter	and	decomposing	cell	material
a	disease. Unfortunately,	ignorance	of	the	body’s	true	nature	has	caused	many	to	believe
that	this	survival	mechanism	is	an	“autoimmune	disease. ”	The	word	“autoimmune”suggests	that	the	body	attempts	to	attack	itself	and	practically	tries	to	commit	suicide. Nothing	could	be	further	from	the	truth. Cancerous	tumors	result	from	major	congestion	in
the	connective	tissues,	blood	vessel	walls,	and	lymphatic	ducts,	all	of	which	prevent
healthy	cells	from	receiving	enough	oxygen	and	other	vital	nutrients. 3

Other,	more	apparent	obstructions	can	disrupt	your	well-being	just	as	much. A
constipated	large	intestine	prevents	the	body	from	eliminating	the	waste	products
contained	in	feces. The	holding	back	of	fecal	matter	in	the	lower	parts	of	the	intestinal
tract	leads	to	a	toxic	environment	in	the	colon	and,	if	the	situation	is	not	resolved,	in	the
entire	body. Kidney	infection	and	kidney	failure	may	occur	in	response	to	the	accumulation	of
calcified	stones	or	deposits	of	kidney	grease,	thereby	obstructing	the	flow	of	urine	in	the
kidneys	or	urinary	bladder. The	buildup	of	such	mineral	deposits	in	the	urinary	system	can
lead	to	fluid	retention,	weight	gain,	and	dozens	of	disease	symptoms. If	acidic,	toxic	waste	matter	builds	up	in	the	chest	and	lungs,	the	body	responds	with
mucus	secretions	to	trap	these	noxious	substances. As	a	result,	the	air	passages	of	your
lungs	become	congested,	and	you	literally	run	out	of	breath. If	your	body	is	already	highly
toxic	and	congested,	you	may	even	develop	a	lung	infection. Lung	infections	occur	to	help
destroy	and	remove	any	damaged,	weak	lung	cells	that	otherwise	would	start	rotting	or
have	already	been	decomposed	(pus	formation). Lung	congestion	prevents	the	natural
removal	of	damaged	or	weak	cells. If	the	congestion	is	not	cleared	up	through	natural
means,	or	if	it	increases	further	through	poor	dietary	habits,	the	pus	will	be	trapped	in	the
lung	tissue. Naturally,	destructive	bacteria	will	increasingly	populate	the	scene	to	assist	the
body	in	its	desperate	effort	to	clear	up	this	congested	area,	which	comprises	decomposing
cells	and	other	waste	products. Doctors	call	this	survival	mechanism	“staph	infection,”	or
pneumonia. Poor	hearing	and	ear	infections	may	result	if	sticky	mucus	filled	with	toxins	and/or	dead
or	live	bacteria	enter	the	ducts	that	run	from	your	throat	to	your	ears	(eustachian	tubes). Likewise,	thickening	of	the	blood	caused	by	highly	acid-forming	foods	or	beverages	may
restrict	its	flow	through	the	capillaries	and	arteries,	and	thereby	lead	to	numerous
conditions,	ranging	from	simple	skin	irritation	to	arthritis	or	high	blood	pressure,	even
heart	attack	and	stroke. These	or	similar	obstructions	in	the	body	are	directly	or	indirectly	linked	to	restricted
liver	performance—in	particular,	to	an	impasse	caused	by	gallstones	in	the	liver	and
gallbladder. The	presence	of	chunks	of	hardened	bile	and	other	trapped	organic	or
inorganic	substances	in	these	organs	greatly	interferes	with	such	vital	processes	as	the
digestion	of	food,	elimination	of	waste,	and	detoxification	of	harmful	substances	in	the
blood. By	decongesting	the	liver	bile	ducts	and	the	gallbladder,	the	body’s	60	to	100trillion	cells	will	be	able	to	“breathe”	more	oxygen,	receive	sufficient	amounts	of
nutrients,	efficiently	eliminate	their	metabolic	waste	products,	and	maintain	perfect
communication	links	with	the	nervous	system,	endocrine	system,	and	all	other	parts	of	the
body. Almost	every	patient	suffering	a	chronic	illness	has	excessive	amounts	of	gallstones	in
the	liver. A	doctor	can	easily	confirm	this	by	having	her	chronically	ill	patient	do	a	liver
cleanse. It	is	apparent	that	unless	a	specific


 of love. 2. RESIST ANCE
“Faithlessness is not lack of faith but faith in
nothing. ”
A Course in Miracles  tells us that ‘ther e is no such thing as a
faithless person. ’ F aith is an aspect of consciousness. W e
either have faith in fear or we have faith in love, faith in the
power of the world or faith in the power of God. We’ve basically been taught that it’s our job as
responsible adults to be active, to be masculine in natur e—
to go out and get the job, to tak e contr ol of our lives, to tak e
the bull by the hor ns. W e’ve been taught that that’s our
power. We think we’r e powerful because of what we’ve
achieved rather than because of what we ar e. So we’r e
caught in a Catch-22: we feel powerless to achieve until we
already have. If somebody comes along and suggests that we go with
the ﬂow, maybe lighten up a little, we r eally feel hysterical. After all, we’r e total underachievers as is, as far as we can
see. The last thing we can imagine doing is becoming any
more passive than we alr eady ar e. Passive ener gy has its own kind of str ength. P ersonal
power r esults fr om a balance of masculine and feminine
forces. P assive ener gy without active ener gy becomes lazy,
but active ener gy without passive ener gy becomes
tyrannous. An over dose of male, aggr essive ener gy is
macho, contr olling, unbalanced, and unnatural. The pr oblem
is that aggr essive ener gy is what we’ve all been taught to
respect. W e’ve been taught that life was made for
quarterbacks so we e xalt our masculine consciousness,
which, when untemper ed by the feminine, is har d. Therefore, so ar e we—all of us, men and women. W e’ve
created a ﬁght mentality. We’re always ﬁghting for
something: for the job, the money, the r elationship, to get
out of the r elationship, to lose weight, to get sober, to get
them to understand, to get them to stay, to get them to
leave, and on and on. W e never put away our swor ds. The feminine, sur render ed place in us is passive. It
doesn’t do anything. The spiritualization pr ocess—in men as
well as women—is a feminization pr ocess, a quieting of the
mind. It is the cultivation of personal magnetism. If you have a pile of ir on shavings and you want to
arrange them in beautiful patter ns, you can do one of two
things. Y ou can use your ﬁngers and try to ar range the tiny
pieces of ir on into beautiful, gossamer lines—or you can buy
a magnet. The magnet will attract the ir on shavings. It
symbolizes our feminine consciounessness, which e xerts its
power thr ough attraction rather than activity. This attractive, r eceptive, feminine aspect of our
consciousness is the space of mental sur render. In Taoist
philosophy, “ yin” is the feminine principle, r epresenting the
forces of the earth, while “ yang” is the masculine principle,
representing spirit. When God is r eferred to as “ He,” then all
mankind becomes “She. ” This isn’t a man-woman issue. Reference to God as masculine principle in no way impinges
on feminist conviction. Our feminine self is just as important
as our masculine. The right r elationship between male and female principle
is one in which the feminine sur renders to the masculine. Surrender is not weakness or loss. It is a powerful
nonresistance. Thr ough openness and r eceptivity on the
part of human consciousness, spirit is allowed to infuse our
lives, to give them meaning and dir ection. In Christic
philosophical ter ms, Mary symbolizes the feminine within
us, which is impr egnated by God. The female allows this
process and is fulﬁlled by sur rendering into it. This is not
weakness on her part; it is str ength. The Christ on earth is
father ed by God, and mother ed by our humanness. Thr ough
a mystical connection between the human and divine, we
give birth to our higher Self. 3. GIVING UP RESUL TS
“You will never lose your way for God leads you. ”
When we sur render to God, we sur render to something
bigger than ourselves—to a universe that knows what it’s
doing. When we stop trying to contr ol events, they fall into a
natural or der, an or der that works. W e’re at r est while a
power much gr eater than our own tak es over, and it does a
much better job than we could have done. W e lear n to trustthat the power that holds galaxies together can handle the
circumstances of our r elatively little lives. Surrender means, by deﬁnition, giving up attachment to
results. When we sur render to God, we let go of our
attachment to how things happen on the outside and we
become mor e concer ned with what happens on the inside. The e xperience of love is a choice we mak e, a mental
decision to see love as the only r eal purpose and value in
any situation. Until we mak e that choice, we k eep striving
for results that we think would mak e us happy. But we’ve all
gotten things that we thought would mak e us happy, only to
ﬁnd that they didn’t. This e xternal sear ching—looking to
anything other than love to complete us and to be the
source of our happiness—is the meaning of idolatry. Money,
sex, power, or any other worldly satisfaction oﬀers just
temporary r elief for minor e xistential pain. “God” means love, and “ will” means thought. God’s will,
then, is loving thought. If God is the sour ce of all good, then
the love within us is the sour ce of all good. When we love,
we ar e automatically placing ourselves within an attitudinal
and behavioral conte xt that leads to an unfoldment of
events at the highest level of good for everyone involved. We don’t always know what that unfoldment would look lik e,
but we don’t need to. God will do His part if we do ours. Our
only job in every situation is to mer ely let go of our
resistance to love. What happens then is up to Him. W e’ve
surrender ed contr ol. W e’re letting Him lead. W e have faith
He knows how. There’s a myth that some people ar e mor e faithful than
others. A truer statement is that in some ar eas, some of us
are mor e sur render ed than others. W e sur render to God
ﬁrst, of course, the things we don’t r eally car e that muchabout anyway. Some of us don’t mind giving up our
attachment to car eer goals, but ther e’s no way we’r e going
to sur render our r omantic r elationships, or vice versa. Everything we don’t car e that much about—ﬁne—God can
have it. But if it’s r eally, r eally important, we think we better
handle it ourselves. The truth is, of course, that the mor e
important it is to us, the mor e important it is to sur render. That which is sur render ed is tak en car e of best. T o place
something in the hands of God is to give it over, mentally, to
the pr otection and car e of the beneﬁcence of the universe. To keep it ourselves means to constantly grab and clutch
and manipulate. W e keep opening the oven to see if the
bread is baking, which only ensur es that it never gets a
chance to. Wher e we have an attachment to r esults, we tend to
have a har d time giving up contr ol. But how can we know
what r esult to try to achieve in a situation when we don’t
know what’s going to happen tomor row. What do we ask
for. Instead of, “ Dear God, please let us fall in love, or
please give me this job,” we say, “ Dear God, my desir e, my
priority is inner peace. I want the e xperience of love. I don’t
know what would bring that to me. I leave the r esults of this
situation in your hands. I trust your will. May your will be
done. Amen. ”
I used to feel I couldn’t aﬀor d to r elax because God had
more important things to think about than my life. I ﬁnally
realized that God is not capricious, but is rather an
impersonal love for all life. My life is no mor e or less
precious to Him than is anyone else’s. T o sur render to God is
to accept the fact that He loves us and pr ovides for us,
because


 you like, but you won’ t really
know  i t until y ou taste  it. After you have tasted it, the word becomes less
important to you. Y ou won’ t be attached to it anymore. Similarly, you
can talk  or think about God  continuously for the rest of your life, but
does tha t mean you know or have even glimpsed the reality to which the
word points? It really is no more than an obsessive attachment to a
signpost, a mental idol. The reve rse also  applies: If, for  whatever reason, you disliked the word
honey, t hat might prevent you from e ver tasting it. If you had a strong
aversion to the word God, which is a negative form of attachment, youmay be denying not just the wo rd but also the reality to which it points. Y ou would be cutting yourself of f from the possibility of experiencing
that reality. All this is, of cou rse, intrinsically connected wi th being
identified with your mind. So, if a word doesn’ t work for you anymore, then drop it and replace it
with one that does work. If you don’ t like the word sin, the n call it
unconsciousness or insanity. That may get you closer to the truth, the
reality behind the word, than a  long-misused word like sin, and leaves
little room for guilt. I do n’ t l ike those  wor ds either. T hey imply that ther e is somethin g wr ong
with me. I am being judged. Of course there is something w rong with you — and you are not being
judged. I don’ t mean to  of fend you personally, but do you not belong to the
human race that killed over on e hundred million members of its own
species in the twentieth century alone? Y ou mean guilt by association? It is not a questi on of guilt. But as long as you are run by the egoic mind,
you are part of the collective in sanity. Perhaps you haven’ t looked very
deeply i nto the human conditio n in its state of dominance by the egoic
mind. Open your eyes and see the fear, the despair, the greed, and the
violence that are all-pervasive. See the heinous cruelty and suf fering on
an unim aginable scale that humans have inflicted and continue to inflict
on e ach other as well as on other life forms on the planet. Y ou don’ t need
to cond emn. Just observe. That is sin. That is insanity. That is
unconsciousness. Above all, do n’ t for get to observe your own mind. Seek out the root of the insanity there.FINDING YOUR INVISIBLE AND INDESTRUCTIBLE
 REALITY
Y ou said  that identification with  our physical form is part of the  illusion,
so how can the body, the phys ical form, bring you to a r ealization of
Being? The body that you can see and touch cannot take you into Being. But that
visible and tangible body is only an outer shell, or rather a limited and
distorted perception of a deeper reality. In your natural state of
connectedness with Being, this deeper reality can be felt every moment
as the invisible inner body, the animating presence within you. So to
“inhabit the body” is to feel the  body from within, to feel the life inside
the body and thereby come to know that you are beyond the outer form. But that is only  the beginning of an inward journey that will take you
ever mo re deeply into a realm of great stillness and peace, ye t also of
great power and vibrant life. At first, you may only get fleeting glimpses
of it, but through them you will begin to realize that you are not just a
meaningless fragment in an alien universe, briefly suspended between
birth and death, allowed a few short-lived pleasures followed by pain and
ultimate annihilation. Underneath your outer form, you are connected
with something so vast, so immeasurable and sacred, that it cannot be
conceived or spoken of — yet I  am speaking of it now. I am speaking of
it not to give yo u something to believe in but to show you how  you can
know it for yourself. Y ou are cut of f from Being as long as your mind takes up all your
attention. When  this happens — and it happens continuously for most
people — you are not in yo ur body. The mind absorbs all your
consciousness and transforms it into mind stuf f. Y ou cannot stop
thinking. Compulsive thinking has become a collective disease. Y our
whole sense of who you are is then derived from mind activity. Y our
identity, as it is no longer rooted in Being, becomes a vulnerable and
ever -needy mental construct, which creates fear as the predominant
underlying emotion. The one thing that truly matters is then missingfrom your life: awareness of your deeper self — your invis ible and
indestructible reality. T o become conscious of Being, you need to reclaim consciousness from
the mind. This is one of the most essential tasks on your spiritual
journey. It will free vast amounts of consciousness that previously had
been trapped in useless and compulsive thinking. A very ef fective way of
doing this is si mply to take t he focus of your attention aw ay from
thinking and direct it into the b ody, where Being can be felt in the first
instance as the i nvisible ener gy field that gives life to what you  perceive
as the physical body. CONNECTING WITH THE INNER BODY
Please t ry it now. Y ou may find it helpful to close your eyes for this
practice. Later on, when “being in the body” has become natural and
easy, thi s will no longer be nece ssary. Direct your attention into the body. Feel it from with in. Is it alive? Is there life in your hands, arms, legs, and
feet — in your abdomen, your chest? Can you feel the subtle ener gy field
that perv ades th e entire body a nd gives vibrant life to every or gan and
every ce ll? Can  you feel it simultaneously in all parts of the body as a
single field of ener gy? Keep focusing on the feeling of your inner body
for a few mom ents. Do not st art to think about it. Feel it. The more
attention you give it, the clearer and stronger this feeling will become. It
will feel  as if ev ery cell is becoming more alive, and if you have  a strong
visual sense, you may get an image of your body becoming l uminous. Although such an image can help you temporarily, pay more attention to
the feeli ng than to any image th at may arise. An image, no matter how
beautiful or powerful, is already defined in form, so there is less scope
for penetrating more deeply. The feel ing of your inner body is formless, limitless, and unfat homable. Y ou can always go into it more deeply. If you cannot feel very  much at
this stag e, pay attention to what ever you can  f eel. Pe rhaps th ere is just a
slight tingling in your hands or feet. That’ s good enough for the moment. Just focus on the feeling. Y our body is coming alive. Later, we willpractice some more. Please open your eyes now, but keep some attention
in the inner ener gy field of the body even as you look around t he room. The inne r body lies at the thresh old between your form identity and your
essence identity, your true nature. Never lose touch with it. TRANSFORMA TION THROUGH THE BODY
Why have most r eligions conde mned or denied the body? It seems that
spiritual seekers  have always r e gar ded the body as a hindrance  or even
as sinful. Why have so few seekers become finders? On t he l evel of the body, humans are very close to animals. All the basic
bodily functions — pleasur e, pain, breathing, eating, drinking,
defecating, sleeping, the drive to find a mate and procreate, and of course
birth and  death — we share with  the animals. A long time after their fall
from a state of grace and oneness into illusion, humans suddenly woke
up i n what seemed to be an an imal body — and they found this very
disturbing. “Don ’ t fool yourself. Y ou are no more than an animal.” This
seemed to be th e truth that was  staring them in the face. But it  was too
disturbing a truth to tolerate. Adam and Eve saw that they we re naked,
and they became afraid. Uncons cious denial of their animal nature set in
very quickly. The threat that they might be taken over by powerful
instinctual drives and revert back to complete unconsciousness was
indeed a very re al one. Shame a nd taboos appeared around certain parts
of the body and bodily functions, especially sexuality. The light of their
consciousness was not yet strong enough to make friends with their
animal n ature, to  allow it to be  and even enjoy that aspect of th emselves
— let alone to go deeply into it to find the divine hidden within it, the
reality w ithin the illusion. So they did what they had to do. They began
to d isassociate from


 a normal 105 (from a high of 240) without his receiving
any medication or insulin. He continued to lose 1 pound a day until he was
a reason ably normal 205 pounds (at a height in his stocking feet of 6 feet 2
inches or 190 cm). All this time, consuming the right foods, the patient was
able to eat according to his appetite’ s needs without being hungry at any
time. One very important aspect of Dr. Max Gerson’ s therapy is the coffee
enema. When a patient of this diabetic type with other comp lications of
illness is losing weight rapidly, he is also metabolizing many of the toxins
that are stored in the fatty tissue. In other words, when the fat dissolves, the
chemicals contained in the fatty tissue go into the general blood circulation
and poison the patient if one does not intensively detoxify. The coffee
enemas help to open the bile ducts in the liver and allow the toxins to be
eliminated throu gh the bowel. (See full details of the Gers on Therapy
procedure in our separate chapt ers about the juices, food preparation, and
coffee enemas.) There are several interesting facts in this case that deserve attention. On
the one hand, it became obvious  to the Tijuana hospital’ s staff of physicians
that Frank was a typical case of low thyroid function, in addition to his
other problems. He was extremely overweight and had already suffered one
severe heart attack plus diabetes, all of which relate to his having a low
thyroid function. Also, both of his sons, aged fourteen and seventeen,
suffered from allergies and asthma, respectively. These are also signs of low
thyroid function (often hereditary) and immune deficiency. The boys had
them too. Still more astonishing in this family situation is the fact that Frank’ s
father, now about seventy-six years old, had been a patient on the Gerson
Therapy some seven years earlier, suffering from advanced pancreatic
cancer. His doctors had given him a “hopeless” prognosis, saying that he
had perhaps three to six months to live. He came to the Gerson Therapy
hospital facility in Tijuana, stayed faithfully on the Gerson Therapy, and
recovered comp letely. It is now over eight years since the senior Mr.
Winslow’ s recovery, and the man remains well today. He too had already
suffered three heart attacks prior to his diagnosis of pancre atic cancer. Today, as well, he remains free of heart disease, is active and enjoying life.There is something to be learned by studying this unique family situation. We see here another member of the Winslow family with low thyroid
function, suffering heart attacks and eventually cancer. Even though the son
watched this dramatic recovery in his father, he allowed himsel f to become
so seriou sly ill that he was close to death before presenting himself for the
treatment which had already saved his father ’s life! An impo rtant factor in the Gerson Therapy for heart disease is the use of
thyroid medication to increase metabolism, burn off fats, and use up
cholesterol. Obviously, thyroid hormone must be started at a low level in
order not to overtax the damage d heart. Second, food supplementation with
flaxseed oil helps to dissolve fat and cholesterol deposits in the arter-ics and
increase the ability of the blood to carry oxygen. Also of great importance
is the use of potassium, which helps in enzyme function (also to dissolve
plaque) and keeps the blood from coagulating excessively; thus, potassium
reduces the danger of clots forming and causing heart attacks and/or
strokes. Dr. Gers on was aware early in the development of his therap y of the
extreme importa nce of potassium in treating all chronic disease. He stated
that, in his opinion, the beginning of all chronic degenerative disease is the
loss of potassium from the cell and the invasion of sodium (which we have
referred to as tissue damage syndr ome). In the area of heart disease, this
opinion about tissue damage syndrome was later stated by Professor
Demetrio Sodi-Pallares of the Mexico City University Medical School. He
wrote more than twelve books and over 300 articles on his treatment of
heart disease. Dr. Sodi-Pallares also states that, in his opinion, heart disease is not a
disorder of the heart but a disease of the body—particularly the loss of
potassium and excess sodium. He too, in his treatment of heart disease
patients, gives only a low-sodi um and high-potassium diet. It was much
after his original work with heart disease and many publications that he
became aware of Dr. Gerson’ s work and similar philosophy. Only Dr.
Gerson applied his low-sodium,  high-potassium diet to all chronic diseases,
with the same excellent results. Low sodium and high potassium  work well
in combination against all kinds of illnesses. Of course, the Gerson Therap y also includes many other items and
procedures, such as intensive nutritional therapy with many freshly
prepared juices, digestive enzymes, flax oil, and the detoxifying coffeeenemas. In arteriosclerosis and heart disease, Dr. Gerson achieved not only
improvement but long-term survival. Contrary to the belief and teaching of
orthodox medicine, in the Gerson patient arterial plaque and invasion is
reversible so that the artery walls become clear of plaque again. One other patient is Dr. Gers on’s longtime friend, Professor Henry
Schaefer -Simmern of New York City. This patient, in his mid-forties, a
heavy smoker, had suffered several heart attacks within a few days of each
other. He was barely alive with little blood circulation, as evidenced by his
blue lips. Professor Schaefer -Simmern was put on the Gerson  Therapy in
the late 1940s and remained alive and active into his middle eighties. Nearly all additional acute or chronic degenerative diseases may find
permanent corre ction by the patient’ s application of a modified Gerson
Therapy. HEPATITIS  A, B, AND C
We have observed apparent full remission and restoration of liver
function using the Gerson protocol. Treatment is identical to that of almost
any cancer chemotherapy patient. Liver enzymes should be carefully
watched. KIDNEY  DISEASE
Owing to the low-protein diet offered in the Gerson protocol, kidney
disease can be controlled and any remaining kidney function of not less
than 15 percent  can be maxim ized. Once patients have been started on
dialysis, they cannot be accept ed for treatment with the Gers on Therapy. Since kidneys won’ t be fully restored in most cases, kidney patients must
remain for the rest of their lives on the Gerson Therapy. METALLIC  TOXICITY
Lugol’ s solution should be reduced to one or two drops per day when
metallic toxicity is being conquered. The detoxification proces s should be
allowed to occur slowly. The modified Gerson regimen for chemotherapypatients in fair physical conditi on is normally used to overco me metallic
toxicity. MULTIPLE  SCLEROSIS
The Gerson Therapy has obtained excellent results in cases of MS. With
the proper nutrition and detoxification, the body is able to clear the
damaged myelin  sheaths, which insulate the nerves so that they can carry
electrical messages to the brain and back. Clearing the damaged
“insulation” may cause a temporary worsening of the symptoms,
frightening the Gerson patient. However, if one persists and stays with the
treatment, the body will restore and heal these sheaths, resulting  in ultimate
full recovery. Warning: MS is “assumed” to be an “auto-immune” disease. Namely, it is
felt that the body’s own immune system is destroying the myelin sheaths. With that assumption and with no other treatment choice, orthodox
medicine often treats victims of MS with immune-suppressants, such as
cancer chemotherapy. After such treatments, the Gerson Therapy is not
easily effective. Also, such patients are often treated for long periods of
time with prednisone. This, too, holds back recovery by the Gerson
Therapy. OSTEOAR THRITIS
More commonly occurring and less quickly debilitating than rheumatoid
arthritis, osteoar thritis is usually found in older people. It’s due to a slowly
deteriorating process in the joints, and it arises from the same underlying
damage caused by excess proteins which the body is unable to assimilate
and the kidneys cannot excrete. However, osteoarthritis is not accompanied
by the inflammatory process, so it’s slow to cause joint damage and
destruction. The disease is fairly  common to observe as hard, bony lumps in
the index finger, the little finger, or in almost any of the joints in the hands
and toes. Osteoarthritis eventually lodges in the lar ger joints as well. Both types of arthritis—osteo- and rheumatoid—are theorized to be
genetically related. There is good reason to support this theory, since in
either case we have to remem ber that the body is unable to handle theoverload of animal proteins. This would presume a weakened pancreas,
unable to generate the necessary proteolytic enzymes. The tendency to a
weak pancreas could


 the separation happened millions of years ago; the problem is that
we reenact it in any moment that we close our hearts. It is the chronic
spiritual sickness of humankind, the endless repetition of unloving thoughts
that dominate the world. For the mind is so powerful that what we think, we
manifest. There  is only one problem, and there is only one solution. We
think we have many different problems, but we really only have one: our
separation from love. The original moment of loveless thought was the birth of the ego (the
word used here the way it was used by the ancient Greeks: the notion of a
small, separated  self). The ego is only a belief  that we are separate, yet
belief is very powerful. From that one false belief an entire world of
lovelessness came into being. Two separate worlds, like two parallel universes, would from that
moment coexist. One world is peopled by separate bodies who have forgotten who we
are and forgotten we are one with each other. Our bodies are physical
manifestations of the thought that we are separate. Freud defined neurosis
as “sepa ration from self.” We perceive this world with our physical senses:
our eyes see, our ears hear, our hands touch. But while the physi cal world is
real within our three dimensions, three-dimensional reality itself is not what
it appears to be. It is but a vast matrix of illusion manufactured by the
human mind, not to illuminate but in fact to hide a world that lies beyond it. A parallel world, unseen by the physical eye, is an eternal indestructible
reality. It is God’ s ocean of endless light, love, and understanding, eclipsed
by the ego’ s thought system that now dominates the world. We straddle two universes, attac hed to one while yearning for the other. We live in a world of separate bodies, on a hamster ’s wheel of fear-based
thought and behavior, pervers ely guided by the false belief that our
separateness is our identity, without which we cease to exist. The thought that we are separ ate has led us to believe that we are
separate from God, separate from each other, separate from the universe,separate from the earth, separa te from the animals, even separate from
ourselves. This thought system violates and invalidates, torments and
destroys us, making us mental slaves to its dictatorial insistenc e that we’re
not who we are and that we are who we are not. Beyond all that is our spiritual Reality. It is the indestructible realm that
God created, within which we are one and where our souls know that we’re
at home. OceanofPDF.comThe Holy Spirit
So here we have  been, lost in the illusion of separateness, experiencing
ourselves as alone in a meaningless universe when we ourse lves are its
meaning. Literally from the beginning of time, we have enacted and
reenacted the drama created by this first mistaken thought. God, being perfect Love, has the answer to every problem the moment
the problem occurs. The ego having responded to God, God responded right
back. Into the darkness there appeared a light. What would perfect Love do, in response to the fact that we had
opposed it? Would it force us back to the thought of love? No, because
Love does not force. Would it punish us for thinking without love? No, because Love does
not punish. God wouldn’ t force us to return our minds to love, for that would be a
violation of our free will. We are free to think whatever we choose to think. But in the instant the ego appeared, God created an Alternative, a place in
our consciousness that would guide us back to love should we so choose. This guide, a gentle bridge of perception from fear to love, is called,
among other things, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the eternal communication link between us and God,
the reconnecting  link to our right mind. Created by God, the Holy Spirit is
therefore eternal and will remain in our minds forever. The Holy Spirit also
goes by the name of Internal  Teacher, Comforter, Shekhinah, Thought
Adjuster, and more. From the Holy Spirit comes God’ s greatest gift: a flood
of loving thought with the power to override our fearful perceptions and
bring us inner peace. Jesus was, and is, a manifestation of the Holy Spirit. Fear is to love what darkness is to light, not a thing but the absence of a
thing. Just as we get rid of darkness by turning on the light, we get rid offear by replacin g it with love. Fear is the darkness of the mind; the Holy
Spirit, the Light of the World. While the Holy Spirit was creat ed literally millions of years ago, there
lived a man two thousand years ago (the Course  says he is not the only one)
who actualized the mind of the Holy Spirit, eliminating from his
consciousness all thoughts but those of love. He thus became one with the
Holy Spirit, and to call on one is to call on the other. He is the light in the
presence of which darkness cannot be. This light has many names, and Jesus is one. The mystic Jesus is a
purveyor of the Holy Spirit, a way of calling down the Holy Spirit’ s power
within our morta l existence. We do not see Him with our physical eyes, but
we see the ef fects of His power and we know that He is there. Jesus cannot save us from the effects of our thinking, for the Law of
Cause and Effect was created by God for our protection and is therefore
inviolable. He works with us on the causal level, helping us to choose our
thoughts more wisely. Every instant we choose what to think, either consciously or
unconsciously. Thoughts of love bring inner peace, because when we think
with love we are being ourselves. Thinking without love, we are nullifying
our own existen ce. The awareness of our oneness is heaven and the torment
of the ego is hell—not places we go to after we die, but emotional states
right here right now. God doesn’ t send us to hell; He is What delivers us from it. All of us are
tempted at times to deviate from  love, just as Jesus was. Through the grace
of God he rose above the tempt ation. Now he is authorized to help us rise
above ours. All of us have days when for whatever reason we’re discombobulated. In today’s world, things are moving at an unnaturally quick pace. While it
wasn’ t very long ago that our ancestors lived their lives according to the
rising and setting of the sun, today’ s social media environment seems to
have quickened time itself. Our nervous systems literally were not made for
this. Of course we are tempted. Of course we fall. Our civilization needs repair. We need repair. We cannot simply numb or
suppress the pain of living in a world so at odds with who we are. The
world is going to have to change; civilization is going to have to correct its
course. But for any of that to happen, we’re going to have to change
ourselves first.OceanofPDF.comThe Atonement
The Atonement is the correction of our perception, placed within us by
God as an eternal escape route from fear. Through the Atonement, we can
undo the conseq uences of our lovelessness, as we recognize our errors and
ask God’s help in choosing another way to think. All Abrahamic religions,
as well as other s, contain the principle of Atonement, for it is fundamental
to perso nal and collective transformation. We cannot go forward in life
without correctin g our hearts, and this is as true for a nation and a species as
it is for an individual. The Atonement, empowered by nothing short of the
infinite love and the power of God, bestows upon us full relea se from the
insanity of the world we have created, and deliverance to the one that He
did. The Atonement, however, takes  more than a simple “Oops, I shouldn’ t
have done that.” Any Catholic in sincere confession, or Jew in tears on Yom
Kippur, or addict at an Alcoholi cs Anonymous meeting, admitting the exact
nature of their wrongs, has touched the zone of deep contrition where we
recognize we have transgressed and we wish to transgress no more. When we do, something genuinely miraculous happens. Something
changes on a causal level. We fall to our knees, if not literally then
figuratively. And everything begins again. That is where the world is now, or perhaps it is truer to say it’s where
we need to be now: not attacking others, blaming others, playing victim, or
making the problem about someone else. We need to look within ourselves
for the problem, and within ourselves for the answers. We need to forgive
ourselves and others. For that is where God is, and that is where  the Answer
lies. The Atonement principle heals every heart that is open to it. When we
are willing to go back to the moment when the mistake was made, to take
full responsibilit y for the fact that in that moment we did not allow the HolySpirit to guide our perceptions and our behavior, we can choose again. We
can put the mom ent into the hands of the Holy Spirit


 reality of the state assumed. As you remain fait hful in your
mental attitude, your prayer will be answered. Prayer therapy  is a
definite mental action for a definite specific purpose. Let us suppose that you decide to heal a certain difficulty by p rayer
therapy. You are aware that your problem or sickness, whateve r it
may be, must be caused by negative thoughts charged with fea r and
lodged in  your subconscious mind, and that if you can succeed in
cleansing your mind of these thoughts, you will get a healing. You, therefore, turn to the healing power within your own
subconscious mind and remind yourself of its infinite power and
intelligence and its capacity to heal all conditions. As you dwe ll on
these truths, your fear will begin to dissolve, and the recoll ection of
these truths also corrects the erroneous beliefs. 64  You give thanks for the healing that you know will come, and then
you keep your mind off the difficulty until you feel guided, after an
interval, to pray again. While you are praying, you absolutely refuse to
give any power to the negative con-ditions or to admit for a second
that the healing will not come. This attitude of mind brings ab out the
harmonious union of the conscious and subconscious mind, which
releases the healing power. • Faith healing, what it means, and how blind faith works
What is popularly termed faith healing is not the faith me ntioned in
the Bible, which means knowledge of the inter-action of the consci ous
and subconscious mind. A faith healer is one who heals without any
real scientific understanding of the powers and forces involved. He
may claim that he has a special gift of healing, and the sick  person’s
blind belief in him or his powers may bring results. The voodoo doctor in South Africa and other parts of the world may
heal by incantations, or touching the so-called bones of saints, or
anything else may heal a person, which cause the patients to hones tly
believe in the method or process. Any method, which causes you to move from fear and worry to faith
and expectancy, will heal. There are many persons, each of  whom
claims that because his personal theory produces re-sults, i t is,
therefore, the correct one. This, as already explained in thi s chapter,
cannot be true. To illustrate how blind faith works: You will recall our dis-c ussion
of the Swiss physician, Franz Anton Mesmer. In 1776 he claimed
many cures when he stroked diseased bodies with artificial  magnets. Later on he threw away his magnets and evolved the theory of anima l
magnetism. This he held to be a fluid, which pervades the univer se,
but is most active in the human organism. He claimed that this magnetic fluid, which was going forth from
him to his patients, healed them. People flocked to him, and many
wonderful cures were affected. 65  Mesmer moved to Paris, and while there the Government appointed
a commission composed of physicians and members of the Academy
of Science, of which Benjamin Franklin was a member, to investi gate
his cures. The report admitted the lead-ing facts claimed by Mesmer, but held
that there was no evidence to prove the correctness of his mag netic
fluid theory, and said the effects were due to the imaginat ion of the
patients. Soon after this, Mesmer was driven into exile, and died in 1815. Shortly afterwards, Dr. Braid of Manchester undertook to show that
magnetic fluid had nothing to do with the produc-tion of the hea lings
of Dr. Mesmer. Dr. Braid discovered that patients could be thrown
into hypnotic sleep by suggestion, dur-ing which many of the well -
known phenomena ascribed to mag-netism by Mesmer could be
produced. You can readily see that all these cures were undoubtedly broug ht
about by the active imagination of the patients together wi th a
powerful suggestion of health to their subconscious minds. All thi s
could be termed blind faith, as there was no understand-ing in those
days as to how the cures were brought about. • Subjective faith and what it means
You will recall the proposition, which need not be repeated a t
length, that the subjective or subconscious mind of an indi-vidua l is as
amenable to the control of his own conscious or objective mind as  it is
by the suggestions of another. It follows that whatever may b e your
objective belief, if you will assume to have faith activ ely or passively,
your subconscious mind will be controlled by the suggestion, and your
desire will be fulfilled. The faith required in mental healings is a purely subjective  faith,
and it is attainable upon the cessation of active oppositi on on the part
of the objective or conscious mind. 66  In the healing of the body it is, of course, desirable to se-cur e the
concurrent faith of both the conscious and subconscious mind. However, it is not always essential if you will enter int o a state of
passivity and receptivity by relaxing the mind and the body a nd
getting into a sleepy state. In this drowsy state your pa ssivity becomes
receptive to subjective impression. Recently, I was asked by a man, “How is it that I got a heali ng
through a minister? I did not believe what he said when, he told me
that there is no such thing as disease and that matter does not exist.”
This man at first thought his intelligence was being in-sult ed, and he
protested against such a palpable absurdity. The explanation i s simple. He was quieted by soothing words and told to get into a perfectly
passive  condition, to say nothing, and think of nothing for the tim e
being. His minister also became passive, and affirmed quietl y,
peacefully, and constantly for about one half hour that this man would
have perfect health, peace, harmony, and wholeness. He felt immens e
relief and was restored to health. It is easy to see that his subjective faith had been made m anifest by
his passivity under treatment, and the suggestions of perfect
healthfulness by the minister were conveyed to his sub-conscious
mind. The two subjective minds were then en rapport. The minister was not handicapped by antagonistic auto-suggesti ons
of the patient arising from objective doubt of the power of the healer
or the correctness of the theory. In this sleepy, drowsy state the
conscious mind resistance is reduced to a minimum, and results
followed. The subconscious mind of the patient being necessarily
controlled by such suggestion exercised its functions in acc ordance
therewith, and a healing followed. • The meaning of absent treatment
Suppose you learned that your mother was sick in New York City
and you lived in Los Angeles. Your mother would not be physically
present where you are, but you could pray for her. It is the Father
within which doeth the work. 67  The creative law of mind (subconscious mind) serves you and wil l
do the work. Its response to you is automatic. Your treatment is for the
purpose of inducing an inner realization of health and harmony in
your mentality. This inner realization, acting through the subconscious mind,
operates through your mother’s subconscious mind as there is but one
creative mind. Your thoughts of health, vitality, and perfection operate through the
one universal subjective mind, and set a law in motion on the
subjective side of life, which manifests through her body as a healing. In the mind principle there is no time or space. It is the sa me mind
that operates through your mother no matter where she may be. I n
reality there is no absent treatment as opposed to present tr eatment for
the universal mind is omnipresent. You do not try to send out thoughts
or hold a thought. Your treat-ment is a conscious movement of
thought, and as you become conscious of the qualities of health, well-
being, and relaxation, these qualities will be resurrected in the
experience of your mother, and results will follow. The following is a perfect example of what is called abs ent
treatment. Recently, a listener of our radio program in Los Angeles pra yed as
follows for her mother in New York who had a coronary thrombosis:
“The healing presence is right where my mother is. Her bodily
condition is but a reflection of her thought-life like shadows ca st on
the screen. I know that in order to change the images on the scre en I
must change the projection reel. My mind is the projection r eel, and I
now project in my own mind the image of wholeness, harmony, and
perfect health for my mother. The infinite healing presence,  which
created my mother’s body and all her organs is now saturating every
atom of her being, and a river of peace, flows through every cell of her
body. The doctors are divinely guided and directed, and whoever
touches my mother is guided to do the right thing. I know that dise ase
has no ultimate reality; if it had, no one could be healed. I now align
 68  myself with the infinite principle of love and life, and I know and
decree that harmony, health, and peace are now being expressed in my
mother’s body.”
She prayed in the above manner several