iveness of the game of “victim.”
The human ego likes to pretend  that evil exists “out there” and seduces
its haple ss, innocent self into inadvertently falling into the trap of seduction. The real tempter is the ego’s desire for gain—whether that be sensation,
excitement, advantage, prestige, or the pleasure of controlling others. To the ego, gains lie without; to the spirit, they are internal, for the ever-
present joy of existence is independent of content or form. To the spirit, a
sunny day or a rainy day are the same. Awareness enjoys qualities rather
than grasping at form. Thus, it can enjoy “being with,” withou t having to
own or control. Awareness is not driven by goals but instead values the
capacity for equal pleasure in all circumstances. The ego is a set of programs in which reason operates through a complex,
multilayered series of algorithms wherein thought follows certain decision
trees that are variously weighted by past experience, indoctrination, and
social forces; it is therefore not a self-created condition. The instinctual
drive is attached to the programs, thereby causing physiological processes
to come into play. At the higher levels, the ego is seen to be an illusion, without any innate
reality. The understanding of the ego is therefore useful knowledge that is to
be disca rded later. To attempt to do so, however, before one can dissolve it
through spiritual comprehension would lead to a fictitious stance because
the mind readily incorporates all learned material and subtly tries to thrive
in a new, disguised form.... To offset the vanity of what has been learned,
one focuses instead with humility on what is yet to be learned. The ego is not the real “you”; it was inherited as part of being born a
human. It basically originates from the animal world, and the evolution of
consciousness happened through the primitive stages of mankind’ s
evolution, so it could be said that to seek enlightenment is to recapitulate
the history of human evolution. By commitmen t to inner honesty, it will become apparent that the
underpinning of the ego’s responses is the pleasure that is derived from
them. There is an inner satisfaction that is the payof f of self-pity, anger,
rage, hate, pride, guilt, fear, and so on. This inner pleasure, as morbid as it
may sound, energizes and propagates all these emotions. To undo their
influence, it is merely necessary to be willing to forgo and surrender these
questionable inner secret pleasures to God and look only to God for joy,
pleasure, and happiness. To undo the ego, one must be willing to abandon this payof f game, with
its grand standing of emotions and repetitive rehashing of data and stories to
justify its positions. One will note that the ego milks every wrong and that it
has no greater pleasure than to indulge in “righteous indignat ion.” It just
“loves” that juicy positionality that has such a great payof f.To the ego, aban doning the self-reward dynamic is looked upon  as a loss. The ego does not trust God and thereby thinks it has only itself to turn to for
sustenance, survival, and pleasure. The ego has faith in its own mechanisms
and not in God. It should not be faulted for this error becaus e it has no
experiential basis for compariso n. Its only way out is with faith that there is
a better way. It hears a spiritual  truth and begins to search for it when the
mind becomes disillusioned with its own fallacies and failure  to achieve
happiness. It finally realizes that the grim satisfaction it squeezes out of
pain is a poor substitute for joy. At its roots, the ego is the extreme of selfishness and is completely
lacking in all ethical principles. The persistence of the primitive ego in man is referred to as the
narcissistic core of “egotism,” which, at calibration levels below 200 (the
critical level of integrity), indicates the persistence of the primitiveness of
self-interest, disregard for the rights of others, and seeing others as enemies
and competitors rather than as allies. There is nothing deadl ier than the
religionized ego. The ego is not only unable to correctly assess situations that are fatal, but
it even willingly sacrifices life for its own ends. The ego is therefore
potentially deadly and would rather “see you dead” than admit it is wrong. The ego is a victim of itself. With rigorous introspection, it will be
discovered that the ego is really  just “running a racket” for its own fun and
games and survival. The real “you” is actually the loser. The spirit evolves over great periods of temporal time, with periodic
reincarnations into the spiritual workshop of earth for growth and repairs. When all the repairs have been made, earthly life loses its value, and
attraction and rebirth into the human domain ceases. From a developmental analysis, which utilizes consciousness -research
techniques, it appears that the human ego itself is primarily the product and
continuation of the presence of the survival core of the animal evolution. While the ego/se lf routinely takes credit for survival, its true source is the
presence of Divinity as Self. It is only because of the Self that the ego is
capable of being self-sustaining. It is just a recipient of life energy and not
its origin, as it believes. The clever ego expresses its inner grandiosity by seeking to replace
Divinity by declaring itself to be God (or Nero, Caesar, and so on), or
claiming specia l Divine authority by its declaration that it is Divinely
ordained and therefore authorized. The prim ary underpinning of the persistence of negativity is the ego’s
secret payof f from negativity (“juice”). This secret payof f is the ego’s only
source of energy, so it sees forgiveness, as well as compassion, as the
“enemy.”
Ego positions have the characteristics of disowning responsibility and
placing blame “out there.” In the end, the ego’s payof f is the energy by
which the ego persists, because it lacks the pleasure of the input of spiritual
energy. The ego’s payof f is its substitute for Divinity; thus, it maintains its
sovereignty and is convincing in its secret, silent belief that it is the source
of one’ s life itself—that is, that it is God. To the ego, a “want” is interpreted as a “need” and a “have to have.”
Thus, its seeking can become frantic, and all caution can be thrown to the
wind. Desires are thereby escalated to being desperate and demanding any
sacrifice, includ ing even the deaths of millions  of other people. It must  have
what it wants at any cost and will find many excuses to justify itself. It gets
rid of reason with clever rhetoric bolstered by blame and demonizes others,
for the ego has to win at all costs—because throughout millions of years of
evolution, it did die if it did not get its wants and needs fulfilled. The ego
has a long, long memory and millions of years of reinforcement. On its own, the ego would neve r seek salvation.... The mech anism for
salvation is via the will, which invites the intervention of Divinity. With compassio n, one realizes that the structure of the ego is such that it
cannot know what lies beyond. Note that in a holographic unive rse, the achievements of every individual
contribute to the advancement and well-being of the whole. The ego structure is dualistic and splits the unity of Reality into
contrasting pairs and seeming opposites that are therefore the product and
content of perception, which consists of projections. The only protection is ownin g that we are the source of our own
experience, that we are the master of it, that we can handle it, and that we
are greater than it. The ego is not the actual reality or source of life or existenc e, and is
therefore vulnerable to dissolution. It is primordial but not essentially
sovereign. It is dominant only until its illusory quality is recognized. Addiction to the ego’s proclivities is like intoxication where pleasure is
derived from the emotional payof f of negativity. Thus, negative
positionalities tend to be self-p erpetuating habits akin to addiction, based on
presumptions and the inner seductive lure of the gratification of basicanimal instincts. By repetition, they eventually gain dominance and control,
which is the innate purpose of the narcissistic ego in the first place. The ego’s position propagates itself because its secretly sought payof f is
the emotion itself. The ego is oriented toward specifics and the linear content of the field of
vision. Its effect on vision itself is exclusive and limited in order to focus
primarily on the near side of objects (so as to facilitate manipulation). Spirit
is oriented toward context and the whole, and is thus inclusive and focused
on the far side of objects. Its field is dif fuse rather than local. The ego is addicted to being “right” (for example, politics). A prevailing
goal of the ego is to be “right.” Therefore, it is the core of the payof f of
righteousness. You can be right without being righteous, and you can be
righteous without being right. The sense of “who” we are is primarily an identification with the body,
the personality, and its mental processing, with accompanying emotional


 to beget and to grow, to harvest and to store,
to nish and to begin anew. Ilza Veith, Nei Ching
BEFORE LEARNING CHINESE MEDICINE, I STUDIED WITH SOCIAL THEORISTS
inuenced by Hegel, a German idealist philosopher. The relational,
interactive, process-oriented thinking of Chinese medicine  resembles
Hegelian dialectics. This was not altogether coincidence since many
European philo sophers were aected by Eastern thought. It was this
similarity that charmed me from the start. Because Chinese
medicine was about interwoven relationships and continuous
processes of decaying and becoming rather than a reductionist
examination of things in and of themselves, I had eagerly
anticipated studying it. Dialectical logic captures Yin-Yang  thinking. Within dialectics the
whole is a contingent structure, in reciprocal interactio n with its
own parts and with the larger whole of which it is a part. As parts
and wholes evolve as a conse quence of their relationship, constants
become variables, causes become eects, and systems develop that
regenerate and destroy the conditions that gave rise to them. 1OPPOSITION AND  UNITY
The Tao is an undierentiated whole. It is both the unity of all
things and the way the unive rse works. Out of this oneness emerges
Yin-Yang : the world in its innite forms. Yin-Yang  is a symbolic
representation of universal process that portrays a changing rather
than static picture of reality. The Yin-Yang  model is also used to
dierentiate aspects of process. Within the magnetic eld of
fundamental opposition and creative tension, each aspect
interrelates, interpenetrates, and depends upon the other. The poles
of a unied whole are characterized in relation to each other,
revolving cycles of the “one” becoming the “other.” Yin-Yang  can be
a dicult concept for Weste rners to grasp because it escapes strict
either- or categories that are xed and concrete. Wholly relative in
its designations, Yin-Yang  depends entirely on the point of view of
the observer, as this Taoist poem reects:
To the frogs in a temple pool
The Lotus stems are tall;
To the gods of Mount Everest
An elephant is small. All things have a polar natur e: time is divided into day and night
and summer and winter, gender into male and female, place into
heaven and earth, temperatu re into hot and cold, directi on into up
and down, space into inside and outside, and so on. But designations
of Yin or Yang are made only in relation to each other. For example,
the sun is bigger, brighter, hotter (Yang) in relation to the earth,
which is small er, darker, and cooler (Yin). The earth, however, is
more Yang in relation to the moon, which is more Yin. Yin  and Yang
cannot be separated. There  is no dark without light, no front
without back, no up without  down, no in without out, and no heat
without cold. There is no space without time, no birth without
death.The Yin-Yang  of the Mountain
The shady side of the mountain is Yin in relation to the sunny side,
which is Yang. As the sun rises and moves across the sky, however,
the warmth and light of the morning upon the one slope shifts to the
other slope in the afternoon—the sunny and shady sides merge and
alternate. Yang becomes Yin, and Yin becomes Yang. As the day
becomes night, the entire mountain is dark, cool, and quiescent. In
the night when  the moon shines on the mountain, the light of the
moon is Yang within the dark Yin of night. Yin also appears within Yang, and vice versa. For example, if Yang
is considered to be warm, expanding, and light, and Yin is cool,
contracting, and dark, then the shady side of the mounta in is Yin in
relation to the sunny side of the mountain, which is Yang. As the
sun rises and moves across the sky in relation to the mountain,
however, the warmth and light of the morning upon the one slope
shifts to the other slope in the afternoon—the sunny and shady sides
merge and alternate. Yang becomes Yin, and Yin becomes Yang. As
the day becomes night, the entire mountain is dark, cool, and
quiescent. In the night when  the moon shines on the mountain, the
light of the moon is Yang within the dark Yin of night.DESIGNATIONS OF  YIN-YANG
Because everything is in motion, all process is cyclic, and everything
contains its opposite, the dilemma of what came rst, the chicken or
the egg, is transcended in Chinese philosophy by accepting them as
inseparable agents of the process of creation. Chinese theory does
not separate cause from eect; instead, the one invariably turns into
the other in an ever-repeating cycle of metamorphosis. The day does
not cause the night, birth does not cause death, summe r does not
cause winter, but one precedes and the other follows. Life is a game
of leapfrog with events tumbling over each other in a perpetual
cascade. The chicken makes the egg— Yang generates Yin— but the
chicken grows out of the egg—Yin produces Yang. They are only
mutually generative. Which came rst (linear logic) matters less
than how they interact (systems, dialectical, relational logic). All states, events, and mome nts can be characterized as being Yin
or Yang, relative aspects of an alternating cycle along a single
continuum. Yin is at the core, sinking, conde nsed, and internal. Yang
is at the surface, rising, dispersed, and external. The humidity of the
air accumulates and condenses into clouds. This dense mass of vapor
(Yin) builds until the moment of discharge (Yang), when the weight
and density of the moisture transforms into thunder, lightning, and
rain. Relative to each other, Yin is quiescent, static, and contracting,
whereas Yang is dynamic, active, and expansive. Yin responds to Yang’s stimulus, and Yang is supported by the
solidity of Yin. Yin  is dense and hidden, while Yang is dispersed and
exposed. In a candle, the beeswax and wick are the material
foundation: solid, heavy, Yin; the ame, which moves upward, is
insubstantial in nature: bright, hot, Yang. The interactio n of the two
is what produces the useful light and heat and reects the
interaction of matter and energy. Their dependence on each other
renders them inseparable. Yang makes things happen. It transforms. Yin provides the material basis for the transforming power of Yang. Energy—heat, activity, light—transforms matter. If Yin is a noun,
then Yang is a verb, and life is a complete sentence.Yin-Yang  Tidal Flow of Rhythm
The processes in nature and in the life of living organisms
correspond to the stages of transformation of Yin-Yang  manifested
by seasonal, diurnal, developmental, and physiological cycles of
ourishing and withering, lightening and darkening, beginning and
ending, expanding and contracting. If Yin-Yang  is likened to a battleground, the fort represents the
Yin. Relatively hidden and protected from threat, it shelters the
noncombatants and food. The fort stores the potential or reserve
energy. The eld of battle is exposed, relatively unprotected, Yang. Upon it the precious stored-up Yin substance is transformed into
Yang activity.Health is dened as the poised balance between Yin-Yang, and
sickness is the result of a deciency or excess, a Yin-Yang
disharmony. Survival is based  on an organism’s capacity to adapt to
changing conditions and maintain equilibrium. Yin-Yang  harmony is
a metaphor for sustaining adaptability and equilibrium. YIN-YANG AND THE  HUMAN BODY
Yin-Yang  also describes human process. The stages of life go from
conception to birth, growth, decline, and death. Our youth (Yang) is
like the hare—quick, capricious, erratic, and light. Our older years
(Yin) are more like the tortoise—slow, deliberate, dense, and
persevering. When we expand and ll out chests with air, we are in the Yang
phase of respiration; when we exhale and empty our lungs, we are
in the contractive Yin phase. We perpetually ll and empty our
stomachs, our lungs, our hearts, our minds. We are active (Yang)
and lie quiet and rest ( Yin). Yin is the materi al basis, tissue, for the transforming power of
Yang, which reorga nizes and regenerates. Food (Yin) is transmuted
by metabolic activity (Yang) into more substance (tissue ) and more
energy (heat and metabolic activity). The sperm (Yang) joins the egg
(Yin), and new life is created by their merger and interaction. Thus
the sperm mobilizes and transforms the substance provided by the
egg. The sperm derives its propulsive and activating power from the
male (Yang), and the egg derives its receptive and nurturing power
from the female ( Yin). The internal organs of the body,


ina pectoris and hypertensio n using the Buteyko method is 96–98% of
those who have used this metho d, despite on these diseases are considered
to be incurable. In addition, the practice of voluntary elimination of deep breath ing helps to
cope with a whole range of chronic ailments - diabetes, allergies, psoriasis,
gastritis, eczema, bronchitis, pneumonia. And all this without expensive
drugs and other methods of exposure! The effective action of the Buteyko method is due to the fact that it allows
you to restore the balance of carbon dioxide and oxygen established by
nature in the body 1: 3. With deep breathing, this balance is disturbed. Excessive oxygen intake actually leads to oxygen starvation. This is due tothe fact that there is an enhanced  removal of carbon dioxide. As a result, the
vessels are compressed, which means that the flow of oxygen is reduced. In addition, excessive ventilatio n of the lungs with deep breathing leads to
metabolic disord ers, decreased immunity, and the appearance of allergies. It
becomes the cause of diseases not only of the respiratory system, but also of
the heart, the gastrointestinal tract and many others. The first reaction of the body to deep breathing is to excite the nervous
system. The lack of carbon dioxide causes insomnia, irritabili ty and even
seizures of an epileptic nature. As a result of reducing the amount of carbon
dioxide, the acid-base balance is disturbed, resulting in an excess of alkali
in the body. Alkalization of the body, in turn, affects the activity of
assimilation of enzymes and vitamins. As a result, metabolism is impaired,
and immune defense also suffers. Its weakening is fraught with the
possibility of getting diseases such as tuberculosis, rheumatism, focal
infections, sinus itis, chronic tonsillitis, allergic reactions, itching, eczema,
chronic runny nose, asthma. In addition, the electrolyte compos ition of the
blood changes, which contribut es to bone growths and the appearance of
tumors. The amount of cholesterol in the blood increases sharply, etc. So, the less deep the breath - the healthier the body is. Why are we, on the contrary, trying to breathe deeper? Firstly, from
childhood we are taught to breathe deeply during physical and
psychological stress. Secondly, there are factors that involuntarily cause
deep breathing:
• overeating, especially the abuse of protein and fatty foods;
• most drugs, especially antibiotics, ephedrine, adrenaline, cardiamin;
• physical inactivity (low physical activity);• bed rest, especially sleep on the back and right side;
• overheating;
• odors of chemical origin: linoleum, rubber, household paints, etc. ;
• neuro-psychic stress;
• gambling;
• smoking;
• alcohol. However, you can fight the habit of deep breathing: consciously hold your
breath, breathe more often or less, deeper or shallower. Training is
necessary, and then the depth of breath can be changed by willpower. This
is exactly what the VEDB method teaches us. The principle of the Buteyko technique

The Buteyko method is based  on breathing exercises aimed at nasal
breathing, reduc ing the depth of breathing and relaxation. As a result,
habitual deep breathing is gradu ally reduced to normal. This allows you to
get rid of a deficiency of carbon dioxide and oxygen, eliminate spasms of
blood vessels, establish metabol ism and immunity, which contributes to the
natural recovery of the body. In additi on, shallow breathing prevents the spread of germs in colds. After
all, initially the infection is in the nasopharynx. And only with deep
breathing does it advance to the other respiratory organs - the larynx,
trachea, bronchi, and lungs. Similarly, shallo w breathing works when in stuffy or dirty rooms. It
prevents the sedimentation of dirty air in the bronchi or lungs. Even for women in labor, shallow breathing is most useful, as it removes
cramping during  contractions and facilitates the process of the baby being
born. Chapter 7. Preparation for breathing exercises

Its main elements are:
• gradual decrease in the depth of breathing;
• the duration of exhalation is longer than the duration of inspiration by 2 or
more times;
• holding the breath after exhalation until there is a feeling of lack of air and
the constant maintenance of this sensation throughout the workout. Test: hold your br eath to know if you ar e healthy

Fig. 2

Sit on the edge of the stool so as not to pinch the arteries of the legs (Fig. 2). Take the correct posture, for which to straighten the shoulders and raisethe stomach, taking a regular breath, relax all the muscles of the body and
stomach. Raise the eyes up (it is possible with the eyelids lowered) and
slightly pout lips. “Relaxation of the respiratory muscles entails a natural,
non-violent exhalation,” explained Konstantin Buteyko. “At the end of the
exhalation, you need to pinch your nose with two fingers, fix the start time
of the delay with the second hand on the watch and not breathe until the
first difficulty (slight lack of air), which will determine the light (control)
part of the breath hold.”
The time for which a person can hold his breath is directly proportional to
his state of health. Therefore, the breath holding time will tell you about
your health status:
less than 20 sec - a sick state;
30 sec - pay attention to your health;
60 sec - you are healthy;
90 sec and more - you have a good mar gin of safety. Such a delay in itself is a good training. Performing it every day leads to a
serious increase in the delay time, which will immediately af fect health. Recommendations

A control pause is preferably measured on an empty stomach. Otherwise,
blood rushes to the stomach and the respiratory center receives less oxygen
and carbon dioxide and, experi encing starvation, earlier gives a command
to inhale and the pause is shorter. During the test, you need to monitor the change in heart rate: how much it
accelerates with deep breathing and becomes less frequent during exercise. If the pulse sharply quickens  or becomes sluggish - blood pressuredecreases, then the test must be stopped to avoid exacerbation of the disease
or fainting. The level of carbon dioxide in the body depends on the duration of the
pause. The calculation is simple: with a pause of 60 seconds, the CO2 level
is 6.5%. With a pause of 15 seconds, the CO2 level is 4%. Now we divide
60 by 15, it turns out 4. This means that breathing is 4 times deeper than it
should. Heart rate readings shou ld be: for an adult, 70 beats per minute is
satisfactory, 60 beats per minute is good, and 50 beats is excellent. Attention! Be prepared to overcome difficulties and discomfort. During
treatment with the Buteyko method, do not take medication (or reduce the
dosage), do not use other methods of treatment, and consult your doctor. Chapter 8. Warm up for breathing exercises

All breathing exercises can be performed within 6-10 minutes. At the end,
relax and rest. Exer cise 1. Kayak r ower

Fig. 3

Stand straight, without straining, lower your hands along the body and place
them slightly behind the body, as shown in Fig. 3. Exhale. Start a slow breath. As the lungs fill, the shoulders rise, then exhale
without delay, lowering the shoulders. Fig. 4

With an inhalat ion, as the lungs fill up, slowly take the shoulders back,
bringing the shoulder blades together, bringing your hands together behind
your back. Fig. 5

Then exhale slowly, pushing your arms and shoulders forward, while
squeezing the chest. Hands and shoulders do not strain (Fig. 5). With a breath, bend to the right,  stretching the left side and with exhalation,
return to the starting position. Do the same to the left. Do not bend your
neck, hands and keep your back straight. Fig. 6

Exhale. Slowly tilt your head back, bending the spine in the chest, inhale
(Fig.6).Fig. 7

With an exhalat ion, tilt your head forward, bending the spine in the chest,
look at the knees. Hands hang freely along the body (Fig. 7). Fig. 8

Take a breath. Slowly, gently twist the spine, moving one arm behind the
back, the other forward, exhalin g. When returning to the starti ng position,
take a breath. The hips are motionless. Repeat the other way. Fig. 9 and 10

Perform circular movements with the shoulders, simulating the movements
of a rower on a kayak: first left shoulder, then right and both at the same
time. The breath is arbitrary. Exer cise 2. Persistent soldier

Fig. 1 1

Stand upright, raising your head and chest, pulling in your stomach, pulling
your shoulders back, with clenched fists and with hands on the sides of the
body. Rise slowly on your toes, very slowly taking a full breath. Hold your


	muscle	testing	to	sort	out	the	content
of	one’s	spiritual	library. Put	the	books	that	allow	one	to	go	weak	on	one	side
and	the	ones	that	make	one	go	strong	on	the	other. It	is	highly	educative. It	is	very	important	to	remember	that	it	is	an	impersonal	fact	that	the
consciousness	of	the	seeker	is	naïve	and	has	no	means	of	discovering	truth
from	falsehood. Avoid	the	attractive	but	irrelevant. There	are	astral	realms
and	universes	without	number,	each	with	its	own	teachers,	masters,	spiritual
hierarchy,	and	belief	systems. Many	are	quite	intriguing. The	unwary	can	be
easily	entrapped	by	these	fascinating	and	esoteric	doctrines;	however,	the
seeker	of	enlightenment	will	remember	that	the	ultimate	state	is	not	reachable
via	the	levels	of	form. Many	people	think	they	ought	to	be	involved	in	spiritual	endeavor	but	are
intimidated	by	what	appears	to	be	complexity,	rituals,	requirements,
sacrifices,	commitments,	complicated	readings,	dogma,	and	money. Some
spiritual	groups	even	insist	that	the	applicant	become	‘initiated’	and	go
through	strange	ceremonies,	pledges,	and	agreements. Proprietary	groups
have	mandatory	attendance,	training	courses,	and	the	payment	of	many	fees. In	reality,	there	is	nothing	one	has	to	join,	do,	or	study. There	are	no	rules,
regulations,	or	requirements;	there	are	no	rituals	or	strange	garb,	and	no	odd
breathing	exercises	or	postures	are	necessary. Many	new-age	groups	sound	less	demanding	but	rely	on	misleading
sources	of	information. There	is	emphasis	on	strange	garb,	odd	diets,	weird
headdresses,	and	all	manner	of	necklaces,	symbols,	card	readings,	psychics,
channelings,	mediums,	chantings,	and	mantras. It	is	best	to	beware	of	and
avoid	all	manipulation	of	energies,	light	fields,	mystical	visualizations,	colors,
mystical	numbers,	signs,	and	‘ancient	secret	teachings’. Some	misleading
figures	claim	special	private	instructions	from	God	and	become	self-
proclaimed	prophets	and	visionaries. It	is	simple	to	see	through	all	this	with	a
simple	muscle	test. These	distractions	all	rely	on	form	and	specialness. The	whole	field	takeson	a	carnival-like	atmosphere,	with	reference	to	spaceships,	UFOs,
extraterrestrials,	and	doomsday	prophecies. All	these	aspects	are	mistakenly
labeled	as	spiritual	and	tend	to	be	accepted	at	face	value. One	is	easily	misled
into	the	astral	circus	thinking	that	it	is	‘spiritual’. The	whole	new-age
community	becomes	enamored	of	an	endless	array	of	‘babas’,	‘masters’,	and
legendary	figures,	most	of	whom	cause	one	to	go	weak	with	muscle	testing. Research	reveals	that	many	famous	gurus	have	sold	out	spiritual	integrity	for
power	over	others	and	delusions	of	grandeur. CHAPTER	10
The	Nature	of	God
Introduction
Although	it	may	seem	like	putting	the	cart	before	the	horse,	it	serves	the
spiritual	aspirant	to	know	something	of	the	destination	in	order	to	avoid	being
led	off	track	by	the	fallacious. Error	is	rampant	and	often	pervasive	by	the
sheer	masses	of	people	who	follow	erroneous	and	misleading	concepts	and
proselytize	error. To	know	God	via	direct	experience	is	extremely	rare. Enlightenment
occurs	to	less	than	one	person	in	more	than	ten	million	people. True	teachers
are	few	and	pretenders	abound. If	the	masses	were	headed	in	the	right
direction,	sainthood	and	enlightenment	would	be	common. They	are	not. The
Buddha	said,	“Put	no	head	above	your	own. Follow	the	true	teachings	only. ”
The	true	way	is	simple	and	direct. The	Qualities	of	Divinity
This	knowledge	is	important	to	comprehend	so	that	one	can	quickly
discern	what	God	is
not. Many	religions	teach	what	God	is
not
	in	the	form	of
misunderstanding	and	distortions	of	truth	that	occur	because	of	the	ego’s
misinterpretations	and	projection	of	anthropomorphic	perceptions. To	know
what	God	is	and	to	have	a	tool	available	that	can	calibrate	levels	of	truth	is	to
be	very	well	prepared	indeed	for	what	can	be	at	times	a	difficult	journey	or
process. God	is	everywhere	present,	including	the	here	and	now. God	is	not
elsewhere,	such	as	only	in	a	distant	heaven	or	in	the	future	so	as	to	be
available	only	when	one	gets	to	heaven. The	presence	of	God	is	thus	available
to	everyone	all	the	time. To	realize	this	is	just	a	matter	of	awareness. It	is	said
that	without	the	help	of	a	guru,	savior,	or	avatar,	this	awareness	is	unlikely	to
occur	in	the	lifetime	of	most	people,	which	may	be	true. God	is	beyond	perception,	duality,	positionality,	or	having	parts. God	is
beyond	all	opposites,	such	as	good	and	bad,	right	and	wrong,	win	and	lose. Like	the	sun,	God	shines	equally	on	all. God’s	love	is	not	reserved	for	the
favored	few. It	is,	however,	experienced	directly	only	by	the	few,	but	it	does
shine	through	the	clouds	via	the	love	we	experience	with	others,	including
even	pets	and	nature. The	degree	to	which	one	experiences	the	presence	ofGod’s	love	varies	markedly	from	one	person	to	another,	depending	on	one’s
level	of	consciousness. The	presence	of	God	is	the	quintessence	of	profound	peace,	stillness,	and
love. It	is	overwhelming	in	its	profundity. It	is	totally	enveloping,	and	the	love
is	so	powerful	that	it	dissolves	any	remaining	‘non-love’	held	by	the	residual
ego. Like	empty	space	that	is	unsullied	by	its	content,	or	water	that	is
unaffected	by	the	fish	that	swim	through	it,	the	Reality	of	God	is	beyond,	yet
within,	all	form. Like	space,	it	is	equally	present	in	the	objects	therein. That	which	is	omnipotent,	omniscient,	and	omnipresent	is	not	vulnerable
to	threat	or	emotional	upset;	thus,	God	is	not	prone	to	revenge,	jealously,
hatred,	violence,	vanity,	egotism,	or	the	need	for	adulation	or	compliments. The	beneficiary	of	worshipping	is	the	worshipper. God	is	totally	and
absolutely	complete	and	has	no	needs	or	desires. God	is	not	unhappy	or	upset
if	you	have	never	heard	of	him	or	do	not	believe	in	him. Many	of	the	old-world	descriptions	of	God	are	actually	reprehensible	and
figments	of	man’s	guilty	projections	of	fear. Primitives	thought	that	every
storm	meant	that	God	was	angry	and	needed	sacrifices	to	calm	down. Volcanoes	also	indicated	that	God	was	angry. The	ego	demands	explanations
and	looks	for	‘causes’. God	was	therefore	rationalized	to	be	the	‘cause’	of
earthly	events	that	created	fear,	such	as	earthquakes,	famine,	floods,
pestilence,	storms,	drought,	barrenness,	or	ill	health. God	was	considered	the
great	punitive	enforcer	as	well	as	the	great


�ect it had on my life and the lives of
those ar ound me—not as a theory in a te xtbook, but as a
woman struggling to deal with her own unwanted feelings
and deep insecurities. Driven by deep feelings of loneliness that came fr om not
understanding who I was or why I was her e, I began my
journey of becoming intimate with my dark side, my shadow
self. This moment of r eckoning became a catalyst for living a
life beyond my wildest dr eams. It has led me to study,
grapple with, and dwell in not only my own human behavior,
but the behavior of hundr eds of thousands of people whom I
have been privileged to guide into the ter ritory of their
unclaimed self and the glorious discovery of a life yet to be
lived. It is not my light that has led me to the wisdom I have
shared in my last seven books, but my battle with my dark
side (and the ultimate sur render in the war within) that has
been my guide and continued inspiration. It is the very
darkness that I spent the ﬁrst part of my life running away
from that is now my passion and my fuel to help lead others
in this magical jour ney thr ough the human psyche into living
in the light of their gr eatest e xpression. It is a spiritual call,
a higher voice that asks me to ask you: Ar e you r eady to
embark on this jour ney of r eclaiming all of yourself, the light
and the dark, your good self and your evil twin? Ar e you
ready to r eturn to the love of your true, total, authentic self
rather than stay trapped in the judgmental angst of a
disjointed human ego? Becoming intimate with your shadow is one of the most
fascinating and fruitful inquiries you can ever embark upon. It is a mysterious jour ney that will lead you to ﬁnd your most
authentic self—a place wher e you feel at home with who
you ar e, wher e you r ecognize your weaknesses and your
strengths, wher e you can bask in your gif ts, admit to yourimperfections, and admir e your gr eatness. This self that is
hidden beneath the mask of your human persona is the self
that you ar e thrilled to be, a self that knows who it is and
who honors the human jour ney. This self that you will
discover as you embrace mor e and mor e of your hidden and
disowned aspects is a self that oﬀers you the conﬁdence to
speak your truth and pursue what’s truly important to you. It’s ir onic that to ﬁnd the courage to lead an authentic life,
you will have to go into the dark r ooms of your most
inauthentic self. You have to confr ont the very parts of
yourself that you fear most to ﬁnd what you have been
looking for, because the mechanism that drives you to
conceal your darkness is the same mechanism that has you
hide your light. What you’ve been hiding fr om can actually
give you what you’ve been trying har d to achieve. THE INFL UENCE OF THE SHADOW
From its invisible home deep within our psyche, the shadow
wields enor mous power over our life. It deter mines what we
can and cannot do, what we will be ir resistibly drawn
towar d, and what we will do almost anything to avoid. It
explains the mystery of our attractions and our r epulsions
and deter mines what we will love and what we will judge
and criticize. Our shadow inﬂuences what race or class of
people we will appr ove of or r elate to, whether we will be
religious or an atheist, what party we will vote with, and
which causes we will support and which we will ignor e. It
tells us how much money we ar e entitled to ear n and
deter mines whether we spend it wisely or piss it away. It is
our shadow, our hidden self, that dictates how much
success we’r e entitled to cr eate or how much failur e we’r e
doomed to e xperience. The shadow deter mines the degr ee
of car e or neglect we give our body, the amount of e xtra
weight we car ry around our belly, and the level of pleasur ewe allow ourselves to feel, give, and r eceive. The shadow
casts us into pr eassigned r oles that we blindly follow in
everything fr om work to love. Unbeknownst to us, the
shadow is the author of a pr ewritten script that springs into
action in times of fear, pain, or conﬂict or when we ar e just
going about our business on autopilot. If lef t une xamined,
our shadow will emer ge from the darkness to sabotage our
life when we least e xpect and want it. Our shadow deter mines whether we will r espect our
childr en and trust that they will gr ow up to be independent,
capable adults or whether we will try to mold them into
everything that we ar e not. When back ed into a cor ner, will
we lash out in rage or will we withdraw into venomous
silence? The shadow is an oracle that can pr edict all of our
behaviors and r eveal what mak es us the people we ar e
today. It decides whether we will be pr oductive, inspiring
members of society or invisible lost souls. When we e xpose
our dark side, we understand how our personal history
dictates the way we tr eat those ar ound us—and how we
treat ourselves. This is why it’s imperative that we unmask
it and understand it. T o do this, we must uncover what
we’ve hidden and befriend the very impulses and
characteristics that we abhor. Our shadow deter mines whether we will live a happy,
successful, and str ess-fr ee existence or whether we will
struggle with our ﬁnances, our r elationships, our car eer, our
temper, our integrity, our self -image, or an addiction. The I
Ching  tells us, “It is only when we have the courage to face
things e xactly as they ar e, without any self -deception or
illusion, that a light will develop out of events, by which the
path to success may be r ecognized.” Only in the pr esence of
an unwavering commitment to facing our demons does the
doorway to self -discovery open. We cannot jour ney into the dark side for a quick dip or an
afternoon liaison. T o understand our shadow completely
takes a willingness to let go of what we think we know. Ittakes the for ce of a caged lion to br eak open the cellar
doors that we ourselves chained closed many moons ago. The gr eat news is that we wer e bor n with a bur ning desir e to
evolve and gr ow, to open up, to e xpand and be whole. And I
am going to assert that we all have at least one place wher e
we secr etly desir e to be mor e, to have mor e, to e xperience
more. It is her e that our shadow is waiting patiently for us to
come r etrieve our power fr om the dark r ecesses of our
unconscious mind. When we ﬁrst come in contact with our dark side, our
initial instinct is to tur n away and our second is to bar gain
with it to leave us alone. Many of us have spent vast
amounts of time and money in an eﬀort to do just that. Ironically, it’s these hidden aspects and r ejected feelings
that need the most attention. When we lock ed away those
parts of ourselves we didn’t lik e, we unknowingly sealed
away our most valuable gif ts. The r eason for doing shadow
work is to become whole, to end our suﬀering, to stop hiding
from ourselves. Once we do this, we can stop hiding fr om
the rest of the world. We must embrace our shadow in or der to know the
freedom of living a transpar ent life, so that we feel fr ee
enough to invite others into our life—to let others know the
truth about our ﬁnances, our pastimes, and our r elationships
—without being gripped by the fear that our public persona
will come unraveled, e xposing the person we’ve been trying
hard not to be. When our pr ecious ener gy isn’t tied up in
hiding fr om or over compensating for our self -destructive
impulses, we ar e gifted with the clarity and the motivation
we need to build an unshak able foundation for an inspiring
futur e.
OUR DU ALISTIC SELFThe shadow lurks, deceives, hides, and cons us into
believing what we can and cannot do. It drives us to smok e,
gamble, drink, and eat that which mak es us feel bad the
next day. Our shadow gives rise to the hypocritical
behaviors that cause us to violate our personal boundaries
and our own integrity. It is a for ce that can only be r eckoned
with by bringing it into the


	success	on	your	journey	to	achieving	a	perpetual	state	of	health,
happiness,	and	vitality. CHAPTER	1

Gallstones	in	the	Liver:	A	Major	Health	Risk

Think	of	the	liver	as	a	large	city	with	thousands	of	houses	and	streets. There	are
underground	pipes	for	delivering	water,	oil,	and	gas. Sewage	systems	and	garbage	trucks
remove	the	city’s	waste	products. Power	lines	deliver	energy	to	the	homes	and	businesses. Factories,	transport	systems,	communication	networks,	and	stores	meet	the	daily
requirements	of	the	residents. The	organization	of	city	life	is	such	that	it	can	provide	all
that	it	needs	for	the	continued	existence	of	the	population. But	if	a	major	strike,	a	power
outage,	a	devastating	earthquake,	or	a	major	act	of	terrorism,	such	as	the	one	we	witnessed
in	New	York	City	on	September	11,	2001,	suddenly	paralyzes	city	life,	the	population	will
begin	to	suffer	serious	shortcomings	in	all	these	vital	sectors. Like	a	city’s	infrastructure,	the	liver	has	hundreds	of	different	functions	and	is
connected	with	every	part	of	the	body. Every	moment	of	the	day,	it	is	involved	in
manufacturing,	processing,	and	supplying	vast	amounts	of	nutrients. These	nutrients	feed
the	60	to	100	trillion	inhabitants	(cells)	of	the	body. Each	cell	is,	in	itself,	a	microscopic
city	of	immense	complexity,	with	billions	of	chemical	reactions	per	second. To	sustain	the
incredibly	diverse	activities	of	all	the	cells	of	the	body	without	disruption,	the	liver	must
supply	them	with	a	constant	stream	of	nutrients,	enzymes,	and	hormones. With	its	intricate
labyrinth	of	veins,	ducts,	and	specialized	cells,	the	liver	needs	to	be	completely
unobstructed	in	order	to	maintain	a	problem-free	production	line	and	frictionless
distribution	system	throughout	the	body. The	liver	is	the	main	organ	responsible	for	distributing	and	maintaining	the	body’s
“fuel”	supply. Furthermore,	its	activities	include	the	breaking	down	of	complex	chemicals
and	the	synthesis	of	protein	molecules. The	liver	acts	as	a	cleansing	device;	it	also
deactivates	hormones,	alcohol,	and	medicinal	drugs. Its	task	is	to	modify	these
biologically	active	substances	so	that	they	lose	their	potentially	harmful	effects—a	process
known	as	detoxification. Specialized	cells	in	the	liver’s	blood	vessels	(Kupffer	cells)	mop
up	harmful	elements	and	infectious	organisms	reaching	the	liver	from	the	gut. The	liver
excretes	the	waste	materials	resulting	from	these	actions	via	its	bile	duct	network. A	healthy	liver	receives	and	filters	3	pints	of	blood	per	minute	and	produces	1	to	1. 5
quarts	of	bile	every	day. This	ensures	that	all	the	activities	in	the	liver	and	in	the	rest	of	the
body	run	smoothly	and	efficiently. Obstructive	gallstones	greatly	undermine	the	liver’s
ability	to	detoxify	any	externally	supplied	and	internally	generated	harmful	substances	in
the	blood. These	stones	also	prevent	the	liver	from	delivering	the	proper	amounts	ofnutrients	and	energy	to	the	right	places	in	the	body	at	the	right	time. This	upsets	the
delicate	balance	in	the	body,	known	as	“homeostasis,”	thus	leading	to	disruption	of	its
systems	and	undue	stress	on	its	organs. A	clear	example	of	such	a	disturbed	balance	is	an	increased	concentration	of	the
endocrine	hormones
estrogen
	and
aldosterone
	in	the	blood. These	hormones,	produced	in
both	men	and	women,	are	responsible	for	the	correct	amount	of	salt	and	water	retention. When	stones	congest	the	gallbladder	and	the	liver’s	bile	ducts,	these	hormones	may	not	be
sufficiently	broken	down	and	detoxified. Hence,	their	concentration	in	the	blood	rises	to
abnormal	levels,	causing	tissue	swelling	and	water	retention. Most	oncologists	consider
elevated	estrogen	levels	to	be	the	leading	cause	of	breast	cancer	among	women. In	men,
high	levels	of	this	hormone	can	lead	to	both	excessive	development	of	breast	tissue	and
weight	gain. Over	60	percent	of	the	American	population	is	overweight	or	obese. Men,	women,	and
children	in	this	condition	suffer	mainly	from	fluid	retention	(with	relatively	minor	fat
accumulation). The	retained	fluids	help	trap	and	neutralize	noxious	substances	that	the
liver	can	no	longer	remove	from	the	body. This	helps	the	overweight	or	obese	person	to
survive	a	major,	possibly	fatal,	toxicity	crisis	such	as	a	heart	attack,	septic	poisoning,	or
massive	infection. The	side	effect	of	fluid	retention	in	the	tissues,	however,	is	that	it
causes	these	toxins	and	other	harmful	waste	matter	(metabolic	waste	and	dead	cell
material)	to	accumulate	in	various	parts	of	the	body	and	further	congest	the	pathways	of
circulation	and	elimination. Wherever	in	the	body	the	storage	capacity	for	toxins	and
waste	is	exceeded,	symptoms	of	illness	begin	to	occur. Cleansing	the	liver	and	gallbladder	from	all	accumulated	stones	(see
Figures	1a
	and
1b
)
helps	to	restore	homeostasis,	balances	weight,	and	sets	the	precondition	for	the	body	to
heal	itself. The	liver	cleanse	is	also	one	of	the	best	precautionary	measures	you	can	take	to
protect	yourself	against	nearly	every	kind	of	illness,	known	or	unknown. Figure	1a
:	Flushed-out	gallstones

Figure	1b
:	Flushed-out	gallstones

If	you	suffer	any	of	the	following	symptoms,	or	similar	conditions,	you	most	likely
have	numerous	gallstones	in	your	liver	and	gallbladder:
Low	appetite
Food	cravings	Digestive	disorders
Diarrhea
Constipation
Clay-colored	stool
Hernia
Flatulence
Hemorrhoids
Dull	pain	on	the	right	side
Difficulty	breathing
Liver	cirrhosis
Hepatitis
Most	infections
High	cholesterol
Pancreatitis
Heart	disease
Brain	disorders
Duodenal	ulcers
Nausea	and	vomiting
A	“bilious”	or	angry	personality
Depression
Impotence
Other	sexual	problems
Prostate	diseases
Urinary	problems
Hormonal	imbalances
Menstrual	and	menopausal
disorders
Problems	with	vision
Puffy	eyes
Any	skin	disorder
Liver	spots,	especially	those	on
the	back	of	the	hands	and
facial	area
Dizziness	and	fainting	spells
Loss	of	muscle	tone
Excessive	weight	or	wasting
Strong	shoulder	and	back	pain
Pain	at	the	top	of	a	shoulder
blade	and/or	between	the
shoulder	blades
Dark	color	under	the	eyes
Morbid	complexion
Tongue	that	is	glossy	or	coated
in	white	or	yellow
Scoliosis
Gout	Frozen	shoulder
Stiff	neck
Asthma
Headaches	and	migraines
Tooth	and	gum	problems
Yellowness	of	the	eyes	and	skin
Sciatica
Numbness	and	paralysis	of	the
legs
Joint	diseases
Knee	problems
Osteoporosis
Obesity
Chronic	fatigue
Kidney	diseases
Cancer
Multiple	sclerosis	and
fibromyalgia
Alzheimer’s	disease
Cold	extremities
Excessive	heat	and	perspiration
in	the	upper	part	of	the
body
Very	greasy	hair	and	hair	loss
Cuts	or	wounds	that	keep
bleeding


 The truth is, they are
something mor e. No one is anything less than the per fect
Son of God, and when we fall in love, we have an instant
when we see the total truth about someone. They are
perfect. That’s not just our imagination. But the craziness sets in quickly. As soon as the light
appears, the ego begins its powerful drive to shut it out. Allof a sudden, the perfection we glanced on the spiritual
planes becomes pr ojected onto the physical. Instead of
realizing that spiritual perfection and physical, material
imperfection e xist simultaneously, we start looking for
material, physical perfection. W e think someone’s spiritual
perfection isn’t enough. They have to have perfect clothes
as well. They have to be hip. They have to dazzle. And so no
one gets to be a human being anymor e. We idealize one
another, and when someone doesn’t live up to the ideal,
we’re disappointed. Rejecting another human being simply because they ar e
human, has become a collective neur osis. P eople ask,
“When will my soul mate get her e?” But praying for the
right person is useless if we’r e not r eady to r eceive him. Our
soul mates ar e human beings, just lik e we ar e, going
through the nor mal pr ocesses of gr owth. No one is ever
“ﬁnished.” The top of one mountain is always the bottom of
another, and even if someone meets us when we feel “ on
top” of things, the chances ar e good that very soon we’ll be
going thr ough something that challenges us. It is our
commitment to gr owth that mak es this inevitable. But the
ego doesn’t lik e the look of people when they’r e “going
through things.” It’s unattractive. As in every other ar ea, the
problem in r elationships is rar ely that we haven’t had
wonderful opportunities or met wonderful people. The
problem is, we haven’t known how to tak e the gr eatest
advantage of the opportunities we’ve had. Sometimes we
didn’t r ecognize at the time how wonderful those people
were. Love is all ar ound us. The ego is the block to our
awar eness of love’s pr esence. The idea that ther e is a
perfect person who just hasn’t ar rived yet is a major block. Our vulnerability to the myth of “Mr. Right” stems fr om
our gloriﬁcation of r omantic love. The ego uses r omantic
love for its “special” purposes, leading us to jeopar dize ourrelationships by overvaluing their r omantic content. The
diﬀer ence between a friendship and a r omance can be
illustrated with the image of a long-stemmed r ose. The stem
is the friendship; the blossom the r omance. Because the ego
is sensation- oriented, our focus automatically goes to the
blossom. But all the nourishment that the blossom needs in
order to live, r eaches it thr ough the stem. The stem might
look boring in comparison, but if you tak e the blossom oﬀ
the stem it will not last for long. I shar ed that image in a
lectur e once, and a woman then added a lovely thought: A
long-ter m romance is lik e a rose bush. In any given season,
a blossom might fall oﬀ. But if the plant is well nourished,
then the season will come ar ound again, and new blossoms
appear. The disappearance of r omantic fervor doesn’t
necessarily spell the end of a wonderful relationship, e xcept
to the ego. The Spirit can see the seeds of r ebirth in any
patter n of decline. A Course in Miracles  says it is ‘not our job to seek for
love, but to seek for all the bar riers we hold against its
coming.’ Thinking that ther e is some special person out
there who is going to save us is a bar rier to pur e love. It is a
large gun in the ego’s arsenal. It is a way the ego tries to
keep us away fr om love, although it doesn’t want us to see
that. W e seek desperately for love, but it is that same
desperation that leads us to destr oy it once it gets her e.
Thinking that one special person is going to save us tempts
us to load an awful lot of emotional pr essur e on whoever
comes along that we think might ﬁt the bill. We don’t have to r emind God that we’d lik e wonderful
relationships. He’s alr eady clear about that. A Course in
Miracles  teaches us that a desir e is a prayer. The most
enlightened prayer isn’t “ Dear God, send me someone
wonderful,” but, “ Dear God, help me r ealize that I am
someone wonderful.” Y ears ago I would pray for a wonderfulman to come and tak e my desperation away. Ultimately I
said to myself, “Why don’t you try to deal with that befor e
he gets her e?” I can’t imagine any man saying to a friend,
“Gee, I met a fabulous desperate woman last night!”
Looking for Mr. Right leads to desperation because ther e is
no Mr. Right. Ther e is no Mr. Right because ther e is no Mr. Wrong. Ther e is whoever is in fr ont of us, and the perfect
lessons to be lear ned fr om that person. If your heart’s desir e is for an intimate partner, the Holy
Spirit might send someone who isn’t the ultimate intimate
partner for you, but rather something better : someone with
whom you ar e given the opportunity to work thr ough the
places in yourself that need to be healed befor e you’r e
ready  for the deepest intimacy. The belief in special love
leads us to discount anything we don’t see as “ultimate
relationship” material. I’ve overlook ed some diamonds that
way, failing to tak e advantage of situations that would have
only served to speed up my gr owth. W e sometimes fail to
work on ourselves in the r elationships that ar e right in fr ont
of us, thinking that “ real life” begins when they get her e.
This is just a ploy of the ego once again, making sur e that
we’ll seek but not ﬁnd. The pr oblem with not taking
relationships seriously if they don’t feel lik e “Mr. Right” is
this: Every once in a while, Mr. Right gets her e—he
sometimes even appears as Mr. Wrong transfor med—but we
blow it because we’r e not in practice. He’s her e, but we’r e
not ready. We haven’t been working on ourselves. W e wer e
waiting for Mr. Right. A Course in Miracles  says that one day we will r ealize
that nothing occurs outside our minds. How a person seems
to show up for us is intimately connected to how we choose
to show up for them. I have lear ned that my most
productive r esponses in r elationships come not fr om my
focus on the particulars about another person, but ratherfrom my commitment to playing my own r ole in the
relationship on as high a level as I’m capable. L ove is a
participatory emotion. In a holy r elationship, we tak e an
active r ole in cr eating the conte xt in which the interaction
can unfold most constructively. We actively cr eate the
conditions of inter est, rather than passively waiting ar ound
to see whether or not we’r e inter ested. No one is always gor geous. No one is always se xy. But
love is a decision. W aiting to see whether someone is good
enough is childish, and it is bound to mak e the other person
feel on some level as though they’r e auditioning for the
part. In that space, we feel nervous, and when we’r e
nervous, we’r e not at our best. The ego is looking for
someone attractive enough to support. The matur e and
miracle-minded among us support people in being
attractive. P art of working on ourselves, in or der to be r eady
for a pr ofound r elationship, is lear ning how to support
another person in being the best that they can be. P artners
are meant to have a priestly r ole in each other’s lives. They
are meant to help each other access the highest parts
within themselves. I’ve been with men who never seemed to think I was
good enough. I’ve also been with men who wer e smart
enough to say, “Y ou look beautiful tonight” of ten enough for
it to bolster my self -esteem and help me show up for life in
a mor e beautiful way. None of us ar e really objectively
attractive or unattractive. Ther e is no such thing. Ther e are
people who manifest the potential for sparkle that we all
share, and those who don’t. Those who do ar e usually
people who some wher e along the line, either fr om par ents
or


ough  the bod y, not away from it. Thi s is why
no tr ue master h as ever advocated fighting or leaving the body, although
their mind-based followers often have. Of the ancient teachings concerning the body, only certain fragments
survive, such as Jesus’ s statement that “your whole body will be filled
with ligh t,” or they survive as m yths, such as the belief that Jesus never
relinquished his  body but remained one with it and ascen ded into
“heaven” with it. Almost no one to this day has understood those
fragments or the hidden meanin g of certain myths, and the “you are not
your body” belief has prevailed universally, leading to body denial and
attempts to escape from the b ody. Countless seekers have thus been
prevented from attaining spi ritual realization for themsel ves and
becoming finders. Is it pos sible to r ecover the lost teachings on the significance of  the body
or to r econstruct them fr om the existing fragments. There is no need for that. All spiritual teachings originate from the same
Source. In that sense, there is and always has been only one master, who
manifests in many dif ferent form s. I am that master, and so are you, once
you are able to a ccess the Source within. And the way to it is thr ough the
inner body. Although all spiritual teachings originate from the same
Source, once they become v erbalized and written down they are
obviously no more than collections of words — and a word is nothing
but a signpost,  as we talked about earlier. All such teachings are
signposts pointing the way back to the Source. I h ave already s poken of the T ru th that is hidden within your body, but I
will sum marize for you again the lost teachings of the masters — so here
is an other signpost. Please ende avor to feel your inner body as you read
or listen. SERMON ON THE BODY
What you perceive as a dense physical structure called the body, which is
subject to disease, old age, and d eath, is not ultimately real — is not you. It is a m isperception of your e ssential reality that is beyond birth and
death, a nd is due to the limita tions of your mind, which, ha ving lost
touch w ith Bein g, creates the b ody as evidence of its illusory belief in
separation and to justify its stat e of fear. But do not turn away from the
body, for within that symbol of impermanence, limitation, and death that
you per ceive as the illusory creation of your mind is concealed the
splendor of your essential and immortal reality. Do not turn your
attention elsewhere in your search for the T ruth, for it is nowhere else to
be found but within your body. Do n ot fight ag ainst the body, for in doing so you are fighting against
your own reality. Y ou ar e  you r body. The body that you can see and
touch is  only a thin illusory ve il. Underneath it lies the invisi ble inner
body, the doorway into Being, into Life Unmanifested. Through the
inner body, you are inseparably connected to this unmanifested One Life
— b irthless, deathless, eternally  present. Through the inner body, you are
forever one with God. HA VE DEEP ROOTS WITHIN
The key  is to be  in a state of permanent connectedness with y our inner
body — to feel  it at all times. This will rapidly deepen and transform
your life. The more consciousness you direct into the inner body, the
higher i ts vibrational frequency  becomes, much like a light that grows
brighter as you turn up the dimmer switch and so increase the  flow of
electricity. At this higher ener gy level, negativity cannot af fect you
anymore, and you tend to attr act new circumstances that reflect this
higher frequency. If you keep your attention in the body as much as possible, you will be
anchored in the Now. Y ou won’ t lose yourself in the external w orld, and
you won’ t lose y ourself in your mind. Thoughts and emotions, fears and
desires, may still be there to some extent, but they won’ t take you over. Please examine where your attention is at this moment. Y ou are listening
to me, or you are reading these words in a book. That is the focus of your
attention. Y ou are also periphe rally aware of your surroundings, other
people, and so on. Furthermore, there may be some mind activity around
what you are hearing or reading, some mental commentary. Y et there is
no need for any of this to absorb all  your attention. See if you can be in
touch with your inner body at the same time. Keep some of your
attention within. Don’ t let it all flow out. Feel your whole bo dy from
within, a s a single field of ener g y. It is almost as if you were listening or
reading with your whole body. Let this be your practice in the days and
weeks to come. Do n ot g ive all your attention away to the mind and the external world. By all means focus on what you  are doing, but feel the inner body at the
same tim e whenever possible. Stay rooted within. Then observe how this
changes your state of consciou sness and the quality of what you are
doing. Whenever you are waiting, whe rever it may be, use that time to  feel the
inner body. In t his way, traf fic jams and lines become very e njoyable. Instead of mentally projecting yourself away from the Now, go more
deeply into the Now by going more deeply into the body. The art of inner -body awareness  will develop into a completely new way
of li ving, a state  of permanent c onnectedness with Being, and will add a
depth to your life that you have never known before. It is  easy to stay present as th e observer of your mind when  you are
deeply rooted within your body. No matter what happens on the outside,
nothing can shake you anymore. Unless you stay present — and inhabiting your body is al ways an
essential aspect of it — you wi ll continue to be run by your m ind. The
script in your head that you learned a long time ago, the conditioning of
your mind, will dictate your thinking and your behavior. Y ou may be free
of it  for brief intervals, but rarely for long. This is especially true when
something “goes  wrong” or ther e is some loss or upset. Y our co nditioned
reaction will then be involuntar y, automatic, and predictable, fueled by
the one basic emotion that underlies the mind-identified state of
consciousness: fear. So w hen such challenges come, as they always do, make it a habit to go
within at once a nd focus as muc h as you can on the inner ener gy field of
your bod y. This  need not take long, just a few seconds. But you need to
do it  the  momen t that the challe nge presents itself. Any delay w ill allow
a co nditioned mental-emotional reaction to arise and take y ou over. When you focus within and feel the inner body, you immediately become
still and  present as you are withdrawing consciousness from the mind. If
a r esponse is required in that situation, it will come up from th is deeper
level. Ju st as the sun is infinite ly brighter than a candle flame, there is
infinitely more intelligence in Being than in your mind. As long as you are in conscious contact with your inner body, you are
like a tree that is deeply rooted in the earth, or a building with a deep and
solid fo undation. The latter analogy is used by Jesus in the generally
misunderstood p arable of the two men who build a house. One man
builds it  on the sand, without a foundation, and when the sto rms and
floods come, the house is swept away. The other man digs deep  until he
reaches the rock, then builds his house, which is not swept awa y by the
floods. BEFORE YOU ENTER THE BODY, FORGIVEI f elt very uncomfortable when I tried to put my attention on the inner
body. Th er e wa s a feeling of agitation and some nausea. So I haven’ t
been able to experience what you ar e talking about. What you felt was a lingering emotion that you were probably  unaware
of, u ntil you star ted putting some attention into the body. Unless you first
give it some atte ntion, the emotion will prevent you from gaining access
to the inner body, which lies at a deeper level underneath it. Attention
does not mean that you start thinking  about it. It means to just observe
the emotion, to feel it fully, and so to acknowledge and accept i t as it is. Some emotions are easily identi fied: anger, fear, grief, and so on. Others
may be much harder to label. They may just be vague feelings o f unease,
heaviness, or constriction, halfw ay between an emotion and a physical
sensation. In any case, what matters is not


 to 100 mEq/day of this mineral. In the blood, norm al K+ levels
range from 3.8 to 5.5 mEq/liter (mmol/L). Vital to maintain ing electrical conduction within the cardiac and skeletal
muscles, K+ is affected by variations in the secretion of adrenal steroid
hormones and by fluctuations in pH, serum glucose levels, and serum
sodium levels. A reciprocal relationship exists between K+ and Na+; the
substantial intak e of one causes a corresponding decrease in the other. Although the body readily conserves sodium, potassium deficiency may
develop rapidly and is quite common, because there is no efficient method
for conserving potassium. The laboratory test for serum potassium is used to evaluate clinical signs
of either potassium excess (hyperkalemia)  or potassium depletion
(hypokalemia). It also monitors kidney function, acid-base balance, and
glucose metabo lism, and evaluates arrhythmias, neuromuscular disorders,
and endocrine disorders. Hyperkalemia is common in patients with
excessive cellular K+ entering the blood as in cases of burns, crushing
injuries, diabetic ketoacidosis, and myocardial infarction. It will also be
present where there is reduced sodium excretion from renal failure that
causes an abnor mal Na+-K+ exchange and in Addison’ s disease caused by
the absence of aldosterone, with consequent K+ buildup and Na+ depletion. Note: Although elevated serum potassium is uncommon in Gerson
Therapy patients, if it does occur, supplemental potassium should be
reduced or temporarily discontinued. Then the consulting Gerson-trained
physician should immediately be consulted. The signs and symptoms of hyperkalemia are weakness, malaise, nausea,
diarrhea, colicky pain, muscle irritability progressing to flaccid paralysis,
oliguria, and bradycardia. An electrocardiogram (EKG) reveals a prolonged
PR interval; wide QRS; tall, tented T wave; and ST depression. Indications
of hypokalemia are decreased reflexes; rapid, weak, irregular pulse; mentalconfusion; hypo tension; anorexia; muscle weakness; and paresthesia. The
EKG shows a flattened T wave, ST depression, and U wave elevation. In
severe cases of hypokalemia, ventricular fibrillation, respiratory paralysis,
and cardiac arrest could occur. THE SERUM  CHLORIDE  LABORA TORY TEST
The laboratory test for serum chloride, another quantitative analysis, is a
measurement of blood levels of the chloride ion (Cl-), the major
extracellular fluid anion. Interacting with Na+, Cl- helps maintain the
osmotic pressure, blood volume, arterial pressure, and acid-base balance. Chloride is absorbed from the intestines and is excreted prim arily by the
kidneys. By evaluating the body’ s fluid status, the serum chloride laboratory test
detects two types of fluid imbala nces, acid-base (acidosis and alkalosis) and
extracellular cation-anion. Normally serum chloride levels range from 100
to 108 mEq/liter (mmol/L). Maintaining a normal amount of chloride in the
blood reflects acid-base balance by its inverse relationship to bicarbonate. Excessive loss of gastric juices or other secretions containing chloride may
cause hypochloremic metabolic alkalosis or excessive chloride retention. Ingesting it may lead to hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis. Elevated serum chloride levels (hyper chlor emia ) can come on from
severe dehydration, complete renal shutdown, head injury (which produces
neurogenic hyperventilation), and primary aldosteroism. Manifestations
consist of stupor, rapid and deep breathing, and weakness that leads to
coma. A situation of low chloride levels in the blood (hypochlor emia)  is
associated with reduced blood sodium and potassium levels coming from
prolonged vomiting, gastric suctioning, intestinal fistula, chronic renal
failure, or Addison’ s disease. Congestive heart failure, or edema resulting in
excess extracel lular fluid, can cause dilutional hypochlo remia. The
indications are hypertonicity of muscles, tetany, and depressed respirations. THE LACTIC  DEHYDROGENASE  (LDH) L ABORA TORY TESTThe laboratory test for lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) is a measurement of
five specific isoenzymes which catalyze the reversible conversion of
pyruvic acid present in all muscles of the body into lactic acid. Many
common diseases—myocardial infarction (MI), pulmonary infarction,
anemias, liver disease, kidney disease, erythrocytic damage, and others—
cause elevations  in total lactic dehydrogenase, and the LDH laboratory test
is useful for dif ferentiating between them. The five identified isoenzymes in lactic dehydrogenase are LDH1 and
LDH2 appeari ng in the heart, red blood cells, and kidneys; LDH3 in the
lungs; and LDH4 and LDH5 in the liver and the skeletal muscles. Testing
for these  enzymes is especially appropriate for the delayed measurement of
creatine phosphokinase (CPK) associated with MI and for monitoring
patient respons e to some forms of chemotherapy. Total LDH levels
normally range from 48 to 115 U/L. Normal distribution of the five
isoenzymes is as follows:

LDH1: 17.5% to 28.3% of total
LDH2: 30.4% to 36.4% of total
LDH3: 19.2% to 24.8% of total
LDH4: 9.6% to 15.6% of total
LDH5: 5.5% to 12.7% of total

Since a vast number of illnesses involve the enzymes of LDH, this
laboratory test for lactic dehydrogenase is broadly employed for
establishing diagnoses. THE ASPARTATE TRANSAMINASE /SERUM  GLUT AMIC -OXALOACETIC
TRANSAMINASE  (AST/SGOT) L ABORA TORY TEST
The laboratory blood examination for aspartate transaminase and serum
glutamic-oxaloacetic (AST/SGOT) is a measurement of specific amino acid
residues left behind by nitrogenous portions of the metabolized aminoacids. Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) is found in the cytoplasm and
mitochondria of many tissue cells, primarily in the liver, heart, skeletal
muscles, kidneys, pancreas, and red blood cells. AST is released  into blood serum in proportion to cellular damage, and
its detection (together with creatine phosphokinase and lactate
dehydrogenase) indicates myocardial infarction. The test also helps in the
diagnosis of acute liver diseas e. It monitors patient progress in healing. AST adult serum  levels range from 8 to 20 U/L. Normal values for infants
are four times higher. Maximum eleva tions of AST are associated with viral hepatitis, severe
skeletal muscle trauma, extensive surgery, drug-induced liver injury, and
passive liver congestion. Levels ranging from 10 to 20 times normal may
indicate severe MI, severe infectious mononucleosis, and alcoholic
cirrhosis. Moderate-to-high levels ranging from 5 to 10 times normal
indicate Duche nne muscular dystrophy, dermatomyositis, and chronic
hepatitis, along with prodromal and resolving stages of diseas es. Low-to-
moderate levels  of 2 to 5 times normal may show hemolytic anemia,
metastatic liver tumors, acute pancreatitis, pulmonary emboli, alcohol
withdrawal syndrome, fatty liver, and the first stages of biliary duct
obstruction. THE SERUM  BILIRUBIN  LABORA TORY TEST
The laboratory test for serum bilirubin, the main product of hemoglobin
catabolism, is a measurement of bile pigment which indicates the state of
health of the liver and gallbladder. After being formed in the retic-
uloendothelial cells, bilirubin is bound to albumin and then transported to
the liver, where it’s conjugate d with glucuronic acid to form bilirubin
glucuronide and bilirubin diglucuronide. These two compounds are then
excreted in bile. Measurement of indirect or prehepatic (unconjugated)
bilirubin helps to evaluate hepatobiliary and erythropoietic functions. The serum bilirubin laboratory test showing elevated levels often
indicates liver damage in which the parenchymal cells can no longer
conjugate bilirubin with glucuronide. Then indirect bilirubin reenters the
bloodstream. Also, an elevated reading alerts the health professional to the
possibility of severe hemolytic  anemia. This test aids in the differentialdiagnosis of jaundice, biliary obstruction, and dangerous levels of
unconjugated bilirubin. Normally in an adult, indirect serum bilirubin measures 11 mg/d L or less;
direct serum bilirubin of less than 0.5 mg/dL). Neonates have total serum
bilirubin ranging from 1 to 12 mg/d


 been any form of life-changing experience,
good or bad, that cracked open the heart and led to greater wisdom. It might
have been an almost eerie experience of simply knowing something, though
we couldn’t explain why. No matter what form our initial awakening took,
we reme mber it as something that formed a crack in our resistance and
signaled the arrival of somethin g new. It was that something that awakened
us from our sleep and led us to the “roof” of our higher mind. Mary was to tell no one, and neither are we. The birth of new life is a
mysterious process, whether it’s the birth of a child or the birth  of a better
self. The period of gestation requires nourishment and care. We have an
instinctive understanding that certain ideas should stay within us, protected
from outside exposure until they’re ready to be brought forth. The spiritual
life is difficult to cultivate amid the clanging clamor of the modern world. Not just within Mary, but also within us, the newborn Christ needs
protection. It isn’t safe in this society to talk about our spiritual lives in just
any old setting. Conscious frien dships, therapists, and spiritual or religious
counselors offer protected spaces. Outside those, it can be emotionally
treacherous to share our deepest feelings about the inner life. And what is being born from deep within us is the power that will save
the world. Mary represents a facet of consciousness often referr ed to as the
“divine feminine,” a long-suppressed dimension of both self and society
that is desperate ly needed now. “This is what is meant by ‘the meek shall
inherit the earth. ’  They will literally take it over because of their strength”*
(T-20). Mary’ s powers of kindness, gentleness, tenderness, nurturing,
bravery, understanding, and mystery—and most of all, her endurance amid
the deepest grief—are all aspects of self that will help us build a more
sustainable world. Like Mary, we too feel the stirring of new life within us. Like her, we
keep these things within us and we ponder them in our hearts. The whisperof angels is a deeply personal thing. Sometimes it’s insight, the intuitional
hits we get in the middle of the night. Some mysterious force is
encouraging us to be better, to do better, than we have ever been or done
before. We have a feeling that changes are coming and that we have some
work to do. The future of the world depends on our doing it. It will take more than
physical acts of procreation to perpetuate the life of humanity now; it will
take an evolution of human consciousness, a collective wisdo m that does
not yet exist on a massive scale. And just as physical life gestates within the
body, wisdom gestates within the mind. We must be and do differently now
in order for the species to survive. The ego, of course, will have none of that. Herod—the ego writ large—
is always on the lookout. The ego jealously guards its power lest love take
primacy over its worldly interests. It seeks to invalidate and destroy all
expressions of love. Herod wasn ’t having any of it with that powerful baby
who was born to be King of the Jews. He would rather kill all the babies
than allow that one to live. Mary was obviously very vulnerable then, as all
of us feel when new life—whether physical or spiritual—grows within us. Where does our protection lie. It lies in Joseph, the “divine masculine,” the aspect of the psyche that
manages the material world. It makes sure we’re safe as we go through our
transformational process. Joseph received all the instruction he needed. He
was directed to take Mary to Egypt to protect her, just as we learn
appropriate self-care and the gifts of solitude. The land of Egypt means the
sacred self; we retreat to that place within us while the old order falls away,
incubating our powers until the hour when the culture is ready to receive it. Herod’ s edict to “kill all Jewish babies” means the ego’s desire to nip in
the bud any emer ging hope. Herod’ s sons represent newer generations of
egoic figures, always working to suppress the voices of those  who might
emer ge as a challenge to the old order. The voice of the mystic finds no
welcome in Herod’ s land, but God is with you. You will be delivered to the
manger, a very humble place within your heart. And there you will give
birth. Absolutely that birth is the salvation of the world. You, like Mary, give
birth to the Christ—anytime you enter the present free of the past and with
nothing in your heart but love. Worldly kings will get off their “high
horses” when they realize your power. And the light of your deeperunderstanding of things will help cast out the darkness  of the world. You
will be the same you, but a very different you. Something happened inside
you, and you are changed. The star pointing to the manger where Christ was born is a star that
shines within everyone’ s consci ousness, signaling to the mortal mind that
there is somepla ce else to go. We’ve lingered long enough in the regions of
darkness, thinki ng we are separate from God and from each other. The
delusions thereby manufactured are now threatening to destroy us. As children we learned about evolution. We learned that if a species
consistently behaves in maladaptive ways, it will either evolve or it will go
extinct. An evolutionary altern ative occurs when a mutation happens: a
member of the species demonstrates another way of behavior more aligned
with a survivable future for the species. Humanity’ s fear-based behavioral
patterns are now so maladapti ve that they are a threat to our survival. Humanity’ s current challenge is to survive itself. In order  to change our behavior, however, we will have to change our
minds. The mystic Jesus is a transformer of minds. He is an evolutionary
alternative, the self reborn out of darkness and into light. Mary gave birth to him with all her love. Now it’ s our turn. Dear God,
Please use me. May Y our spirit come over me and pr epare my heart. I surr ender to Y ou who and what I am,
that I might be a vessel of Y our love. Enter me and lift me up
that I might serve Y ou best. Amen
OceanofPDF. comMiracles
In the words of Albert Einstein, “We cannot solve our problems with the
same level of thinking that created them. ” There is a quantum field that lies
beyond the limits of the world as we understand it. Our rational mind
cannot grasp it fully, for it is beyond the understanding of the mortal mind. The heart, however, is totally at home there. Miracle-mindedness returns the mind to its proper function, which
means alignmen t with and service to love. The Mind of God is an infinite
ocean of loving thought, and when we think with love we are thinking with
God. The purpose of our lives is to learn to think as God thinks. Every thought is a cause that leads to an effect; the world is like a
screen onto which are projected the nature of our thoughts. The Law of
Cause and Effect was created for our protection, for as long as we think
with love, then love is reflected back to us. But that’s not what is going on here, at least not usually. Hum anity is
dominated by a loveless though t system, the ego’s playground, emer ging
from the mistaken thought that we are separate. The belief in separation
leads to all manner of chaos. Like a cancer cell that has disconnected from
its collaborative function, our thoughts are prone to separating themselves
from their divine purpose. That itself is the essential problem: we’ve been
infected by the malignant thoug ht that “it’s all about me. ” Thinking we are
separate, we then consistently attack what and whom we were born to love. The separation itself is an illusion of consciousness, for on the level of
the spirit there’ s no place where you start and I stop. We’re like waves in
the ocean thinking we are separate from other waves. Obviously, there is no
place where one wave stops and another wave starts. Yet think of the
psychological difference between thinking of yourself as a wave that is
separate from the rest of the ocean versus thinking of yourself as one with
it. If I think of myself as one wave separate from every other, how can I
not feel powerless in relation to the rest of the ocean. How can I not live in
constant fear of annihilation, terrified a wave that is bigger than me will
overwhelm me at any mome nt. Why would I not then defend my
separateness, believing that without it I will cease to exist. On the other hand, if I think of myself as one with the other waves, how
could I not feel safe and powerf ul. Identifying with the power of the ocean
itself, I have no reason to fear, because I know that I am part of it. Believing we are separate, yet knowing in our hearts that we are not, we
suffer. Our entire existence is a fixed double bind. We are left with no sense
of meaning, higher identity, or purpose. The world as we have come to


 to sleep and just after we awaken. I n this
state the negative thoughts, which tend to neutralize your desire and so
prevent acceptance by your subconscious mind, are no longer present. Suppose you want to get rid of a destructive habit. Assume a
comfortable posture, relax your body, and be still. Get into a sleepy
 78  state, and in that sleepy state, say quietly, over and over ag ain as a
lullaby, “I am completely free from this habit; harmony and pe ace of
mind reign supreme.” Repeat the above slowly, quietly, and lovingl y
for five or ten minute’s night and morning. Each time you repeat t he
words the emotional value becomes greater. When the urge comes t o
repeat the negative habit, repeat the above formula out loud by
yourself. By this means you induce the subconscious to accept th e
idea, and a healing follows. • The thank-you  technique
In the Bible, Paul recommends that we make known our requests
with praise and thanksgiving. Some extraordinary re-sults fo llow this
simple method of prayer. The thankful heart is always close to the
creative forces of the universe, causing count-less blessings  to flow
toward it by the law of reciprocal relation-ship, based on a  cosmic law
of action and reaction. For instance, a father promises his son a car for gradua-tion; the  boy
has not yet received the car, but he is very thank-ful and happy, a nd is
as joyous as though he had actually re-ceived the car. He knows hi s
father will fulfill his promise, and he is full of grati tude and joy even
though he has not yet received the car, objectively speaking. He has,
however, received it with joy and thankfulness in his mind. I shall illustrate how Mr. Broke applied this technique with
excellent results. He said, “Bills are piling up, I am out of work, I have
three children and no money. What shall I do?” Regularly every nig ht
and morning, for a period of about three weeks, he repeated the words,
“Thank you, Father, for my wealth,” in a relaxed, peaceful manne r
until the feeling or mood of thankful-ness dominated his mind. He
imagined he was addressing the infinite power and intelligence within
him knowing, of course, that he could not see the creative inte lligence
or infinite mind. He was seeing with the inner eye of spiri tual
perception, realiz-ing that his thought-image of wealth was t he first
cause, relative to the money, position, and food he needed. His
thought feeling was the substance of wealth untrammeled by
 79 antecedent conditions of any kind. By repeating, “Thank you, Father,”
over and over again, his mind and heart were lifted up to the poi nt of
acceptance, and when fear, thoughts of lack, poverty, and dis-tress
came into his mind, he would say, “Thank you, Father,” as often as
necessary. He knew that as he kept up the thankful attitude h e would
recondition his mind to the idea of wealth, which is what happened. The sequel to his prayer is very interesting. After prayi ng in the
abovementioned manner, he met a former employer of his on the
street whom he had not seen for twenty years. The man offered him a
very lucrative position and advanced him $500 on a temporary loan. Today, Mr. Broke is vicepresident of the company for which he
works. His recent remark to me was, “I shall never forget  the wonders
of ‘Thank you, Father.’ It has worked wonders for me.”
• The affirmative method
The effectiveness of an affirmation is determined largely by  your
understanding of the truth and the meaning back of the words, ³In
praying use not vain repetition.´ Therefore, the power of your
affirmation lies in the intelligent application of defin ite and specific
positives. For example, a boy adds three and three and puts down
seven on the blackboard. The teacher affirms with mathematic al
certainty that three and three are six; there-fore, the boy changes his
figures accordingly. The teacher’s statement did not make thre e and
three equal six because the latter was already a mathemati cal truth. The mathematical truth caused the boy to rearrange the figures  on the
blackboard. It is abnormal to be sick; it is normal to be healthy. Health
is the truth of your being. When you affirm health, harmony, and
peace for yourself or another, and when you realize these are unive rsal
principles of your own being, you will rearrange the negative patterns
of your subconscious mind based on your faith and understanding of
that which you affirm. The result of the affirmative process of prayer depends on y our
conforming to the principles of life, regardless of appear-a nces. 80  Consider for a moment that there is a principle of mathem atics and
none of error; there is a principle of truth but none of dishonesty. There is a principle of intelligence but none of ignorance; there is a
principle of harmony and none of discord. There is a principle o f
health but none of disease, and there is a principle of abundance  but
none of poverty. The affirmative method was chosen by the author for use on his
sister who was to be operated on for the removal of gall-stone s in a
hospital in England. The condition described was based on the
diagnosis of hospital tests and the usual X-ray pro-cedures. She asked
me to pray for her. We were separated geographically about  6,500
miles, but there is no time or space in the mind principle. Infinite mind
or intelligence is present in its entirety at every point simulta neously. I
withdrew all thought from the contemplation of symptoms and from
the corporeal personality altogether. I affirmed as follows : “This
prayer is for my sister Catherine. She is relaxed and at p eace, poised,
balanced, serene, and calm. The healing intelligence of her sub -
conscious mind, which created her body, is now transforming every
cell, nerve, tissue, muscle, and bone of her being according to t he
perfect pattern of all organs lodged in her subconscious mind. Silently,
quietly, all distorted thought patterns in her sub-conscious mind ar e
removed and dissolved, and the vitality, wholeness, and beauty of th e
life principle are made manifest in every atom of her being. She is
now open and receptive to the healing currents, which are flowing
through her like a river, restoring her to perfect health, harm ony, and
peace. All dis-tortions and ugly images are now washed away b y the
infinite ocean of love and peace flowing through her, and it is so.”
I affirmed the above several times a day, and at the end of  two
weeks my sister had an examination, which showed a re-markabl e
healing, and the X ray, proved negative. To affirm is to state that it is so, and as you maintain this attitude of
mind as true, regardless of all evidence to the con-trary, you will
receive an answer to your prayer. Your thought can only affirm, for
 81  even if you deny something, you are actually affirming the presence of
what you deny. Repeating an affirma-tion, knowing what you are saying and why
you are saying it, leads the mind to that state of consciousness where it
accepts that which you state as true. Keep on affirming t he truths of
life until you get the subconscious reaction, which satisfies. • The argumentative method
This method is just what the word implies. It stems from the
procedure of Dr. Phineas Parkhurst Quimby of Maine. Dr. Quimby, a
pioneer in mental and spiritual healing, lived and practiced in B elfast,
Maine, about one hundred years ago. A book called The Quimby
Manuscripts, published in 1921 by Thomas Y. Crowell Company,
New York City, and edited by Horatio Dresser, is available i n your
library. This book gives newspaper accounts of this man’s remarkable
results in prayer treatment of the sick. Quimby duplicated many of the healing miracles recorded in the
Bible. In brief, the argumentative method employed according  to
Quimby consists of spiritual reasoning where you convince the patie nt
and yourself that his sickness is due to his false belief, ground less
fears, and negative patterns lodged in his subconscious mind. You
reason it out clearly in your mind and convince your patient tha t the
disease or ailment is due only to a distorted, twisted patte rn of
thought, which has taken form in his body. This wrong belief in some
external power and external causes has now externalized itself  as
sickness, and can be changed by changing the thought patterns. You explain to the sick person that the basis of all heali ng is a
change of belief. You also point out that the subconscious mind
created the body and all its organs; therefore, it knows how t o heal it,
can heal it, and is doing so now as you speak. You argue in the
courtroom of your mind that the disease is a shadow of the mind based
on disease-soaked, morbid thought-imagery. You continue


 grits, cornmeal, even rice, processed grains of any and every kind, contain considerable fatty rubbish and cause choked arteries in varying degree. Some people have been using their own home mills to grind their own flour, and say they have had
some improvement, however where a person is trying to reduce very high blood pressure or avoid a surgical operation for choked arteries, the best thing to do is completely avoid flour and meal of any
and every kind, even homemade. Potatoes are a good s ubstitute for bread, and it has been found there is
no real problem in getting used to doing without bread. Since some people have notions about bread and flour being the indispensable "Staff of life" and so
forth, we should look at the true facts. Bread and flour as we know them were developed in the Middle
East only a few thousand years ago, and have become popular mostly in the industrialized nations. (Ref. "Flour for Man's Bread" by Storck & Teague, pub. 1952 by Univ. of Minn.) However, bread was
not adopted everywhere, for even today there are many parts of the world where the use of bread is mostly limited to the cities, notably in the Far East, tropical Africa and South America. Since there are
millions of happy well-fed people living today who do not eat flour or bread, it is very clear that it is
not necessary. Ready-to-eat cereals are made of finely ground flour and various other grains, so
must be considered stale food. 15. BRAN IN FLOUR AND CEREALS
   Bran is the brown outer coating of the wheat grain, and is a sort of Jekyll and Hyde
material. On the one hand it contains some worthwhile vitamins and protective
materials, but on the other it contains toxic substances which irritate the intestines,
produce stomach pains and diarrhea and have even been known to kill young children and baby animals. Bran occurs to some degree even in white flour as fine particles,
and gives whole wheat flour the brown color. Wheat grains can lie buried in the soil for several years and finally sprout, showing
the extremely durable and toxic properties of the bran coating in warding off soil
microbes. Bran is extremely durable and resistant to breakdown by organic action. For
this reason it can in finely ground form fall in the same class as fatty rubbish and play
a minor role in forming arteriosclerotic deposits. There are indications that yellow brown pigments from bran form accumulations in the body and have some bearing on
skin blemishes and the discoloration of old age. 16. QUALITY OF MEAT AND EGGS
   The flavor and health-giving power of these products and milk as well depend
greatly on how the producing livestock were cared for and fed. One can no more get
strength and health by eating products from run-down vitamin-deficient livestock than
borrow money from a pauper, for if the animal's body does not contain the necessary substances required to be healthy, it can not possibly give them to the human
consumer. It has been known for centuries that humans living on the products of poorly fed animals become weak and sickly. The eating quality of animal products due to feed alone can vary over a great range,
and the nutritional merits and freedom from fatty rubbish go hand in hand with the
eating quality. This is not surprising, for after all it is hardly possible to build a high quality product with shoddy materials. Nowadays most beef cattle, hogs, and chickens are fattened under confinement
feeding practices in which they are shut up in lots, pens, or cages and fed entirely upon stale stored feeds such as finely ground and pelletized grains, industrial by-
products, hay, and silage. These stale feeds contain large quantities of fatty rubbish
and the high quality health giving nutrients are mostly unavailable. Animals fed in
this way grow fast and become fat, but their disease resistance is low, and a great
many would sicken and die except for the anti-biotics and other drugs put in the feeds. In this way, animals can be cheaply raised, but the health giving power of their
products is low. The authorities have studied  the likelihood of drugs in the feed being
carried over into human food, but have overlooked the most important aspect, which is that the livestock products produced on drugged feeds often do not contain the
natural substances necessary to maintain health in the human consumer. It would be
better for the public if drugs were not used in livestock production so that the farmers
would have to feed the stock properly and weak animals would not live to be sold as food. Hogs raised by confinement feeding frequently are so weak they can hardly walk,
have poor thin fuzzy hair, diarrhea, sore eyes, and deformed jaws. The farmers know very well that they cannot feed their brood sows and hens in this way, for the babies
would be born or hatched dead, deformed, or so weak that most would die, so they
keep the prospective mothers in green fields of grass where they get fresh food. The
food faddists' idea that fertile eggs are be tter is correct, but not for the reason usually
given. The male chicken's fertilization of the hens has no food advantage, but it is the
green grass pasture on which breeding hens are kept that makes the difference. Many farmers seem to have forgotten that all livestock including chickens relish
tender green grass better than any other feed, and do best when eating it.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

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

STALE FOOD
-vs-
FRESH FOOD
BY ROBERT S. FORD
President, Magnolia Laboratory
 — MEMBER —
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE
AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF CEREAL CHEMISTS
THE INSTITUTE OF FOOD TECHNOLOGISTS
A. H. A. COUNCIL ON ARTERIOSCLEROSIS
AMERICAN OIL CHEMISTS' SOCIETY
P. M. P. CHAMBER OF COMMERCE
AMERICAN AGING ASSOCIATION
   AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION

DEDICATION
THIS WORK IS DEDICATED TO A BETTER LIFE FOR ALL

THIS BOOKLET IS AVAILABLE FROM MAGNOLIA LABORATORY
701 BEACH BLVD. — PASCAGOULA, MISS. — U. S.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>
Q: Who is the author of the book?,
A: Robert S. Ford
Q: What is the main cause of common arthritis, according to the author?,
A: The deterioration of the synovial membrane
Q: What is the author's explanation for the difference in the development of arteriosclerosis in the Masai and the Finnish people?,
A: The author attributes this to the fact that the Masai and Finnish people eat their meat and milk fresh, unlike the Finnish people who eat stale food.
Q: What is the author's advice for those who are experiencing sleep disturbances?,
A: The author suggests avoiding coffee, tea, and other stimulants four hours before bedtime, eating an early evening meal, and engaging in relaxing activities before sleep.
Q: What is the author's stance on the use of antibiotics in livestock production?,
A: The author suggests that it would be better for farmers to feed their animals fresh grass and green fields, rather than using antibiotics, in order to produce healthy and strong animals for food.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>Cattle
especially thrive on good grass above all,  and beef from grass and grain feeding
combined has a rich red color, fragrant golden yellow fat and a taste that is in a class
by itself. Eggs from chickens receiving gr een grass have brilliant orange colored
yolks that do not easily break in the pan, and a delicious flavor entirely different from the musty tasting confinement eggs. And oldtimers remember how good fresh country
pork used to taste, with its sweet aromatic fat, not slimy and rancid like commercial pork is today. It is still that good when the pigs are raised in green fields. Chicken
feeds now are such a fake that the mills even put in a yellow dye to imitate the skin appearance given by the yellow carotene vitamin normally in a healthy chicken. Feedlot beef often shows dark streaks of ro t in the center of the bones, and if the
segments of red meat are pulled apart one can see that the fibrous muscle sheaths have
already been turned brown by microbes, because the meat lacks the anti-microbic
defensive powers found in normal animals. Most livestock on the market today are like old-time sailors who have been eating stale food on a long sea voyage, weakened
and sickened by scurvy and beri-beri. The livers from confinement fed livestock are abnormal and show the depletion of
vital substances by their pale yellowish or pinkish color. Healthy livers are dark wine
red. This was evidently known in very early times, for weak and worthless creatures
were called "white livered" or "lily livered." The liver condition is a good indicator of quality. 17. SMOKED AND SALTED MEAT AND FISH
   Food scientists have published extensivel