 each other, they mutually
create each other as well. When Yin is dissipated, Blood  and Moisture
are depleted and Yang Qi loses its source. A person becomes weak,
fatigued, and has a lowere d resistance to stress. When Yang is
decient, vital functions like respiration, digestion, and circulation
are retarded, and the body is unable to generate Blood  and tissue.Again, a person becomes weak and tired with a poor ability to heal
and recover from infection s or injuries. A deciency of one
ultimately becomes a deciency of the other.
The stages of disease can also be understood according  to Yin-
Yang patterns. When a disease develops quickly, it is in the acute or
Yang stage. As the disease becom es chronic, it passes into the Yin
stage. Usually acute diseases aect the supercial functions or
surface of the body, where they encounter the rst line of defense,
the wei Qi. If the disease overwhelms the body’s resistance and
penetrates to deeper, second ary layers, the disease enters a Yin or
internal stage.  Regardless of where the disease is located or how
long it has existed, it can be classied according to its eects. If the
symptoms are very extreme or severe, the disease is considered an
excess illness, and excess belongs to Yang. If the symptoms are mild
or diuse, it is a deciency syndrome, which belongs to Yin.(see larger image)
OceanofPDF.comReading the Patterns: DiagnosisCHAPTER FIVE
READING THE  PATTERNS : DIAGNOSIS  THE
DOCTOR  AS DETECTIVE, AS ARTIST
Illnesses may be identical but the persons suering from them
are dierent. The … emotio ns and the … excesses aecting
people are not the same. Some people may be strong and others
weak as far as their Qi or the condition of their body is
concerned.…  One’s nature may be tough or soft, one’s sinews
and bones may be rm or brittle  … there are patient s who
suer in their heart from grief, and others who enjoy happ iness.
If one treats all those patients who appear to suer from one
identical illness with one and the same therapy, one may hit the
nature of the illness, but one’s approach may still be exactly
contraindicated by the inuences of Qi that determine the
condition of the individual patient’s body.…  Physicians
therefore must carefully take into account the dierences
among the people and only then decide whether the thera peutic
pattern they employ suits  … the individual constitution on the
basis of the criteria mentioned above.
Unpublished translation of text by Hsu Ta-ch’un in
1757, translated by Paul Unschuld and presented
in a lecture at the International Acupuncture
Symposium, San Francisco, March 30, 1987.
DIAGNOSIS IS THE FIRST STEP IN MEDICAL PROBLEM-SOLVING, ITS TASK IS to
organize a complex set of variables and interpret the relationships
among them. Traditional Chinese categories, techniques, and
objectives dier from what we are used to in the West. The
categories are drawn from Yin-Yang  and Five-Phase  concepts, thetechniques do not rely on technology, and the objective is to
formulate a picture of healthy and distorted patterns of function
rather than named diseases related to a single cause.
Like the detective, the doctor unravels mysteries and solves
problems by chasing leads, following hunches, and gathering
evidence. Information is collected, sifted, and classied according to
relevant categories, then interpreted to formulate a hypothesis.
Examination uncovers the raw data, and diagnosis explains what,
how, and why events occur red in order to determine appropriate
therapy.
Like the police artist who gathers bits of memory from witnesses
to sketch a composite drawing, so the doctor relies on history,
observation, and discussion. The artist incorporates the data into a
preconceived model of human form that shows how bones, muscles,
skin, and hair t together. With each new piece of information, the
drawing alters to more closely resemble the suspect. The doctor
employs the intuitive skills and logical techniques of both the artist
and detective, using theoretical constructs to organize and integrate
information.
It usually takes more than one construct to describe reality.
Diagnosis employs many distinct yet overlapping frames of
reference to establish the criteria and methods of assessment.
Chinese medicine, like Western medicine, searches for causes. The
dierence is that in Chinese medicine, causes are really descriptions
of underlying relationships rather than descriptions of material
agents or pathogens. The Five Adverse Climates  and Emotions  are
often translated into English  as “causative factors,” yet they do not
represent material things like bacteria or viruses. Instead they
describe groups of symptoms  and subjective states. There is no way
to detect or verify these pathogenic inuences excep t by their
manifestations. These phenomena are classied within the broad
parameters of Yin-Yang  and Five-Phase Theory. Greater
dierentiation is elaborated through the more specic concepts of
Qi, Moisture, and Blood, the Eight Guiding Principles, and the
functional models of the Five Organ Networks.Each set of diagnostic parameters provides one dimensio n of the
total picture, the way cameras on a movie set record the same scene
from a dierent angle. Each method conrms and validates the
others. These points of view parallel each other and interact through
their mutual correspondence to the fundamental concepts of Yin-
Yang and Five-Phase Theory. Like the editing room in which the
footage is spliced together, a diagnosis becomes one person’s
seamless moving story.
There are many possible combinations and permuta tions of
interacting variables. This chapter illustrates methods and
techniques of information gathering and the process by which a
complex array of symptoms, signs, and other characteristics is
interpreted.
CATEGORIES OF  STRESS AND THE  GENESIS OF  DISEASE
Efrem studied in China at the Kunming Railway Workers Hospital in
the midst of an icy winter. Because it was almost as cold indoors as
out, he took notes wearing gloves, periodically wrapping  his hands
around a hot cup of tea. A tense and downhearted young man
walked into the hospital acupuncture clinic complaining of
numbness and immobility on the left side of his face. The left corner
of his mouth drooped, interfering with his speech. Terse and
reticent, he appeared unhappy as well as worried about his
condition. He reported that he had spent much of the previous day
riding his motorcycle, whipp ed about by the harsh cold wind. The
doctor placed  needles in points corresponding to the areas of
paralysis, warming the area with a lighted moxa stick. She also
inserted needles on the top of his feet in a point on the Liver
meridian. Efrem asked why she included these distal points. She
replied that the young man felt angry and depressed following a
disagreement with his family and had torn o on his motorcycle to
relieve his frustration. She felt that his emotional state had
predisposed him to being injured by the cold wind. Treating theLiver channel would help to loosen the Qi that had become blocked
by prolonged frustration and unhappiness.
A disturbed emotional state, harsh weather, and imprudent
behavior comb ined to adversely aect the health of this young man
in Kunming. Generally, Chinese medicine recognizes emotions,
climate, and life-style as the primary sources of pathogenic stress.
Sudden changes in weather or prolonged exposure can leave the
body vulnerable to attack by wind, heat, dampness, dryness, and
cold. Intense, persistent or suppressed emotional reactions such as
anger, joy, rumination, sorrow, or fear can cause a disruption of the
circulation of Qi and Blood. Misuse of the body through overwork,
overuse of the senses, or prolonged sitting, lying, or standing wastes
the Qi and injures the Blood. Overindulgence in or neglect of dietary
and sexual needs depletes Vital Essence.
THE FIVE CLIMATES
The Five Climates  correspond to the cycle of the seasons. When a
person exhibit s internal response patterns analogous to external
climatic conditions, Chinese medicine postulates that a person has
that condition: that climate exists internally. Cold, for example,
makes things  contract. Contracted blood vessels constrict
circulation, chilling the body and producing a craving for warmth.
When symptoms correspond to those produced by cold, Chinese
medicine describes a person as manifesting a condition called Cold,
regardless of whether actual exposure to external cold caused the
condition. An adverse intern al climate can be unrelated to outside
weather. An inhabitant of the Antarctic can manifest a condition of
Dampness  when the air is dry or Heat in the dead of a ercely cold
winter.
Whenever specic “weather” starts to dominate the body milieu,
it can become a pathogenic stress. This may be both the source and
the outcome the root and the fruit, of imbalance. Usually a
multiplicity of factors contrib ute to the disease pattern in which oneexcess conditio n combines with another. There is not


 thoroughly water cress, placing it in salad bowl.
Cover with thinly sliced tart apple, placing pecan meats over
this, and cover with Hygia dressing.

CRESS AND CABBAGE SALAD.
 Cabbage,   Radishes,
 Water Cress,   Hygia Dressing.
Line salad bowl with finely sliced cabbage. Cover this
with water cress, and so on, until bowl is filled. Decorate with
tuliped radishes, and cover with dressing.

ASPARAGUS SALAD.
(Cress, Tomatoes, Asparagus Tips, Hygia Dressing.)
Cover platter with water cress, cover cress with thinly
sliced tomatoes and asparagus tips, cover this lightly with Hygia dressing and serve. NASTURTIUM SALAD.
Shred a head of lettuce, mingle with it a quantity of
nasturtium leaves. Wash both thoroughly, place in a salad
bowl and dot with nasturtium flowers. Serve with dressing.

CUCUMBER SALAD.
 Cucumbers,   Onions,
 Lettuce,   Oil or Dressing.
Slice cucumbers and onions, serve on lettuce leaf with oil
or dressing.

VEGETABLE SALAD.
 1 small Carrot,   A little Cabbage,
 A small piece of Green Pepper,  A few Radishes,
 1 White Turnip,   1 small Onion,
 A little Celery,  Lettuce,
Salad Dressing.
Grind or chop fine all vegetables. Serve on lettuce leaf
with salad dressing.

SPINACH SALAD.
 Spinach,   Mint,
 Onions,   Dressing.
Take a quart of young, tender spinach leaves with young
onions and a sprig of mint. Cut up fine and serve with salad
dressing.

NUT SALAD.
 Nuts,   Lettuce,
 Cucumbers,   Dressing.
Wash nice, crisp lettuce leaves. Place over them ground
nuts (pecan meats preferred) and finely cut fresh cucumbers,
and serve with salad dressing or olive oil.

CRESS AND CELERY SALAD.
Take equal parts of water cress and tender celery stalks
cut fine. Mix in a salad bowl and serve with Hygia dressing.

CELERY AND BRAZIL NUT SALAD.
 Brazil Nuts,   Celery Hearts,
Hygia Dressing,
Cut in very thin slices ½  pound large Brazil nuts. Prepare
in the same manner four or five very crisp celery hearts. Mix
and salt to taste. Dress this with a few white leaves of celery.
Serve with or without dressing.

MEXICAN SALAD.
 Tomatoes,   Olives,
 Peppers,   Dressing.
Peel and slice four good-sized tomatoes. Seed and chop
fine one small green pepper. Arrange these on lettuce leaves in a salad bowl. Stone and slice a dozen olives and mix them
with the salad and serve with oil or dressing.

STUFFED TOMATOES.
 Tomatoes,   Green Peppers,
 Parsley,   Lettuce,
 Onions,   Cabbage,
 Cucumbers,   Flaked Wheat.
Remove the center from tomatoes, chop fine with a few
sprigs of parsley, one small onion, one cucumber, a little
green pepper, cabbage or celery, and add enough flaked
wheat to thicken or make stiff; and stuff the tomato shells.
Serve on a lettuce leaf with salad dressing.

ASSORTED SALAD.
 Lettuce,   Green Onions,
 Cucumbers,   Parsley,
 Radishes,   Chipped Beef.
Wash clean two large heads of white lettuce, taking care
to not break the leaves; peel and slice thinly two cucumbers
of medium size. Put this in a bowl with teaspoonful of salt
and a few lumps of ice for an hour before using. Peel and
slice a few large-sized radishes. Decorate this with very small
radishes. Leave in ice water until ready to use. Slice one
small green onion, a little parsley chopped fine, and a few
strips of chipped beef cut very fine. Arrange these nicely
upon a lettuce leaf and serve with dressing.

ENDIVE WITH WINTER SALAD.
 Water Cress,   Celery,
 1 Beet,   Endive,
Hygia Dressing.
A wholesome dish of salad may be made in winter by the
aid of this plant. Only a little cress, celery and a small beet
chopped fine makes a delicious salad served on the crisp
blanched leaves of the endive. Serve with Hygia dressing.

ARTICHOKE SALAD.
 Lettuce,   Artichokes,
Hygia Dressing.
Wash thoroughly and quarter some very young
artichokes. Serve on a lettuce leaf with Hygia dressing or
olive oil.

STUFFED PEPPERS.
 Cabbage,   Green Peppers,
 Celery,   Tomatoes,
 Onions,   Lettuce,
Salad Dressing.
Take a little celery, cabbage, onions, a few green pepper
seeds, a little fresh tomato, chopped fine, salt to taste. Stuff the peppers with this and serve on red cabbage leaves or
lettuce, with salad dressing.

TOMATO AND CUCUMBER SALAD.
 Tomatoes,   Onions,
 Cucumbers,   Dressing.
Slice tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions, serve on lettuce
leaf with dressing.

TOMATO SALAD.
 Tomatoes,   Lettuce,
Oil or Dressing.
Take small tomatoes, skin and serve whole on lettuce
leaf, or a few slices of cucumbers laid around the tomato are
very ornamental.

CELERY AND RADISH SALAD.
 Celery,   Radishes,
Dressing.
Cut crisp, well blanched celery into half-inch lengths,
and heap it in a salad bowl. Border it with small tuliped
radishes and white celery leaves. Serve with dressing.

DANDELION SALAD.
 1 pint of Dandelion,  1 pint of Water Cress,
 3 Green Onions,   Salt,
Oil or Dressing.
Dandelion makes a very wholesome and refreshing
spring tonic. After it is carefully washed, place dandelion,
water cresses and the onions sliced in a salad bowl, salt and
serve with oil or dressing.

STUFFED CUCUMBERS.
 Cucumbers,   Lettuce,
 Cream Cheese,   Tomato,
Dressing.
Cut an eighth or quarter from the cucumber, scoop out
the inside, and cut this and tomato in small bits and mix the
two with salad dressing. Return to the shell and put each
cucumber on a plate, by itself, on lettuce leaf. Small round
balls of cream cheese make a nice decoration and add a nice
flavor to this.

TOMATO AND WATER CRESS SALAD.
 Tomatoes,   Water Cress,
Salad Dressing.
Take equal parts of peeled, sliced tomatoes, and water
cress (after it has been thoroughly washed), put each in a
separate bowl with the salad dressing. Let it stand five
minutes, then mix well together and serve.
 CELERY SALAD.
 Celery,   Sweet Apples,
 Pecan Meats,   Oil or Dressing.
Cut the tender white stalks of celery in small bits. Add
the apple chopped fine, and a few pecan meats on top. Serve
on lettuce leaf with oil or dressing.

ANCHOVY SALAD.
 Anchovies,   Lettuce,
 Onions,   Cabbage,
 Tomatoes,   Parsley,
Hygia Salad Dressing.
Soak for 20 or 30 minutes, wash and clean three or four
anchovies, remove bones, fins, heads and tails. Cover bottom
of platter with tender lettuce leaves.
Cut in small bits two fresh tomatoes, three or four young
onions, a little cabbage and pars ley. Mound this on platter,
pouring over it some Hygia dressing. Cover mound with
anchovies. Then garnish with quartered lemon and serve.
Herring can be used instead of anchovies. See recipe for
"Hygia Salad Dressing."
This is intended to be served at the beginning of the meal
as the first course.

SMOKED HERRING SALAD.
 Lettuce,   Tomatoes,
 Herring,   Dressing.
Put the crisp leaves of a head of lettuce in a salad bowl.
Soak two smoked herrings until tender. Remove skin and
bones, chop fine and mix with the lettuce. Pour over this a
salad dressing and garnish with quartered tomatoes.
FRUIT AND FRUIT DISHES.

FRUITS  are the bouquet of all edible things. They are to the
table what color is to the la ndscape. Aside from their nutritive
value, they satisfy the vision, they appeal to all who love the
beautiful, they seem to invite us to bite them.
One of the most beautiful things in the world is a
pyramid of ripe and luscious fruits.

SNOWFRUIT.
 Apples,  Sugar,
 Cocoanut,   Whipped Cream.
Slice apples, peaches or p


 an important biochemical which needs riboﬂavin (vitamin B2) to function; it is also being used
as an indicator of oxidative stress.
FIG. 1: CITRIC ACID CYCLE
However, with continuing deﬁciency  of oxygen, cytochrome c oxidase and others oxidising enzymes increasingly diminish. The
oxidative energy production in affected cells continues to decline as energy is now mostly derived from converting pyruvic acid into
lactic acid. When this occurs the cell switches over to a yeast or fungal type of energy production which is also the hallmark of cancer
cells.
Normally our food is broken down into 2-carbon acetyl groups. Acetyl-coenzyme A then delivers an acetyl group into the cycle by
combining it with 4-carbon oxaloacetic acid to form 6-carbon citric acid.   If pyruvate oxidation is blocked, oxaloacetic acid
accumulates while available citric acid decreases. This shows us how we can keep the citric acid cycle turning over: by drinking
lemon juice!  However, it is important to use real lemon juice, not commercial citric acid powder instead of lemon juice.
This diagram also lets us understand why it is important in such a delicate system to clear the oxidative blockage with biological
chemicals that nature developed for this purpose rather than by just ﬂooding cells with highly reactive oxygen radicals. As mentioned
before, after the release of their load of reactive oxygen these biological chemicals instantly have an antioxidant in place to protect
sensitive cell structures.10/30/24, 8:16 AM Health-Science-Spirit - Healing with Oxygen
https://health-science-spirit.com/Healing_the_Body/Healing-with-Oxygen.html 3/5Figure 1 also shows that vitamin B3 (niacin or niacinamide) is required for most oxidative pathways. It is the most important vitamin
for energy production, not only in the body but especially for proper brain functions. For better efﬁciency it is usually combined with
high-dose vitamin C. There is no general rule on how much to take. 50 mg may be the minimum for mild oxidation problems, while
several grams/day have been used to treat schizophrenia. Be aware of the (beneﬁcial) skin ﬂushing effect of niacin compared to
niacinamide, which does not cause this reaction. Take niacin only on a full stomach, the more inﬂammation there is in the body and
the higher the urine acidity, the stronger will be the ﬂushing.
Practical Steps
The outlined considerations show us how we can improve our low and deteriorating production of oxidising enzymes and energy. The
key players are vitamins C and B3, MSM and lemon juice in water (see below for details). Sip or drink slowly up to ﬁve times during
the day. The amounts may vary widely with lifestyle, disease and present conditions. However, always start low, increase gradually,
and reduce or stop during any reactions, depending on their severity.
The mentioned amounts are general indications only. Experiment and observe your body reactions. See if and how these change
during periods of stress and with changing disease problems. It is also good sometimes to change the composition of added
ingredients.
If you feel healthy and well, 1 to 3 g of daily vitamin C and MSM may suit you. For an underlying chronic health problem you may take
3 to 5 g of each, and during an acute infection or as cancer therapy you may gradually and temporarily increase this up to 10 g. A
level tsp of vitamin C or MSM is about 3 g while a rounded tsp corresponds to 5 g.
Always start with a low dose and gradually build up to an optimal amount that feels good and right to you. Reduce or stop this
treatment if a strong inﬂammation develops and adopt instead a fasting period, see Managing the Immune System.
Oxidising V itamin C
Oxidised vitamin C, not AA, is the form that kills pathogenic microbes, but the main reason for increasing the ratio of DHA to AA is the
much better intestinal absorption of DHA.
It is not necessary to oxidise all of the vitamin C, but a substantial part of it for better absorption. Taking 1 g or more of AA at once
may reduce the absorption, and in higher amounts causes diarrhoea. This can be much improved by spacing the intake out or by
taking part of it as DHA. However, during an acute infection large amounts of AA can usually be taken without a problem.
There are several ways to oxidise AA. My preferred way is by adding several drops of sodium chlorite solution, commonly called
MMS. I do not know the optimal amount of MMS, so you may just experim ent. Try several drops of MMS with each gram of AA. There
is no taste or smell problem using MMS in this way, and the oxidation power of MMS will not be lost but just transferred to vitamin C.
Instead of MMS you may also add several drops of hydrogen peroxide per gram of AA.
Another way of oxidising AA is with the plant enzyme ascorbic acid oxidase (AAO) or ascorbate oxidase. This enzyme oxidises AA to
DHA and is widely distributed in vegetables and fruits, especially those  high in vitamin C. AA dominates in vitamin C derived from
most plants but some can have up to 50% as DHA. AAO, just like cytochrome oxidase needed for oxidation in the citric acid cycle, is
a copper-containing haem (heme), the type of enzyme that gets blocked by pathogenic microbes in our body. To oxidise AA we can
use the AAO naturally present in fresh and raw or frozen citrus juices as well as blended or pureed raw vegetables, such as zucchini
or cabbage. Heating will make AAO inef fective.
In addition AA also becomes oxidis ed by air oxygen in a blender, even when no AAO is present. In this case oxidation is much
improved by adding a tiny sprinkle of a copper salt, such as copper sulphate. Even without blending, AA is being oxidised when just
stirring while adding some copper salt and a few drops of 3% hydrogen peroxide.
Warning:  If too much oxidiser is used, especially at a pH higher than 4, DHA may deteriorate and not be able to convert back to AA
so that it is no longer a form of vitamin C. This can usually be seen in a change of colour as the over-oxidised solution turns dark
yellow and increasingly brown. Preferably use vitamin C solutions, oxidised or not, within 24 hours and refrigerate in hot conditions or
overnight to minimise loss of vitamin C activity.
Lemon Juice
Fresh or unfrozen lemon juice is the main ingredient of this oxidation mix. Use juice that still contains much of the lemon pulp. A
medium quantity would be about 50 ml per day. You may start with 20 ml once a day, best before breakfast, and go up to 30 ml
before most meals or even 20 ml 5 times daily before and between meals. Sip it slowly spaced out over ten to twenty minutes while
doing other things. The more difﬁcu lt the situation, the better it is to divide the drink into 3 or even 5 portions to keep the citric acid
cycle ticking over. It may be best to have the highest ﬂuid intake in the morning and the lowest before dinner.
Preferably oxidise the AA before mixing it with lemon juice: In a jug with a glassful or two of water add a level teaspoon or more of
ascorbic acid or sodium ascorbate or mixed ascorbates or a mixture of these to provide about 3-5 g of vitamin C. Mix the solution but
not all of it may dissolve at this stage. While stirring add 5 to 10 drops or more of MMS or 3% hydrogen peroxide.
Now you may mix the oxidised AA with diluted lemon juice, add other ingredients, such as a teaspoon of MSM, and some honey or
glycerine as a sweetener. This is partly for the taste buds, but also to provide some starter energy for the citric acid cycle. If you have
no blood sugar problems you may use a tsp of honey, otherwise add a tsp of glycerine. Glycerine does not require insulin, and in
small amounts does not raise the blood glucose level but provides the same energy as honey. To reduce the acidity of the solution to
an acceptable taste level, very slowly, while stirring, keep adding sodiu m bicarbonate. Finally add more water, depending on how
much you want to drink during the day. A fair amount for the whole day would be about 1 litre (2 pints US). 10/30/24, 8:16 AM Health-Science-Spirit - Healing with Oxygen
https://health-science-spirit.com/Healing_the_Body/Healing-with-Oxygen.html 4/5If you need to go to work the next morning, pre-mix the oxidant drink in the afternoon or evening but do not add the bicarbonate and
only part of the water, refrigerate. Add bicarbonate and more water the next morning.
Note:  During the lemon season you may freeze sufﬁcient lemon juice to carry you over to the next season.
Additional Options
I highly recommend using good-quality energised water. This may be spring or bore water, but, if it is very high in calcium, then this
should either be reduced or magnesium added. If one uses typical


consciousness through which everything is known and  that cannot know itself. It is
itself. There is nothing to know beyond that. And y et all knowing arises out of it.
The “I” cannot make itself into an object of knowle dge, of consciousness.

So you cannot become an object to yourself. That is  the very reason the illusion of
egoic identity arose because mentally you made your self into an object. “That's
me,” you say, and then you begin to have a relation ship with yourself and tell
others and yourself your story.

***

By knowing yourself as the awareness in which pheno menal existence happens,
you become free of dependency on phenomena and free  of self seeking in
situations, places, and conditions. In other words,  what happens or doesn't happen
is not that important anymore. Things lose their he aviness, their seriousness. A
playfulness comes into your life. You recognize thi s world as a cosmic dance, the
dance of form. No more and no less.
 ***

When you know who you truly are, there is an abidin g alive sense of peace.  You
could call it joy because that's what joy is, vibra ntly alive peace. It is the joy of
knowing yourself as the very life essence before li fe takes on form. That is the joy
of being, of being who you truly are.

***

Just as water can be solid, liquid, or gaseous, con sciousness can be seen to be
frozen as physical matter, liquid as mind and thoug ht, or formless as pure
consciousness. Pure consciousness is life before it  comes into manifestation and
that life looks at the world of form through your e yes because consciousness is who
you are. When you know yourself as that, then you r ecognize yourself in
everything. It is a state of complete clarity of pe rception. You are no longer an
entity with a heavy past that becomes a screen of c oncepts through which every
experience is interpreted. When you perceive withou t interpretation, you can then
sense what it is that is perceiving. The most we ca n say in language is that there is a
field of alert stillness in which the perception ha ppens. Through you, formless
consciousness has become aware of itself.

***

Most people's lives are run by desire and fear. Des ire is the need to add something
to yourself in order to be yourself more fully. All  fear is the fear of losing
something, and thereby become diminished and be les s. These two movements
obscure the fact that being cannot be given or take n away. Being in its fullness is
already within you, now.

Chapter 6
Acceptance and Surrender

Whenever you are able, have a “look” inside yoursel f to see whether you are
unconsciously creating conflict between the inner a nd the outer, between your
external circumstances at that moment–where you are, who you are with, or what
you are doing–and your thoughts and feelings. Can y ou feel how painful it is to
internally stand in opposition to what is?
 When you recognize this, you also realize that you are now free to give up this
futile conflict, this inner state of war.

***

How often each day, if you were to verbalize your i nner reality at that moment,
would you have to say, “I don't want to be where I am?” What does it feel like
when you don't want to be where you are–the traffic  jam, your place of work, the
airport lounge, the people you are with?

It is true, of course, that some places are good pl aces to walk out of–and sometimes
that may well be the most appropriate thing for you  to do. In many cases, however,
walking out is not an option. In all those cases, t he “I don't want to be here” is not
only useless but also dysfunctional. It makes you a nd others unhappy.

It has been said: wherever you go, there you are. I n other words: you are  here.
Always. Is it so hard to accept that?

***

Do you really need to mentally label every sense pe rception and experience? Do
you really need to have a reactive like/dislike rel ationship with life where you are
in almost continuous conflict with situations and p eople? Or is that just a deep-
seated mental habit that can be broken? Not by doin g anything, but by allowing this
moment to be as it is.

***

The habitual and reactive “no” strengthens the ego.  “Yes” weakens it. Your form
identity, the ego, cannot survive surrender.

***

“I have so much to do.” Yes, but what is the qualit y of your doing? Driving to
work, speaking to clients, working on the computer,  running errands, dealing with
the countless things that make up your daily life–h ow total are you in what you do?
Is your doing surrendered or non-surrendered? This is what determines your
success in life, not how much effort you make. Effo rt implies stress and strain,
needing to reach a certain point in the future or a ccomplish a certain result.

Can you detect even the slightest element within yo urself of not wanting to be doing what you are doing? That is a denial of life,  and so a truly successful
outcome is not possible.

If you can detect this within yourself, can you als o drop it and be total in what you
do?

***

“Doing one thing at a time.” This is how one Zen Ma ster defined the essence of
Zen.

Doing one thing at a time means to be total in what  you do, to give it your complete
attention. This is surrendered action–empowered act ion.

***

Your acceptance of what is takes you to a deeper le vel where your inner state as
well as your sense of self no longer depend on the mind's judgment of “good” or
“bad.”

When you say “yes” to the “isness” of life, when yo u accept this moment as it is,
you can feel a sense of spaciousness within you tha t is deeply peaceful.

On the surface, you may still be happy when it's su nny and not so happy when it's
rainy; you may be happy at winning a million dollar s and unhappy at losing all
your possessions. Neither happiness nor unhappiness, however, go all that deep
anymore. They are ripples on the surface of your Be ing. The background peace
within you remains undisturbed regardless of the na ture of the outside condition.

The “yes” to what is reveals a dimension of depth w ithin you that is dependent
neither on external conditions nor on the internal conditions of constantly
fluctuating thoughts and emotions.

***

Surrender becomes so much easier when you realize t he fleeting nature of all
experiences and that the world cannot give you anyt hing of lasting value. You then
continue to meet people, to be involved in experien ces and activities, but without
the wants and fears of the egoic self. That is to s ay, you no longer demand that a
situation, person, place, or event should satisfy y ou or make you happy. Its passing
and imperfect nature is allowed to be.
And the miracle is that when you are no longer plac ing an impossible demand on it,
every situation, person, place, or event becomes no t only satisfying but also more
harmonious, more peaceful.

***

When you completely accept this moment, when you no  longer argue with what is,
the compulsion to think lessens and is replaced by an alert stillness. You are fully
conscious, yet the mind is not labeling this moment  in any way. This state of inner
nonresistance opens you to the unconditioned consci ousness that is infinitely
greater than the human mind. This vast intelligence  can then express itself through
you and assist you, both from within and from witho ut. That is why, by letting go
of inner resistance, you often find circumstances c hange for the better.

***

Am I saying, “Enjoy this moment. Be happy?” No.

Allow the “suchness” of this moment. That's enough.

***

Surrender is surrender to this moment, not to a sto ry through which you interpret
this moment and then try to resign yourself to it.

For instance, you may have a disability and can't w alk anymore. The condition is as
it is.

Perhaps your mind is now creating a story that says, “This is what my life has come
to. I have ended up in a wheelchair. Life has treat ed me harshly and unfairly. I don't
deserve this.”

Can you accept the isness of this moment and not co nfuse it with a story the mind
has created around it?

***

Surrender comes when you no longer ask, “Why is thi s happening to me?”

***
Even within the seemingly most unacceptable and pai nful situation is concealed a
deeper good, and within every disaster is contained  the seed of grace.

Throughout history, there have been women and men w ho, in the face of great loss,
illness, imprisonment, or impending death, accepted  the seemingly


 the attainment of
your ideal—can be effected.”2
Get this clearly in your head in this first chapter: A highe r conce pt of
yourself involves  taking on new truths and shedding your old views of what
you can achieve. This is the only way you can achieve your desir es. That is
the reaso n I’m stressing this early in this book. You must begin by replacing
your old set of truths with a belief in the existence of a higher  self within
you. This is something that you may not have contemplated at an earlier
time in your life.
Your concept of yourself that includes any limitations can be revised by
you, and only by you. Nothing I say or write will do that for you. I have
done it for myself and can assist  you along this path, but it is your decision
to change that creates the possibility of change within you. A new andhigher concept of yourself may be shocking and perhaps even  be rejected
by you, depending on the amount of conditioning you have absorbed
throughout your life. That is for you to ponder and contemplate  in the next
two chapters. At this point, simply allow yourself to imagine that you can
create a new and higher concept of yourself. Resistance is what will almost
immediately appear for most people, and I encourage you to recognize the
resistance within yourself.
Overcoming Resistance
Making the transition from the level of ordinary consciousness to the
level of superconsciousness involves a fundamental renewal— a dramatic
change of personality. Very few are prepared to commit to this fulfillment
of their Divine purpose. What I’m inviting you to do, if you wish to be truly
fulfilled, is to overcome your resistance to including all that you are in your
earthly life. You have the ability  to enter higher regions so as to consciously
fulfill your highest desires here, now, for the greater benefit of all. This is
akin to doing a somersault and landing in a new reality—a reality in which
all things are possible, a reality where you no longer identify yourself with
all of those cultural memes and mind viruses that were programmed into
you as a young person, preparing you for an ordinary life.
You begin this exciting adventure of changing your concept of yourself by
being willing to die to your present self. That’ s right, by relinquishing your
personal history  as the arbiter of your life, you cease to resist your fuller
potential. You simply no longer choose to form your identity on the basis of
what you’ve been taught. Remind yourself that everything you’ve believed
to be true has brought you to this point where you want to explor e rather
than resist your higher powers.
Years ago while  reading Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich, I recall
him saying that there’ s one distinguishing characteristic of those who live
life at a higher level with a richn ess that’s not just about monetary gain. It is
that these unique and rare individuals have a burning desire to succeed.
Now, a burning desir e is much different from a regular wish or desire
because it burns inside—once ignited, it never goes out, regardless of what
transpires. This is a quality that I know well. Often it feels like an obsession
… and I have been labeled obsessive many times in my lifetime. Yet ithasn’ t been a curse, because it has always served me in the fulfillment of
whatever yearning I felt inside of me. I often think of it as an inner candle
flame that never even flickers, though the worst goes before me. All
transformation begins with an intense burning desire to be transformed.
An inner knowing, along with a burning desire, is the prerequisite for
becoming a person capable of manifesting his or her heart’ s desires. In The
Power of Awareness, Nevil le emphatically explains that “To be
transformed, the whole basis of your thoughts must change. But your
thoughts cannot change unless you have new ideas, for you think from your
ideas.”3 How do you find the way to ideas that will help you change your
thoughts? Start by saying and writing an affirmation that appeals to you.
Create your unique heartfelt affirmation, such as: I have a burning desir e—
an inner flame that will not be extinguished by outer forces—t o know and
live from higher regions, to be transformed so that my new concept of
myself will no longer include any limitations. I am willing to challenge and
change any thoughts that impede my having a higher vision of myself.
Before closing this introductory  chapter, it will be helpful to explore your
beliefs about the nature of those  things we call thoughts, and how to change
them.
Do Y ou Really Think?
No one has ever been able to say from whence a thought come s, or what
that thought is made up of. It’s generally accepted that we think up things
and we make up all of our own thoughts. To be perfectly honest, for a large
portion of my life, I held these same views on thoughts originating with
each individual.  But at this juncture I tend to see the entire process as more
of an act of observation, contemplation, and choice. I enjoy noticing that I
have a continuous stream of thoughts that come from … who knows where?
They have no boundaries or forms to examine, and apparently are unlimited
in number and permutation! I think of the stock market ticker that runs
along the bottom  of a screen, with each stock price representi ng a simple
thought.
You are capable of thinking many opposing thoughts in just a few
moments, jumping helter -skelter from one idea to another—exhilaration,
frustration, fear, ecstasy, worry, and so forth. Unguided and unguarded, youserve up an endless array of thoughts continuously from wakin g to falling
asleep. Even while sound asleep, your mind continues observing, grabbing,
and contemplating these omnipresent thoughts. There’ s very little respite
from this mental thought-producing process throughout your entire lifetime.
If you really believe that you are the creator of all of your thoughts and
control the entire process, then simply stop. That’ s right, just try to stop
thinking. You may be able to slow the stream of thoughts down
considerably, but to simply stop thinking all day and stay in a thoughtless
state is quite impossible.
I’m sugg esting you open your thought processes to a new idea that will
help you as you begin changing  your concept of yourself. You can think of
yourself as a Divine limitless being rather than a person who doesn’ t have
choice when it comes to your thoughts. Think of yourself as an observer,
contemplating and selecting thoughts that you choose from that never -
ending stream of thoughts on your inner screen, 24/7/365. Watch thoughts
stream by from wherever they originate, and observe them rapidly
transitioning and combining and appearing and disappearing. Snatch a
thought from the running ribbon of thoughts and contemplate it. As you toss
it around, notice how you feel— sad, depressed, happy, frightened, and so
on. Every thoug ht going by has an imprint on your concept of yourself.
First be the observer, and then the contemplator. Now become the choice
maker who can consciously decide to put that thought back into the running
stream and pick a different one, a thought that perhaps allows  you to feel
better.
I am okay, I look fine, I will lose a few pounds, I am loved, I am Divine …
these and millions more like them are thoughts that you can opt for rather
than the ones you’ve become accustomed to choosing in the past. This is
how you begin a new process to change your concept of yourself. You
accept as irrevocable that it is not you setting the stream of thoughts into
motion, and that stopping thinking isn’t possible at this stage of your
evolution. At this stage the essence of your being is to observe,
contemplate, and then choose. This can all be done in a fraction of a
nanosecond. The thoughts will keep appearing on your mental TV screen
just like the stock quotations. But you’ll now be choosing the ones you
want to focus on, gather, retain, or let go.I’m encouraging you to initiate a habit of choosing thoughts and ideas that
support feeling good and power ful, and that elevate you to a higher level of
consciousness where your self-concept welcomes your higher self.
I love Uell S. Andersen’ s description of this process in his book Three
Magic Words. I leave you to contemplate it as you prepare to befriend that
indwelling self that is desperately wishing to be fulfilled at the
extraordinary level, rather than at the ordinary where you have lived for far
too long:
We have assured the indwelling Self that it can be anything it accepts and has faith in, and
we are now about to develop in it the habit of choosing only those thoughts and ideas that will
constructively add good unto it. We are teaching ourselves to accept only good. … We are
deliberately compelling ourselves to accept all love, all kindness, all hope, all joy, all
expansion, all abundance, all health, all vigor. We are deliberately compelling ourselves to
reject all suffering, all sorrow, all depres sion, all morbidness, all inferiority, all aches and
pains. We are saying nothing is true but the great and the good and the beautiful, only these
will we add unto ourselves.
This is your new way of choo sing thoughts that will introduce you to
what I am calling your highest self—


 only for up to 2 weeks after
vaccination. However, eventually Dr Kalokerinos solved the problem by giving babies high doses of vitamin C before vaccinations,
and no more vaccination deaths occurred. Also SIDS disappeared. Naturally he encountered ridicule and hostility from his medical
colleges, and babies are still dying needlessly (36).
Deliberate Bias Against Natural Therapies
It has become a habit that any successful natural cancer remedy or treatment is quickly outlawed by our health authorities. Many
natural health practitioners have been dragged before the courts and often imprisoned, especially in the area of cancer treatment
(37). This is especially regrettable because there is no evidence that the methods of orthodox cancer therapy are in any way
successful (38).
One of the methods increasingly used to denigrate natural therapies is for the pharmaceutical industry to ﬁnance shoddy research on
natural remedies and then proclaim them to be ineffective or harmful. This is only partly intended to inﬂuence the general public but
mainly to provide the justiﬁcation for health authorities to outlaw and greatly restrict natural remedies (39).
Another strategy is not to list favorable vitamin studies in the MEDLINE  database. This is taxpayer-funded and operated by the US
National Library of Medicine. It lists all articles by medical research journals, including Time magazine and Readers' Digest, but not
the peer-reviewed Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine (http://www.orthomed.org/jom/jomlist.htm) which specializes in vitamin
research. Now the British Medical Journal has published a letter about Medline bias (40) and this has forced Medline to index articles
on Medline bias.
Because all these favorable vitamin studies are not indexed by Medlin e, proponents of drug medicine can claim that there are no
studies that show that vitamins are useful in the treatment of diseases or that they are safe in high doses, and therefore should be
restricted to very low doses. Of course, world-wide yearly fatalities due to vitamins are zero; in comparison drug fatalities are inﬁnitely
higher.
30 years ago Linus Pauling showed that high doses of vitamin C are beneﬁcial in cancer treatment. This has been ‘disproved’  by the
orthodoxy ever since. But now a study by conventional Johns Hopkins scientists has shown that he was right (41). In addition, the
Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine  has just published a double-blind, randomized clinical trial showing that HIV-positive patients
given supplemental nutrients can stop their decline into AIDS (42). This would pose a big threat to the medical-pharmaceutical
complex and is one more reason not to index this journal on Medline.
There exists a systemic culture of suppression of dissenting views in science and medicine, and frequently a vicious persecution with
“Gestapo-like” methods (43, 44). Recently in the US even a mother has been jailed and brutalized for “illegally” using natural methods
to cure her son of malignant melanoma (45).
Of course, this assault of the medical-pharmaceutical complex on natural healing methods is not illegal. On the contrary, in a
capitalist system it is their duty to maximize proﬁts by eliminating the competition and generating a steady supply of patients with
chronic diseases who can be managed indeﬁnitely with drugs. The question is just why do government health authorities make and
enforce laws on behalf of drug medicine and against natural medicine?
Theoretically they should be impartial and ensure the best outcome for the population. I believe the answer can be found in some
good lateral thinking by the pharmaceutical industry. By paying for and inﬂuencing much of the medical education (46, 47, 48), they10/30/24, 7:22 AM Health-Science-Spirit - Are Most Diseases Caused by the Medical System?
https://health-science-spirit.com/Healing_the_Body/Are-most-diseases-caused-by-Medical-System.html 5/7automatically produce health ofﬁcia ls and government advisers who are steeped in pharmaceutical thinking and biased against
natural medicine. No bribery is needed, but health ofﬁcials always know that there is a well-paid job waiting if and when they want to
retire from government service, simple!
Natural Medicine to the Rescue
Health authorities so far have ignore d the claims and evidence of natural medicine that it is the superior form of treatment for chronic
and medically incurable diseases. The very fact of a high rate of chronic disease in our society attests to the inability of the medical
profession to successfully treat these diseases. I have no doubt that natural medicine could eliminate most chronic diseases within a
decade, needing only a few percent of the money that is spent on conventional medicine. The knowledge is already available; no
expensive high-tech research is needed that may or may not give results sometime in the future.
There is a simple low-cost solution for bringing about the healing of our society:
1. Phase out public assistance for pharmaceutical companies and their research, and require research to show that a drug is safe
with long-term use in combination with other common drugs and chemi cals and with old or fragile patients, or alternatively that it is
superior in the long-term to available natural treatments
2. Make it illegal for pharmaceutical companies to fund medical education or provide drug information, marketing or incentives directly
to the public or to medical practitioners, or to employ former health ofﬁcials. Information to medical practitioners should be provided
by an independent and impartial body
3. Except for unethical conduct according to general society standards, make it illegal for medical associations to restrict the
therapies used by their members
4. Afford qualiﬁed practitioners of natural medicine the same recognition and opportunities as those of drug medicine, including in
hospitals, rehabilitation, research and publications, health departments and regulating authorities
So far our medical and economic leaders do not want to face reality. They brainwash the public into believing that the present health
situation is completely normal. Importantly, the whole economic structure of Western civilization is based on the production and
distribution of goods and services that are contributing to poor health. These include chemicalized agriculture and food processing,
the pharmaceutical industry, technological medicine and the petrochemical and plastics industries.
The guiding motto for industry is 'proﬁt', while for the consumer it is 'convenience'. The price for all to pay is the loss of health. This
situation is the natural outcome of a society based on selﬁsh motivation. A change for the better can only come when more and more
people realize that ultimately they harm themselves with selﬁsh attitudes, and start electing leaders who are prepared to act in a
compassionate and cooperative way in the interest of the whole societ y. We get what we choose: natural health or enduring drug
management.
REFERENCES
(1) Null, G, Dean, C. et al.: Death by Medicine. Nutrition Institute of America, Nov 2003, www.NutritionInstituteOfAmerica.org
(2) Mendelsohn, R.S. Confessions of a Medical Heretic. McGraw-Hill 1990, ﬁrst published Contemporary Books, Chicago, 1979
(3) Truss, C.O.: The Missing Diagnosis. Truss, Birmingham, AL, 1983
(4) Crook, W.G.: The Yeast Connection. V intage Books, N.Y. 1986
(5) Cantwell, A.” The Cancer Microbe. Aries Rising Press, Los Angeles, 1990. http://ariesrisingpress.com/ is also Alan Cantwell’ s website
(6) Motluk, Alison, "Baby study links antibiotics to asthma" New Scientist 30 September 2003
(7) G. Huf fnagle and M.C. Noverr in the January 2005 issue of Infection & Immunity
(8) Crane J, Pearce N. et al: Prescribed fenoterol and death from asthma in New Zealand, 1981-83: case-control study. Lancet 1989, Apr 29; 1 (8644):917-22
(9) Bhatia, S., Robison, L.L. et al.: Breast cancer and other second neoplasms after childhood Hodgkin's disease. N Engl J Med. 1996 Mar 21;334(12):745-51.
(10) Klein-Szanto, A.J.P.: Carcinogenic ef fects of chemotherapeutic compounds. Progress in Clinical and Biological Research, 374, 167-74, 1992.
(11) Klingspor, L., Stintzing, G., Tollemar, J. Deep Candida infection in children with leukaemia. Acta Paediatr 86 (1) 30-6, 1997
(12) Moss, R.W.: THE MOSS REPOR TS Newsletter #128 April 1 1/04
(13) Reynolds T.: Salary a major factor for academic oncologists, study shows. J Natl Cancer Inst 2001;93(7):491. Retrieved March 12, 2004 from:
http://jncicancerspectrum.oupjournals.org/cgi/content/full/jnci;93/7/491 and Abelson, Reed. Drug sales bring huge proﬁts, and scrutiny to cancer doctors. New York
Times. January 26, 2003, page A1. Cancer scare tactics: New York Times editorial March 22, 2004
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/22/opinion/22MON2.html. Also in THE MOSS REPOR TS Newsletter #126


 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 whether you can attach a
mental label to it but whether you can bring the feeling o f it into
awareness as much as possible. Attention is the key to transformation —
and full  attention also implies acceptance. Attention is like a beam of
light — the fo cused power of your consciousness that tr ansmutes
everything into itself.
In a fully functio nal or ganism, an emotion has a very short life span. It is
like a momentar y ripple or wave  on the surface of your Being. W hen you
are not in your body, however, an emotion can survive inside you for
days or weeks, or join with other emotions of a similar frequency that
have mer ged and become the p ain-body, a parasite that can li ve inside
you for years, feed on your en er gy, lead to physical illness, a nd make
your life miserable (see chapter 2 ).
So place  your attention on feeling the emotion, and check whether your
mind is holding  on to a grievance pattern such as blame, self-pity, or
resentment that is feeding the e motion. If that is the case, it means that
you haven’ t for given. Non-for gi veness is often toward another person or
yourself, but it m ay just as well be toward any situation or con dition —
past, present, or future — that your mind refuses to accept. Y es, there can
be nonfor givene ss even with regard to the future. This is the mind’ s
refusal to accept uncertainty, to accept that the future is u ltimately
beyond its control. For giveness is to relinquish your grievance and so tolet g o of  grief. It happens naturally once you realize that your grievance
serves no purpose except to strengthen a false sense of self. For giveness
is to of fer no resistance to life —  to allow life to live through you. The
alternatives are pain and suf fering, a greatly restricted flow of life
ener gy, and in many cases physical disease.
The moment you truly for give, y ou have reclaimed your power from the
mind. Nonfor giveness is the very nature of the mind, just as the mind-
made false self, the ego, cannot survive without strife and conflict. The
mind cannot for give. Only you  can. Y ou become present, you enter your
body, you feel t he vibrant peace and stillness that emanate from  Being.
That is why Jesus said: “Before you enter the temple, for give.”
YOUR LINK WITH THE UNMANIFESTED
What is the r elationship between pr esence and the inner body?

Presence is pure consciousness —  consciousness that has been reclaimed
from the  mind, from the world of form. The inner body is your link with
the Unmanifeste d, and in its deepest aspect is  the Unmanifested: the
Source f rom wh ich consciousne ss emanates, as light emanates from the
sun. A wareness of the inner b ody is consciousness remembering its
origin and returning to the Source.

Is the Unmanifested the same as Being?

Y es. The  word Unmanifested  attempt s, by way of negation, to express
That wh ich cannot be spoken, th ought, or imagined. It points to what it is
by saying what it is not. Being, on the other hand, is a positive term.
Please d on’ t get  attached to eit her of these words or start believing in
them. They are no more than signposts.
Y ou said  that pr esence is consciousness that has been r eclaimed fr om the
mind. Who does the r eclaiming?

Y ou do. But since in your essence you ar e  consciousness, we might as
well say  that it is an awakenin g of consciousness from the d ream of
form. This does not mean that y our own form will instantly van ish in an
explosion of light. Y ou can continue in your present form yet be aware of
the formless and deathless deep within you.

I mu st a dmit that this is way beyond my compr ehension, and yet  on some
deeper level I se em to know wh at you ar e talking about. It’ s mor e like a
feeling than anything else. Am I deceiving myself?

No, you are not. Feeling will get you closer to the truth of who you are
than thinking. I cannot tell yo u anything that deep within y ou don’ t
already know. When you have reached a certain stage of inner
connectedness, y ou recognize the truth when you hear it. If you  haven’ t
reached that stage yet, the practice of body awareness will bring about
the deepening that is necessary.
SLOWING DOWN THE AGING PROCESS
In the meantime, awareness of the inner body has other benefits in the
physical realm. One of them is a significant slowing down of t he aging
of the physical body.
Whereas the outer body normal ly appears to grow old and wither fairly
quickly, the inner body does not change with time, except that you may
feel it more deeply and become it more fully. If you are twenty years old
now, the ener gy field of your inn er body will feel just the same when you
are e ighty. It will be just as vibra ntly alive. As soon as your habitual state
changes from being out of the b ody and trapped in your mind to being inthe body and present in the Now, your physical body will feel lighter,
clearer, more alive. As there is more consciousness in the body, its
molecular structure actually be comes less dense. More consciousness
means a lessening of the illusion of materiality.
When y ou become identified more with the timeless inner body than
with the outer body, when presence becomes your normal mode of
consciousness a nd past and future no longer dominate your attention,
you do not accu mulate time anymore in your psyche and in the cells of
the b ody. The accumulation of t ime as the psychological burden of past
and futu re great ly impairs the c ells’ capacity for self-renewal. So if you
inhabit the inner body, the outer body will grow old at a much slower
rate, and even when it does, your timeless essence will shine through the
outer form, and you will not give the appearance of an old person.

Is ther e any scientific evidence for this?

T ry it out and you will be  the evidence.
STRENGTHENING THE IMMUNE SYSTEM
Another benefit of this practice in the physical realm is a great
strengthening of the immune system, which occurs when you inhabit the
body. The more consciousness you bring into the body, the stronger the
immune system,  becomes. It is as if every cell awakens and rejo ices. The
body loves your attention. It is also a potent form of self-healing. Most
illnesses creep in when y ou are not prese nt in the body. If the master is
not present in the house, all kinds of shady characters will take up
residence there. When you inhabit your body, it will be hard for
unwanted guests to enter.
It is not only yo ur physical immune system that becomes stren gthened;
your psychic immune system is greatly enhanced as well. The latter
protects you from the negative mental-emotional force fields of others,
which are highly contagious. I nhabiting the body protects you not by
putting u p a shield, but by raisi ng the frequency vibration of y our totalener gy field, so that anything that vibrates at a lower frequency, such as
fear, anger, depression, and so on, now exists in what is virtually a
dif ferent order of reality. It do esn’ t enter your field of consc iousness
anymore, or if it  does you don’ t need to of fer any resistance to i t because
it pa sses right through you. Please don’ t just accept or reject w hat I am
saying. Put it to the test.
There is a simp le but powerful self-healing meditation that yo u can do
whenever you feel the need to boost your immune system. It is
particularly ef fective if used when you feel the first symptoms of an
illness, b


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care. Be sure that the clinic or hospital chosen for therapy is Gerson
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OceanofPDF.comGERSON THERAPY DIET ARY PREP ARA TION SUMMARIZED
The Gerson Therapy is a totally integrated system of nutrition and
detoxification to help the body restore all the essential organs and defenses.
Therefore, it has many facets and complex directions to cover all areas
including food preparation.
Always keep in mind that the basic problem of all chronic disease is
twofold: toxicity  and deficiency. It is essential to address and reverse both
of these. Our modern agriculture and food-processing systems contribute
toxins to the food supply in many ways: pesticides and fungicides,
preservatives, dyes, coloring, and emulsifying materials. But there are other
ways the body is poisoned too: alcohol; nicotine; prescription, over-the-
counter, and street drugs; toxins in the air, water, and soil; and in day-to-day
work and home environments. There are also industrial chemicals in paints,
textile chemicals, glues, polishe s, benzene fractions, and so on. In order to
heal and detoxify the body, all these have to be eliminated.
It also stands to reason that in the Gerson diet all foods should be
organically (or biochemically) grown on soil fertilized by natural
composted mate rials—free of pesticides, herbicides, and so on and rich in
the best nutrient s. All foods must be freshly prepared, unsalted, and fat-free.
Aluminum and Teflon-coated cooking utensils must be avoided. Stainless
steel, enamel, ironware, and glass containers may be used in cooking.
Microwave ovens change the foods so that they are poorly assimilated,
besides emitting  radiation into the kitchen and “cooking the cook.” Avoid
cooking in microwaves and never heat water in them. Some crockpots may
be safe; some have been found to contain toxins in their glaze.
Dr. Gerson found that juicers that work on a centrifugal system do not
extract minerals  efficiently. Besides, they tend to kill enzymes. He insisted
that the best juices with the highest mineral content can be made using a
two-process juice-extracting system: first grind the materials to be pressed
in an electric food triturator; mix them well in a bowl; then place the
ground, mixed material in a strong cloth and put it under pressure in a press.
This juice is rich and homoge neous (does not easily separate), and the
process helps to extract the largest amount of juice and minerals—up to 50
percent more than a centrifugal juicer!FOOD PREP ARA TION
Necessary Foods
Fruit
Juices of fruit, vegetables, and leaves
Vegetables, salads
Special soup
Potatoes
Oatmeal, salt-free rye bread

Dr. Gers on added that the abov e foods are easily and quickly digested;
the body needs larger portions and more frequent servings. The patient is to
eat as much as possible, even during the night when awake. As the body
rebuilds, some patients are ravenously hungry and food should be available
at the bedside: a fresh fruit plate, some fruit salad, applesauce, and so on.
Since patients are not supposed  to drink water, peppermint tea should be
placed at the bedside. If the patient awakens during the night and is thirsty,
some warm tea should be available as well as food.
Forbidden Foods
All manufacture d (processed) foods—bottled, canned, frozen, preserved,
refined, salted, smoked, and sulfured items—must be avoided. They are
harmful.
Alcohol Cream Pineapples
Avocados Cucumbers Spices (pepper, paprika)
Berries Epsom salts Soybeans and products
Bicarbonate of soda in
toothpaste and gar gleFlour (wheat) Meat
Fish Milk
Butter Eggs Tea (black)
Cheese Ice cream Drinking water
Candy Mushrooms FatsCake Coffee (including
decaf feinated)Nuts
Sugar (white)
Commercial beverages Oils
Other Absolutely Forbidden Items
Fluorides in water, toothpaste, gar gle
Hair dyes, permanents
Cosmetics: underarm deodorants, lipstick, lotions
JUICE PREP ARA TION
Citrus Juices
Use only a reamer -type juicer— do not use a juicer into which a half
orange or lemon is inserted with the skin. Pressing the skin of citrus extracts
harmful fatty and aromatic acids into the juice.
Apple and Carr ot Juice
Use apples and carrots in approximately equal proportions. Wash apples;
do not peel. Cut and remove core. Wash carrots; use a brush but do not peel
or scrape.
Grind apples and carrots into a bowl; mix thoroughly, place in juicer
cloth, and press.
Apple/carrot juice may be kept for 2-3 hours in a thermos if patient goes
back to work.
Green Leaf Juice
Obtain as many of the items mentioned below as possible. During certain
seasons, only two or three may be available. Do not substitute items not on
the green leaf juice materials list.
Escarole Lettuce Watercress
Endive Red lettuce Swiss chardRomaine Beet tops (young inner
leaves)Red cabbage (2-3 leaves)
Green pepper
Add 1 medium apple per glass when grinding. Grind, press, drink
immediately. Wash all juice cloths regularly. If pores are clogged and
pressing is dif ficult, discard and use a new cloth.
PREP ARA TION OF  VEGET ABLES
Use all vegetables except mushrooms, mustard greens, and carrot greens.
Vegetables should be cooked with a minimum of water or soup stock
(perhaps 2 to 3 tablespoonfuls) slowly on low heat until well done. To
prevent burning, place on metal  mat, and place cut tomatoes and/or onions
at the bottom of the pot. These generate juice and make the food tasty. You
can also use celery. Certain vegetables (squashes) contain a lot of water and
need no additional water. Spinach releases much water in cooking—discard
this water. It is bitter and should not be used. Certain other  vegetables
(beets, corn) cannot be cooked  without water. Beets should be cooked in
their jackets and peeled when done.
SPICES
Since spices, like other aromatic items (such as pineapples and berries)
can interfere with the healing reaction, Dr. Gerson allowed only certain
relatively mild spices and warned patients to use very small quantities.  Use
only those spices on the list below; no others.
Allspice, anise, bay leaves, coriander, dill, fennel, mace, marjoram,
rosemary, sage, saf fron, tarragon, thyme, sorrel, and summer savory.
Chives, onions, garlic, and parsley can be used in lar ger amounts.
SALADSIt’s imperative for the patien t to eat as much as possible of raw
vegetables in the form of salads. These items can be finely grate d, chopped,
or minced, mixed or eaten separately. Here are the vegetables:
Salad Dressing:  Dilute organic red wine or apple cider vinegar with water
to taste. Add a little spray-dried organic cane juice (Sucanat), some herbs,
onion, or garlic.
Special Soup
This special (Hippocrates) soup is extremely important, and Dr. Gerson
ordered his patients to have it at both lunch and dinner. Since much of the
Gerson Therapy is directed toward cleansing the liver, this soup  is specially
designed (and Hippocrates did acknowledge its effectiveness) to help
cleanse the kidneys. After patients become used to eating without salt
(usually in one to two weeks after starting the Gerson Therapy), the special
soup is tasty and a delicious start for every meal.
The following vegetables should  be used, thoroughly washed, not peeled,
cut into cubes, covered with water, and cooked for 1½ to 2 hours. Put
through a food mill and allow only fibers and peels to remain. (This should
form a thick, creamy soup, not a clear broth!) Allow soup to cool before
storing in refrigerator. Make only enough for about two days. The
ingredients include:
1 mediu m celery


masculine; both are contained in the elixir and in the
philosophers' egg and grew out of it as a symbol of
creation. In the West the white rose, or lily, is the Queen,
the red rose is the King. The white, as water, and the red
as ﬁre are the two great powers of creation and
destruction in the world. In Arabic alchemy Senior said
that in purifying the mind  every black thing is made white
and every white thing red, ‘for water whitens and ﬁre
gives light.’
On the exoteric plane there was much in common
between the elixir and the magic potions or powers of fairy
tales, such as the magic table, already referred to, which
appeared when summoned to provide food and drink and,in alchemy, cups of jade and plates of gold; also the power
of seeing events hundreds of miles distant, being immune
from all natural forces and of being served by the fairy
world. There were alchemical recipes for potions or
ointments which made it possible to perform all these
wonders. These were also the siddhi  powers of the yogins
in all eastern  religions. On both the exoteric and esoteric
levels the elixir was recognized as a time-co ntrolling
substance. Ko Hung says on this: ‘once one's immortality
has been assured one is never again concerned about the
ﬂeeting of time.’
Sun Ssu-mo, who had made a study of alchemy, wrote:
‘The formulae I have studied are by no means few. On the
whole they are obscure and enigmatic. Those who dip into
them become increasingly bemused, and amateurs only
more addled... that is surely not because the ancients
have spoken deceiving words. It must be that students of
the Way themselves have been unable to reach the
essential meanings.’ For these ‘essential meanin gs’ one
might quote Titus Burckhardt in saying that the elixir
‘unites in itself all the powers of the soul and thus acts as
a trans muting “ferment” on the psychic world, and, in an
indirect fashion, on the outward world also.’
The elixir is, at any level, the passing from death to life.
OceanofPDF.com– 6 –
M E D I C I N E S
The border line between the elixir and medicines is vague
and ill-deﬁned. The elixir  is frequently referred to as ‘the
medicine’ and was also known as hsien  drugs; both were
made on the assumption  that there was a possibility of
ﬁnding a method of controlling ageing and decay, even
death itself, and though the elixir might kill the physical
body, the subtle body would survive if suﬀiciently rareﬁed.
Ko Hung wrote: ‘By takin g these two things [the elixir and
gold] man can reﬁne his body so that he never grows old
and never dies. Seeking for these external substances to
fortify and strengthen oneself is like feeding a ﬂame with
oil, so that it does not die out.’
That the elixir and medicines were interchangeable is
shown by the list of diseases that could be cured by an
elixir, such as the Cyclically Transformed Elixir, which
cures nerve palpitations, poisoning, possession by demons,
heart attack s, seasonal epidemics and fevers; it also
appears to act as a tranquillizer since it ‘paciﬁes the
mind;’ it is good for the complexion and improves sight
and hearing. Having as its ingredients quicksilver, sulphur,
cinnabar, powdered rhinoceros horn and musk, it is
sublimated, ground, and mixed with a paste to form pills of
which varyin g quantitie s were prescribed for diﬀerent
ailments. There are other recipes which cure epilepsy,
melancholia and aid the circulation; some can ‘quiet the
soul and put it in touch with the Immortals.’ Anoth er elixir
could revive  the dead provided they had not been dead
more than three days; it could also cure blindness and
deafness and even ensure that things do not get lost since,once rubbed  with the elixir, they will ﬁnd their own way
back home.
Another nine-fold elixir was received supernat urally.
This was the Ninefold Perfected Jade Elixir, which was
simpler to concoct than the Nine-Cycled Elixir. It was
based on the nine-stalked purple mushroom and a jade
infusion of vermilion and had extraordinary powers; it
could halt the ﬂow of a stream, seal a door so that one
thousand men could not tug it open, open mountains and
transﬁx brigands. Taken as a medicine it would provide
immediate death if one wished to join the Immortals
forthwith, or in moderate doses it would confer physical
longevity and ultimate immortality.
As drugs of immortali ty, the elixir and medicines
mentioned are mostly unidentiﬁable, but those that can be
recognized often contain ed highly toxic and dangerous
ingredients, minerals and plants—such as arsenic,
mercury, lead, gold, digitalis, aconite and hemp, which,
taken in small doses migh t prove stimulating at ﬁrst, have
curative properties, give psychedelic experiences. As Ko
Hung says: ‘You can even make everyone see mountains
moving and trees transporting themselves, although no
actual movement takes place.’ If taken in large doses these
ingredients would confer immortality by translation to the
next world, either as intended, or quicker than was
bargained for if the properties were not understood.
Symptoms of poisoning were often hailed as signs  that the
elixir was working and ‘dispelling latent disorders.’ There
was also a widespread belief, not conﬁned to the East or to
alchemists, that the more unpleasant the medi cine the
better the eﬀect. ‘After taking the elixir, if your face and
body itch as though insects were crawling over them, if
your hands and feet swell with dropsy, if you cannot stand
the smell of food and bring it up when you eat it, if you feel
sick, if your limbs are weak, if you are prone to diarrhea orvomiting, or if you have stomach aches, do not be
disturbed, these are merely proofs that the elixir is
succeeding in driving out the illness.’
Nor was the use of these medicines abandoned after the
death of some of the experimenters trying out their own
recipes or giving them to others. There was the famous
instance of this happening to the T'ang Emperor Hsuan
Tsung, who, after taking a dose of the magic drug,
prematurely joined his ancestors and the Immortals in the
next world instead of prolonging his life in this as
intended.
Sun Ssu-mo said: ‘Although mineral pot-pourri can be
taken orally, this is really not a practice to be continued
over long periods.’ He regarded taking minerals as
medicines as being responsible for his suﬀering from
carbuncles and said he had seen others suﬀering in the
same way. He conclude d that he would rather eat the
poisonous gelsemium root than minerals; ‘under standing
their toxicity one must needs be cautious.’
Some of the medicines seem to have had unforseen and
disastrous eﬀects. One adept, Ssu-ma Chi-Chu, took Cloud
Powder to mount to heaven, but his head and his feet
landed in diﬀerent places. Another, Mo Ti, after taking the
Rainbow Elixir, jumped into the river and yet another, the
Master Ning, swallowed the Eaglestone Elixir and threw
himself into the ﬁre. The Lang-kan Elixir had the eﬀect of
causing intense pain in the heart, followed by a great
thirst which, when assuaged, cut oﬀ the breath.
There seems little doubt, however, that some of these
lethal preparations were taken with the full knowledge of
their eﬀects and that the subsequent death was a
deliberate journey to the next world, in full faith of
attaining immortality. Death by taking the elixir was
sometimes represented as a response to a summons from
the Immortals to join them in the heavens, as in the case ofthe young visionary Chan Tzu-liang, a youth of exceptional
powers and promise who intentionally took the fatal dose.
On the other hand, some masters seemed to have
complete control over the elixir and its eﬀects. The famous
alchemist Wei Po-yang, author of the Ts'an T'ung Ch'i,
whose biography appears in the Chinese Encyclop aedia of
Bibliography,
entered the mountain to make eﬀicacious medicin es.
With him were three disciples, two of whom he
thought lacki ng in complete faith. When the medic ine
was made he tested them. He said: ‘The good
medicine is made but it ought ﬁrst to be tested on the
dog.


 peace.
May I be fr eed of thoughts of worldly limits today, r ememberin g
that the childr en  of God ar e bound and not fr ee. May God’ s spir it
deliver me beyond the narr ow confines of fear -based thinking.
May I be delive r ed to the infinite possibilities of love. Br eak m e
fr ee, dea r God, of the ego’ s claims of what is possible, what is to
be e xpected, and what is perm itted by its harsh assessments o f
who I am. Amen.DA Y 227
I  d e d i c a t e  m y s e l f  t o  l o v e ’ s  p u r p o s e s  t o d a y.
T hat w hich is put in the service of love is protected from the grips of
fear. Tha t which is put in the ser vice of deep sanity is protected  from the
grips of neurosis. That which is  put in the service of what is good, holy,
and beautiful is protected from the forces of destruction. T oday I put my
life in service to love.
The ego has no power in the p resence of holiness, and my mind is
holy. T oday I de dicate myself hourly, even moment by moment,  to love’ s
purposes, as a way of casting out of my mind the ego fears that would
otherwise assault me.
Dear God,
I place all that I am
And all that I have
In Y our hands.
T ake fr om me every thought
That is not of Y ou,
And fill my mind
W ith Y our emanations
Of love.
And so it is.
Amen.DA Y 228
I  u s e  p r a y e r  a n d  m e d i t a t i o n  t o  e x e r c i s e  m y  s p i r i t u a l
b o d y.
J ust as I look to food to fuel my physical self, I look to meditation and
prayer to fuel m y spiritual self. Just as I look to physical exercise to
strengthen my physical body, I look to spiritual exercise to strengthen my
spirit.
Gravity works on both physical and emotional levels. Just as I d o not
wish physical gravity to pull down my muscles, I don’ t wish spiritual
gravity to pull down my min d. I work against emotional g ravity—
thoughts of fear, cynicism, negativity, victim consciousness, anger,
judgment, and defensiveness—by praying and meditating throug hout the
day.
The ego will constantly tempt m e to attach myself to a fear -based
interpr etation of the world. I fly instead on angels’ wings—th e
thoughts of love—above the fray  of worldly confusion. I pray and
meditate to keep my mind on love. And thus I soar above the
illusions of the world.DA Y 229
M a y  I  h e a r  t h e  v o i c e  f o r  l o v e  t o d a y.
T oday may I hear the voice for God above the voice of the ego. May
the calm of love override the chaos of fear in my mind and in the world.
I ask today what I can learn, what insight God would give me, and
what wi sdom He would place within my heart. May my thoughts be
illumined by for giveness. May love be my touchstone and my salvation
from fear. May His voice be with me throughout the day.
Dear God,
May I not be swayed today
By pr ojections of guilt,
By attack and defense,
By limitation and fear.
Rather, may Y our love
So fill my mind
That I am utterly calm
W ithin Y our arms.
Amen.DA Y 230
FOR REFLECTION
O n  A f f i r m i n g  T h a t  O n l y  L o v e  I s  R e a l
I n any situation where loves does not rule, af firm that only love  is real.
Say it, repeat it, chant it like a mantra. Allow it to cast out all thoughts of
blame a nd jud gment and fear. Think of the mean-spiritedness of
someone, then af firm that only love is real. W atch a horrible story on the
news, then af firm that only love is real. Feel your own fears about this or
that, then af firm that only love is real. This does not put you in a state of
denial, b ut rathe r in a state of tra nscendence. Y ou are not pretending that
something is not really happening, but only that it is not r eally
happening. And just as the W icked W itch of the W est disappeared when
Dorothy threw water on her, no  manifestation of fear will lon g remain
once humanity has risen to the understanding that only love is real.DA Y 231
T o d a y  I  c h o o s e  t o  b e  m i r a c l e - m i n d e d.
T hrough t he auth ority of loving t hought, I am given the power to turn
any situation that is not love back into love, by thinking about it
dif ferently. T oda y I choose to be miracle-minded. Where I feel fear, I
will cho ose love. Where I see guilt, I will choose to for give. Where I fear
lack, I will choose to remember that in God all things are possible.
Miracles will intercede for my holiness whenever I choose love,
bringing inner light into a darkened world. T oday I choose the power of
God over the weakness of my ego, to guide me and to set me free.
Wher ever ther e is love, ther e ar e miracles. Miracles occur
naturally when I use my mind t o serve its purposes. T oday I am
devoted to the work of miracles in myself and in the world. Amen.DA Y 232
L o v e  a l o n e  i s  t h e  m e a n i n g  o f  m y  l i f e.
F rom infinite love come infinit e possibilities. I am loved, an d my
purpose is to love. I have the power to think in ways that reflect and
attract all the love in the world. Such thinking—or enlightenment—is not
a process I work on, so much as a choice available to me in any instant.
The wo rld will tell me that my purpose is this or that, my goals
should be this or  that, and that meaning lies in this or that. But l ove—my
ability to give and to receive it—is life’ s only meaning. T oday may I
remember that.
God and  God alone is the sou r ce of my good. Love and love
alone is the s our ce of my life’ s meaning. For giveness an d
for giveness alon e is the key to m y deliverance fr om the pain of a
br oken heart.DA Y 233
A s  I  l e t  g o  o f  t h e  p a s t,  I  a l l o w  f o r  m i r a c l e s  i n  t h e
p r e s e n t.
M y situation might indeed be bleak. I might have made a huge mistake,
been given a raw  deal, or been betrayed by others. Y et still, wha t matters
is what I think now: Am I linger ing in the past, or allowing for a miracle
in th e pr esent? A m I blaming m yself and others, or for giving m yself and
others? Am I attached to what happened, or embracing new possibilities?
The univ erse for ges a new path forward, in any instant when I re align
my thou ghts with the thoughts of love. The laws of time and space are
malleable, for through holiness I transcend them. I am entitled to more
than help; I am entitled to miracles.
Dear God,
Please wash me clean
Of yester day’ s fears.
Let not my attention drag behind
As I enter the light of this holy instant.
Keep me in the pr esent wher e Y ou r eside
And wher e I belong,
For thus shall miracles be mine.
Amen.DA Y 234
I  g e t  r i d  o f  m y  e n e m i e s  b y  m a k i n g  t h e m  m y
f r i e n d s.
T he only way out  of enmity is through for giveness. I refuse to allo w my
grievances to hide the light of God in me. I free myself of ju dgmental
thoughts, for they cause my heart to suf fer.
I t hink of those I blame and sen d them love. I think of those I resent
and wish them well. I think of those who have hurt me and I pray for
their happiness. Thus shall spirit infuse my mind, and deliver me beyond


 they have long
been viewed as ﬁxed processes based on strict physical
limitations. An invisible factor like making your own
choices abou t how to spend your day never ﬁgured into the
calculation. This bias has been shifting for quite a while,
but only the beginning signs were evident when Quantum
Healing  appeared. Today what’s important isn’t the
acceptance of conscious ness as a factor in healing—that
battle has been won, more or less. Instead we need a set of
new assumptions about how far consciousness can go to
alter healing and aging, not to mention intractable chronic
pain, addictions, dependency on prescription  drugs,
recovery from surgery, and so on.
Here are the basic assumptions I’d suggest:
1.Mind comes before matter.
2.Mental choices originate the messages that change
organs, tissues, and cells.
3.The body is ﬂuid and dynamic, not ﬁxed and
determined.4.Genes express whatever a person desires. They
operate through switches that the mind can access.
5.The mind-body system is a feedback loop where input
and output have many determinants, including
lifestyle, environment, behavior, beliefs, and past
conditioning.
6.Through self -care, a higher state of wellbeing is
attainable. Self-care makes daily use of the mind-body
feedback loop.
7.Ultimately, the evolution of future humanity depends
on internal balance (homeostasis) that is balanced with
the whole ecology of the planet.
There’s much more to say about each of these points, as
we’ll discover in coming chapters. But the general
conclusion is that “normal” isn’t as far from “miraculous”
as both camps, believers  and skeptics, used to think. The
choices you make today are the key to your wellbeing for
life. Every cell in your body is eavesdropping on your
thoughts. Consciousness research is constantly gaining
new ground, so it’s best to assume that your potential for
mind-body mastery is much greater than anyone now
supposes.
OceanofPDF.comWhen I said that no one can honestly claim to know the
cure for breast cancer, I was telling a half-truth. If a patient
could promote the healing process from within, that would
be the cure for cancer. Healing episodes like Chitra’s come
about when a radical shift takes place inside, removing fear
and doubt at the same time as it removes the disease. Yet,
the exact location of this shift opens up profound mysteries.
It deﬁes medical wisdom to answer even the most basic
question: Was the shift in Chitra’s mind, in her body, or
both? To ﬁnd out, Western medicine has recently begun to
move away from drugs and surgery, the mainstay  of every
doctor’s practice, toward  the amorphous, often perplexing
ﬁeld loosely known as “mind-body medicine.” The move
was almost a forced one, because the old reliance on the
physical body alone had begun to crumble.
Mind-body medicine makes many doctors extremely
uneasy. They feel it is more a concept than a true ﬁeld.
Given a choice between a new idea and a familiar chemical,
a doctor will trust the chemical—penicillin, digitalis,
aspirin, and Valium do not need any new thinking on thepatient’s part (or the doctor’s) to be eﬀective. The problem
comes in when the chemical isn’t eﬀective. Recent surveys
taken in England and America have shown that as many as
80 percent of patients feel that their underlying complaint,
their reason for going to the doctor, was not satisfactorily
resolved when they left his oﬀice. Classic studies going
back to the end of World War II showed that patients left
the Yale Medical School hospital sicker than the day they
arrived. (These are paralleled by similar studies that
showed that patients with psychiatric complaints improved
more while they were on the waiting list to see a
psychiatrist than after they actually saw him—so the
situation isn’t simply one of exchanging a body doctor for a
head doctor.)
A miracle cure, then, simply throws into high relief the
need to reexamine some of medicine’s basic concepts. Our
current logic  of healing can be impressive, or at least good
enough, as when we apply penicillin to cure an infection,
but nature’s logic can be awe-inspiring. Many physicians
have stood in wonder witnessing such cures as Chitra’s
without having a clue how to explain them; the standard
term for them is spontaneous remission, a convenie nt tag
that says little more than that the patient recovered by
himself. Spontaneous remissions are quite rare—one study
in 1985 estimated that they occur once in every twenty
thousand diagnosed cancer cases; some specialists believe
they are much rarer (fewer than ten per million), but no
one knows for sure.
Recently I spent an evening with a leading oncologist, or
cancer specialist, from the Midwest, a doctor who treats
thousands of patients every year. I asked him if he knew of
any spontaneous remissions. He shrugged and said, “I feel
uncomfortable with that term. I have seen tumors
completely regress. It’s very rare, but it happens.”Did these regressions sometimes happen totally by
themselves? He admitted that they occasionally did. He
thought for a moment and mentioned that certain kinds of
melanoma—an extremely lethal skin cancer that kills very
quickly—are known to disappear by themselves. He
couldn’t explain why this happened. “I don’t stop to think
about these rare incidents,” he said. “Treating cancer is a
matter of statistics—we  go with the numbers. A huge
majority of patients respond to certain lines of treatment,
and there just isn’t time to ﬁnd out about the inﬁnitesimal
minority who recover for some unknown reason. Besides, it
is our experi ence that many of these regressions  are only
temporary.”
Did he think complete regressions were rarer than one in
a million? No, he answered, not that rare.
Then, as a scientist, didn’t he want to ﬁnd out the
mechanism that lies behind them, even if the odds are one
in a million, or one in ten million? Again he shrugged. “Of
course there must be a mechanism behind it,” he conceded,
“but my practice is not set up to look into that. Let me give
you an example: eight years ago, a man came to see me
complaining of a painful chest cough. We X-rayed him, and
it turned out that he had a large tumor between his lungs.
He was admitted to the hospital, we took a biopsy, and the
pathologist’s report diagnosed the tumor as oat-cell
carcinoma. This is an extremely deadly, very fast-growing
malignancy.
“I told my patient that he must have immediate surgery
to relieve the pressure that his tumor was creating,
followed by radiation and chemotherapy. He was quite
disturbed by the prospect of treatment and refused. I
completely lost track of him after that. Eight years later, a
man came to see me with an enlarged lymph node in his
neck. I took a biopsy, and it turned out to be oat-c ell
carcinoma. Then I realized that it was the same man.“We took chest X rays, and there was no trace of lung
cancer. Normally, 99.99 percent of untreated patients
would have died in six months; as many as 90 percent
would not live ﬁve years even with maximum therapy. I
asked him what he had done for the earlier cancer, and he
told me he hadn’t done anything—he had just decided he
was not going to let himself die of cancer. And he may
refuse treatment again with this second cancer.”
By deﬁnition, scientiﬁc medicine deals in predictable
results. Yet, whenever spontaneous remissions appear,
their behavio r is completely unpredictable. They can occur
without the presence of any therapy, or they can
accompany conventional cancer treatment. The myriad
alternative approaches to cancer available in the United
States today may each have distinct merits, but no one has
proven that they prom ote spontaneous remissions any
better than standard radiation and chemotherapy, nor are
they apparently any worse. How advanced the cancer is
seems not to matter, either. Both tiny tumors and extremely
large masses of malig nancy can disappear, virtually
overnight. Because of their rarity and because they happen
as if by chan ce, spontane ous remissions have so far taught
us very little either about  the cause of cancer or about how
an “impossible” cure is achieved.
It seem s reasonable to suppose that the body is ﬁghting
cancer all the time and winning a huge majority of the
battles. Many kinds of cancer can be induced, either in test
tubes or in laboratory animals, using toxic substances
(carcinogens), fatty diets, radiation, high doses of stress,
and viruses, among other  things. Since we are subjected to
all of these at a furious rate, they must be causing  damage
inside us. DNA is known to break down under these
extreme conditions; usually, however, it knows how to
repair itself or to detect the damaged material and discard
it.This means that