investment. One can do an internal mental imaging process to see how
much of the body or its sensati ons could actually be lost and yet have the
self retain a sense of “I.” It becomes clear that the experientia l “I” has a
body but is not a body. The attachment to the body is to sensation and the superimposit ion of the
concept of “mine”; what is “mine” and is controlled by “me” must therefore
be “who I am.”  Identification with the body is consequent to the ego’s
positionalities. To detach from identification of the self as the body, it is
necessary only to see the body as an “it” rather than a “me.”
The self identif ies not only with the mind, but also with its content—
which becomes “my” memory, “my” senses, “my” thoughts, “my”
emotions, “my” property, “my” success, “my” failure, “my” expectations,
“my” feelings, and so on. Identification presumes ownership and
authorship; thus, the ego sees and believes itself to be a person al, separate
causal agent and the inferred source of its own existence. All the great teachers have declared that man’ s primary defect is
“ignorance.” Research reveals rather quickly that the underlying basis of
this ignorance is due to the limit ation of the innate structure of the ego itself
as a consequence of the still-ongoing evolution of consciousness. The vanity of the ego (at the level of pride) is endless and vaing lorious in
its grandiose delusion that it can disprove the existence of God. Cognition is
only linguistic supposition confined to linear symbols, the limited content
of mental processing. That it has any actual objective reality at all is a
purely subjective presumption. The absolute subjectivity of revealed Truth precludes all considerations
or uncertainties,  which stem only from the ego. When the ego collapses, all
argument ceases and is replaced by silence. Doubt is the ego. By spiritual endeavor, one discovers that it is oneself  who has been a
captive and a “victim” ensnared by the clever deceptions of the ego. Paradoxically, benefit is derived  by the self-interest of the ego when it
begins to realize that there is a great advantage to unselfishness. When it
learns of the benefit of letting go of egocentric goals, the ego itself then
becomes the springboard to spiritual inquiry and the means to its own
transcendence, realizing that humility is strength and not weakness, and that
it is wisdom and not ignorance. The willingness to “forgive and forget”
calibrates at 450 (reason/logic). The willingness to “forgive and surrender
to God” calibrates at 540 (unconditional love). Like the body, the mind is not one’s real self, and like the body, it is
basically impersonal. It has thoughts, but these thoughts are not a product of
the self. Even if a person does not want a mind, he or she has one anyway. There is no choice in the matter; the mind is imposed and thrust upon one
unasked. The fact that having a mind is an involuntary imposition helps
with the realization that it is not a personal choice or decision. Through self-examination and inward focus, one can discove r that all
states of consciousness are the result of the execution of an option. They arenot unchangeable certainties determined by uncontrollable factors at all. This can be discovered by examining how the mind works. Cease to identify with the body /emotions/mind as “me.” Be truthful and
admit that they are yours but not you. This may seem artificial, strange,
foreign, and unnatural in the beginning; yet the basic reality is that it is a
truth of higher order, which makes it a very powerful and formidable tool. The mind will try to deny this reality as well as truth (that’ s what it is
“supposed to do”) because T ruth is intuited as its nemesis. As a term, “principles” may sound abstract, but the consequences of
principle are quite concrete. If we examine princip les, we will see that they
reside in an invisible realm within consciousness itself. Although we can
point out examples of honesty in the world, honesty itself as an organizing
principle central to civilization is nowhere independently existent in the
external world. True power, then, emanates from consciousness itself; what
we see is a visible manifestat ion of the invisible.... Meaning is so
important that when life loses meaning, suicide commonly ensues. When
life loses meaning, we first go into depression; when life becomes less
meaningful, then we finally leave it. Force has transient goals; when those
goals are reached, there remains the emptiness of meaninglessness. Power,
on the other hand, motivates us endlessly. If our lives are dedicated, for
instance, to enhancing the welfare of others and everyone we contact, our
lives can never lose meaning. One of the basic principles of consciousness itself is its intrinsic
innocence. Beca use the mind is innocent, we have to begin to carefully
watch and guard it. We have to become like its mother. The mind is like aninnocent child who goes out in the world and believes everything it hears. It
believes every billboard, every commercial, and every remark that people
make. It believes what it sees. It has no way to evaluate it and has no sense
of discri mination. We have to begin to take responsibility and say, “I can
see that my mind is intrinsically innocent, and because the innocence of the
mind of the child is still with me throughout life, I should start looking into
what it has been buying.”
Unless there is an underlyi ng attractor pattern, nothing can be
experienced. Thus, the entire manifest universe is its own simultaneous
expression and experience of itself. All seem ing separation is an artifact of thought. It is essential to see that
the mind is at all times experiencing a point of view. If you watch what your mind is really doing, you’ll see that it is always
trying to get “one up” on the next instant. By the next instant (about
1/10,000th of a second), what a person is experiencing (they are never
experiencing reality) is the ego’s interpretation of reality. Like an audio
system, there is a monitor. So just as you record a program, the monitor
feeds it into your ears. You hear what was just recorded a split second ago,
but you are not hearing the program source; you are hearing what was just
recorded. Most people experience the monitor tape of the ego’s interpretation of
events. They’re not experienci ng events as they are in reality; they’re
experiencing the ego’ s interpretation. The primary defect now is, as it always has been, that the design of the
human mind renders it intrinsically incapable of being able to tell truth from
falsehood. This single, most crucial of all inherited defects lies at the root of
all human distress and calamity. All negative emotions persist because of their secret payof f. When this
“ego juice” is declined, thoughts tend to diminish and then disappear. The
mind then tends  to “go blank,” which then brings up the fear of boredom. With observation, it becomes clear that the mind is busy anticipating the
future (fear); clinging to the past (regret, hatred, guilt); or savor ing the past
to extract pleasure via reruns. Thus, the mind becomes the focus of
amusement as “doing” something. In looki ng at this from the view point of Truth, we can see there is no
such thing as “just ego.” It woul d mean that there is some place where God
is not. All positions represent ego, and the ego is then superimp osed on that
which is not ego. There has to be something larger, which is consciousness
itself. To safely do spiritual work and avoid crises, it is necessary to
reaffirm, look within, and discover one’ s own innocence. It really is not safe
to do spiritual work unless one has a glimpse of that innate naïve innocence
and keeps one eye on it at all times, because that innocence is the gateway
back to the T ruth so one does not get lost in the swamp. The mind has only information and imagination about  anything; it cannot
actually “know” because to know is to be that which is known. All else is
only speculation and suppositio n. When the mind is transcended, there is
nothing left to ask about. That which is complete lacks nothing, and that
completion is self-evident in its Allness.OceanofPDF.comLove is a way of being. It is the energy that radiates when the blocks to it
have been surrendered. It is more than an emotion or a thought—it is a state
of being. Love is what we have become through the pathway of surrender. One is not really ruled by the mind at all. What the mind reveals is an
endless stream of options, all disguised as memories, fantasies, fears,
concepts, and so on. To get free of domination by the mind, it is only
necessary to realize that its parade of subjects is merely an arbitrary
cafeteria of selections wending their way across the screen of the mind. Letting go greatly facilitates the power


verse colon, lower portion of esophagus, duodenum;  digestion,
assimilation, anabolic metabolism. Liver zone: organs and functions in lateral areas of the body between
diaphragm and navel including diaphragm, liver, gallbladder,
spleen, hepatic and splenic exures of large intestine; digestion,
elimination, detoxication, catabolic metabolism, coordination. Lung and Heart  zones: organs and function s above the diaphragm
including, lungs, heart, diaphragm, esophagus, trachea, bronchi,
mouth, nasoph arynx, nose, ears, eyes, brain; respiration, circulation,
digestion, mentation, perception, communication. Pallor of the tongue usually  indicates chronic deciency of Qi,
Blood, and Moisture. When  this is severe, the tongue may take on a
purplish hue, indicating that deciency has led to stagna tion of the
Blood. This color appears in cases where there is Coldness  of the
body and limbs, tiredness, shortness of breath, and pain in the chest,
abdomen, or joints. The progress of illness is also disclosed by the tongue. As illness
improves, the quality of the fur and color of the tongue become
more normal. If the illness worsens, so will the tongu e and fur. Realistically it is common for individuals to have a complex tongue
picture showin g conicting conditions of Heat and Cold, excess and
deciency. For example, the tongue of a person with a chronic
peptic ulcer and acute inuenza might appear abby and pale,
reddened at the tip, with yellow fur in the center. This indicates the
intermingling of chronic interior deciency with acute exterior
excess. Each part of the tongue corresponds to the condition or state of an
Organ Network. To see the condition of the Heart Network  one looks
at the extreme tip of the tongue, whereas to gauge the state of the
Lung one looks near the tip. So a very red tipped tongue indicatesnot only the general presenc e of Heat, but Heat aecting these two
Networks. A tongue that is purplish indicates poor circulation,
particularly associated with the stagnation of Qi or Blood  in the
Liver. And greasy yellow fur in the center of the tongue reports
Damp Heat  in the Spleen  and Stomach. Many external factors can also aect the appearance of the
tongue, such as smoking, coee, alcohol, and the use of
pharmaceutical drugs. Under these conditions, the tongue may
reect the eect of these agents rather than give a true picture of
the underlying state. This is why the practitioner never relies on
only one method of diagnosis. MAY I PLEASE  FEEL YOUR PULSE? Pulse diagnosis is based on the principle that Qi and Blood  circulate
as a single entity. By feeling the movement of blood in the vessels,
the activity of Qi, Moisture, and Blood  is inferred. The pulse is
produced by the movement of blood in the arteries, but movement
is initiated by the force of Qi. The Chinese saying “Where  Qi goes,
Blood  ows” communicates this synergy of Qi and Blood. When Qi
and Blood  are disturbed, Moisture  may become abnormal as well.Palpating the Pulse
The practition er feels three positions on each wrist along the
radial artery. These positions correspond to metabolic zones known
as the Triple-Burner  or Three-Heater. The position closest to the
thumb corresp onds to the chest and upper body (the Heart  and
Lung). The middle position corresponds to the upper abdomen (the
Stomach, Spleen, Gallbladder, and Liver). The position farthest from
the wrist corresponds to the lower abdomen (the Kidney, Bladder,
Small Intestine, and Large Intestine ). The strength, rate, rhythm,  and size of the pulse express the
integrity of the Qi and Blood  and the functional activity of the Five
Organ Networks. A healthy pulse is regular, with four to ve beats
per cycle of respiration and a smooth, owing feeling as it rises and
falls. It is both elastic and resilient, evoking a sense of relaxed and
vigorous rhythm and harmony. As many as thirty-two pulse qualities are described in the classical
texts, each indicating a particular type of disturbance. For example,
if the pulse is “oating”—that is, it can be felt with light pressure
but fades away as the pressure increases—it indicates an AdverseClimate  (Wind, Cold, Heat, Dampness, or Dryness ) has penetrated the
surface from the outside. If the pulse is oating and rapid, or
oating and strong, this reects the inuence of these Adverse
Climates  in con ict with the vigorou s defensive Qi of the body. The
“sinking” pulse is its counterpart. It is perceived only with deeper
pressure and feels like a stone settling in water. Since it is relatively
hidden or buried, it indicate s that the problem exists at the deeper
internal level. Left
Heart : all organs and functions above the diaphragm, especially on
the left side of the body
Liver: all organs and functions between the diaphragm and the navel
especially in the lateral areas of the body
Kidney Yin: all organs and functions below the navel, especially in
the pelvic region on the left side of the lower abdomenHeart
Inch Position:
(Upper Burner): cun
Liver
Bar Position
(Middle Burner): guanKidney Yin
Cubit Position
(Lower Burner): che
Right
Lung: all organs and functions above the diaphragm, especia lly on
the right side of the body
Spleen : all organs and functions between the diaphragm and the
navel, especially in the central area of the abdomen
Kidney Yang: all organs and functions below the navel, especially in
the pelvic region on the right side of the lower abdomenLung
Inch Position:
(Upper Burner): cun
Spleen
Bar Position
(Middle Burner): guanKidney Yang
Cubit Position
(Lower Burner): che
The slow pulse suggests that Cold is retarding  movement,
manifesting in a lack of warmth, whereas the rapid pulse suggests
that the presence of Heat is accelerating  movement and activity. A
thin and forceless pulse is associated with weakness and a lack of
sucient Qi and Blood. A big, full pulse that “pounds” against the
ngers suggests excess and may be felt when too much Heat is found
in the Heart, Stomach, Liver, or Intestines. Generally, problems of a
Yin nature are indicated by a frail and weak pulse, while problems
of a Yang nature are indicated by a strong and full pulse. A given
individual may exhibit a full and forceful pulse in one position and a
soft and weak pulse in another, suggesting that one system is
hyperactive and another is underactive. Stagnation tends to produce
a tense and erratic pulse It can be generated by both conditions of
excess  or deciency. Heat  can be generated by a lack of Yin as well as
an excess of Yang or Fire. Most people are not diagno sed as having
problems of a purely Yin or Yang nature, and often more than one
Organ Network  is involved in their disorder. THE EIGHT GUIDING  PRINCIPLES
The Eight Principles  are four sets of polar categories that distinguish
between and interpret the data gathered by examination. These
include Yin-Yang, Cold-Heat, deciency-excess, and interior-exterior. They determine the relative nature, quality, and location of the Qi,
Moisture, and Blood  within the body as a whole and within each of
the Five Organ Networks. The energetic activity of the organism is determined by qualities
that distinguish between Heat and Cold. The locale of a disturbance
is judged by the presence of symptoms in the exterior  region
(aecting skin, hair, muscles, tendons, joints, peripheral bloodvessels, nerves, and meridians) or the interior  region  (aect ing the
visceral organs, deep vessels and nerves, brain, spinal cord, and
bones). The virulence of a pathology is compared with the inherent
strength of the body by the presence of symptoms and qualities that
indicate excess  or deciency. Excess  refers to noxious pathogenic inuences such as the Adverse
Climates  or Emotions  and abnormal accumulations of Qi, Moisture,
and Blood. Deciency  refers  to a lack of the fundamental
constituents, Qi, Moisture, and Blood. Any condition can then be
summarized in terms of the relative dominance of Yin and Yang. (see larger image)(see larger image)
Click  to download a PDF of Syndromes of Distress
Using the Eight Principles  enable s the practitioner to formulate
certain therapeutic objectives. Where Cold predominates, the body
must be warmed. Where excess  persists, it must be dispersed. When
the disease is internal, deep-acting remedies must be employed. Similarly, Heat is cooled,


to the count of 4–5, and exhale  to 7–10. Watch the clarity of the rhythm. Repeat exercise 4–5 times. • Uniform breathing with exhal ation activation. Standing or sitting, take a
full deep breath through the nose and an elongated, extremely complete
exhale through the mouth, as when blowing out a candle. Repeat 4-6 times. • Cleansing breath. Take a deep breath through the nose, and exhale through
half-compressed lips with three to four short jerks. These exercises are
especially useful after a long stay in a stuffy room with stale air. Repeat 3-4
times. • Soothi ng breath. This exercise is usually performed after physical exertion
or during stops during dosed walking or jogging. Slowly, with a full deep
breath, raise your arms in arches forward and spread them apart with the
arms turned upward. Raise your head slightly at the same time. On a slow
full exhalation,  return to the starting position by doing the reverse
movement of the arms and head. Chapter 16. Cleansing reaction

In the process of carrying out exercises, there is a high probab ility of the
occurrence of cleansing reactio ns against the background of cleansing all
organs, tissues and body systems of the causes of diseases. These reactions
resemble the disease, because they occur in the form of persisting, and
sometimes even intensifying symptoms. For example, asthmatic attacks
may intensify, weakness will appear, palpitations will become more
frequent, etc. These symptoms are not observed constantly, but usually in
cycles. Moreover, those that appeared last are the first to disappear, and the
earliest symptoms disappear last. You can also find out that the cleansing reaction has come abou t by CP. On
the eve of the manifestation of cleansing reactions, there is a sharp increase
in CP, sometim es by 3-5 seconds, and immediately during cleaning it
decreases. This is due to the fact that the body spends all its efforts on the
restructuring of its systems: respiratory, digestive, cleansing, cardiovascular,
nervous, and musculoskeletal. On average, the CP does not fall below the
initial level. Only a third of those using the VEDB method under go a period of a
purification reaction, almost without noticing it; in other cases, purification
reactions are pronounced. During the cleansing reaction, do not stop or, on the contrary, complicate
the training. If symptoms recur, take half-dose medications that relieve
symptoms of the disease. In addition, you should limit physical activity,
more likely to be in the fresh air, eat right and drink a lot, especi ally mineral
water. Upon completion of the cleansing reaction, there is a significantimprovement in health status or complete recovery. Breathing is
normalized, as evidenced by the indicators of CP. You can use the VEDB method not only for the purpose of healing, but also
for the prevention of diseases. Continue to monitor your breathing, track a
control pause and keep a diary even when breathing has already  returned to
normal. This will help to avoid a return to deep breathing, and therefore to
illness. If the CP is below normal, you need to resume exercises or activate them. Conclusion

Now you know about the Buteyko method as a complementary and
successful non- medicinal way of treating asthma, stress, allergies and other
diseases using special breathing exercises. It was introduced in 1950 of the
last century and has millions followers across the world. The Buteyko
method helped millions of Asth ma sufferers to get rid of Asthma and over
100 other diseas es and health conditions or reduce the usage of prescribed
medications. This method also helped people cleanse their body of toxins,
boost immune system, reduce weight and restore health and well-being. About Author
Samuel Greenber g, writer, teacher, educator, researcher and practitioner
with interests in astrology, NLP, psychology, human health by natural
methods and other fields. For questions and contacts, please use e-mail: samlost100@gmail.com
I will glad to answer your questions and use them in my upcoming books. OceanofPDF.com<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        For breathing exercises you will need the place in the pool where the water
has the smallest depth - it reaches the armpits. Exer cise 1

Standing in the pool, make circular movements with straight arms forward
5 times in a row, then take a deep breath, immerse your face in water and
exhale slowly. Straighten your body, take another breath and repeat a slow
exhale into the water. Now make circular motions with your hands back and
again inhale twice and exhale twice in the water. At first, repeat the exercise
2-3 times, subsequently - up to 10 times. Increase the load gradually. Exer cise 2
 Lie down on the water with your hands on the pool handrail. To maintain a
horizontal positi on, make movements with your legs, as when swimming
with the crawl style. Breathe in the method of diaphragmatic breathing by
exhaling into the water. The duration of the exercise is 1-2 minutes. Exer cise 3

Standing in the water, take a deep breath and sit down, immersed in the
water with your head. Grasp your knees with your hands, press your chin to
your chest and float to the surface. In the float position, continue holding
your breath for 5-15 seconds (depending on your health condition and
duration of your workouts). Then exhale into the water through half-closed
lips and return to the starting position. Initially, it is enough to perform this
exercise once. After 2-3 weeks after the start of classes, you can repeat it 2-
3 times per workout. Exer cise 4

Walk along the bottom of the pool, lifting your hips high in the water. Respiration counts: 1,2 - inhale, 3, 4, 5 - exhale, 6, 7, 8 - pause. Duration -
2-3 minutes. Exer cise 5

Stand with your back to the pool wall. After taking a deep breath, sit down
and exhale slowly underwater through half-closed lips. Return  to starting
position and after a short pause, repeat the exercise. Repeat 5-10 times. Exer cise 6

Standing in water, jump out of it as high as possible. Start with 3-4 jumps
and gradually bring this number to 10-15. Exer cise 7

Lie on the water on your back. Resting your feet against the wall, take a
deep breath, then push your legs bent at the knees from the pool wall, hold
your knees to your chest and, holding your hands along the torso, slip along
the surface of the water on your back while exhaling. Perform this exercise
1-2 times per lesson. Exer cise 8

Standing in the water, perform movements with your hands, as when
swimming with the breaststroke style, for several minutes. At the end of the gymnastics, swim in the pool for your pleasure or find
yourself company and play ball in the water. The total duration of the lesson
is 30-60 minutes. Chapter 15. Massage of the internal organs with
the help of breathing

In Chin a, practitioners of the Taoist teachings practice almost the same
exercises. They call it "back breathe. " During such training, the abdominal
muscles do not relax on inhalation, but tense. The diaphragm moves down. The chest does not expand. Filling the lungs with air is possible only due to
their "inflating" towards the abdominal cavity, and, accordingly, squeezing
the internal organs. At the same time, an active massage of the internal
organs, including the adrenal glands, affecting the hormonal background of
a person takes place. And similar exercises below are suggested by Buteyko followers. These
simple exercises can alleviate and cure many acute and chronic diseases and
health conditions, improve the functioning of the cardiovascular system,
immune, muscle  and nervous system, kidneys, digestive tract, liver, lungs,
eyes, skin and other or gans and systems of a person. Depending on your state of health, you can choose exercises that will help
you overcome the disease and recover faster after the surgical procedure, as
well as restore your physical and mental health and well-being. They will
not take you much time to learn  and perform them. You will feel their deep
healing effect after just a few sessions. They are useful for people of any
age, including children from four years of age, and health status. Massaging the stomach, intestines, liver

Fig. 35

Stomach br eathing or lower br eathing
Starting position : lying, sitting or standing. The muscles are relaxed. Place
one palm on your stomach, the other on your chest. Take a slow but strong
exhale, while pulling the abdominal wall inward. Slowly through the nose,
inhale, the diaphragm relaxes during this movement, the abdominal wall
bulges outward; the lower part of the lungs is filled with air. When you exha le, the abdominal wall is pulled inward, air from the lungs
le


way	out	of	problems	and	ignorance	is	by	acquiring	an
understanding	of	the	nature	of	consciousness	itself. Awareness	of	the
nature	of	consciousness	catapults	one	through	all	problems,	limitations,
and	human	endeavors. It	is	the	most	important	subject	of	all	subjects	to	be
learned	because	it	underlies	all	human	experience	and	enterprise. Science
itself	has	progressed	only	to	the	point	where	it	can	advance	no	further
without	understanding	the	nature	of	consciousness. Thus,	there	are	so
many	international	conferences	on	science	and	consciousness	that	are	thefocus	of	much	interest	and	are	very	well	attended. Thus	far,	such
endeavors	have	been	hampered	by	the	lack	of	adequate	tools	to	explore	the
leading	edge	of	human	intelligence. Q:	We	hear	that	the	block	to	Awareness	is	duality	itself. How	can	this	be
solved? A:	Duality	is	the	artificial	and	arbitrary	basis	for	the	illusion	of	separation. It
originates	from	a	positionality	that	stems	from	the	sum	of	thinkingness,
with	all	its	myriad	judgments,	values,	selectivity,	prejudices,	and	opinions. These	in	turn	stem	from	symbolism,	limited	paradigms,	and	limitations
of	context. It	is	only	by	an	arbitrary	limitation	of	context	that	any
judgments	or	value	statements	can	be	made	about	anything	at	all. The	fact
that	many	opinions	are	held	by	great	masses	of	people	is	hypnotic. Few
minds	can	escape	the	appeal	of	the	authority	of	mass	agreement. People
look	without	instead	of	within	for	guidance. As	Freud	said,	the	individual
conscience	is	dissolved	in	the	unconsciousness	of	the	herd	and	mass
action. Morality	is	silenced	by	mass	hysteria. Few	can	resist	the	propaganda	of	the	news	media. Truth	eventually
surfaces,	but	it	is	usually	belated. How	often	human	error	underlies
tragedy	is	revealed	by	the	DNA-based	reversal	of	the	convictions	of	so
many	prisoners	who	have	even	been	previously	executed. Judicial
testimony	is	perception,	and	inasmuch	as	perception	is	the	source	of	error,
the	so-called	justice	system	is	understandably	prone	to	error. Truth	cannot
be	arrived	at	through	voting. Jury	conclusions	are	merely	opinions,	not
facts. Emotions	blind	perception	and	guarantee	error. Duality	is	thus	a
separation	of	truth	and	error	that	is	sourced	by	the	vanity	of	perception	and
the	ego. Q:	How	does	perception	result	in	duality? A:	Arbitrary	selectivity	results	in	a	positionality	that	is	a	point	of	view	which
artificially	polarizes	the	oneness	of	Reality	into	seemingly	separate	parts. These	parts	are	apparent	only	and	not	actually	separate	in	Reality. The
separation	into	parts	occurs	only	in	the	mind	and	not	in	Reality. Thus,	we
end	up	speaking	of	‘here’	and	‘there’,	or	‘now’	versus	‘then’,	or	we
arbitrarily	select	out	portions	from	the	flow	of	life	that	we	refer	to	as
‘events’	or	‘happenings’. One	serious	consequence	of	this	mental	process
is	the	production	of	a	false	understanding	of	causality. This
misunderstanding	leads	to	endless	human	problems	and	tragedies. Q:	I	understand	that	you	place	great	emphasis	on	clarifying	the	nature	ofcausality. A:	In	an	attempt	to	reconnect	that	which	has	now	been	conceptually	separated
in	the	processes	of	the	mind’s	thoughts,	causality	is	invented	to	explain
what	is	now	viewed	as	‘relationship’. In	Reality,	there	is	only	identity;
there	is	no	cause	of	anything	nor	is	it	required. In	the	Newtonian	paradigm
of	linear	causality,	a	‘this’	seems	to	be	causing	a	‘that’. In	Reality,
everything	is	already	complete,	and	the	total	oneness	is	beyond	time,
space,	and	separation	or	definition. It	is	obvious	that	nothing	is	the	cause
of	anything	else	as	that	would	require	a	dualistic	separation	in	time	and
space,	which	is	impossible. The	manifest	becomes	manifest	by	creation. All	things	are	because	of
their	essence	in	its	expression	as	existence. All	we	can	observe	are
conditions. It	is	relatively	easy	to	see	that	the	‘cause’	of	anything	is	the	totality	of
the	entire	universe	throughout	all	time,	being	what	it	is	in	all	its
expressions	as	existence. All	things	exist	as	an	expression	of	identity,	and
the	essence	of	all	things	shines	forth	by	its	presence. All	things	are	self-
created	by	divine	expression	as	existence. Therefore,	each	‘thing’	can	only
be	what	it	is	because	of	the	totality	of	the	entire	universe. A	speck	of	dust
cannot	be	where	it	is	positioned	without	air	currents,	which	require	a
room,	which	requires	a	building,	a	lot,	a	continent,	a	planet,	a	solar	system,
a	galaxy,	a	universe,	and	so	on. All	statements	made	by	the	mind	are	subjective. There	is	no	linear
progression	of	events,	sequences,	or	causations. All	shines	forth	as	it	is	in
its	expression	of	existence. All	is	self-existence	and	therefore	not
dependent	on	anything	outside	itself. Q:	Is	the	ego	‘wrong’? A:	The	problem	with	the	ego	is	not	that	it	is	wrong;	it	is	just	that	it	is	limited
and	distorted. To	conceive	of	the	ego	as	an	enemy	is	to	become	polarized,
bringing	forth	conflict,	guilt,	anger,	and	shame. Positionalities	support	the
ego. By	enlarging	context,	opposites	are	transcended	and	problems	are
dissolved. Humility	removes	the	ego’s	underpinnings	of	judgmentalism,
positionality,	and	moralizing. In	Reality,	there	can	no	longer	be	opposites
anymore	than	there	can	be	winners	or	losers. Within	the	illusion,	statistics,	for	instance,	depend	on	how	limits	are	set
and	defined. By	changing	classification,	statistics	shift. Thus,	the	supposed
crime	rate	in	the	United	States	can	be	made	to	appear	to	go	up	or	down,
depending	on	political	pressures,	or	by	including	or	excluding	certain
things	in	the	compilation. By	raising	or	lowering	criteria,	any	socialphenomenon	can	be	made	to	appear	to	increase	or	decrease. The	world	as
described	by	perception	is	therefore	arbitrary,	and	social	‘reality’	becomes
whatever	one	decides	to	call	it. Definition	defines	perception,	and	the
corollary	is	equally	true. Q:	What	effect	does	thought	have	on	perception? A:	Thought	usually	takes	the	form	of	languaging. Language	is	based	on
labeling,	which	is	therefore	the	result	of	prior	separations	and
fragmentations	of	the	whole. Thinking	and	mentation	are	dialogs	and
expressions	of	duality. One	can	ask	who	or	what	is	doing	the	thinking	or
for	whose	benefit. Who	is	the	speaker	and	who	is	the	listener? Q:	What	is	the	difference	between	ego	and	mind? A:	They	are	actually	one	and	the	same. The	term	‘ego’	is	generally	used,
however,	to	describe	certain	aspects	of	the	mind,	but	the	ego	could	be
more	generally	defined	as	the	source	and	the	process	of	thinking. Q:	What	is	the	relationship	between	mind	and	meditation? A:	The	purpose	of	meditation	is	to	transcend	the	mind	and	its	mentations	and
limited	perceptions,	thereby	transcending	duality	and	becoming
increasingly	aware	of	Oneness. Thinking	proceeds	from	lack


—even if we attain it—for the simple r eason that we ar e
much mor e than the small handful of qualities that ﬁt neatly
into our ego ideal. In the pr ocess of trying to e xpress only
those aspects of ourselves that we believe will guarantee us
the acceptance of others, we suppr ess some of our mostvaluable and inter esting featur es and sentence ourselves to
a life of r eenacting the same drama with the same outwor n
script. In this quest for safety and pr edictability, our range of
self-expression shrinks and, with it, our choices. Who and
what we will be tomor row is usually some for m of who we
were yester day, because we can only access the r esour ces
and behaviors of the self that has consented to be seen. In
shutting out the darkness we fear lurks within us because
we fear the destruction it might cause, we also shut oﬀ the
competent, powerful, successful, se xy, funny, and brilliant
parts of ourselves that ar e year ning for e xpression. This is
the root cause of the bor edom we of ten feel in some or
many ar eas of our life. As we sever our r elationship with certain aspects of our
personality, we deny ourselves access to stimulation,
excitement, passion, and cr eativity. One of the most e xciting
aspects of being human is that ther e are literally hundr eds
of inspiring, useful, and powerful parts of ourselves lying
dormant, aching to come out of the shadow and be
integrated into the whole of the self. Ther e is a whole ar ray
of wonderful feelings waiting for an opportunity to move
through our body, bringing us new sensations and new
levels of happiness, joy, and pleasur e. We can’t r eally enjoy
the enor mity of who we ar e, because we have for gotten who
we ar e beyond the bor ders of our own r estricted inter nal
barriers and the constraints we have imposed on our
emotional world. To be r einspir ed in any ar ea of our life, we just have to
look to see which of our shadow aspects or characters have
been driven out of sight, ﬁnd safe and appr opriate ways for
them to e xpress themselves, and invite them once again
onto the stage. W e must challenge ourselves to accept all
the faces of our humanity; otherwise the characters that got
booted oﬀ stage and ar e now r epressed will become the
silent or chestrators of our secr et life. Only in the pr esence ofour entir e, uncensor ed self can we fully understand and
appreciate our totality and our uniqueness. W e must ﬁnd a
good use for every character, or we will r emain at war
within ourselves. BEFRIENDING OUR SHADOW
To begin to grasp how essential the shadow is, try to
imagine a story without any conﬂict or a her o whose virtue
is never put to the test by a worthy adversary. The her o of
any story could not e xist if it wer e not for the villains that
challenge the her o along the way. If what the Easter n
wisdom traditions say is indeed true, that “the sinner and
the saint ar e mer ely e xchanging notes,” then the conﬂict
between our higher and lower natur es cr eates the tension
necessary to pr opel our evolution as human beings. The
same concept that guides good literatur e applies equally in
real life: heroes ar e only as str ong as their villains. In the drama of our evolution, the shadow is the character
of greatest inter est. The shadow is only danger ous when we
keep it lock ed away in the dark cellar of r epression. That’s
when we run the risk that it will blow up in our face,
derailing our diets, sabotaging our r elationships, and killing
our dr eams. But if we allow our shadow characters to serve
as integrated parts of our whole self—as colorful, powerful
forces for the good—they will lead us to richer e xperiences,
more genuine connections, mor e laughter, mor e
authenticity, and honest self -expression. The battle with our
dark side will never be won thr ough hatr ed and r epression;
we can’t ﬁght darkness with darkness. W e have to ﬁnd
compassion and embrace the darkness inside us in or der to
understand it and, ultimately, to transcend it. In his inﬂuential book The Art of W ar, Sun Tzu suggests
that “to know your enemy, you must become your enemy. ”
In this case, the enemy is usually an impulse insideourselves that we don’t understand or don’t know how to
deal with. As long as we’r e denying, r epressing, or
minimizing the importance of this and other hidden ur ges,
as long as we believe that our own dark impulses will never
catch up with us or be e xposed, their wisdom will continue
to elude us. By actively ﬁnding the gif ts and r eceiving the
contribution our shadow is trying to mak e, we r edirect its
once destructive power into a for ce that can beneﬁt our life. More than that, we become a r ole model for others to ﬁnd
healthy outlets for the parts of themselves that don’t
confor m to society’s script or to their ego ideal. We can be saints by pr oviding the sinners that r eside
within us the fr eedom of self -expression—not by indulging
bad behavior, but by seeing how this impulse or quality
could serve us or society as a whole. The mor e acceptance
and safe e xpression we ﬁnd for our dark er impulses, the less
we will have to wor ry about being blindsided by them. I
know you might be wondering how a part of you that you
fear and loathe could actually serve you, but I pr omise you
as you go thr ough the pr ocess, you will see that ther e are
gifts to be mined in every quality, feeling, and e xperience. Reclaiming the parts of ourselves that we have r elegated
to the shadow is the most r eliable path to actualizing all of
our human potential. Once befriended, our shadow becomes
a divine map that—when pr operly r ead and followed—
reconnects us to the life we wer e meant to live, the people
we wer e meant to be, and the contributions we wer e meant
to give. Embracing our inner beast is the tick et to fr eedom. It is the conduit for tapping into all our gr eatness. It mak es
our inner life rich and meaningful and our outer life mor e
enjoyable. It allows us to bask in wholeness rather than be
constrained by the limitations of a self that was cr eated by
smok e and mir rors. Why smok e and mir rors. Because if we
have cr eated our public image or persona out of only those
qualities we have deemed acceptable, we will have lef t outsome of the most important, potent, and ﬂavorful parts of
ourselves. OUR SHADOW MASK
Uncovering the parts of ourselves that we lear ned to r epress
is the k ey to understanding why we enjoy fr eedom in some
areas of our life and behave lik e a robot in others. It is fear
that convinces us to wear one of an inﬁnite number of
masks to hide behind and to construct a persona—a
costume, so to speak—to conceal all of who we r eally ar e. We work tir elessly to cr eate an outer façade, so that no one
will ﬁnd out about our dark thoughts, desir es, impulses, and
history. It is the shadow of our past that dr ove us to cr eate
the face—the mask—that we show the world. W ill we be a
people pleaser, or will we seek r elief from the world by
being isolated, distant, and alone. W ill we work tir elessly to
be per ceived as an overachiever, or will we be content to lie
in front of the TV or spend hours sear ching Inter net gossip
sites. Our persona was not cr eated by accident; it was
created in or der to camouﬂage the parts of ourselves we
deemed the most undesirable and to over compensate for
what we believe to be our deepest ﬂaws. This false self is char ged with one mission only : to hide all
of the unwanted and unacceptable parts of ourselves. If we
were wounded fr om having been raised by emotionally
unpredictable par ents, we may work very har d to portray an
image that we ar e calm and in contr ol. If we had a lear ning
disability gr owing up, we might cr eate a war m, overly loving
personality, so others won’t notice what we per ceive to be
our handicap. If we ar e ashamed of the fact that we wer e
raised by a welfar e mom, we might become a highly
motivated work er who is always impeccably dr ess


tion,swellingistheresultofincreasedfluidsfromthelymphaticsystem,leakybloodvessels,andothersofttissues. Thefluidhelpsimmobilizethesiteandservesasashockabsorbertopreventfur
therinjurytothearea. Redness,•known asinflammation,isoftenaccompaniedbypainandrepresentsincreasedbloodflowtothe
area. Inflammationisacomplexresponsefromyourhealingsys
tem,workingwithyourimmunesystem,tobringimportantcells
andpowerfulchemicalstotheinjuredareatohelpremovetox
ins,repairdamagedtissues,andspeedhealing. *Tearingoftheeyes. Tearingisaspecifichealingresponsesimilar
towhatoccursinarunnynose. Tearinghelpstoflushforeignmaterialormicroorganismsoutofthedelicateandsensitivesurfacesoftheeyes. Sometimes,wheninfectionorirritationisextreme,theeyeswillremaingluedshutbecausethetearsandsecretionshavedriedup. Keepingtheeyelidsgluedshutisa
36 YourExtraordinaryHealingSystem
furtherattemptofthehealingsystemtoprotecttheeyesfromadditionalinjuryordamage. oVomiting. Vomitingisaprotectivemechanismthatyourhealingsystemusestoeliminatecontaminatedornoxiousmaterialthat
hassomehowenteredintoyourstomachandsmallintestines. Vomitingisafast,efficient,andpowerfulwayforyourbodyto
riditselfoftoxinsorotherharmfulsubstances. Afteryouhave
eatencontaminatedfood,asinfoodpoisoning,vomitingwill
occurtoexpelinfectiousorganismsaswellasunwantedfood
andtoxins. Peopleusuallyreportfeelingmuchbetteraftertheyhavevomitedintheseinstances. Ifyouhaveovereaten,eatenfoodsthataretoorich,ordrunktoomuchcoffeeoralcohol,whichactasintestinalirritantsandtoxinswhenthey’retakenin
excess,vomitingwilloccurtocleanoutandreducetheburden
onthedigestivesystemandbody. Althoughinitiallyyoumaythinktheseresponsesareassociated
onlywiththeindividualsystemswithinthebody,suchascoughing
andtherespiratorysystem,orvomitingandthegastrointestinalsystem,rememberthatitisthehealingsystem’spresencewithinand
itssupervisoryroleoverthesesystemsthatactuallycausestheseresponses. Keepinmindthatthehealingsystemisnotaseparateanatomicalsystem. Itisafunctional,energetic,intelligentsystemthatpermeateseverysinglesysteminyourbody. Asyoureadtherestofthisbook,thinkaboutyourbody,yourbodilysensations,andanychangesthatareoccurringinyourbody
aswell-measuredresponsesproducedbyyourbody’shealingsystem. Thinkofthemasresponsesthatareintendedtocorrectimbalances
andhelpyoumaintainyournaturalstateofhealth,ratherthansymptomsofdisease. Shiftyourawarenessawayfromyoursymp
toms,yourdiscomfort,andyourthoughtsofanillnessorallergy,
evenifthesearerealproblemsforyou. Instead,trustthatyourheal
ingsystemismakingnecessaryphysiologicaladjustmentstocorrectimbalancesandrestoreyourbodytoitsnaturalstateofhealth. Irealizethisperspectivemaybearadicaldeparturefromhowyoucurrentlyviewyourbodyandyourhealth;however,learningtodo
thiswillmakeasignificantdifferenceinyourhealth. Ifyoucanfocus
YourHealingSysteminAction 37
lessondiseaseandmoreonhealth,lessonwhatiswrongwithyourbody,andmoreonwhatisfunctioningproperly;ifyoucanturnyourattentionawayfromthefearofexternalcausesofdiseaseandagents
ofdiseasethatliebeyondyourcontrol,andinsteadlookwithconfidencetothehiddentreasurechestofhealingresourcesthatlieswithin
yourveryownbody,youwillbeabletoreapthebenefitsofsuperiorhealth. Ifyoucanlearntorecognizethemanywaysyourhealingsystemrespondstochallenges,yourdependenceondrugsanddoctors
willbelessened,andthequalityofyourlifewillbevastlyimproved. Youwillgainagreatdealbyrecognizingtheresponsesofyourhealingsystem. Yourhealingsystem
~Empowersyoutodiscoverandmakeuseofthevastsupplyofhealingresourcesthatliewithinyourownbody. ~Directsyourenergiesandeffortswithinyourownbodyandawayfromblamingyourdiscomfortordiseaseonexternalcausesandforcesbeyond
yourcontrol,whichcanbedisempowering. ~Shiftsyourfocusawayfromfear-basedthinkingthatcanbeharmfulto
yourhealthandwell-being. ~Empowersyoutotakegreaterresponsibilityforyourlife,andhelpsyouunderstandtheconnectionbetweenyourownactionsandthoughts,includingyourdietandlifest~’le,andyourhealth. ~Lessensyourdependenceondoctors,drugs,andexternalagentsoftreat
ment. ~Improvesyourconfidenceinyourbody’sabilitytoremainhealthyand
healitself. ~Helpsinplanningthetreatmentandhealingofanyhealthproblemyoumightface. Youcanseethatthebenefitsofrecognizingthepowerofyourremarkablehealingsystemandworkingwithitwillhaveahuge,positiveimpactonyourhealthandyourlife. Note:Asyouarelearningthisnewwayofthinkingaboutyourbodydonotneglecttoseeyourdoctorifanyphysicaldiscomfortorpainincreasesordoesnotgoawayonitsown. Yourdoctor
canbeavaluableaidandsupportforyourhealingsystem. 38 YourExtraordinaryHealingSystem
ClinicalEvidenceofYourHealingSystematWork
We’vealreadylookedathealingresponsesingeneral,andwe’veseenseveraldifferentexamplesofthehealingsystematworktohelphealsuperficialinjuries. Nowlet’smovedeeperinsidethebodyaswecontinuetoexaminetheevidencethatclearlydemonstratesthat
yourbodyhasahealingsystemthatkeepsyoualiveandhealthy. In
eachofthesituationsthatfollow,rememberthatthehealingsystem
istheessentialelementinthehealingprocessandthat,withoutit,healingwouldnotoccur. YourHealingSystemandFractures:Sam’sStory
Samwasa34-year-oldseniorstaffsergeantwith15years’experience
asaveteranparatrooperandcombatcontrollerintheUnitedStates
AirForce. Duringaroutinetrainingmission,hewasrequiredto
jumpfromanaltitudeof10,000feetatnighttimeoverremotejun
gleterrain. Samgotcaughtupinatreeashewaslandingandbroke
hisankleinseveralplaces. Thebonepiercedthroughtheskin,mak
ingitacompoundfracture. Thistypeofinjuryhasahighrateofinfectionandisnotoriouslydifficulttotreat. Infectionthatsetsinto
thebonesisknownasosteomyelitis, aseriousconditionthatisdiffi
culttoeradicateandthatcomplicatesthehealingsystem’sabilityto
knitthebonestogethertohealafracture. SamwastakenbyairplanebacktotheRegionalMedicalCenter
inthePhilippines,whereIwasrequiredtofollowhiscasetoseewhetherhewouldeverbeabletoresumehiscareerdutiesagain. For
allintentsandpurposes,itlookedasifhismilitarycareerwasover. Samwashospitalizedrepeatedly,placedonnumerousantibi
otics,andoperatedon11timesoveratwo-and-one-half-yearperiod,
inattemptstoknithisbonestogether. Duringthisperiod,hewore
acastalmostcontinuouslyandwasneverabletowalkonhisown,relyinginsteadsolelyoncrutches. Heunderwentnumerouspainfulscrapingsandbonegraftsinanattempttocleanthesurfacesofthebonesfrominfectionwhilethedoctorsweretryingtojointhebonestogether. Duringtheseoperations,numerousplatesandscrewswere
alsoattachedtohisbones. Atonepoint,whenitlookedasifthefracturemightheal,Sam’s
castwasremoved,andhewastoldhecouldparticipateinlight
YourHealingSysteminAction 39
sports. Aweeklater,whilehewasfieldingagrounderduringafriendlysquadronsoftballgame,Sam’sanklesnappedandbrokein
twopiecesashisfootbentoutata90-degreeangle. Afterthis,itwasbacktotheoperatingroomforhim,withmorescraping,moremetalplatesandscrews,anothercast,andmorecrutches. Aftertwoandone-halfyears,SamwasnotonlyinjeopardyoflosinghisjobandbeingmedicallydischargedfromtheAirForce,he
wasalsobeingconsideredforafootamputation. Heconsultedwith
theprostheticspecialist,whobeganfittinghimforaprosthetic(artificial


rainage	slows	down	or	becomes	obstructed,	the	thymus	gland,
tonsils,	and	spleen	start	to	deteriorate	quite	rapidly. These	organs	form	an	important	part	of
the	body’s	system	of	purification	and	immunity. In	addition,	microbes	harbored	in
gallstones	can	be	a	constant	source	of	recurring	infection	in	the	body,	which	may	render
the	lymphatic	and	immune	systems	ineffective	against	more	serious	infections,	such	as
infectious	mononucleosis,	measles,	typhoid	fever,	tuberculosis,	syphilis,
	and	the	like. Owing	to	restricted	bile	flow	in	the	liver	and	gallbladder,	the	small	intestine	is	restricted
in	its	capacity	to	digest	food	properly. This	permits	substantial	amounts	of	waste	matter
and	poisonous	substances,	such	as
cadaverines
	and
putrescines
	(breakdown	products	of
putrefied	food),	to	seep	into	the	lymphatic	ducts. These	toxins,	along	with	fats	and
proteins,	enter	the	body’s	largest	lymph	vessel,	the
thoracic	duct,
	at	the
cysterna	chyli. The
cysterna	chyli	are	dilated	lymph	vessels	in	the	shape	of	sacks,	situated	in	front	of	the	first
two	lumbar	vertebrae	(see
Figure	9
)	at	the	level	of	the	belly	button. Toxins,	antigens,	and	undigested	proteins	from	animal	sources,	including	fish,	meat,
eggs,	and	dairy	foods,	as	well	as	leaked	plasma	proteins,	cause	these	lymph	sacks	to	swell
and	become	inflamed. When	the	cells	of	an	animal	become	damaged	or	die,	which
happens	seconds	after	it	is	killed,	its	protein	structures	are	broken	down	by	cellular
enzymes. These	so-called	“degenerate”	proteins	are	useless	for	the	body,	and	they	become
harmful	unless	they	are	promptly	removed	by	the	lymphatic	system. Their	presence
usually	invites	enhanced	microbial	activity. Viruses,	fungi,	and	bacteria	feed	on	the	pooled
wastes. In	some	cases,	allergic	reactions	occur. Figure	9
:	Cysterna	chyli	and	thoracic	duct

When	the	cysterna	chyli	(lymph	sacks)	are	overtaxed	and	congested,	the	lymphatic
system	is	no	longer	able	to	sufficiently	remove	even	the	body’s	own	degenerate	proteins
(from	worn-out	cells). This	results	in
lymph	edema. While	lying	on	the	back,	existing
lymph	edema	can	be	felt	as	hard	knots,	sometimes	as	large	as	a	fist,	in	the	area	of	the	belly
button. These	“rocks”	are	a	major	cause	of
middle	and	low	back	pain
	and
abdominal
swelling,
	and,	in	fact,	of	most	symptoms	of	ill	health. Many	people	who	have	grown	a
“tummy”	consider	this	abdominal	extension	to	be	just	a	harmless	nuisance	or	a	natural
part	of	aging. They	don’t	realize	that	they	are	breeding	a	living	“time	bomb”	that	may	go
off	some	day	and	injure	vital	parts	of	the	body. Anyone	with	a	bloated	abdomen	suffers
from	major	lymph	congestion. Some	80	percent	of	the	lymphatic	system	is	associated	with	the	intestines,	making	this
area	of	the	body	the	largest	center	of	immune	activity. This	is	no	coincidence. The	part	of
the	body	where	most	disease-causing	agents	are	combated	or	generated	is,	in	fact,	the
intestinal	tract. Any	lymph	edema,	or	other	kind	of	obstruction	in	this	important	part	of	the
lymphatic	system,	can	lead	to	potentially	serious	complications	elsewhere	in	the	body. Wherever	a	lymph	duct	is	obstructed,	lymph	has	also	accumulated	at	some	distance
from	the	obstruction. Consequently,	the	lymph	nodes	located	in	such	an	area	can	no	longer
adequately	neutralize	or	detoxify	the	following	things:	dead	and	live	phagocytes	and	their
ingested	microbes,	worn-out	tissue	cells,	cells	damaged	by	disease,	products	of
fermentation,	pesticides	in	food,	toxic	antibodies	contained	in	most	plant	foods,	inhaled	or
otherwise	ingested	chemical	particles,	cells	from	malignant	tumors,	and	the	millions	of
cancer	cells	every	healthy	person	generates	each	day. Incomplete	destruction	of	these
things	can	cause	these	lymph	nodes	to	become	inflamed,	enlarged,	and	congested	withblood. Infected	material	may	enter	the	bloodstream,	causing	septic	poisoning	and	acute
illnesses. In	most	cases,	though,	the	lymph	blockage	occurs	slowly,	without	any	symptoms
other	than	swelling	of	the	abdomen,	hands,	arms,	feet,	or	ankles,	or	sometimes	puffiness	in
the	face	and	eyes. This	is	often	referred	to	as	“water	retention,”	a	major	precursor	of
chronic	illness. Continuous	lymphatic	obstruction	usually	leads	to	chronic	health	problems. Almost
every	chronic	illness	results	from	congestion	in	the	cysterna	chyli. Eventually,	the	thoracic
duct,	which	drains	the	cysterna	chyli,	is	overburdened	by	the	constant	influx	of	toxic
material	and	becomes	clogged	up,	too. The	thoracic	duct	is	linked	with	numerous	other
lymph	ducts	(see
Figures	9
	and
10
)	that	empty	their	waste	into	the	thoracic	“sewer	canal.”

Since	the	thoracic	duct	has	to	remove	nearly	85	percent	of	the	body’s	daily-generated
cellular	waste	and	other	potentially	hazardous	material,	a	blockage	there	causes	backing
up	of	waste	into	other,	more	distant	parts	of	the	body. When	the	daily-generated	metabolic	waste	and	cellular	debris	are	not	removed	from	an
area	in	the	body	for	a	certain	length	of	time,	symptoms	of	disease	start	to	manifest. The
following	are	but	a	few	typical	examples	of	illness	indicators	that	result	directly	from
chronic,	localized	lymph	congestion:

Figure	10
:	Lymphatic	system	and	lymph	node

Obesity,	cysts	in	the	uterus	or	ovaries,	enlargement	of	the	prostate	gland,	rheumatism	in
the	joints,	enlargement	of	the	left	half	of	the	heart,	congestive	heart	failure,	congestedbronchi	and	lungs,	swelling	or	enlargement	of	the	neck	area,	stiffness	in	the	neck	and
shoulders,	backaches,	headaches,	migraines,	dizziness,	vertigo,	ringing	in	the	ears,
earaches,	deafness,	dandruff,	frequent	colds,	sinusitis,	hay	fever,	certain	types	of	asthma,
thyroid	enlargement,	eye	diseases,	poor	vision,	swelling	in	the	breasts,	breast	cancer,
kidney	problems,	lower	back	pains,	swelling	of	the	legs	and	ankles,	scoliosis,	brain
disorders,	memory	loss,	stomach	trouble,	enlarged	spleen,	irritable	bowel	syndrome,
hernia,	polyps	in	the	colon,	and	others. The	thoracic	duct	typically	empties	its	detoxified	waste	contents	into	the	left
subclavian
vein
	at	the	root	of	the	neck. This	vein	enters	the
superior	vena	cava,
	which	leads	straight
into	the	heart. In	addition	to	blocking	proper	lymph	drainage	from	the	various	organs	or
parts	of	the	body,


 e to ﬁnd Mr. or Ms. Right. It’s
almost a cultural obsession. But accor ding to A Course in
Miracles, the sear ch for the perfect person to “ﬁx” us is one
of our biggest psychic wounds, and one of the ego’s most
powerful delusions. It r epresents a notion that A Course in
Miracles  calls the “special r elationship. ” Although the wor d
“special” nor mally implies something wonderful, fr om a
Course perspective, special means diﬀer ent, ther efore
separate, which is characteristic of ego rather than spirit. A
special r elationship is a r elationship based on fear. ‘God cr eated only one begotten Son’ and He loves all of
us as one. T o Him, no one is diﬀer ent or special because no
one is actually separate fr om anyone else. Since our peace
lies in loving as God loves, we must strive to love everyone. Our desir e to ﬁnd one “special person,” one part of the
Sonship who will complete us, is hurtful because it is
delusional. It means we’r e seeking salvation in separation
rather than in oneness. The only love that completes us is
the love of God, and the love of God is the love of everyone. That doesn’t mean that the for m of our r elationships is the
same with everyone, but it means that we ar e seeking the
same content in every r elationship: a quality of br otherly
love and friendship that goes beyond the changes of for m
and bodies. Just as the ‘Holy Spirit was God’s answer to the
separation, the special r elationship was then the ego’s
answer to the cr eation of the Holy Spirit. ’ A fter the
separation, we began to feel a huge gaping hole within us,
and most of us still feel it. The only antidote for this is the
Atonement, or r eturn to God, because the pain we feel is
actually our own denial of love. The ego, however, tells usdiﬀer ently. It ar gues that the love we need must come fr om
someone else, and that ther e’s one special person out ther e
who can ﬁll up that hole. Since the desir e for that person
actually stems fr om our belief that we’r e separate fr om God,
then the desir e itself symbolizes the separation and the guilt
we feel because of it. Our sear ch then car ries the ener gy of
the separation. It becomes about guilt. This is why so much
anger is of ten ar oused in our closest r elationships. W e’re
projecting onto someone else the rage we feel against
ourselves for cutting oﬀ our own love. Often when we think we ar e “in love” with a person, as A
Course in Miracles  indicates, we’r e actually anything but. The special r elationship is based not on love but on guilt. The special r elationship is the ego’s seductive pull away
from God. It is a major for m of idolatry, or temptation to
think that something other than God can complete us and
give us peace. The ego tells us that ther e is some special
person out ther e who will mak e all the pain go away. We
don’t r eally believe that, of course, but then on the other
hand we r eally do. Our cultur e has br ed the idea into us,
through books, songs, movies, advertising, and mor e
importantly, the conspiracy of other egos. It is the job of the
Holy Spirit to transfor m the ener gy of special love fr om
treachery to holiness. The special r elationship mak es other people—their
behavior, their choices, their opinions of us—too important. It mak es us think we need another person, when in fact we
are complete and whole as we ar e. Special love is a “blind”
love, seeking to heal the wr ong wound. It addr esses the gap
between ourselves and God, which doesn’t actually e xist but
which we think does. By addr essing this gap as r eal, and
displacing its sour ce onto other people, we actually
manufactur e the e xperience we seek to r ectify. Under the Holy Spirit’s guidance, we come together to
share joy. Under the ego’s dir ection, we come together to
share desperation. Negativity, however, cannot r eally be
shared because it is an illusion. “ A special r elationship is a
kind of union fr om which union is e xcluded. ”
A relationship is not meant to be the joining at the hip of
two emotional invalids. The purpose of a r elationship is not
for two incomplete people to become one, but rather for two
complete people to join together for the gr eater glory of
God. The special r elationship is a device by which the ego
separates rather than joins us. Based on a belief in inter nal
emptiness, it is always asking, “What can I get. ”, wher eas
the Holy Spirit asks, “What can I give. ” The ego seeks to
use other people to fulﬁll our needs as we deﬁne them. Certain voices go on endlessly these days about whether or
not “ our needs ar e being met” in a r elationship. But when
we try to use a r elationship to serve our own purposes, we
falter because we ar e reinfor cing our illusion of need. Under
the ego’s guidance we’r e always looking for something, yet
always sabotaging what we’ve found. One of my girlfriends called me one day and said she had
had a date with someone she r eally lik ed. The ne xt week,
she called and said he had br oken a date with her in or der
to go out of town. She didn’t lik e him af ter all. “I won’t tak e
that fr om anyone,” she told me. “I’m r eady for a
relationship. ”
“No you’r e not r eady for a r elationship,” I told her. “Not if
another person isn’t allowed to mak e a mistak e, you’r e not. ”
The ego had told her to r eject the man because she was
ready for a r elationship, but what it was r eally doing was tomake sur e she wouldn’t have one. The ego isn’t looking for
someone to love; it’s looking for someone to attack. Its
dictate in love is “Seek, and do not ﬁnd. ” It looks for a
reﬂection of itself, another mask that hides the face of
Christ. In the special r elationship, I’m afraid to show you the
real truth about myself—my fears, my weaknesses—
because I’m afraid that if you see them, you’ll leave. I’m
assuming you’r e as judgmental as I am. And I’m also not
really jumping up and down wanting to see your weak spots
either because it mak es me nervous to think I’m involved
with someone who has them. The whole setup mitigates
against authenticity and ther efore against r eal gr owth. A
special r elationship perpetuates the self -punishing
masquerade in which we all seek desperately to attract love
through being someone we’r e not. Although we’r e seeking
love, we’r e actually fostering our own self -hatr ed and lack of
self-esteem. What’s our miracle her e. It’s a shif t from thoughts of
specialness to thoughts of holiness. Our mental patter ns in
regard to r elationships ar e so fraught with fear—attack and
defensiveness, guilt and selﬁshness, however pr ettily
disguised—that many times we ar e brought to our knees. As
always, that’s a good place to be. W e pray for God to guide
our thoughts and feelings. ‘Y ou can place any r elationship
under the Holy Spirit’s car e and be sur e that it will not r esult
in pain. ’
7. THE HOL Y RELA TIONSHIP
“The holy r elationship is the old unholy
relationship transfor med and seen anew. ”
If the special r elationship is the ego’s r esponse to the
creation of the Holy Spirit, the holy r elationship is the HolySpirit’s r esponse back. The ‘holy r elationship is the old,
special r elationship transfor med. ’ In the special r elationship,
the ego guides our thinking and we meet in fear, mask to
mask. In the holy r elationship, the Holy Spirit has changed
our minds about the purpose of love and we meet heart to
heart. A Course in Miracles  describes the diﬀer ence between an
unholy and a holy alliance:
“For an unholy r elationship is based on
diﬀer ences, wher e each one thinks the other has
what he has not. They come together, each to
complete himself and r ob the other. They stay
until they think that ther e is nothing lef t to steal,
and then move on. And so they wander


 it isn’ t. The Unmanifested  is the sour ce  of chi. Chi is the inner
ener gy f ield of your body. It is t he bridge between the outer yo u and the
Source. It lies halfway between the manifested, the world of form, and
the Unm anifested. Chi can be likened to a river or an ener gy stream. If
you take the focus of your consciousness deeply into the inner body, you
are tracing the course of this river back to its Source. Chi is m ovement;the Unm anifested is stillness. When you reach a point of absolute
stillness, which is nevertheless vibrant with life, you have gone beyond
the inne r body and beyond chi to the Source itself: the Unma nifested. Chi is the link between the Unmanifested and the physical universe. So i f yo u take your attention deeply into the inner body, you may reach
this po int, this singularity, where the world dissolves into the
Unmanifested an d the Unmanifested takes on form as the ener g y stream
of chi, which then becomes th e world. This is the point of birth and
death. When your consciousnes s is directed outward, mind and world
arise. W hen it is directed inward, it realizes its own Source an d returns
home into the Unmanifested. Then, when your consciousness comes
back to the manifested world, you reassume the form identity that you
temporarily relinquished. Y ou have a name, a past, a life situation, a
future. But in o ne essential respect, you are not the same person you
were before: Y ou will have glimpsed a reality within yourself that is not
“of this world,” although it isn’ t separate from it, just as it isn’ t separate
from you. Now let  your spiritual practice be this: As you go about your life, don’ t
give 100 percent of your attention to the external world and to your
mind. K eep som e within. I have  spoken about this already. Feel the inner
body even when engaged in everyday activities, especially when
engaged in relationships or when you are relating with nature. Feel the
stillness deep inside it. Keep the portal open. It is quite possible to be
conscious of the Unmanifested t hroughout your life. Y ou feel it as a deep
sense of peace somewhere in the background, a stillness that never
leaves you, no matter what happens out here. Y ou become a bridge
between the Unmanifested and the manifested, between God and the
world. This is the state of connectedness with the Source that we call
enlightenment. Don’ t get the impression that the Unmanifested is separate from the
manifested. How could it be? It is the life within every form, the inner
essence of all that exists. It pervades this world. Let me explain. DREAMLESS SLEEPY ou take a journey into the Unmanifested every night when you enter the
phase of deep d reamless sleep. Y ou mer ge with the Source. Y ou draw
from it the vital  ener gy that sus tains you for a while when you return to
the manifested, the world of separate forms. This ener gy is much more
vital tha n food: “Man does not live by bread alone.” But in dreamless
sleep, you don’ t go into it consc iously. Although the bodily functions are
still ope rating, “ you” no longer exist in that state. Can you imag ine what
it would be like to go into dreamless sleep with full consciousness? It is
impossible to imagine it, because that state has no content. The Unmanifest ed does not liberate you until you enter it consciously. That’ s why Jesus did not say: t he truth will make you free, but rather:
“Y ou wi ll know the truth, and th e truth will make you free.” This is not a
conceptual truth. It is the truth of eternal life beyond form, which is
known directly or not at all. But don’ t attempt to stay conscious in
dreamless sleep. It is highly unlikely that you will succeed. At most, you
may remain conscious during the dream phase, but not beyond that. This
is ca lled lucid dreaming, which may be interesting and fascinati ng, but it
is not liberating. So use your inner body as a portal through which you enter the
Unmanifested, and keep that portal open so that you stay connected with
the S ource at all  times. It makes no dif ference, as far as the inner body is
concerned, whe ther your outer physical body is old or young, frail or
strong. The inner body is timeless. If you are not yet able to feel the
inner body, use one of the other portals, although ultimately they are all
one. Som e I have spoken about at length already, but I’ll ment ion them
again briefly here. OTHER POR T ALS
The Now  can be seen as the mai n portal. It is an essential aspect of every
other portal, including the inn er body. Y ou cannot be in your body
without being intensely present in the Now. T ime an d the manifested are as inextricably linked as are the timeless
Now and the Unmanifested. When you dissolve psychological time
through intense present-moment awareness, you become conscious of
the Unmanifeste d both directly and indirectly. Directly, you feel  it as theradiance and power of your c onscious presence — no content, just
presence. Indire ctly, you are aware of the Unmanifested in and  through
the sensory realm. In other wo rds, you feel the God-essence in every
creature, every flower, every stone, and you realize: “All that is, is holy.”
This is why Jesus, speaking ent irely from his essence or Christ  identity,
says in the Gospel of Thomas: “ Split a piece of wood; I am there. Lift up
a stone, and you will find me there.”
Another portal into the Unmanifested is created through the cessation of
thinking. This can start with a very simple thing, such as ta king one
conscious breath or looking, in a  state of intense alertness, at a flower, so
that ther e is no mental commentary running at the same time. T here are
many ways to c reate a gap in the incessant stream of thought. This is
what meditation  is all about. Thought is part of the realm of the
manifested. Continuous mind ac tivity keeps you imprisoned in the world
of fo rm and becomes an opaque  screen that prevents you from becoming
conscious of the Unmanifested,  conscious of the formless and timeless
God-essence in yourself and in all things and all creatures. When you are
intensely pr esent, you  don’ t need  to be concerned about the cessation of
thinking, of course, because th e mind then stops automatically. That’ s
why I said the Now is an essential aspect of every other portal. Surrender — the letting go of mental-emotional resistance to w hat is  —
also becomes a portal into the  Unmanifested. The reason for this is
simple: inner resistance cuts yo u of f from other people, from yourself,
from the world around you. It strengthens the feeling of separateness on
which the ego depends for its  survival. The stronger the fe eling of
separateness, the  more you are bound to the manifested, to the world of
separate forms. The more you are bound to the world of form, the harder
and more impenetrable your form  identity becomes. The portal is closed,
and you  are cut of f from the inner dimension, the dimension of depth. In
the s tate of surre nder, your form identity softens and becomes s omewhat
“transparent,” as it were, so the Unmanifested can shine through you. It’ s up to you to open a portal in your life that gives you conscious access
to the Unmanifested. Get in touch with the ener gy field of the inner body,
be intensely present, disidentify from the mind, surrender to what is ;
these are all portals you can use — but you only need to use one. Sur ely love must also be one of those portals? No, it isn’ t. As soon as one of the portals is open, love is present in you
as th e “feeling-realization” of oneness. Love isn’ t a portal; it’ s what
comes thr ough  th e portal into t his world. As long as you are completely
trapped in your form identity, t here can be no love. Y our task is not to
search for love but to find a portal through which love can enter. SILENCE
Ar e ther e any other portals apart fr om those you just mentioned? Y es, there are. T he Unmanifested is not separate from the mani fested. It
pervades this world, but it is s o well disguised that almost everybody
misses it completely. If you know where to look, you’ll  find it
everywhere. A portal opens up every moment. Do y ou hear tha t dog barking i n the distance? Or that car passing by? Listen carefully. Can you feel the presence of the Unmanifested in that? Y ou can’ t? Look for it


 sugar (FBS)
laboratory test measures glucose metabolism as required in diabetes
mellitus. In the fasting state, blood glucose levels decrease, stimulating
release of the hormone glucagon. Glucagon then raises plasma  glucose by
accelerating glycogenolysis, stimulating glyconeogenesis, and inhibiting
glycogen synthesis. Normally, secretion of insulin checks this rise in
glucose levels. In diabetes, absence or deficiency of insulin allows
persistently high glucose levels. Normal ranges for fasting blood glucose on the FBS laboratory test after
an eight- to twelve-hour fast are:
• fasting serum, 70 to 100 mg/dL;
• fasting whole blood, 60 to 100 mg/dL;
• nonfasting whole blood, 85 to 125 mg/dL in persons over age 50, and
70 to 1 15 mg/dL in persons under age 50. These laboratory readings help to screen for diabetes mellitus and other
disorders of glucose metabolism. They also monitor drug or dietary therapy
for diabetics, insulin requirements for uncontrolled diabetics, and known or
suspected hypoglycemics. Fasting blood glucose levels of 140 to 150 mg/dL or higher obtained on
two or more occasions are diagnostic of diabetes mellitus. Nonfasting levelsthat exceed 200 mg/dL also show diabetes. The elevated blood glucose may
come from pancreatitis, hyperthyroidism, pheochromocytoma, chronic
hepatic disease, brain trauma, chronic illness, chronic malnutrition,
eclampsia, anoxia, and convulsive disorders as well. Depressed blood  glucose occurs from hyperinsulinism, insulin oma, von
Gierke’ s disease, functional or reactive hypoglycemia, hypothyroidism,
adrenal insuf ficiency, congenital adrenal hyperplasia, hypopituitarism, islet
cell carcinoma of the pancreas, hepatic necrosis, and glycogen storage
disease. THE SERUM  IRON AND  TOTAL IRON-BINDING  CAPACITY  LABORA TORY TEST
Two separate blood tests conducted with buffering and coloring reagents
measure (1) the amount of iron bound to the glycoprotein transferrin and (2)
the plasma’ s total iron-binding capacity (TIBC) if all the transferrin were
saturated with iron. The percent age of saturation is obtained by dividing the
serum iron result by the TIBC, which reveals the actual amount of saturated
transferrin. Normal transferrin is 30 percent saturated. Thus, the two tests
(a) estimate total iron storage, (b) diagnose hemochromatosis, (c)
distinguish between iron deficiency anemia and chronic disease anemia,
and (d) evaluate a person’ s nutritional status. Normal serum iron and TIBC values have been determined to be:
In iron deficiency, serum iron falls and TIBC increases to decrease the
saturation. With chronic inflammation as in rheumatoid arthritis, serum iron
is low in the presence of adequate body stores, but TIBC remains
unchanged or drops to preserve normal saturation. Iron overload does not
alter serum levels until relativ ely late in the pathology, but serum iron
increases and TIBC remains the same to increase the saturation. THE ERYTHROCYTE  (RED BLOOD  CELL, RBC) C OUNTTraditionally counted by hand with a hemacytometer, red blood cells
(RBCs) are now commonly counted with electronic devices, which provide
faster, more accurate results. This erythrocyte count does not provide
qualitative information about the RBCs’ hemoglobin content, but it does tell
mean corpuscular volume (MCV) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin
(MCH). Thus, the erythrocyte blood count offers indices for RBC size and
hemoglobin content and supports other hematologic tests in diagnosing
anemia and polycythemia. Depending on age, sex, sample, and geographic location, normal RBC
values in adult males range from 4.5 to 6.2 million/microliter (4.5 to 6.2 x
1,012/L) of venous blood; in adult females from 4.2 to 5.4
million/microliter (4.2 to 5.4 x 1,012/L) of venous blood; in children, 4.6 to
4.8 million /microliter of venous blood; in full-term infants,  4.4 to 5.8
million/ microliter (4.4 to 5.8 x 1,012/L). An elevated RBC count indicates
polycythemia or dehydration; a depressed count shows anemia, fluid
overload, or recent hemorrhag e. With total bed rest, RBC counts drop
considerably from decreased oxygen requirements. THE TOTAL HEMOGLOBIN  (HGB) L ABORA TORY TEST
The total hemoglobin (Hgb) concentration in a deciliter (100ml) of whole
blood is measured by the total hemoglobin laboratory test. The Hgb-RBC
ratio (mean corpuscular hemoglobin or MCH) and free plasma Hgb affect
the RBC count. This test, a usual part of the complete blood count,
measures the severity of anemia or polycythemia, monitors therapy
response, and supplies figures for calculating MCH and mean corpuscular
Hgb concentration. Based on venous blood samples, normal values for dif ferent patients are:
AgeHemoglobin Level
(g/dL)
Less than 7 days 17-22
1 week 15-201 month 11–15
Childr en 11-13
Adult males 14-18
Elderly males 12.4-14.9
Adult females 12-16
Elderly females 11.7–13.8
THE HEMA TOCRIT  (HCT) LABORA TORY TEST
The volume of RBCs packed in a whole blood sample is measur ed by the
hematocrit (Hct) laboratory test. Number and size of the RBCs determine
the Hct concentration, and such a readout aids in the diagnosis of abnormal
states of hydration, polycythemia, anemia, fluid imbalance, blood loss,
blood replacement, and red cell indices. According to a patien t’s sex, age,
laboratory competence, and type of blood sample, the test routinely screens
one’s blood in a complete blood count. Hct reference values range from  40 percent to 54 percent (0.4 to 0.54) for
men and from 37 percent to 47 percent (0.37 to 0.47) for wome n. Low Hct
indicates anemia or hemodilution; high Hct shows polycythemia or
hemoconcentration caused by blood loss. If a hematoma develops at the
venipuncture site, ease discomfo rt by applying ice, followed later by warm
soaks. THE ERYTHROCYTE  INDICES  LABORA TORY TEST
Mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin
(MCH), and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) are the
three measurem ents accomplis hed by the erythrocyte indices laboratory
test. The MCV expresses the average size of erythrocytes and indicates
whether they are undersized (microcytic), oversized (mac rocytic), or
normal (normoc ytic). MCH gives the weight of hemoglobin in an averagered cell. MCHC defines the concentration of Hgb in 100 mL of packed red
cells. The normal RBC indices are:
MCV = 84 to 99 cubic microliters/red cell (femtoliters (fl)/red cell)
MCH = 26 to 32 picograms (pg)/red cell
MCHC = 30% to 36% (300 to 360 g/L)

These indices aid in diagnosing  and classifying anemia. Low MCV and
MCHC show microcytic hypochromic anemias caused by iron deficiency
anemia, pyridoxine-responsive anemia, or thalassemia. High MCV
indicates macrocytic anemia caused by megaloblastic anemias coming from
folic acid or vitamin B12 deficiency, inherited disorders of DNA synthesis,
or reticulocytosis. THE ERYTHROCYTE  SEDIMENT ATION  RATE (ESR)
Measuring the time required for erythrocytes in a whole blood sample to
settle to the bottom of a vertical tube, the erythrocyte sedimentation rate
(ESR) is a sensitive but nonspecific test that indicates the presence of
disease when other chemical or physical signs are normal. It rises in
widespread inflammatory disorders caused by infection, autoimmune
disease, or malignancy. Thus, the ESR monitors inflammatory or malignant illness and detects
occult disease such as tuberculosis (TB), tissue necrosis, or connective
tissue disorders. The normal ESR ranges from 0 to 20 mm/hour. It rises in
pregnancy, acute or chronic inflammation, TB, paraproteinemias, rheumatic
fever, rheumatoid arthritis, and some cancers. ESR also rises in anemia. ESR drops in polycythemia, sickle


* (T-
254). Looking at the world throu gh the eyes of love, we do not see fear. But
looking at the world through the eyes of fear, we cannot see love. By acknowledgi ng that God’ s kingdom is the kingdom with which we
choose to identify, we are empowering ourselves. We are determining
which universe we choose to inhabit. When we choose love, fear cannot
choose us. Prayer is a migh ty power. But not only does the ego resist praying; it
also resists giving God any credit when the prayer works! It’s remarkablehow many times I’ve seen people express despair and hopelessn ess about a
situation, have it change dramatically after they’ve prayed about it, then
react almost casually when things turn around for the better. God certainly doesn’ t care; He has no ego with which to be offended by
our lack of acknowledgment. But saying “Thank you, God” is a far more
powerful use of the mind than saying “Yeah, it turned out better than I
expected after all.” It’s a way of reminding your mind of all the power that
it holds. OceanofPDF.comYour Holiness
Our vulnerability and mildness are spiritual strengths, although the ego
views them as weaknesses. The three kings bowed before the Christ child;
the Christ child didn’ t bow before them. There is no power in the world
that’s greater than the power of love. The mystic Jesus is a reminder of this. His name is a signal to the
subconscious mind that you are more than the world has told you that you
are. To say you were made in the image of God means you are an idea in
His mind, and ideas do not leave their source. Your bond is inseparable. Every problem we have in life stems from just that fact: we have forgotten
who we are. Forgetting who we are, we forget where we came from. Forgetting who we are, we forget we are one with each other. Forgetting
who we are, we for get why we are here. Jesus helps us remember. In remembering who we are, we remember
that our love, not our fear, is our true identity. Our love is not our weakness;
it is the strength of God within us. A more compassio nate, more
regenerative, more nurturing consciousness is in fact the only way to a
survivable future for the human race. The Christ is a facet of your psyche, the melding of your heart and
mind. It is holy because it is whole. There is no power that can stand against
it. There is nothing your holiness cannot do. This section from A Course in Miracles  describes the power of our
holiness:
Your holiness reverses all the laws of the world. It is beyond every restriction of time, space,
distance, and limits of any kind. Your holiness is totally unlimited in its power because it
establishes you as a Son of God, at one with the Mind of his Cr eator. Through your holiness the power of God is made manifest. Through your holiness the power
of God is made available. And there is nothing the power of God cannot do. Your holiness, then,
can remove all pain, can end all sorrow, and can solve all problems. It can do so in connectionwith yourself and with anyone else. It is equal in its power to help anyone because it is equal in
its power to save anyone. If you are holy, so is everything God created. You are holy because all things He created are
holy. And all things He cr eated ar e holy because you ar e.* (WB-58)
The thinking of God is 180 degrees away from the thinking of the
world. One of the places where our thinking is particularly upside-down is
regarding arrogance and humility. It isn’t arrogant to say the power of God
is within you; what would be arrogant is to think it’s not. Wouldn’ t that
mean you were a creation of something other than Him? You are powerful
because of a power that is in you, but not of you. To claim that power, and
seek to use it well, is not arrogant but humble. The mystic Jesus puts our perce ptions in right alignment. Surrendering
our thoughts to him, our perceptions are illuminated, lifted  above the
limitations of our routine thought patterns. If we identify with our
weakness, the vicissitudes of weakness will be the reality we experience. If
we identify with Christ, we will be lifted to a higher realization that (1) love
is who we are, (2) miracles occur naturally as expressions of love, and (3)
we were  not created to be at the effect of lovelessness in ourselves or in
others. Disciplin ing our minds to remember those things, whatever our
spiritual practice, is the assumption of the power of Christ. As your thoughts are lifted above the illusions of the world, you
automatically help lift others—for all minds are joined. Thinking with love,
we don’t simply experience miracles for ourselves. We become miracle
workers in the lives of others. It’s not only our own lives that we are here to
heal; in healing ourselves we help to heal the world. The real you is not at the effect of limitations imposed by the ego mind. Which world you identify with is your choice. If you identify only with the
mortal world, then the mortal world has power over you. If you identify
with the spiritual world, you have power to transform the mortal. Identifying with our separate needs, separate desires, and separate self, we
are limited to the laws that prevail within the ego’s domain. But identifying
with our holiness, we are under no laws but God’ s* (WB-134). None of this means, of course, that I can walk off the roof of a high-rise
building and not fall to the ground. It does mean, however, that I need not
be boun d by the shackles of false beliefs. The universe of God is literally
limitless. To the extent that I align my thinking with the thoughts of God, so
am I.We are born into this world as physical beings, but spiritually we can be
twice born. We can choose to be reparented by God and receive the
unlimited spiritual riches that are our natural inheritance. Spiritual maturit y is an aspect of personal maturity. There doesn ’t come
a day when you “get there”; you just evolve over time into a more
sophisticated person. Miracle-mindedness simply becomes the rule rather
than the exception in how we live our lives. As it is written in A Course in
Miracles, “miracles are everyone’ s right, but purification is necessary
first”* (T-3). We must purify the mind of darkness before we can see the
light. Only when our minds are purified of judgment, attack, self-reference,
and unfor giveness can we experience the miracle of a life that works. We can see every situation as an opportunity to purify ourselves of the
mental plaque that has accumulated since yesterday. We can say about any
circumstance, “The last time something like this happened, how did I play
it? Was I openhearted, or closed? Kind or uncaring? How can I do better
now? Which aspect of myself do I choose to express? My wounded self, or
my holy self?” Every situation is both an invitation to express our holiness
and a temptation to display our wound. Remembering the mystic Jesus, I remember who I am. And as I
remember that I am not my wounds, my wounds begin to heal. OceanofPDF.comCinderella
Everything in life is a projection of what we’ve already decided to see. We
see in life what we expect to see. Expecting to see miracles is simply a
change in focus, from thoughts of limitation to thoughts of infinite
possibility. Waking up each morning and casting your love before you is the most
powerful way to plan your day. It directs the subconscious mind to notice
those things that are good and generative, consciously disregarding
elements of fear that are always lurking on the periphery of our minds. The words “disciple” and “disc ipline” come from the same root, after
all. Enlightenment is a mind training, in which we consciously take
responsibility for the nature of our thoughts. We needn’ t surrender our
thoughts to fear; instead, we can surrender them to love. The discipline of
spiritual practice  is everything. If you don’t turn on the light in a room, it’s
ridiculous to curse the darkness. Turning on that light—dedicating ourselves to love—we begin to
discern patterns of goodness and opportunity that are otherwise obscured. We come to see how much good is always available to us. Everything we
need is either right in front of us or is on the way, because that’s how God’ s
universe operate s. Living with that realization is a powerful rearrangement
of our assumptions, expectations, and mental filters. Sometimes we miss out on a miracle for the simple reason that it
seemed too easy. We can’t imagine that the universe could be designed so
perfectly that whatever will support our growth is always right in front of
us. But it is. We’re trained to think in a very limited way; therefore limits
are pretty much all we see. In my past, there were two gigantic professional opportunities that I
turned down. I realize that the reason I turned them down was because I
failed to recognize their importa


-merous letters f rom
people who listen to my radio talks and weekly public lectu res, telling
me of the wonderful results they get using this technique in  the sale of
their property. I suggest to those who have homes or property fo r sale
that they satisfy themselves in their own mind that their pr ice is right. Then, I claim that the Infinite Intelligence is attracting to them the
buyer who really wants to have the property and who will love i t and
prosper in it. After having done this I suggest that they quiet t heir
mind, relax, let go, and get into a drowsy, sleepy state, which reduce s
all mental effort to a minimum. Then, they are to picture t he check in
their hands, rejoice in the check, give thanks for the check, and g o off
to sleep feeling the naturalness of the whole mental movie c reated in
their own mind. They must act as though it were an objective rea lity,
and the subconscious mind will take it as an impression, and thro ugh
the deeper currents of the mind the buyer and the seller are brought
together. A mental picture held in the mind, backed by faith, wi ll
come to pass. • The Baudoin technique
Charles Baudoin was a professor at the Rousseau Institute in France. He was a brilliant psychotherapist and a research direct or of the New
Nancy School of Healing, who in 1910 taught that the best way to
impress the subconscious mind was to enter into a drowsy, sle epy
state, or a state akin to sleep in which all effort was r educed to a
minimum. Then in a quiet, passive, receptive way, by reflec tion, he
would convey the idea to the subconscious. The following is his formula: “A very sim-ple way of securi ng this
(impregnation of the subconscious mind) is to condense the idea
which is to be the object of sug-gestion, to sum it up in a b rief phrase
 77  which can be readily graven on the memory, and to repeat it over  and
over again as a lullaby. ”
Some years ago, a young lady in Los Angeles was engaged in a
prolonged bitter family lawsuit over a will. Her husband had
bequeathed his entire estate to her, and his sons and daugh-ters  by a
previous marriage were bitterly fighting to break the wil l. The
Baudoin technique was outlined to her, and this is what she did: She
relaxed her body in an armchair, entered into the sleepy stat e and, as
suggested, condensed the idea of her need into a phrase consist ing of
six words easily graven on the memory. “It is finished in Divi ne
Order. ” The significance to her of these words meant that Inf inite
Intelligence operating through the laws of her subconscious mind
would bring about a harmonious adjustment through the principle o f
harmony. She continued this procedure every night for about ten
nights. After she got into a sleepy state, she would affirm s lowly,
quietly, and feelingly the statement: “It is finished in Divine  Order,”
over and over again, feeling a sense of inner peace and an al l-per-
vading tranquility; then she went off into her deep, normal sleep. On the morning of the eleventh day, following the use of the above
technique, she awakened with a sense of well-being, a conviction that
it was finished. Her attorney called her the same day, saying that the
opposing attorney and his clients were willing to settle. A har monious
agreement was reached, and litigation was discontinued. • The sleeping technique
By entering into a sleepy, drowsy state, effort is reduced to a
minimum. The conscious mind is submerged to a great extent w hen in
a sleepy state. The reason for this is that the highest degree of outcropping  of the
subconscious occurs prior 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