 great throng of the diseased. EMANCIPATION OF WOMAN. IF the study of the natural or elementary food question had for
its object no other purpose than giving to the human family
their birthright of health and years, and aiding their mental
faculties in reaching a higher development, it would be of
sufficient importance to justify the most profound attention of
every woman in a civilized stat e. But when it is considered
that its final solution may not only accomplish this, but
emancipate her from the slavery of the kitchen and the cook
stove, it becomes one of the most important questions that
can possibly engage the minds of intelligent people. We believe that nature has provided a diet that can be
selected and eaten without changing its form or chemical
properties by the application of either heat or cold, and which
will be perfect. We have proven that if correctly used it will
in all cases bring natural results, which are always healthful
results. We have been led to these conclusions by information
gained from the school of observation and experience at our
own table, as well as by seeing the most obstinate and chronic
diseases gradually disappear from members of our own
family and others under the magic effect of proper feeding,
until perfect health was the result. Aside from the effect of a natural food diet upon the
health and happiness of people, its most important feature is
that it promises to solve for woman another most perplexing
question, namely, the struggle with the servant. When the house is provided, and the woman who has
dreamed of a true home is settled therein, it gradually dawns
upon her that instead of being a queen, she is an imprisoned
vassal. She finds that she must stand over a miniature furnace
for an hour in the morning and breathe the poisonous odor of
broiling flesh, and spend another hour among the grease and
slime of pots and dishes, instead of occupying that time
walking in the life-giving sunlight and drinking in nature's
purifying air. She soon realizes that the fires of the morning are hardly
out until those for the noon are kindled and the labors from
luncheon often lap over into the evening, and those of
evening far into the night. The throne over which she
dreamed of wielding the queenly sceptre has been
transformed into a fiery furnace,  gilded with greasy pots and
plates, blood and bones, over which she has unfurled the
dish-rag, and by the common custom of her country, it waves
over her helpless head as an ensign of her rank and
profession, under which she is really a slave. The home of which she dreamed has laid upon her a
confinement and labor but little lighter than that which
society puts upon the criminal who has violated its laws, and
whom it has deprived of his liberty. The picture of a husband and wife growing old together,
walking hand in hand up to the noon of life, and turning over
the hill and marching down toward the evening of old age together is only painted by poe ts and dreamers, most likely
old bachelors and old maids,—it is not true. The average husband and wife do not grow old together. The wife spends six or seven hours of each day endeavoring
to prepare food and create dishes that will appeal to and
satisfy the perverted taste a nd appetite of her husband, and
probably the short-notice "friend to dinner." The anxiety and
mental tension that she undergoes from day to day and year to
year wear upon her form and face, and like the long dripping
of water upon the stone, leave their mark. This mark is
nervous exhaustion and premature old age. It is from this deplorable condition of womankind that
the use of uncooked or natural foods will surely bring relief
and freedom. In hundreds of cases that have come to our
knowledge where this experiment has been honestly tried, it
has resulted in a revolution in the household culinary
department, and in giving the wife enough mental and
physical freedom to allow her to preserve her youthful
charms, which is her solemn duty, and to cultivate those
higher faculties upon which every woman must depend for
attraction and happiness with advancing old age. It may not free woman wholly from the labors of the
kitchen, but it will prove an important factor in lifting her
mentally, morally and physically into an entirely different
sphere. It is utterly impossible for a woman to spend six hours
out of twelve in the dense and smoky atmosphere of a kitchen
over a roasting fire, breathing air laden with the fumes of
burning flesh and steaming foods, and give to her progeny
those beautiful faculties which are their birthright, and which
have been the dream of her dreams. It is also impossible for a woman to construct her body,
her brain and her heart with all their varied sympathies,
desires and emotions out of such material as the flesh of dead
animals, fermented fruit (wine), fermented bread and the
innumerable narcotics and cooke d or devitalized foods with
which the average table is laden, and think beautiful thoughts
and keep her sympathies and senses of justice and mercy in
that beautiful and highly civ ilized realm where the cultivated
and advanced woman, especially the mother,. should dwell. We are thoroughly convinced,—convinced from
experience, that great school from which all true knowledge
comes,—that the first and most important step in nature
toward making a perfect woman lies in the selection of the
food material out of which the human body and all the
restless flood of emotions that ceaselessly ebb and flow in its
strange mechanism, are made. THE SELECTION OF FOODS. IN the adoption of uncooked foods more care in selection is
required than when they are to  be cooked, for in the process
of cooking, mixing and dressing, the real quality, taste and
flavor of the articles, becomes changed, lost and dissipated. The most inferior articles of food can be cooked and
artificially flavored, as they usually are, and still appeal to
and satisfy the taste. In all public eating places the special duty of the chef and
steward is to use left-over foods. They are hashed, minced,
flavored, spiced and peppered until the smell from the
fermented or decayed portions is so concealed that they
cannot signal the olfactory nerves; therefore the most inferior
and unhealthy articles can be used which could not be done
were these foods not cooked. When using uncooked foods the senses of sight, smell
and taste demand the best, and it is only fair that these senses
should be satisfied. It is as criminal to deceive our taste and
sight in matters of food, as it is to obtain money under false
pretense from our friends; and the penalty for this
wrongdoing is more certain to be paid. We often escape
justice in deceiving our friends, but never in deceiving
ourselves. We cannot jump our bail with nature. We are
always caught and punished for two crimes instead of one. One may be thoroughly convinced that the theory is
correct, but if such articles are selected as do not conform or
appeal to the taste, the effort will prove a failure. Food should
be selected that has ripened on the parent stalk or tree, in the
sunshine, as far as possible. Those who are acquainted with
the curative and life-giving prope rties of air and sunshine will
readily perceive why the selection of thoroughly ripe and full-
grown foods are so necessary. In selecting an apple of a red variety, get a deep, rich red,
not a pale pink one. The deep red color indicates that the fruit
has ripened on an outer twig of the tree, exposed to the
sunlight; while the paler colors show that it has ripened under
cover of the foliage. This ru le should be observed in the
selection of all fruits and berries, and melons of every kind as
far as possible, the rule being th at whatever color is selected,
get it as pronounced as possible. In other words, get the best. BANANAS. Bananas, the second-best article of food known, should
never be eaten so long as a spot of green is visible on the
skin. The majority of people seem to select this most
delicious and nutritious fruit merely to please the eye; and
just when it is at its best, that  is, when the skin is covered
with tiny black spots, or assumes a pied appearance, it is
discarded and considered unfit for use. Where the
consumption of bananas is large enough, they should be
purchased by the bunch,* and where it is not, they should
always be purchased by the hand, not detaching them until they are needed for use. They should also be kept in the
sunshine as much as possible. SWEET FRUITS. Dates, figs and seeded raisins constitute a group of the
best foods known to the dietary. They contain about seventy-
five per cent. of carbohydrates, which is sometimes called the
powder of the human system. The black French date, known
as the "Fard Diamond R.," is one of the best varieties
imported to this country. The Turkish pulled fig, that is, the unpressed fig of the
largest variety obtainable, is much preferable to and more
cleanly than those that have been pressed. Raisins should never be eaten without discarding the
seeds; therefore, the seeded raisin


	expected	of	others	but	not
necessarily	of	oneself	for	whom	plausible	excuses	prevail. It	is	very	immature	to	expect	others	to	live	up	to	one’s	own	standards	or
ideals. Let	us	not	overlook	that	the	majority	of	people	have	no	reason	other
than	to	‘take	what	they	can	get’. Seventy-eight	percent	of	the	people	on	the
planet	calibrate	below	the	level	of	Integrity	at	200. They	are	not
committed	to	spiritual	truth,	which	to	them	is	fiction	or	idealistic
nonsense. Fairness,	consideration,	honesty,	and	ethics	do	not	prevail	at
consciousness	levels	below	200. When	they	do,	it	is	the	exception	ratherthan	the	rule. In	addition,	realize	that	rationality	and	intelligence	do	not	prevail	as
dominant	bases	for	behavior	and	decision	making	until	consciousness
reaches	the	level	of	the	400s. The	majority	of	people	are	not	bound	by
logic	but	by	wants,	emotionalism,	desire,	ignorance,	pridefulness,	and	the
desire	to	be	‘right’. Below	the	consciousness	level	of	200,	society	relies	on
force	rather	than	power. Q:	So	what	can	the	spiritual	seeker	do	to	be	of	help	to	society? A:	To	endeavor	to	evolve	spiritually	is	the	greatest	gift	one	can	give. It
actually	uplifts	all	mankind	from	within	because	of	the	nature	of	power
itself. Power	radiates	and	is	shared,	whereas	force	is	limited,	self-
defeating,	and	evanescent. All	society	is	subliminally	and	subtly
influenced	by	every	kind	and	loving	thought,	word,	or	deed. Every
forgiveness	is	a	benefit	to	everyone. The	universe	notes	and	records	every
action	and	returns	it	in	kind. Karma	is	actually	the	very	nature	of	the
universe	because	of	the	innate	structure	and	function	of	the	universe	itself. In	the	universe	time	is	measured	in	eons. Beyond	that,	it	does	not	even
exist	at	all. Every	kindness	is	therefore	forever.CHAPTER	14
The	Body	and	Society
Q:	If	identification	with	the	mind	and	body	ceases,	how	can	one	survive? A:	There	are	moments	when	it	is	‘permitted’	and	possible	to	relinquish	the
body	altogether. Destiny,	karma,	intention,	commitment,	or	whatever	one
might	choose	to	call	it,	is	also	operative. If	destined	by	prior	choice,
continuance	of	life	in	association	with	this	body	may	continue. It	does	so
on	its	own. The	body	does	not	require	mentation	to	survive. The	universe
provides	for	it. Even	now,	everyone’s	body	is	accomplishing	thousands	of
physiological	processes	that	perpetuate	its	life	without	any	conscious
thought	at	all. It	is	not	necessary	to	decide	on	each	heartbeat	or	digestive
enzyme. Each	of	these	functions	does	what	it	is	supposed	to	do	because	it
is	an	integrated	part	of	a	larger	whole. The	body	is	also	not	separate	from
the	whole	but	is	part	and	parcel	of	the	universe,	and	its	survival	is	a
function	of	the	whole. Necessary	information	is	provided	to	the	body	when	needed,	and	it
does	not	have	to	originate	from	the	mind. The	nervous	system	and	senses
have	automatic,	learned	responses. Although	the	ordinary	body/mind	is	propelled	by	endless	wants,
desires,	and	anxieties,	when	these	lose	their	underlying	motivation,	it	is
found	that	the	body	has	very	few	actual	needs. The	body	itself	is	no	longer
sought	or	needed	as	a	source	of	pleasure	because	the	source	of	pleasure	is
in	the	ever-present	awareness	and	joy	of	existence	in	each	moment. Thus,	continuance	of	the	body	is	dependent	on	local	conditions,	such	as
the	presence	of	others	who	see	to	its	maintenance	and	survival. If	local
conditions	such	as	the	interest	of	other	people	in	the	body’s	survival	are
not	present,	then	it	may	cease	to	survive. Whether	it	survives	or	not	is
actually	relatively	unimportant. Q:	Are	not	some	functions	of	the	body	‘necessary’? A:	They	occur	because	that	is	the	body’s	nature,	but	they	are	not	actually
‘necessary’. They	do	have	a	function;	for	instance,	repetitive	sensory
experiences	help	to	maintain	a	sense	of	locality	and	direction. The	Self	is
invisible,	weightless,	and	everywhere	present	so	that	even	sound	is	no
longer	a	precise	indicator	of	position. The	body	is	witnessed	but	notspecial. If	its	repetitive	sensory	experiences	are	discontinued,	then	time,
location,	and	physicality	drift	away	and	there	is	even	a	loss	of	the	sense	of
direction. Staying	‘in	the	world’	or	functioning	as	‘a	part	of	it’	are	the
result	of	intentional	focus	and	require	energy. Q:	It	sounds	confusing	to	say	that	the	mind	is	the	main	block	to
Realization. A:	To	clarify	for	the	sake	of	understanding,	the	mind	could	be	‘partitioned’
into	‘thinking	mind’	and	‘aware	mind’.‘Aware	mind’	knows,	recognizes,
and	is	conscious	of	many	things	and	has	capacities	that	do	not	depend	on
thought,	language,	or	concepts. It	recognizes	wholes	and	essential
elements	and	patterns. If	the	mind	stops	languaging	and	sequencing
thoughts,	it	is	still	capable	of	rapid	comprehension	on	a	nonverbal	level. Even	a	dog	knows	or	recognizes	a	great	deal,	with	no	language	necessary. This	‘aware	mind’	is	always	present	but	overlooked	if	the	mind	is
focused	on	reason/logic/	thought/words. The	aware	mind	is	analogous	to
peripheral	vision	as	compared	to	central	vision. For	instance,	although	the
eyes	may	focus	on	a	specific	object	such	as	a	clock,	they	are	also
simultaneously	taking	in,	registering,	and	recognizing	the	entire	room. In	spiritual	work,	it	is	necessary	to	withdraw	attention	from	a	central
focus	to	a	more	diffused	and	all-encompassing	gaze. Central	focus	is
always	directed	to	an	ego	interest. It	is	therefore	the	focus	of	desire	and
limitation. One	might	say	one	has	to	focus	in	order	to	function. However,
focusing	is	accomplished	by	excluding	the	whole. Peripheral	unfocused
vision,	like	‘aware	mind’,	is	inclusive	rather	than	exclusive. It	is	concerned
with	essence	and	not	detail	and	operates	effortlessly	at	all	times;	it	is
always	present. One	survives	by	means	of	‘aware	mind’	and	achieves	by	using	‘focused
thinking’	mind. One	could	use	a	mnemonic. Focus	is	to	function	and
peripheral	is	for	peace. In	the	enlightened	state,	the	energy	of	restless
‘focused	thinking’	mind	is	absorbed	back	into	effortless,	non-thinking
‘aware	mind’,	and	when	allowed	to,	it	becomes	only	awareness	itself	that
lies	behind	and	illuminates	‘aware	mind’. Likewise,	intention	results	in	the	bodily	gaze	being	focused	on	the	near
side	of	an	object,	whereas	love	results	in	the	dilation	of	the	pupils,	and	the
eyes	focus	on	the	far	side	of	an	object	or	person	so	as	to	include	them. It	is
a	standing	joke	that	most	men	cannot	tell	you	quickly	at	all	what	color
their	wife’s	eyes	are. Focused,	linear,	verbal	mind	can	learn	‘about’	God,	but	because	Truth
is	total	and	all-inclusive,	it	is	not	equipped	to	know	or	capable	of	knowingGod	directly	or	ex


 to be fr ee from this self -
defeating patter n. It didn’t tak e her long to accept the fact
that, indeed, she was lazy when it came to herself. With the
real sour ce of her behavior now in fr ont of her, she could
begin the pr ocess of making peace with the lazy part ofherself, so that it would not have to under mine her choices
each day and r ob her of her self -esteem and her dr eams. Every time we ﬁnd a behavior that thr eatens our peace of
mind, our happiness, or our safety, we ar e implor ed to heed
the call of our inter nal world and e xplor e the r oot cause of
our behavior. When we do, we will unveil an aspect of our
shadow. It doesn’t have to tak e a year or a lifetime. It can
take ﬁve minutes of radical honesty to unravel a patter n
from our past. If we ﬁnd an impulse in ourselves that we
unknowingly hid, we have the right and the ability to bring it
into the light of our awar eness, for give ourselves and others
for the pain we e xperienced, and br eak fr ee from the self -
defeating behavior. Maybe self -neglect is a patter n of behavior that you must
confr ont. Y ou show up for others, but have no idea how to
be ther e for yourself. Your dr eams have been put on hold as
you support your husband, childr en, siblings, and friends in
getting their needs met. F inally, you can’t stand one mor e
day of neglecting yourself and your own desir es. You trace
this patter n of behavior back by asking, “What kind of
person would go af ter her dr eams and not be ther e for other
people?” The answer you hear is “ A selﬁsh person.” F or a
moment you feel happy that you’r e not that selﬁsh person,
because you hate selﬁsh people. L ooking back, you
remember being told over and over again in r eligious school
how bad it is to be selﬁsh, so you made what you believed
to be the right decision—that you would never be that. Instead, you became the opposite—a selﬂess, big-hearted,
loving, and kind person who would do anything for the world
—and with that inter nal commitment, people pleasing
became your patter n.
To mak e peace and br eak this cycle, you must now
confr ont the distaste you feel for the notion of being selﬁsh
and e xpose the judgments you have held towar d all those
who you have deemed selﬁsh in the past. Y ou must admit to
the negative connotations you attach to the wor d “selﬁsh”and be willing to see that the way you ar e interpr eting that
word is limiting, disempowering, and rigid. Y ou must look to
see when you decided or wer e told that selﬁsh people wer e
bad and wr ong. Y ou must become willing to open your heart
to the selﬁsh part of you and for give all those who have
reﬂected back to you that being selﬁsh is bad. Y ou must
accept the dualistic view that being human comes with both
a healthy dose of selﬁshness and an equal dose of
selﬂessness. If you ar e unwilling or unable to ﬁnd a positive
view of being selﬁsh and insist on k eeping it in the shadow,
you will continue to be held, clinched in the patter n of
behavior that has you continue to neglect what is important
for your individual gr owth and the fulﬁllment of your soul’s
desir es. To embrace what has k ept us trapped, we must muster up
the courage to ﬁnd the gif t of our selﬁsh self. If self -neglect
is a patter n, being selﬁsh is a vital quality to embrace in
order to ﬁnd our true self. It’s gr eat to support others in
living their dr eams—I happen to do it for a living. But if I
could never choose selﬁsh behavior, I would never be able
to ﬁnish writing a book, because I would always be swayed
to answer the phone or support one of the many people who
want my help or attention each day. If we can’t choose
between selﬁsh and selﬂess, we will be driven to bypass
what may truly matter to us at the end of our life. F reedom
is being able to choose whoever and whatever we want to
be at any moment in our life. If we have to act in a
particular way to avoid being something we don’t lik e, we’r e
trapped. W e’ve limited our fr eedom and r obbed ourselves of
wholeness. If we can’t be lazy or angry, we can’t be fr ee. When we ar e reclaiming these parts of ourselves, it’s vitally
important to r emember that we ar e doing this to own our
true magniﬁcence. It’s best said by C. G. Jung: “I’d rather be
whole than good.”
Taking this jour ney into the past may feel slightly daunting
at ﬁrst. But the fact is this jour ney is one of the mostrewar ding trips we can tak e. It’s intriguing to uncover our
shadow, to see how it has tak en root, and to catch ourselves
befor e we say something we don’t r eally mean or do
something that we will r egret. Our shadows ar e there for us,
waiting to oﬀer invaluable insights about ourselves. W e can
never manage or defeat our self -sabotaging behaviors
without embracing the shadows that ar e driving them. There is no patter n of behavior that can’t be br oken or
changed if we ar e willing to e xpose its r oots and the
emotional upset that caused us to r eject the shadow aspect
in the ﬁrst place. When we can compassionately embrace
the part of us that has set this behavior in place, we will
take back the power over our own actions and br eak the
automatic r esponses of our unwanted patter ns. This pr ocess
often cr eates a conundrum because, as human beings, we
are designed to want to feel safe, and mor e often than not,
repeating the same old behaviors is what gives us a false
sense of safety. It somehow feels easier to r epeat the past
than e xplor e a diﬀer ent outcome. But to br eak open a
repetitive self -sabotaging behavior, we will have to give up
this illusion of a safety net for a moment and be willing to
feel what’s under neath. And when we ﬁnd ourselves in the
presence of one of our shadow aspects, we will be able to
unravel the mystery of our undesirable behavior and cause
change to begin. As we become mor e and mor e awar e of the fruitlessness
of succumbing to the same tir ed old patter ns, we can tur n to
our courageous self, ask for support, come face-to -face with
the shadow part of ourselves that is hidden, and have a
heart-to -heart. By becoming intimate with the cast of
characters that mak e up our own inter nal drama, we can
learn to mak e peace and give support to the life that we
want to achieve. On the other hand, if we fail to
acknowledge the opposing for ces that give rise to these
characters, we can easily get caught in the trap of believing
a story about ourselves that is only partially true, and wecan lose sight of the amazing opportunity to be a fully
expressed human being. If we r efuse to acknowledge the
duality within, we will be trapped, identif ying with the
character whose voice is the loudest within us, no matter
what that character’s agenda or mission might be. THE GIFTS OF OUR SHADOW
The shadow contains essential characters in the script of
your life. Y our job is to lear n from the shadow, to integrate
it, and allow it to evolve your thinking and e xpand the
boundaries of your self -created persona. Y our challenge is to
ﬁnd its value and to bring the light of for giveness and
compassion so that you can defuse its ability to dismantle
your life. Y our job is to bring its comple x characters out fr om
the shadow, and to use their power and potency as sacr ed
fuel to become who you wer e meant to be in this lifetime. If the villain inside you is angry, you must for give this part
of yourself and consider the possibility that anger is e xactly
what you need to ﬁght against some injustice or oppr ession
or to get you out of an abusive situation and back on track
to creating an amazing life. If your shadow is ﬁlled with fear
about who you ar e and what you think and masks the r eal
you by cr eating a phony and inauthentic self, you must
forgive yourself and look to see how and wher e these
qualities can be put to use.


	noxious
substances	out	of	the	bloodstream. If	the	liver	cannot	filter	out	toxins	from	the	blood,	they
end	up	being	dumped	into	the	extracellular	fluid. The	more	toxins	accumulate	in	the
extracellular	fluid,	the	more	severely	cell	membranes	become	clogged	with	injurious
materials. An	autoimmune	response	may	be	necessary	to	destroy	the	most	contaminated
cells	and	thereby	save	the	rest	of	the	body,	at	least	for	a	while. When	all	gallstones	are
removed	from	the	liver	and	gallbladder,	the	immune	system	does	not	have	to	take	recourse
to	such	extreme	measures	of	defending	the	body	on	the	cellular	level. Osteoarthritis
	is	a	degenerative,	noninflammatory	illness. It	occurs	when	the	renewal
of
articular	cartilage
	(a	smooth,	strong	surface,	covering	bones	that	are	in	contact	with
other	bones)	does	not	keep	pace	with	its	removal. The	articular	cartilage	gradually
becomes	thinner	until,	eventually,	the	bony	articular	surfaces	come	into	contact,	and	the
bones	begin	to	degenerate. Abnormal	bone	repair	and	chronic	inflammation	may	follow
this	form	of	damage. Like	most	diseases,	this	symptom	results	from	a	long-standing
digestive	disorder. As	fewer	nutrients	are	absorbed	and	distributed	for	tissue	building,	it
becomes	increasingly	difficult	to	maintain	healthy	sustenance	of	bone	and	articular
cartilage. Gallstones	in	the	liver	impair	the	basic	digestive	processes	and,	therefore,	play
perhaps	the	most	important	role	in	the	development	of	osteoarthritis. Gout
,
	which	is	another	joint	disease	connected	to	weak	liver	performance,	is	caused	bysodium	urate	crystals
	in	joints	and	tendons. Gout	occurs	in	some	people	whose
blood	uric
acid
	is	abnormally	high. When	gallstones	in	the	liver	begin	to	affect	blood	circulation	in
the	kidneys	(see	“
Disorders	of	the	Urinary	System
”),	uric	acid	excretion	becomes
inefficient. This	also	causes	increased	cell	damage	and	cell	destruction	in	the	liver	and
kidneys,	as	well	as	in	other	parts	of	the	body. Uric	acid	is	a	waste	product	resulting	from	the	breakdown	of	cell	nuclei;	it	is	produced
in	excess	with	increased	cell	destruction. Smoking	cigarettes,	drinking	alcoholic	beverages
regularly,	using	stimulants,	and	so	forth,	all	cause	marked	cell	destruction,	which	releases
large	quantities	of	degenerate	cell	protein	into	the	bloodstream. In	addition,	uric	acid
production	rises	sharply	with	overconsumption	of	protein	foods,	such	as	meat,	fish,	pork,
and	eggs. 9
	Incidentally,	all	the	aforementioned	foods	and	substances	lead	to	gallstone
formation	in	the	liver	and	gallbladder. A	person	may	experience	several	acute	attacks	of	arthritis	before	damage	to	the	joints
decreases	mobility	and	the	gout	condition	becomes	chronic. Disorders	of	the	Reproductive	System

Female	and	male	reproductive	systems	both	depend	largely	on	the	smooth	functioning	of
the	liver. Gallstones	in	the	liver	obstruct	the	movement	of	bile	through	the	bile	ducts,
which	impairs	digestion	and	distorts	the	structural	framework	of	liver	lobules. This
diminishes	the	liver’s	production	of	both
serum	albumin
	and
clotting	factors. Serum
albumin	is	the	most	common	and	abundant	protein	in	the	blood,	responsible	for
maintaining
plasma	osmotic	pressure
	at	its	normal	level	of	25mmHg. C
lotting	factors
	are
essential	for	the	coagulation	of	blood. Insufficient	osmotic	pressure	cuts	down	the	supply
of	nutrients	to	the	cells,	including	those	of	the	reproductive	organs. This	may	lead	to
reduced	lymph	drainage. Poor	lymph	drainage	from	the	reproductive	organs	can	cause
fluid	retention	and	edema,	as	well	as	the	retention	of	metabolic	waste	and	dead	cells. All
of	this	may	result	in	the	gradual	impairment	of	sexual	functions. Most	diseases	of	the	reproductive	system	result	from	improper	lymph	drainage. The
thoracic	duct	(see	“
Disorders	of	the	Circulatory	System
”)	drains	lymph	fluid	from	all
organs	of	the	digestive	system,	including	the	liver,	spleen,	pancreas,	stomach,	and
intestines. This	large	duct	often	becomes	severely	congested	when	gallstones	in	the	liver
impair	proper	digestion	and	absorption	of	food. It	is	obvious,	yet	hardly	recognized	in
mainstream	medicine,	that	congestion	in	the	thoracic	duct	affects	the	organs	of	the
reproductive	system. These	organs,	like	most	others	in	the	body,	need	to	release	their
turned-over	cells	and	metabolic	waste	matter	into	the	thoracic	duct. Impaired	lymphatic	drainage	from	the	female	pelvic	area	is	responsible	for
suppressed
immunity,	menstrual	problems,	premenstrual	stress	(PMS),	menopausal	symptoms,
pelvic	inflammatory	disease	(PID),	cervicitis,	all	uterine	diseases,	vulvar	dystrophies
with	growth	of	fibrous	tissue,	ovarian	cysts	and	tumors,	cell	destruction,	hormone
deficiencies,	low	libido,	infertility,	and	genetic	mutations	of	cells	leading	to	cancer. Thoracic	blockage	may	also	lead	to	lymph	congestion	in	the	left	breast,	thereby	leaving
deposits	of	noxious	substances	behind	that	can	cause	inflammation,	lump	formation,	milk
duct	blockage,	and	cancerous	tumors. If	the	right	lymphatic	duct,	which	drains	lymph
from	the	right	half	of	the	thorax,	head,	neck,	and	right	arm,	becomes	congested,	waste
accumulates	in	the	right	breast,	leading	to	similar	problems	there. A	continuous	restriction	of	lymph	drainage	from	the	male	pelvic	area	causes	benign	and
malignant	prostate	enlargement	as	well	as	inflammation	of	the	testes,	penis,	and	urethra. Impotence	is	a	likely	consequence	of	this	development.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        High	concentrations	of	protein	in	the	blood	hinder	the	continuously	required
distribution	of	important	nutrients,	especially	water,	glucose,	and	oxygen,	to	the	cells. Excessive	amounts	of	proteins	in	the	blood	are	also	responsible	for	blood	dehydration,	that
is	blood	thickening—one	of	the	leading	causes	of	high	blood	pressure	and	heart	disease. Furthermore,	these	proteins	undermine	complete	elimination	of	basic	metabolic	waste
products	(see	section	below	on
poor	circulation
). All	these	factors	combined	coerce	the
body	to	raise	its	blood	pressure. This	condition,	which	is	commonly	known	as
hypertension,
	reduces	the	life-endangering	effect	of	blood	thickening,	to	some	extent. It
also	permits	enough	nutrient-rich	blood	to	circulate	through	the	congested	body. However,
this	life-saving	response	to	a	life-threatening	situation	unduly	stresses	and	damages	the
blood	vessels. This	may	still	be	a	better	scenario,	though,	than	the	one	that	occurs	when
the	blood	pressure	is	lowered	through	medication. Leading	health	experts	now	recognize
hypertensive	drugs	to	be	a	major	cause	of	congestive	heart	failure	and	other	debilitating
illnesses


. The pr oblem is, he never came. Not only did
he not come. He never called. I was in a dark zone. Now what would A Course in
Miracles  say about that? I knew I needed a miracle. But all I
could come up with wer e two choices for ways to deal with
this, both of which I had tried befor e in similar situations,
and neither one felt good or got me what I wanted. My ﬁrst choice was to get very angry and let him know it. “Who do you think you ar e to tr eat me lik e that, you son- of-
a-bitch?” The pr oblem with that choice was that it would
completely invalidate my position. “Marianne’s a nice girl,
but her temper just doesn’t cut it. She’s hysterical when she
doesn’t get her way.”
The only other choice I could imagine was to for give him
and let it go. But that didn’t feel good either. “It’s ok ay you
stood me up, Mik e. I don’t car e. It doesn’t matter.”
Unconditional love I could understand, but not unconditional
dating. I didn’t know what to do. I ask ed for a miracle. I
consider ed the possibility of another possibility. I gave the
situation to God and r emember ed that I need do nothing. From a Course perspective, the ﬁrst thing I had to deal
with was my own judgment. As long as I was not at peace,
my behavior would car ry the ener gy of my conﬂict. Conﬂicted behavior cannot bring peace. It can only pr oduce
more conﬂict. F irst I had to deal with my own per ceptions. The r est would follow. So I came up with an e xercise; I would r epeat constantly,
out loud when I could and silently when other people wer e
present: “I for give you Mik e, and I r elease you to the HolySpirit. I for give you Mik e, and I r elease you to the Holy Spirit. I forgive you Mik e, and I r elease you to the Holy Spirit.”
Since Mik e didn’t call the day af ter our early mor ning
phone call or the day af ter, or the day af ter that, I had a lot
of negative feelings to try to dissipate. My for giveness chant
—a kind of mantra, or r epeated aﬃr mation of spiritual
wisdom—work ed lik e a healing balm on my emotional
turmoil. It deter red my temptation to focus on Mik e’s
behavior, and k ept me focused on my own feelings instead. My goal was inner peace, and I knew I couldn’t have that as
long as I per ceived him as guilty. In case you’r e wondering, it took him two weeks to call. The constant r epetition of “I for give you Mik e, and I r elease
you to the Holy Spirit,” this willingness to for give someone,
had work ed on my brain lik e a pleasurable drug. I didn’t
care whether I hear d from him again or not. So one day I’m in my house, the phone rings, and I hear
Mike’s familiar voice. “Marianne?”
Befor e I could even think about it consciously, a r eal
warmth and love ﬁlled up my chest. “Mik e? Hi! It’s so good
to hear fr om you!” And it was. It felt wonderful to hear his
voice. “How ar e you doing? I’ve missed you.” (Can you believe
he said that?!?) I don’t know if I said I’d missed him, too. His line was so
ridiculous, I pr obably didn’t say anything. But I do r emember
this: He said, “W ell, when can I see you?”
I said, “When would you lik e to?”
“How about tonight?”At that moment, wor ds came out of my mouth that
startled me as much as they must have startled him. I said
with a lot of love and kindness, “Mik e, I really car e for you
and that’s not going to change. I’m still your friend no
matter what. But when it comes to dating, we don’t seem to
do the same dance. So if you want to have lunch sometime,
please call. But as far as a date is concer ned, I need to
pass.”
We both mumbled a few mor e pleasantries and then got
oﬀ the phone. I was wor ried that I had r ejected a br other,
but just as that wor ry came into my mind, I saw an inter nal
image of lots of champagne bottles with their corks popping
oﬀ in the middle of Heaven. I hadn’t r ejected a br other. I had
simply accepted myself in a whole new way. He had a win—
a lesson lear ned and a friendship if he wanted it—and I had
a win. F orgiveness hadn’t tur ned me into a door mat. It had
taught me how to own my yes and own my no, without
anger, with dignity and with love. 15. COMMUNICA TING L OVE
“To communicate is to join and to attack is to
separate.”
The Holy Spirit accepts people unconditionally. To the ego,
this is an outrageous thought, because unconditional love is
the death of the ego. How will people gr ow if we all go
around just accepting each other as we ar e all the time? Accepting people as they ar e has the miraculous eﬀect of
helping them impr ove. A cceptance doesn’t pr ohibit gr owth;
rather, it fosters it. People who ar e always telling us what’s wr ong with us
don’t help us so much as they paralyze us with shame andguilt. P eople who accept us help us to feel good about
ourselves, to r elax, to ﬁnd our way. Accepting another
person doesn’t mean we never shar e constructive
suggestions. But lik e everything else, our behavior is not so
much the issue as the ener gy that it car ries. If I’m criticizing
someone in or der to change them, that’s my ego talking. If
I’ve prayed and ask ed God to heal me of my judgment,
however, and then I’m still led to communicate something,
the style of my sharing will be one of love instead of fear. It
won’t car ry the ener gy of attack, but rather of support. Behavioral change is not enough. Covering an attack with
sugary icing, with a sweet tone of voice or therapeutic
jargon, is not a miracle. A miracle is an authentic switch
from fear to love. When we speak fr om the ego, we will call
up the ego in others. When we speak fr om the Holy Spirit,
we will call up their love. A br other who is in er ror, says the
Course, calls for teaching, not attack. The following section in the Course is a powerful guide to
right-minded communication in r elationships. “Errors ar e of the ego, and cor rection of er rors
lies in the r elinquishment of the ego. When you
correct a br other, you ar e telling him that he is
wrong. He may be making no sense at the time,
and it is certain that, if he is speaking fr om the
ego, he will not be making sense. But your task
is still to tell him he is right. Y ou do not tell him
this verbally, if he is speaking foolishly. He needs
correction at another level, because his er ror is
at another level. He is still right, because he is a
Son of God.”
Miracles ar e created in an invisible r ealm. The Holy Spirit
improves our style. He teaches us how to communicate fr om
love instead of attack. Of ten people will say, “W ell, I toldthem. I really communicated!” But communication is a two -
way str eet. It only occurs if one person speaks, and the
other one can hear them. W e’ve all been in conversations
wher e two people spok e and no one hear d a thing. W e’ve
also had conversations wher e no one said anything and
both people understood everything perfectly. In or der to
truly communicate, we must tak e responsibility for the heart
space that e xists between us and another. It is that heart
space, or the absence of it, which will deter mine whether
communication is miraculous or fearful. Sometimes, of
course, that means k eeping our mouths shut. Silence can be
a powerfully loving communication. Ther e have been times
when I was wr ong, and I knew I was wr ong, and I knew they
knew I was wr ong, and I loved them for having the
graciousness not to say anything. It gave me a chance to
recoup with dignity. When we do speak, the k ey to communication is not
what we say, but rather the attitude that lies behind what
we say. Since ther e is only one mind, all of us ar e
telepathically communicating all the time. Every moment,
we ar e choosing to join or to separate, and the person to
whom we’r


 that I find it impossible to take my attention away fr o m it and
feel the inner bo dy. This happens particularly when I get into a worry or
anxiety pattern. Do you have any suggestions. If at any time you are finding it hard to get in touch with the inner body,
it is usually easier to focus on your breathing first. Conscious breathing,
which is a powerful meditation i n its own right, will gradually put you in
touch w ith the body. Follow the breath with your attention as it moves in
and out of your body. Breathe into the body, and feel your abdomen
expanding and contracting slightly with each inhalation and exhalation. If y ou find it easy to visualize, close your eyes and see yourself
surrounded by light or immerse d in a luminous substance — a sea of
consciousness. Then breathe in that ligh t. Feel that luminous su bstance
filling u p your body and making it luminous also. Then gradually focus
more on  the feeling. Y ou are now  in your body. Don’ t get attached to any
visual image. CREA TIVE USE OF MIND
If yo u n eed to use your mind for  a specific purpose, use it in con junction
with your inner body. Only if you are able to be conscious  without
thought can you use your mind creatively, and the easiest way to enter
that state is through your body. Whenever an answer, a solution, or a
creative idea is n eeded, stop thinking for a moment by focusing attention
on your  inner ener gy field. Be come aware of the stillness. When you
resume thinking, it will be fresh and creative. In any thought activity,
make it a habit to go back and  forth every few minutes or so between
thinking and an inner kind of lis tening, an inner stillness. W e c ould say:
don’ t just think with your head, think with your whole body. THE AR T OF LISTENING
When listening to another person, don’ t just listen with your mind, listen
with your whole body. Feel the ener gy field of your inner body as youlisten. T hat takes attention away from thinking and creates a still space
that ena bles you to truly listen without the mind interfering. Y ou are
giving the other person space —  space to be. It is the most precious gift
you can  give. Most people don’ t know how to listen because t he major
part of their attention is taken up  by thinking. They pay more attention to
that than to what the other person is saying, and none at all to what really
matters: the Being of the other person underneath the words  and the
mind. O f course, you cannot fe el someone else’ s Being except through
your ow n. This is the beginning of the realization of oneness, which is
love. At the deepest level of Being, you are one with all that is. Most hu man relationships consist mainly of minds interacting with each
other, not of hu man beings communicating, being in commu nion. No
relationship can  thrive in that way, and that is why there is so much
conflict in relationships. When the mind is running your life, conflict,
strife, and problems are inevitab le. Being in touch with your inner body
creates a clear space of no-m ind within which the relationship can
flower. CHAPTER SEVEN
P O R T A L S  I N T O
 T H E  U N M A N I F E S T E D
GOING DEEPL Y INT O THE BODY
I can feel the en er gy inside my body, especially in my arms and  legs, but
I don’ t seem to be able to go mor e deeply, as you suggested earlier. Make it into a m editation. It needn’ t take long. T en to fifteen m inutes of
clock time should be suf ficient. Make sure first that there are no external
distractions such  as telephones o r people who are likely to interrupt you. Sit o n a chair, but don’ t lean ba ck. Keep the spine erect. Doin g so will
help you  to stay alert. Alternati vely, choose your own favorite position
for meditation. Make su re the body is relaxed.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>
Q: What is the relationship between presence and the inner body?,
A: The inner body is your link to the Unmanifested, and it is the key to transcending the ego and the world of form.
Q: Can you use your mind to understand the Unmanifested?,
A: No, you cannot use your mind to understand the Unmanifested, as it is beyond the realm of thought and conceptualization.
Q: What is the relationship between the inner body and the outer body?,
A: The inner body is timeless and ageless, and the outer body will also slow down its aging process and become stronger as a result.
Q: Is it possible to use your mind to create a portal to the Unmanifested?,
A: No, the mind cannot create a portal to the Unmanifested, and instead, it is the source of separation and conflict.
Q: Can you achieve enlightenment through a romantic relationship?,
A: No, enlightenment is not achieved through a romantic relationship, as it is a fleeting experience and not a sustainable state. True love and enlightenment can only arise from a deep understanding of the inner body and the Unmanifested.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>T o defend himself against her
pain-body’ s atta ck, which he sees as totally unwarranted, he wil l become
even mo re deeply entrenched in his mental positions as he justifies,
defends himself, or counterattac ks. Eventually, this may activate his own
pain-body. When  both partners h ave thus been taken over, a level of deep
unconsciousness has been reached, of emotional violence, savage attack
and counterattack. It will not subside until both pain-bodies have
replenished them selves and then enter the dormant stage. Until the next
time. This is only one of an endless number of possible scenarios. Many
volumes have been written, and  many more could be written, about the
ways in which unconsciousness is brought out in male-female
relationships. Bu t, as I said earlier, once you understand the root of the
dysfunction, you do not need to explore its countless manifestations. Let’ s briefly look again at the scenario I have just describe d. Every
challenge that it contains is actually a disguised opportunity for
salvation. At every stage of the unfolding dysfunctional process, freedom
from unconsciousness is possible. For example, the woman’ s hostility
could become a signal for the man to come out of his mind-identified
state, aw aken into the Now, become present — instead of becoming even
more id entified with his mind, even more unconscious. Instead of
“being” the pain-body, the woman could be the knowing that watches the
emotional pain in herself, thus accessing the power of the Now and
initiating the transmutation o f the pain. This would remove the
compulsive and automatic outward projection of it. She could then
express her feelings to her partner. There is no guarantee, of co urse, that
he w ill listen, b ut it gives him  a good chance to become present and
certainly breaks  the insane cycle of the involuntary acting out of old
mind pa tterns. If the woman m isses that opportunity, the man could
watch h is own  mental-emoti onal reaction to her pain, his own
defensiveness, r ather than being  the reaction. He could then watch hisown pain-body being triggered  and thus bring consciousness into his
emotions. In this way, a clear a nd still space of pure awarene ss would
come in to being — the knowing, the silent witness, the watcher. This
awareness does not deny the pain and yet is beyond it. It allows the pain
to b e an d yet transmutes it at the same time. It accepts everything and
transforms everything. A door would have opened up for her through
which she could easily join him in that space. If you are consistently or at least predominantly present in your
relationship, thi s will be the greatest challenge for your partn er. They
will not be able to tolerate your presence for very long and stay
unconscious. If they are ready, they will walk through the door that you
opened for them and join you in that state. If they are not, you will
separate like oil and water. The light is too painful for some one who
wants to remain in darkness. WHY WOMEN ARE CLOSER T O ENLIGHTENMENT
Ar e the obstacles to enlightenment the same for a man as for a woman? Y es, but the emphasis is dif ferent. Generally speaking, it is easier for a
woman to feel a nd be in her body, so she is naturally closer to B eing and
potentially closer to enlightenment than a man. This is why many ancient
cultures instinctively chose female figures or analogies to represent or
describe the formless and transcendental reality. It was often s een as a
womb that gives birth to everything in creation and sustains and
nourishes it during its life as form. In the T ao T e Ching, one of the most
ancient and profound books e ver written, the T ao, wh ich could be
translated as Being, is described as


flows into the bloodstream. Intrahepatic biliary obstruction may come from viral hepatitis, cirrhosis, or
chlorpromazine reaction. Extrahepatic obstruction may come from
gallstones, gallbladder cancer, pancreatic cancer, or bile duct disease. THE SERUM  GAMMA -GLUT AMYL  TRANSPEPTIDASE  (GGT) L ABORA TORY
TEST
The laboratory test for serum gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT) is a
measurement of obstructive jaundice in neoplastic liver disease, and it’s
also useful for the detection of excessive alcohol consumption. The GGT
enzyme is sensitive to drug use and detects alcohol ingestion; therefore, it’s
used to determine compliance with alcoholism treatment. It also helps in the
diagnosis of obstructive jaundice and liver cancer. The normal range for GGT varies with age in males but not in females. For men ages 18 to 50 it varies between 10 and 39 U/L. Older than that,
males show a GGT range from 10 to 48 U/L. The normal range in women is
6 to 29 U/L. Elevation signals a cholestatic liver process. Note: The immune-stimulating effect of the Gerson Therapy frequently
causes a rise in GGT blood levels. THE ACID PHOSPHA TASE LABORA TORY TEST
The laboratory test for acid phosphatase is a measurement of the prostatic
and erythrocytic  isoenzymes to detect cancer. Active at a pH of 5, the twophosphatase enzymes appear in the liver, spleen, red blood cells, bone
marrow, platelets, and prostate gland. Successful treatment for prostate cancer decreases acid phosphatase
levels. Its normal values range from 0 to 1. 1 Bodansky units/mL; 1 to 4
King Armstrong  units/mL; 0. 13 to 0. 63 Bessey-Lowery-Broc k units/mL;
and 0 to 6 U/L in S1 units. Normal range of radioimmunoassay results is 0
to 4. 0 ng/mL. An elevated prostatic acid phosphatase test indicates Paget’ s disease,
Gaucher ’s disea se, multiple myeloma, and a tumor that has spread beyond
the prostatic capsule. If metast asized to bone, the high acid phosphatase
level accompanied by a high alkaline phosphatase shows increased
osteoblastic activity—metastatic bone cancer. THE ALKALINE  PHOSPHA TASE (AP) L ABORA TORY TEST
An enzyme that is most active  at pH 9. 0, alkaline phosphat ase (AP)
influences bone  calcification and the transport of lipids and metabolites. The alkaline phosphatase laboratory test measures combined activities of
those AP isoenzymes found in the liver, bones, kidneys, intestinal lining,
and placenta. Bone and liver AP are always present in adult blood serum,
with liver AP most prominent—except during the third trimester of
pregnancy when the placenta originates half of all AP
The AP laboratory test is particu larly sensitive to mild biliary obstruction
and indicates liver lesions. Its most specific clinical application is in the
diagnosis of metabolic bone disease and detecting skeletal diseases
characterized by osteoblastic activity and local liver lesions causing biliary
obstruction such as tumor or abscess. It furnishes supplemental information
for liver function studies and GI enzyme tests, and it assesses the response
to vitamin D treatment in rickets. The normal range of serum alkaline phosphatase varies in accordance
with the laboratory method employed, but the usual total AP levels range
from 30 to 120 U/L in adults and from 40 to 200 U/L in children. Since AP
concentrations rise during active bone formation and growth, infants,
children, and adolescents normally show levels three times higher than
adults. Additional normal range s for AP are 1. 5 to 4 Bodansky  units/dL; 4to 13. 5 King-Armstrong units/d L; 0.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>
Q: What is the purpose of a clay poultice?,
A: A soft composition powder mixed with water, applied as a mud pack to an inflamed body part to absorb toxins and aid in detoxification.
Q: What is the normal range for serum calcium levels in children?,
A: The text does not provide specific information on normal calcium levels for children, but it does mention that the Gerson Therapy typically lowers calcium levels.
Q: What is the normal range for total serum cholesterol?,
A: The text does not provide a specific normal range for total serum cholesterol.
Q: What is the purpose of the serum potassium test?,
A: The test is used to regulate homeostasis, osmotic pressure, and neuromuscular function, and to diagnose various diseases.
Q: What is the purpose of the routine urinalysis test?,
A: The test provides information about the internal workings of a person's body and is used to diagnose various diseases.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>By the end of April 1980, the patient traveled to the Gerson hospital once
again for his first six-month checkup. (In all, after November 1979, he
returned to that hospital for semiannual examinations twelve times.) His
cancer markers and blood tests showed a near -normal physiology so that the
Gerson diet was modified by Dr. Arturo Ortuna, who after eight weeks had
included yogurt, rye bread, raw skimmed milk, infrequent meals of fish,
chicken, and a few other items  heretofore forbidden. Senor Lechuga was
feeling better and better, and his mental outlook became optimistic. He told
stories, joked, sang, and became a joy to everyone around him. Having reported  his progress to Charlotte Gerson during the weekend of
October 17 and 18, 1981, he accepted her invitation to participate as aspeaker in San Diego at a “Gerson Survivors’ Conference.” In June 1985,
Dr. Arturo Ortuno traveled with Senior Lechuga to a San Diego diagnostic
center for him to under go a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI ) to confirm
that after five years his cancer had completely cleared. It had! Receiving the
affirmative MRI report, Dr. A. Ortuno declared his patient officially cured
of cancer and asked him to return to the Gerson Hospital in one year for
another checkup. Then the doctor suggested that he go back to the very
restrictive Gerson Therapy for just one month more as a kind of “insurance”
toward his cure. This Senor Lech uga agreed to do along with promising that
he would report results of his following the difficult lifestyle for a final
month that’ s demanded by the therapy. When the patient telephoned Dr. Arturo Ortuno that single month later to
report on the experience, he learned that his forty-year -old physician had
just died and was being buried. While Dr. A. Ortuno had been playing hard
at racquetball with Dr. Victor Ortuno the day before, he suffered a massive
heart attack. He succumbed in his cousin’ s arms. Shocked by the terrible news, Senor Lechuga never returned to Tijuana. Also, he markedly reduced his adherence to the Gerson Therapy. Although
he continued to consume a sensible diet, his juice intake fell to about four
glasses daily. During the fourteen years following, Jesus and Dolores
Lechuga lived the good life. They traveled extensively to Hawaii, Canada,
Washington State, New York City, and other places. They flew, cruised,
drove, took train trips, and went places all over North America. Then, from July 25 to August 5, 1999, he enjoyed a cruise to Alaska to
walk on glaciers, hike mountain  trails, and eat the multiple massive meals
served aboard ship. During this Alaskan excursion, the patient felt back
pain just below  the right shoul der blade. Upon his return home, he was
treated in Durango by two medical doctors for a “contracted and knotted
muscle” until the lack of relief caused them to request a biopsy. The
surgeon who did the biopsy in Durango, J. Roberto Salas Gracia, M.D.,
reported that this muscle “knot” actually was a tumor. It was diagnosed as a
malignant pleomorphic fibrotic hystiocytoma in the soft tissue of the right
shoulder blade. Because of insufficient viable tissue surrounding the tumor
unable to be biopsied, it remains undetermined as to whether Senior
Lechuga’ s cancer is a malignant schwannoma.Jesus Lechuga V aldez
The malignant schwannoma  is a sarcoma, one of the slow-growing
tumors that deve lop in soft tissue surrounding the nerve sheaths of smooth
muscles. Some 75 percent of such sarcomas are called leiomyosar comas. Receiving this diagnosis of malignancy in mid-October 1999, Senor and
Senora Lechuga and their daughter Geor gina Potter immediately made
arrangements to admit him as a patient at the Gerson Therapy facility in
Tijuana. On October 25, 1999, he became a resident of the Oasis of Hope
Hospital. The attending clinician there, Jaime A. Martinez


 eyes of
God, we are innocent. In the eyes of God, we are never guilty, because our
innocence is Real and our mistakes are not. But if the real me is eternally innocent, then what about the times when
I did something wrong? How do I have a good relationship with myself if I
hate something I did? What about the ghostly memories that haunt us in the
middle of the night, obsession over mistakes we made years ago, the “ifonly I’d done this or that” with which we frequently torment ourselves? “If
only I hadn’ t been so stupid” is one of the biggest guns in the ego’ s arsenal. One of the absurd faux-spiritual  truisms out there is that you can’t make
a mistak e. Oh, yes, you can, and some of us have made enough of them to
know it. Telling yourself that a mistake was not a mistake, if in fact it was,
is not the way to dissolve the guilt you feel because of it. There is a far more functional, successful way of dealing with this than
through trying to suppress our obsessive thoughts. The way to dissolve the
self-hatred we feel at such times is through the power of the Atonement. The Atonement is God’ s greatest gift, but the choice is given to us
whether to activate its power in our lives. This is how it works. You go back
to the moment when you made  the mistake, and you own it. You look it
squarely in the eye; you realize what a lack of love for yourself or others
such a moment entailed. You’ll  see more clearly what was going on with
you when you made the mistake. In such momen ts in my own past I’ve come to realize that in those
moments I was scared; but I also realized that in those moments I was
irresponsible. I either did not know yet or was not practiced yet at asking
the Holy Spirit for direction before making my decisions. And in that, I
betrayed myself. God was there, but I didn’ t turn to Him. Even when we have been most mistaken, the person who we might have
been—the way we might have behaved, had the ego not held us in its grip
—is an image that has remained in God’ s mind. Jesus holds this image safe
in his hands until we are ready to express it. “I have saved all your
kindnesses and every loving thought you ever had. I have purified them of
the errors that hid their light, and kept them for you in their perfect
radiance”* (T -83). Living in this world, it can be hard. The ego speaks first and the ego
speaks loudest, which is why cultivating our capacity to listen to the small
inner Voice for God is so important. I’ve spent years of my life regretting
decisions I would not have made if I had simply given it the weekend to
think things through. The miracle of the Atonement is that you can go back to that moment
now. In any situation in which we failed to go for the love—failing to allow
the miracle that might have occurred and deflecting a miracle instead—the
miracle is held in trust for us until we are ready to receive it. Go back tothat moment now. Admit that you made the wrong decision, admit that you
didn’ t let the Holy Spirit guide your thoughts, and ask that it happen now. Contrition is miraculous. In ways you can’t imagine, life will catch up
with your change in consciousness. You will have a chance to play life
correctly where  you might have failed to do so before. A situation will
occur that shows you clearly that when you atoned, you were heard. God is an infinitely merciful God. Yes, we are accountable; but through
the grace of God we can begin again. The section from A Course in Miracles  that follows is one of its most
powerful tools in rewiring the way we perceive the past.... the first step in the undoing is to recognize that you actively decided wrongly, but can as
actively decide otherwise. Be very firm with yourself in this, and keep yourself fully awar e that
the undoing process, which does not come from you, is nevertheless within you because God
placed it there. Your part is merely to return your thinking to the point at which the error was
made, and give it over to the Atonement in peace. Say this to yourself as sincer ely as you can,
remembering that the Holy Spirit will r espond fully to your slightest invitation:
I must have decided wr ongly, because I am not at peace. I made the decision myself, but I can also decide otherwise. I want to decide otherwise, because I want to be at peace. I do not feel guilty, because the Holy Spirit will undo all the consequences of my wrong
decision if I will let Him. I choose to let Him, by allowing Him to decide for God for me. * (T -90)
All of us have been there. And having made mistakes, of course we
suffer. But remorse is a positive thing; only sociopaths are without it. Conscience is an aspect of the heart. The ego wants to stretch things out, to take the healthy processing of
our regrets and turn it into a permanent emotional bludgeon. Once again,
the ego is a trick. That does nothing more than delay the day when we go
about the business of acting now in a way we didn’ t act before. If you really
want to show God you’re sorry, go be a dif ferent person now. Another reason  we’re sometimes hard on ourselves, of course, is
because of the projections of other people. It might be an adult who told
you that you were worthless when you were a child, and you’ve internalized
their voice. It might be people who don’t even know you, but have created
or bought into a false narrative about who you are. Either way, their voices
are now inside your head convincing you of your lack of worth. One of my favorite Christmas carols is “O Holy Night,” containing this
extraordinary lyric: “Long lay the world in sin and error pining, till He
appeared and the soul felt its worth.” It doesn’ t matter who other peoplethink you are. Your inestimable  worth is established by God. Yes, we have
all made mistakes. But who we are, the innocence in which we were
created, is an inviolable essence. What God created cannot be altered. We
are perfect ideas in the Mind of God. Dear God,
I give to you the mistakes of my past. I recognize that in those moments I did not let love pr evail. May Y our Spirit enter my mind, as I surr ender those moments to Y ou. May my mistake be somehow useful in making me a better person now. Amen
OceanofPDF.comRelationship to Others
God loves all of us as one, for He created us as one. Our purpose is to
think as God thinks so we can love as He does. We cannot find right
relationship to God, or to ourselves, without right relationship to others. The
only way we can find peace or love is by giving it to each other, for we are
each other. It’s impossible for me to remember who I am unless I am
willing to remem ber who you are, and it’s impossible for me to remember
who you are without remembering who I am. When I told a friend, Andrea, about my experience viewing Salvator
Mundi, she told me of a similar experience she had had many years ago at
Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. It was similar to mine in that she too felt
transported beyond the piece of art, but whereas I saw the realms of
tenderness and power, she saw the entirety of the human race. She saw that
Jesus was everyone. She saw that we are one. Relationships are assignments made by the Holy Spirit, part of an
intentional plan by which all beings will ultimately be reconciled with God. To be reconciled with God means to be reconciled with the love that is
within us. We don’t get to God simply by learn ing to love ourselves. We get
to God by learning to love each other. Relationships are temples of the Holy Spirit* (P-6). They are part of a
highly individualized curriculum by which we are each given maximal soul
growth opportunities, assigned to those with whom we can both teach and
learn. Relationships are where our strengths are strengthened, and our
weaknesses brought up for review. They are where we salute  the soul of
others or do battle with the soul of others. In intense relationships, we often
do both. Relationships are growth experiences, and life is simply a series of
lessons destined to be rehearsed until we learn them fully. You either let goof the past, or string it out and deny yourself and others the chance for a
different kind of future. The Holy Spirit brings us togeth er with people who are perfect matches
in terms of not just complementary strengths, but also complementary
wounds. That’ s why relationships are hard. Growth is messy, relationships
are messy, and love is messy. An intentional universe nourishes  the growth
of all living things, and often it’ s relationships that challenge us to grow. If we behave unlovingly, we shouldn’ t expect others to be okay with
that. We are responsible for how we present ourselves. Spiritual  growth is a


 and said to me,
“Take your sign down. We will go into escrow now.”
Immediately I pulled the sign up and took it to the garage. T he outer
action conformed to the inner. There is nothing new about this. As
within, so without, meaning according to the image impressed on your
subconscious mind, so it is on the objective screen of your life. The
outside mirrors the inside. External action follows internal action. Here is another very popular method used in selling homes, la nd, or
any kind of property. Affirm slowly, quietly, and feelingly as f ollows:
“Infinite intelligence attracts to me the buyer for this home who wants
it and who prospers in it. This buyer is being sent to me by the
creative intelligence of my subconscious mind, which makes no
mistakes. This buyer may look at many other homes, but mine is t he
only one he wants and will buy, because he is guided by the infi nite
intelligence within him. I know the buyer is right, the time i s right,
and the price is right. Everything about it is right. The deepe r currents
of my subconscious mind are now in operation bringing both of us
together in divine order. I know that it is so.”
Remember always, that what you are seeking is also seeking  you,
and whenever you want to sell a home or property of any kind, there is
 125  always someone who wants what you have to offer By using the
powers of your subconscious mind correctly, you free your mind of al l
sense of competition and anxiety in buying and selling. • How she succeeded in getting what she wanted
There is a young lady who regularly comes to my lectures and
classes. She had to change buses three times; it took her one a nd a half
hours each time to come to the lectures. In one lecture I explained how
a young man who needed a car in his work received one. She went home and experimented as outlined in my lecture. He re is
her letter in part, narrating her application of my method, a nd
published by her permission:
Dear Dr. Murphy:
This is how I received a Cadillac car—I wanted one to come to t he
lectures regularly. In my imagination I went through the identica l
process I would go through if I were actually driving a car. I went to
the showroom, and the sales-man took me for a ride in one. I also
drove it several blocks. I claimed the Cadillac car as my  own over and
over again. I kept the mental picture of getting into the car, drivi ng it, feeling
the upholstery, etc., consistently for over two weeks. Last we ek I
drove to your lectures in a Cadillac. My uncle in Inglewood p assed
away, and left me his Cadillac and his entire estate. • A success technique employed by many outstanding executives
and businessmen
There are many prominent businessmen who quietly use the abstr act
term, “success,” over and over many times a day until they rea ch a
conviction that success is theirs. They know that the idea of success
contains all the essential elements of success. Likewise, y ou can begin
now to repeat the word, “suc-cess,” to yourself with faith a nd
conviction. Your subconscious mind will accept it as true of you, and
you will be under a subconscious compulsion to succeed. 126  You are compelled to express your subjective beliefs, im-p ressions,
and convictions. What does success imply to you? You want,
undoubtedly, to be successful in your home life and in your
relationship with others. You wish to be outstanding in your chosen
work or profession. You wish to possess a beau-tiful home, and all  the
money you need to live comfortably and happily. You want to be
successful in your prayer life and in your contact with the powers  of
your subconscious mind. You are a businessman also because you are in the busi-ness of
living. Become a successful businessman by imagining yoursel f doing
what you long to do, and possessing the things you long to possess. Become
imaginative; mentally participate in the reality of the s uccessful
state. Make a habit of it. Go to sleep feeling successful every night,
and perfectly satisfied, and you will eventually succeed in i mplanting
the idea of success in your subconscious mind. Believe you were born
to succeed, and wonders will happen as you pray! • Profitable pointers
1. Success means successful living. When you are peaceful, happy,
joyous, and doing what you love to do, you are successful. 2. Find out what you love to do, and then do it. If you don’t know
your true expression, ask for guidance, and the lead will come. 3. Specialize in your particular field and try to know more about it
than anyone else. 4. A successful man is not selfish. His main desire in life is to serve
humanity. 5. There is no true success without peace of mind. 6. A successful man possesses great psychological and spirit ual
understanding. 127  7. If you imagine an objective clearly, you will be provided w ith the
necessities through the wonder-working power of your subconscious
mind. 8. Your thought fused with feeling becomes a subjective belief, and
according to your belief is it done unto you. 9. The power of sustained imagination draws forth the miracle -
working powers of your subconscious mind. 10. If you are seeking promotion in your work, imagine your
employer, supervisor, or loved one congratulating you on your
promotion. Make the picture vivid and real. Hear the voice, see the
gestures, and feel the reality of it all. Continue to do this fre quently,
and through frequent occupancy of your mind, you will experience the
joy of the answered prayer. 11. Your subconscious mind is a storehouse of memory. For a
perfect memory, affirm frequently: “The infinite intellig ence of my
subconscious mind reveals to me everything I need to know at all
times, everywhere.”
12. If you wish to sell a home or property of any kind, affirm
slowly, quietly, and feelingly as follows: “Infinite intell igence attracts
to me the buyer for this house or property, who wants it, and who
prospers in it.” Sustain this awareness, and the deeper c urrents of your
subconscious mind will bring it to pass. 13. The idea of success contains all the elements of success. R epeat
the word, “success,” to yourself frequently with faith and convict ion,
and you will be under a subconscious com-pulsion to succeed. • Scientists Use the Subconscious Mind
Many scientists realize the true importance of the sub-consc ious
mind. Edison, Marconi, Kettering, Poincarè, Ein-stein, and many
others have used the subconscious mind. It has given them the i nsight
and the “know-how” for all their great achievements in modern
science and industry. Research has shown that the ability to b ring into
 128  action the subconscious power has determined the success of al l the
great scientific and research workers. An instance of how a famous chemist, Friedrich von Stradonitz,
used his subconscious mind to solve his problem is as follows: H e had
been working laboriously for a long time trying to rearrange t he six
carbon and the six hydrogen atoms of the benzine formula, and he was
constantly perplexed and unable to solve the matter. Tired and
exhausted, he turned the request over completely to his subconsci ous
mind. Shortly after-ward, as he was about to board a London bus, his
subconscious presented his conscious mind with a sudden flash of a
snake biting its own tail and turning around like a pin wheel. This
answer, from his subconscious mind, gave him the longsought answer
of the circular rearrangement of the atoms that is known as th e
benzine ring. • How a distinguished scientist brought forth his inventions
Nikola Tesla was a brilliant electrical scientist who br ought forth
the most amazing innovations. When an idea for a new invention
came into his mind, he would build it up in his imagina-tion, know ing
that his subconscious mind would reconstruct and reveal to his
conscious mind all the parts needed for its manufacture in concre te
form. Through quietly contemplating every possible improvement, he
spent no time in correcting defects, and was able to give the
technicians the perfect product of his mind. He said, “Invariably, my device works as I imagined it should. In
twenty years there has not been a single exception.”
• How a famous naturalist solved his problem
Professor Agassiz, a distinguished American naturalist, disc overed
the indefatigable activities of his subconscious mind while he slept. His widow in her biography of her famous husband has reported the
following. 129   “He had been for two weeks striving to decipher the some-what
obscure impression of a fossil fish on the stone slab in w hich it was
preserved. Weary and perplexed, he put his work aside at last, and
tried to dismiss it from his mind. Shortly after, he waked one night
persuaded that while asleep he had seen his fish with all the missing
features perfectly restored. But when he tried to hold and ma


 also to be found in
meats, eggs, and milk; but it is found in its greatest concentration in sea foods. The need for iodine is unquestionable. There is no doubt as to its value in providing
the body with the ability to resist infections in general. In some parts of the United
States, the soil contains larger quantities of iodine than in others, and these parts (South
Carolina) show a greater amount of iodine in the wheat, barley, corn, vegetables and
fruit. In parts of the country where there is a relatively small amount of iodine in the soil, the amount to be found in the crops is correspondingly less. In parts where the
iodine is practically absent from the soil, on account of having been washed out, there is
very little iodine in the grains and vegetables. In these parts, goiter and other thyroid
diseases are very common. In such areas as  South Carolina where the iodine content of
the soil is high, goiter is very much less frequent. There is no question but that there is a direct connection between the lack of iodine in the diet and the frequency of thyroid
disease. The lack of iodine in ordinary diet was one of the first recognized universal
deficiencies, and for several years iodine has been added to most commercial preparations of common table salt. The amount of iodine added to table salt does not change its appearance or its taste. The percentage of iodine is very small and much
below the optimum requirements but it has undoubtedly served to decrease the number of cases of thyroid disease in the country as a whole. There is no possible danger in the use of iodized salt, and it does help to maintain
something nearer of physiological mineral balance, so its beneficial effect is not
confined to the thyroid. The person consuming iodized salt will have better health and better resistance to disease in every way. Another very important fact that has been learned in connection with vitamin and
mineral deficiency is that where such a deficiency has existed over a long period of time, the dose that is given to correct the trouble must be several times larger than the
maintenance dose. In connection with iron and iodine and some of the vitamins, the
therapeutic dose is over one hundred times the maintenance dose. After a person has
been deficient in one of these elements for ma ny years, either his gastrointestinal tract
loses the power to absorb it in the normal way, or the cells of the body lose to a certain
extent the ability to assimilate it. In medical circles, iodine is known chiefly as a treatment for goiter. This element,
however, since it has to do with increasing the anti-bactericidal elements in the blood, is
of value in every type of goiter, arthritis, and rheumatic disease. Some two or three
decades ago many quack patent medicines were sold which had no medicinal value whatever except that the indicated dose contained a few grains of potassium iodide. As
this accidentally supplied a very urgent body need, and partly corrected a universal
deficiency in diet, such medicines were very popular. A change in advertising
psychology has practically removed these remedies from the market. The need is now supplied in a much less efficient way by iodized salt. The needs of the human body for vitamins have been well established, but one
fundamental defect in medical thinking has been a failure to recognize that minerals are
also needed. We have called attention to the need for calcium, iodine, and iron, but there are several other minerals that are also necessary to the optimum health of the human
body, including magnesium, manganese, zinc, copper, sulphur, cobalt, nickel, and
others. These are commonly grouped together under the head of trace minerals, as they
exist only in quantities too small to measure accurately. They are to be found in all fruits and vegetables, and in meats and milk. There is no positive evidence that any disease results from a lack of these trace
minerals, as they are so widely distributed in nature, and the quantitative needs are so small that deficiencies from these sources pr obably do not exist. However, the last word
has not been said on this subject. Subsequent investigation may reveal that trace minerals play a greater part in human metabolism than we suspect at the present time. We do know that the person who has a sufficient intake of the three principal minerals
mentioned--calcium, iron, and iodine--along with sufficient quantities of the vitamins, proteins, fats, and carbohydrates in the natural state, will have a resistance against
ordinary disease far in excess of the average person. Such person will have more
freedom from fatigue, and greater ability to work; will live with the retention of all physical faculties to a greater age, and will have a better mind than the person who suffers some single or multiple vitamin or mineral deficiency. The various vitamins and minerals mentioned are all necessary. No one can be omitted if an individual would
retain good health. The trace minerals will be taken care of in the intake of milk, meat, fruits and vegetables. CHAPTER IV
OUR DIETARY INTAKE (What do we get?) In comparing our dietary needs with our actual dietary intake, we find that there are
deficiencies which are widespread and more pronounced than the average physician recognizes. In the early work with vitamins, the relatively small amounts needed to make sick individuals feel better caused the workers in this field to lose sight of the quantitative side of the problem. All emphasis was laid on the qualitative side. When
vitamin B was first used as a treatment for beriberi in the Orient, and concentrates from
rye bran and yeast were used as a treatment, it was supposed than only infinitesimal
quantities were necessary to bring about favorable results. The spectacular relief
accorded by a small amount of yeast or wheat germ or rice polishings led the investigators of that time to believe that the patient who was relieved of his most
outstanding symptoms was cured. The same error has crept into our orientation of the effects of vitamin A in connection
with eye diseases. Laboratory animals or children suffering from xerophthalmia
(redness, swelling, pus discharge, pain and ulceration of the eyes) will be relieved of the
most distressing of these eye symptoms by relatively small amounts of milk, cream,
butter, or cod-liver oil. But in order to cure the patient of the underlying pathology of which the eye disease is merely one small part, we must give ten to 100 times as big a
dose as that necessary to relieve the outstanding symptoms. The same error has been prevalent in connection with the treatment of mineral
deficiencies. Relatively small doses of calci um will afford complete relief to persons
suffering calcium deficiency. This comfort and relief may be so great a change from the
distress previously suffered that the person believes himself cured, even though he is
only partially better. The distressing symptoms of exophthalmic goiter are relieved
promptly and the patient is infinitely better after a few drops of a weak solution of
iodine. The tendency to believe this is a cure is seized upon by wishful thinking of both doctor and patient. A relatively small amount of iron will produce a very great change in the appearance
and endurance of a person suffering an iron anemia; but he will be far from cured. The muddling and stumbling in this field of medical research have emphasized the benefit of
these specific treatments, but as yet have failed to orient properly the complete physical
needs of the patient, which, as heretofore stated, are greater than the bare maintenance
needs. Acting on these false premises, physicians in the past have been content to
prescribe for their patients a few leaves of  lettuce, a few teaspoonfuls of milk or cream,
a fraction of an ounce of butter, and a tiny bit of yeast--all of which might more nearly
fit the requirements of a mouse or a small chick. The factor of quantity is now the most important factor in all dietary study. Since we
have found we must deal with vitamins and minerals in a quantitative way, we must
examine the diets formerly supposed to be adequate and see whether these contain large
enough quantities of the necessary vitamins and minerals for optimum health. In
examining such diets, we must consider them first, from the standpoint of maintenance
of the person who has existed for many years on a dietary deficiency. From a practical viewpoint, the only persons who fit into the first class are the babies
being born at the present time in the families  of the more intelligent members of the
community, who have the advantage from earliest infancy of the newer knowledge of nutrition. These babies will have, as they grow older, no previous deficiency to
overcome. The persons who at the present time have attained youth, middle age, or old
age have not had the benefit of the new facts in connection with diet. Their presence
among the living at this time is merely a fortuitous accident. By some hit-or-miss
happening, they have picked up enough minerals and vitamins to allow them to continue to exist. Their existence is that of a person below par, carrying one or more
chronic diseases. The small child on a deficient diet becomes afflicted with chronic tonsillitis. The
school child may develop tuberculosis. The youth is pimply and anemic. All have bad
teeth. Many have permanently crippled hearts due to rheumatic infections. Seventy
percent have rickets. A large proportion have digestive diseases and constipation. All these handicaps are the result of errors in diet. Drs. Williams and Spies made examinations of diets in various parts of the United
States, and in their book, "Vitamin B
1" published in 1938, they said there is much
sameness


persist all day, until the next round of sleeping-and-waking
readjusts the mind-body chemistry. Here is a related example. All camels exhibit an unusual
tolerance for high levels of pain—they can calmly chew on
thorns while  at the same  time being beaten with a stick by
an irate camel driver. Curious researchers examined
camels’ brain cells and found that they produce large
quantities of a speciﬁc biochemical that, if injected into
other animals, causes them to ignore pain, too. Sleep and
pain toleranc e, it is now known, thus depend on precise
chemical messengers produced in the brain. One by one, various other functions that were once “all in
your head ” have been connected to speciﬁcneurotransmitters. Schizophrenics suﬀering acutely from
hallucinations and psychotic thoughts often improve
dramatically if put on a kidney dialysis machine, which
ﬁlters impurities from the blood. As we saw, brain
researchers have established that a neurotransmitter called
dopamine exists in abnormally high levels in the brains of
schizophrenics. Current chemical treatment of the disorder
entails using psycho-active drugs that suppress dopamine;
perhaps the dialysis machine is actually removin g it, or a
related by-product, from the bloodstream. By the mid-1980s, barely ten years after the original
breakthrough, more than ﬁfty such neurotransmitters and
neuropeptides were known. All ﬁfty can be manufactured
on one side of the synapses between our neurons, and once
they cross the synapses, all ﬁfty can be received by the
receptor sites on the other side. This implies an incredible
ﬂexibility to communicate from cell to cell. The individual
neuron was now seen to be a producer of messages that did
not just say “yes” or “no,” as a computer does. The brain’s
vocabulary is far larger, encompassing thousands of
combinations of separate signals, with no end in sight,
since new neurotransmitters continue to be discovered at a
fast rate. What kind of messages do nerve cells exchange with one
another? The answer is tantalizing, for certain segments of
our chemica l vocabulary  seem to be just as speciﬁc as
ordinary speech, while others are highly ambigu ous. Our
tolerance for pain, like the camel’s, depends on the class of
biochemicals discovered in the 1970s called endorphins
and enkeph alins, which act as the body’s natural
painkillers. The word endorphin  means “internal
morphine,” and enkephalin  means “inside the brain.” And
that is their story: they are like a version of morphine
produced by the brain itself.This hitherto  unknown ability to make internal opiates
proved very exciting. It was already suspecte d that the
body must be able to regulate the sensation of pain. Although insistent, pain does not always register on our
awareness. Strong emotions, for example, can override
pain signals from the body, as when a mother rushes to
save her child from a burning house or a wounded soldier
ﬁghts on, ignoring the pain of his injuries. Under more
ordinary circumstances, all of us to some extent can take
our attention away from a minor pain—we don’t  notice a
sore throat, for instance, if we are talking to someone with
intense interest. Despite this common experience of having the pain
threshold rise and fall, no mechanism had ever accounted
for it. Now medicine could explain it by using these internal
painkillers, the endorphi ns and enkephalins, which every
neuron in the body is able to produce at will. Very quickly
the general public was told that the brain produces
narcotics up to two hundred times stronger than anything
you can buy on the street, with the added boon  that our
own painkillers seemed to be nonaddictive. Perhaps in the
future a physician would anesthetize his patients by
stimulating some region in their brains, giving Western
medicine a scientiﬁc form of Chinese acupuncture. Morphine and endorphins both block pain by ﬁlling a
certain receptor on the neuron and preventing other
chemicals that carry the message of pain from coming in. Without these chemicals, there can be no sensatio n of pain,
no matter how much physical provocation is present. Using
this model, a molecule of endorphin is like a speciﬁc word,
the word painkiller. One can imagine that whenever the
word pain comes to the brain’s attention, it has the option
of sending painkiller  back as its answer. Unfortunately, this
simple picture was clouded over by later research.It was found that levels of endorphins in the body do not
correspond on a one-to-one basis with how much pain is
being felt. This can be proved with placebos, or dummy
drugs. Patients who are in pain can often be relieved by
receiving a placebo, usually a coated sugar pill, which they
are told is a powerful painkiller. Not everyone will respon d
to this, but generally between 30 percent and 60 percent
will report that their pain went away. This result, called the
placebo eﬀec t, has been noted for centuries, but it is highly
unpredictable. The doctor cannot tell in advance which
patients will beneﬁt or to what extent. Why should a totally inert sugar pill relieve pain in the
ﬁrst place, even the stabbing pain of peptic ulcers or
traumatic surgery? Endorphins, it was now discovered,
must hold the answer. A drug called naloxone acts as a
chemical antagonist to morphine, meaning that it has the
ability to knock morphine  molecules out of a receptor site. When naloxo ne is administered on top of a paink iller, the
sensation of pain instantly ﬂoods back. As it turns out, the
same thing will happen  with the placebo. The patients
whose pain went away from the sugar pill reported that it
returned again after they took naloxone. This implied that
endorphins and morphine must basically be the same drug,
the diﬀerence being that one is manufactured by the body
and the other by the opium poppy. But once again, it was only a certain percentage of
patients who showed this result. Naloxone made the pain
return in full force for certain patients; for others, the
placebo eﬀec t still worked totally; and for still others, only
a little of the pain came back. Researchers found
themselves in a state of renewed confusion, where they
remain today. Endorphins are certainly internal painkillers,
but uncovering these new molecules was not the whole
answer.Pain studies have now shown that morphine is not
chemically identical to endorphins, that endorphins interact
in a more complex way than narcotic drugs, and that any
form of treatment for pain relief—morphine, endorphins,
acupuncture, or hypnosis—is highly variable in its
eﬀectiveness. It was also discovered  that endorphins
cannot be made into satisfactory pharmaceuti cals: our
internal painkillers are just as addictive as heroin if given
by injection. Soon, the same frustrating complications that scientists
ran up against with the endorphins and enkephalins spread
to all the other neuro-transmitters. It turns out that a
neuron does not simply catch a signal from a neighboring
nerve cell and pass it along untouched to the next synapse. That is only one of its choices. Although no one can
describe exactly how neurons receive their chemical
messages or how they transport them down their own
axons, or trunks, it is known that the process must be very
ﬂexible. The nerve cell can change the message en route,
turning the chemical it received at point A into a diﬀerent
one at point B. The receptor sites on the ends of nerve cells
can also modify themselves to receive diﬀerent types of
messages; the sending station on the other side of the
synapse is equally versatile. For our purposes, this confusion is actually a highly
encouraging state of aﬀairs, because it proves that the
body cannot be understood without the missing ingredient
of intelligence. The physical makeup of endorphins, or any
other neurochemical, is not nearly as important as their
know-how—how they choose their sites, what trigg ers them
to act, how they “talk” to the rest of the body in precise
coordination, and so on. Even in the midst of a genuine
chemical revolution, mind is superior to matter. In fact, it
now appears that the molecular structure of any neuro-transmitter is completely secondary to the brain’s ability to
employ it. It came as a tremendous  surprise to cell biologists that,
as far as molecules go, neurotransmitters are nothing
special. All of the protein in our bodies is built up from
chains of twenty basic amino acids, and these chains can be
further arranged into longer strands called peptides. Neuropeptides have their own signature, making them
distinct from the other peptide chains in the body, but the
same factory, our DNA, makes all of them


volunteer as enlightened or to discuss what their
experiences were. Religious backgrounds were diverse,
spanning Eastern and Western faiths, yet most of the
subjects had done some kind of spiritual pract ice—they
wanted to be in a higher state of consciousness. Curiously,
around 14 percent had done nothing of this kind. They hadspontaneously popped into higher consciousness or, more
typically, drifted into it. They reporte d being in their new
state anywhere from forty years to as little as two or three. Martin’s research base has expanded to more than a
thousand subjects, which means we must ask ourselves if
“normal” isn’t a ﬁxed state but a spectrum, with
consciousness evolving much further than anyone has
previously predicted. At the very least, higher
consciousness has become much less exotic. It’s no longer
the province of sadhus and yogis in the Himalayas. Martin’s
study focused on body, emotions, sense of self, and
thoughts, which are value neutral, making his work
acceptable in the academy. But he found that the spiritual
dimension had also opene d up. Some subjects reported the
kind of open, clear, silent awareness associated with
Buddhism; others experienced the bliss I discuss in this
chapter. Still others had no idea what to make of their state
of awareness. But they were amazed at the amount of
wellbeing they were experiencing, and this grew as they
moved furth er along the spectrum. (Paradoxically, in
Location 4, all emotion  fell away, even love, and the
richness of bliss was replaced by what Martin calls
complete freedom. Yet his subje cts report that they don’t
miss the experience of emotions and bliss, because in
freedom they have found the very highest state of
wellbeing. ) If it is startlin g to realize that enlightenment is all around
us, and that it’s a natural progression, even more intriguing
is the prospect that enlightenment is personal. The way
that you create your own reality doesn’t suddenly  come to
an end; enlightenment isn’t like jumping oﬀ a divin g board. There are as many kinds of enlightenment as there are
people, one might suppose. In a word, evolution itself is
evolving, like everything else. “Normal” won’t be valid until it broadens to include
everyone on the spectrum of consciousness. We will also
need to revise the old deﬁnitions of enlightenment, in fact,
to conform to the present age. The West has almost no
formal institutions, outside monasteries and convents,
geared for people who want to pursue higher states of
consciousness or who have already arrived there. Here’s
what “normal” should encompass. Feeling unbounded
Being at peace
Having a loose attachment to your personal history
Living in the present
Becoming free of negative thought forms and emotions
Breaking away from traumas and wounds from the past
Accepting that higher consciousness is natural, part of
the human continuum
Experiencing more and more self-awareness as you
evolve
Living in a state of wellbeing that continues to grow and
deepen
A venerated  spiritual teacher was once asked,  “What
does it take to be enlightened. ” His reply: “You no longer
have a personal stake in the world. ” If you identify with the
boundaries erected by “I, me, and mine,” this sounds like a
death sentence. Having a personal stake in the world is
what life is all about, isn’t it. But with a longer view, across
the entire spectrum of consciousness, the opposite is true. When you no longer identify with “I, me, and mine,” you
are ushered into a new world of experience that transcends
the individual. This is the second birth that the Vedas extol
as the true beginning of life. Finally, I ﬁnd it very touching that Martin’s enlightened
subjects, as amazed as they were by their new state,
thought that nothing could be better. “This is as real as it
gets” was a common reaction. But they were wrong. Reality
is inﬁnite, and what makes it inﬁnite isn’t the edge of the
universe racing away faster than the speed of light. The
universe matches human aspirations, and its inﬁnity
reﬂects the inﬁnity inside  us once we wake up and realize
that it exists. * Adapted from Robert K eith W allace’s The Physiology of Consciousness  (M. I. U. Press, 1993). OceanofPDF. comIf asked for an exact deﬁnition of quantum healing, I would
say this: quantum healin g is the ability of one mode of
consciousness (the mind) to spontaneously correct the
mistakes in another mode of consciousness (the body). It is
a completely self-enclosed process. If pressed for a shorter
deﬁnition, I would say simply that quantum healing makes
peace. When consciousness is fragmented, it starts a war in
the mind-body system. This war lies behind many diseases,
giving rise to what modern medicine calls their
psychosomatic component. The rishis might call it “the fear
born of duality,” and they would consider it not a
component but the chief cause of all illness. The body will send many  signals to indicate that a war is
going on. Recently a young French-Canadian woman came
to see me suﬀering from Crohn’s disease, a severe
intestinal disorder characterized by chronic and
uncontrollable diarrhea, accompanied by painful
inﬂammation. Although the cause of Crohn’s disease is
unknown, it strikes mostl y among young adults and may be
connected to a deﬁciency in the immune system. What iswell known is that the intestinal tract is highly sensitive to
emotional states; in this patient’s case, it was not
surprising to hear that she worked long hours under the
high pressure of a downtown Boston advertising ﬁrm. After talking to her for a while, I discovered that she had
learned to meditate several years before. I asked her if she
still kept it up. No, she answ ered, there wasn’t much time
for it; when she did sit down to meditate, it didn’t do much
good, because she usually fell asleep in a few minutes. I then asked if she had adjusted her diet to help her
condition, slowed down the pace of her life, or considered
moving on to a job with less stress. Looking somewhat
impatient, she said no again—she wasn’t going to allow her
disease, which caused her many diﬀiculties, to rule her life. “Look,” I said, “you have  a very serious condition. If this
inﬂammation persists, you may have to have parts of your
intestine surgically remo ved. What are you going to do
about that. ” She was quite knowled geable about her
disease, and I didn’t have to tell her that some grim choices
lay ahead. The surgery in question  involves considerable
disﬁguration, since with part of the intestine removed, a
tube has to be extended  out of the abdomen to handle
elimination. Even then, the disease is not cured and tends
to recur in other parts of the intestine. “That’s why I’m here,” she answered. “I want a mental
technique to help me continue to lead a normal life. ”
I was seeing  the result of what the rishis called Pragya
aparadh,  the mistake of the intellect. This woman’s body
was crying out for healin g, and it was telling her so every
time she had an attack. She couldn’t even close her eyes to
meditate without her body desperately grabbing some
relief in the form of sleep. Yet, her mind interpreted these
attempts at healing as either irrelevant or troublesome. She insisted on leading a “normal life” of high stress that
her system wasn’t equipped to cope with. “This is not the kind of disease you can ﬁght,” I said,
“because there’s no one on the other side but you. ” I
explained that the same neuropeptides that registered
stress in her brain were produced in her intestines. When
she felt fear, frustration, and worry, the identical emotions
were being experienced in her abdomen. I told her that in my opinion she didn’t need any new
mental techn ique—she needed to let her body do what it
wanted to do, which was to get well. The best way to
cooperate with that was to give her body the rest it was
demanding, continue to meditate, change her diet, and
realize that no rewards from her job could possibly
outweigh the danger she had put herself in. Nature was
trying to tell her something very important, and once she
paid attention, her problems would correct themselves. “In a case like yours,” I said, “you already have the best
medicine you could possibly hope for—it’s your own
attention. Right now, the quality of that attention is fearful
and tense, which is why you aren’t getting better. But as
soon as your awareness becomes settled and loses its fear,
your body will recover—it’s up to you. ”
She listened to me with interest, but I sensed that she
resented hearing these things. The mistake of the