 Our feelings come from our attitudes, beliefs, our
way of being with them, and the way we view ourself
in the world, thus giving variety to the emotions. However, in a state of overwhelm, the problem is the
handling of just the emotional energy itself.We do not
really even have to handle the emotions, just the energy
of the emotions. "Yes;' one says, "but what about the
events out there? What am I going to do now with no
money? What am I going to do with no husband?" and
so on. Surprisingly, the events are very eaSy to handle. There is no acute catastrophe. The events themselves
are really just handled in a mechanical way once the
feelings are set aside. There may be some reluctance, resentment, or
regret,buttheseareminorthings.The handling ofthe
actual issues within the phenomenal world, within
one's daily life, is, in contrast, much easier. They are
not the real problems.The thought that they are is just
coming out of the energy field of negative emotions
where they seem catastrophic, hopeless, unbearable,
and insurmountable. Once a person comes out on the
other side of it, life adjusts itself. Something else
comes in to fill the vacuum, and life goes right on. Those issues were simple to solve once the emotions
were out of the way. 236 HEALING AND RECOVERY
Life presents the solutions to all problems. Necessity is the mother of invention, so whatever
dilemma appears in one's life will resolve itself, and the
energy of life resumes. Life goes right on no matter
how major the catastrophe seems at the moment. Therefore, the problem is not handling the event 'out
there' or the circumstances of life because they will
handle themselves. Usually relatives or close friends
will handle a situation for the person who is impaired
by the overwhelm. The problem is handling the ener
gies that arise. When one of these major negative energy fields
starts to unleash itself, it tends to drag the rest with it. Rarely does one experience just grief alone. Guilt is
almost always associated with it in blaming oneself. It
may take the form of questions, such as, Why didn't I
look as I went around the turn? Why didn't I put chains
on? Why didn't I take her to the doctor sooner? Maybe
we could have cured her cancer.Why did I bet on that
horse? There is a sort of retrospective self-recrimina
tion. There are also apathy and hopelessness-life is
hopeless; life seems hopeless. It looks like we will
never be happy again. It is like the source of happiness
has left one's life. Of course, the grief is natural to the
loss, and then there are the fears that arise-how will I
live without whatever it is that I have lost? The constant, incessant desire drives us crazy to try
to change it.What can we do? There is the bargaining,
the trying to manipulate, the arguing with God, and the
making bargains with God:"Oh God, ifyou will only let
so-and-so live, I'll do this and that. "Then there are the
anger, the rage at life and the nature of life, and the HANDLING MAJOR CRISES 237
anger that is displaced onto the people of life-it is
somebody's fault. All these negative energies usually
unleash all at once, and from moment to moment, one
or another may be dominant. At the same time, the
mind is thrashing around wildly, trying to come up
with explanations, trying to figure it out, and it is
swamped by the overflow of energy. The problem is
that the energy is just too much for the mind to
process. It goes into disorganization, into adrenaline
and stress-hormone biologic overwhelm, and that
acute stress throws a person into a state of acute emer
gency within consciousness itself. The problems are not handled on the level at which
they seem to be occurring but on the next higher energy
level. Higher energy means greater power.When dealt
with there, they are handled automatically, which is not
possible on the lower levels.All we have to handle are
the energies of the emotional overwhelm. Does that
seem surprising for a psychiatrist to say? Most people
would expect a psychiatrist to begin talking about the
psychology of the intricate relationship between the
person and the events and what they mean symbolically,
that is, the psychological components. In this instance, we are going to bypass all that and
instead address the energy that the emotions release;
whatever the psychology may be makes no difference. There is a massive release of the negative emotions,
and it is appropriate to deal with the energy of those
emotions.A very effective technique to use is to ignore
the thoughts because the·mind will never figure them
out for it does not have the capacity to do so. It is in a
state of massive overwhelm. The issues are extraordi238 HEALING AND RECOVERY
narily complex, and it would take a lifetime to unravel
them if a person really wanted to know the full signifi
cance of each and every contribution from every level
of one's psychological self to the total meaning of the
experiences. It is not necessary to do that, and it is a
very good thing to not do it. A person only has to go
into the feeling itself. Notice ftrst that the feeling is being felt in a gener
al way, and that there is an energy below it. It is as
though consciousness works this way, as though there
is a diffuse body of energy that really has no name. One
might call it the energy of emotionalism, the energy
behind feelingness. Given a moment of time, this
diffuse, unnamed energy begins to take the form of, for
example, grief, anger, rage, indignation, self-pity, or
jealousy. This emotional fteld at frrst was diffuse and
formless but now resembles the form ofgrief, but there
is also some fear and anger in it. It is the energy of
emotionality in general. When given a split second longer, it will take a
greater form of a speciftc fear, for example. "How will I
live now without money or something?" The fear
begins to take form, and then thoughts begin to arise
out of the speciftc emotion of fear. It is like a sequence
of events and an ocean of suppressed energy. We are going to learn how to decompress that. If
one can disconnect the fuse and pull the plug, then
one is disconnected from the whole experience and
left with an inner s~ate of peace. It will be helpful if one can accept the fact that one
does not have to do anything about external events or
even ftgure them out. A person cannot make any HANDLING MAJOR CRISES 239
progress by looking at the thoughts because they are
endless. One is not going to make much headway in
handling the problem by looking at the specific emo
tion, but there will be a very profound effect if one
allows oneself to focus on the energy below the upset. As one catches the experience earlier and earlier, one
will notice that the energy is diffuse and almost name
less. It is like a container of pressurized gas that is
seeking release. Its energy has been accumulating for
a lifetime, and now it has a way out. The event that
has happened in life has opened the sluices, the
gates, the doorway, and now this container of com
pressed, suppressed. emotional energy is using this
opportunity to escape. Once the barn door is open, all
the animals run out. How can one get out of the way of the running
animals? One cannot; however, the experience can be
cut through qUickly by accepting the fact that one
cannot escape it.To try to escape will only prolong it. The mind will try to figure out ways to escape the
emotional energy as though that will reduce the pain;
however, the pain actually comes from resisting the
experience.To handle this, one just sits down and lets
go of resisting it, choosing instead to be with it. The
faster one opens it up, the faster the energy is let out,
and the quicker the experience will be over. The
whole thing can be released instead of allowing it to
drag out endlessly, agonizingly, through hours, days,
weeks, months, years, or even a whole lifetime. Remember we said that when someone has an
acute injury, such as a burn on their hand, if they will
stop everything and use this same method ofletting go HEALING AND RECOVERY 240
of resisting by just opening the door and welcoming it
and saying,"In fact, I want more of it," more of the ener
gy of that experience, and if they will ignore what goes
on in mind-ignore the thoughts but allow the experi
ence of the energy field-the mind will say, "Well, I'm
experiencing grief. "That is a label, so we will say that
all thoughts are labels and have no reality-in reality,
none of these things exist. Ifa loved one dies, the mind
automatically says "grief;' which is a label. Because the
mind has power over emotions and the capacity to
give them form, the belief that to lose someone causes
grief gives


 age”
Half of the modern drugs could well be thrown
out of the window, except that the birds might eat them. - Dr. M.H.Fischer, M.D. “A Pill for Every Ill” sums up the extreme reliance on drugs that has become an integral
part of today’s lifestyle. One only has to turn on the TV or the radio to hear an endless recitation
of the latest drugs being promoted to overcome every kind of human ill. Also invariably there
is a rapidly recited and de-emphasized list of the many harmful side effects of each one. This
denial of risks is not always successful: witness the scandal that broke in late 2005 around the
drug giant Merck & Co., in connection with their arthritis drug VIOXX. At first Merck publicly
admitted that worldwide some 16,000 people had died in the two or three preceding years of the
drug’s side effects, and withdrew VIOXX from the market. Remarkably enough, Merck & Co.
had for some years published the life-threatening side effects and warnings concerning this drug
in the Physicians’ Desk Reference book (PDR). As the enquiries widened, Merck eventually had
to admit that some 55,000 people had died of the side effects of a drug they had taken to ease
the pain of arthritis. But the truly scandalous fact is that the Food & Drug Administration (FDA)
allowed the killer drug back on the market, claiming that its benefi ts exceeded its risks. Another overused drug increasingly in the public eye is Ritalin, routinely prescribed to
children suffering from so-called Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). The PDR,
which lists and describes all drugs on the market for use by physicians, specifies that it should not
be used by children under the age of six years, and lists the following side effects: suppression of
growth, loss of appetite, abdominal pain, weight loss, insomnia and visual disturbances. (It does
not mention the many documented cases of suicide and unprovoked killings by youngsters on
Ritalin.) Despite the warning, children as young as 2 and 4 years old are known to have been put
on the drug, which is also highly addictive, causing severe withdrawal symptoms. Psychiatrist Dr.
Peter R. Breggin, Director of the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology,
published a book, Talking Back to Ritalin,4  in which he lists the many scientific studies that
have been ignored by the advocates of Ritalin. He writes:” Ritalin does not correct biochemical
imbalances—it causes them. There is some evidence that it can cause permanent damage to the
child’s brain and its function.” Copyright © Charlotte Gerson, 2007. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any medium, print or electronic without prior written permission from the author.Page 3 5Healing the Gerson Way—Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases
www.thegersonway.com It is not hard to imagine what it does to its entire developing organism and still immature
natural defenses. At the time of writing over 2 million American children are on Ritalin. What
will their state of health be like in, say, fifteen years’ time? (see ‘Hyperactivity’  in Chapter 6). Looking at the overuse of drugs in general, the real trouble is that they only suppress symptoms
and allow people to carry on with their daily routines, at least for a while. However, they never
heal nor clear the underlying cause of the pain or malfunction. And so the problem continues and
gets worse, but being masked by the drug it becomes harder to diagnose. Since the body is an
indivisible whole, the drug’s toxicity affects not just the liver—the heart, the lungs, the kidneys
and the digestive system also suffer, and the body’s defenses weaken accordingly. Because virtually all medical drugs are toxic, Gerson patients are advised to keep clear of
them. However, antibiotics are an exception. While their overuse in general medical practice
has weakened people’s immune system and strengthened  bacteria by making them resistant,
occasionally they need to be used by Gerson patients. We must remember that a cancer patient
has a seriously weakened immune system, otherwise he or she wouldn’ t have cancer! Since the immune system cannot be restored to normal in a few weeks or even months (it
may take 9-12 months), in case of an acute infection antibiotics are required. For dental work the
dentist’s recommendation should be followed. Antibiotics are also used to help fight colds and
cases of flu. Of course antibiotics don’t kill viruses; however, they help to control infections, the
opportunistic  infectious agents that set in due to the body’s weakened condition. The least toxic
antibiotics are used when dealing with colds, namely Penicillin, unless the patient is allergic to
it. Otherwise the appropriate antibiotic has to be used for a particular infection. In all cases the
effectiveness of the antibiotic can be vastly strengthened, without increasing the dosage, by taking
it together with one aspirin, one 500 mg tablet of Vitamin C and 50 mg of niacin. Once we understand the severe all-over damage caused by the overuse of drugs, it becomes
clear why the so-called ‘recreational’ drugs are such a menace. Used by young—and not so
young—people as casually as if they were candy, these drugs can eventually lead to addiction that
destroys lives. On top of all the other harmful components of the modern lifestyle, these drugs,
taken for fun, can be the last straw that breaks the body’s defenses. Food Additives
 One way of healthy eating goes under the name of the Stone Age Diet, which says: “Eat only
foods from which nothing has been removed, to which nothing has been added, and which would
go bad if you didn’t eat it immediately.” You would have a hard time if you tried to find such
foods in any supermarket on earth. What those temples of the food industry sell—unless they
have a range of organic produce—is the exact opposite of the above rule. The ubiquitous use of food additives, whose number is at present around 10,000, serves the Copyright © Charlotte Gerson, 2007. All rights reserved. This material may not be reproduced in any medium, print or electronic without prior written permission from the author.Page 3 6Healing the Gerson Way—Defeating Cancer and Other Chronic Diseases
www.thegersonway.comsole purpose of making industrially produced foods look better, taste good despite containing
inferior raw materials, have a longer shelf life, and thus be more profitable. Food chemistry is so
highly developed that it can mimic almost any natural flavor or scent. What it cannot do is to fool
the human organism into responding to these fakes as if they were the genuine article, and only
delivers chemicals of varying toxicity instead of essential nutrients. The most widely used additives include sodium nitrite, saccharin, caffeine, olestra (a
fat substitute), artificial colorings and flavorings, antioxidants, emulsifiers, flavor enhancers,
thickening agents, aspartame, transfats and monosodium glutamate—plus unhealthy amounts of
sugar, salt and fat. They can cause a multitude of allergic reactions, such as fatigue, behavioral
problems, mood swings, and after long-term use may even lead to heart disease and cancer. Aspartame
Aspartame, old as NutraSweet, Spoonful, Neotame and Canderel deserves special scrutiny,
because it is present in over 5000 food items including fizzy drinks, jam, breakfast cereals,
vitamins, diet and diabetic food, and much else. It contains no calories and is therefore attractive
to weight-conscious people with a sweet tooth. After its discovery in the U.S., having first been
sold as an ant poison, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) refused to license it for eight
years, considering it unsafe for human consumption. However, after years of lobbying by the
manufacturers, in the early Eighties, despite the misgivings of scientists, aspartame was officially
sanctioned as a food additive. Aspartame contains some 6 chemical substances, including methanol (wood alcohol), a
cumulative poison, which converts into formaldehyde, a known carcinogen; DKP, which in
animal experiments has produced brain tumors, and phenylalanine, which can produce severe
neurological problems. As for its claim to help people control their weight, the epidemic of
overweight and obesity al over the U.S., the U.K. and elsewhere contradicts that claim. More alarmingly, reactions among large-scale consumers of aspartame in, for instance,
diet coke, can mimic conditions such as multiple sclerosis, depression, diabetes, lymphoma,
arthritis, Alzheimer’s, panic attacks, epilepsy/seizures, Parkinson’s and hypothyroidism. Diabetes
specialist Dr. H. J. Roberts, M.D., of The Palm Beach Institute for Medical Research, has coined
the phrase “Aspartame disease” to cover the many pathological conditions among his patients. Nearly two-thirds of his patients improved as soon as they excluded aspartame from their diet. MSG (Monosodium glutamate)
This flavor enhancer, which is tasteless by itself, was developed by a Japanese food chemist
in 1907. In its original form it was a salt derivative of a natural amino acid called glutamate,
a common substance found in every plant and animal species. Eventually, turned into MSG, Copyright © Charlotte Gerson, 2007. All rights reserved.


 of
hydrogen ions in the solution. Acids give protons to a substance creating a
“bonding” effect, as in bone or stone formation. Alkalies, or what we call “bases” in chemistry, are negatively charged and are
attracted to protons. Alkalies neutralize acids
. An example of this would be
the toxic acids created from digestion (e.g., sulfuric acid and phosphoric
acids), which are converted to non-toxic salts when combined with alkalineelectrolytes. These non-toxic salts are then passed from the body through the
kidneys. This neutralizing effect is vital because of the highly toxic and
damaging effects these acids have upon the tissues of your body. The pH balance—
the balance of alkalies to acids
—within the body is vital,
and should be approximately 80 percent alkaline to 20 percent acidic. If we
become too acidic from diet and lifestyle, we create too much of an anionic
condition in the body, causing stone formation and inflammation. To reverse
this is to alkalize, which is cationic and anti-inflammatory. This will break
apart and liquefy calcium deposits, cellulite and lipid stones. These deposits
can form or accumulate anywhere in the body, especially in the liver,
gallbladder and kidneys. This alkalization and neutralization of acids requires
the alkaline electrolytes. If you’re not eating a diet rich in raw fruits and
vegetables, you’re not getting enough of these vital electrolytes
. This
compounds the over-acid condition within the body and creates dehydration. acids and alkalies
Acids burn and inflame tissues causing tissue failure. Alkalies are cool and are anti-inflammatory to tissues. Acids can destroy tissues (cells). Alkalies can heal tissues. In an acid medium, nutrients become anionic (coagulate). In an alkaline medium, nutrients become cationic (disperse). Acidosis creates bonding of fats, minerals, and other constituents creating
stones of all types, including liver, gallbladder and kidney stones. It also
creates the adhesion of blood cells and platelets. All this causes cellular
starvation (through lack of nutrient utilization), strokes, and the like. Acidosis and congestion (toxicity and mucus) is the root cause of 99.9%
of all diseases. Some foods (carbohydrates) require alkaline digestive juices to be broken
down; others (protein) require gastric acid juices. ABOUT CATALYSTS

Nothing truly stands still. Creation is always in a state of flux. Atoms are
always moving and
changing. The question that should be asked is: “What
makes things change?” First we could say our emotions, our desires, our likesand dislikes, even the primal need or desire of God to create. You could call
this the original seed or desire of creation. Secondly, you could say the mind, except the mind itself uses the past
and present to create the future. One must think of something before he can
experience or create it in this physical world. It is obvious that these two
“bodies” (mind and emotions) of yours are the main creators of your
experience. Without thought and emotions your physical body wouldn’t
know where to go or what to do. But what about the physical body? What occurs at the physical level to
move, react, respond, grow, expand or decay something? The term we use in
chemistry is “catalyst.” A catalyst is a vehicle, a transporter and an igniter. This is an element that changes elements, compounds or complexes into other
elements, compounds or complexes. You could say that parasites are a
catalyst as they take dying cells, putrid matter, and break these down into
basic elements or compounds. Again, other elemental catalysts include
enzymes (digestive, systemic, etc. ), vitamins, minerals, oxygen and
hydrogen, to name a few. Let’s look at hydrogen, which is simply one proton at the nucleus and
one orbiting electron. If this hydrogen atom comes into contact with another
atom that pulls its electron away, the result is a hydrogen atom without an
electron, which is now called a hydrogen ion. This creates more magnetic
potential (or activity), which creates an acid. An acid would give you a sour
taste in your mouth. Compounds that combine with protons are called alkalies
(or bases) and are, of course,
alkaline
. These atoms have an extra electron. An alkali is sweet tasting. One could say that protons influence acids, and
electrons influence alkalies. The result of this process of tearing down and coming together
(oxidation and ionization) should result in homeostasis—balance within the
system. Homeostasis is achieved when the body is more alkaline than
acid
. When this balance (or homeostasis) is upset, from toxicity and
predominately acid food eating (acidosis), tissues (organs, glands, etc.) fail to
do their jobs properly. Thus, disease is the result. OXIDATION AND IONIZATION

Knowing about oxidation and ionization will help you to further understandthe alkaline (cationic) and acid (anionic) processes in the body. Alkalization
is the key to tissue regeneration
, so understanding these processes is
essential for you in the achievement of vibrant health. Oxidation and ionization are just two of the ways that encourage the
breaking down and the building up, or changing, of matter from one form
into another. Your bones are a great example of this as they are always being
broken down and rebuilt to some degree. “Breakdown” and “buildup” keep
life ever renewing itself, allowing for creation to eternally expand. Oxidation is the process whereby elements combine with oxygen. In this
combining, electrons get kicked out of the orbit of an atom’s nucleus, and
this increases the positive or proton valence. Oxidation can be either
beneficial to the body, assisting alkalization, or it can create free radicals,
causing destruction to cells. This is most evident in acidosis where
inflammation is present. A Superoxide radical is formed when oxygen
compounds have not been completely broken down or utilized properly
because of the inflammatory (acidosis) condition. This causes further cellular
damage or destruction. These oxygen compounds are less likely to be broken down properly
when we are low on antioxidants or our immune system is underactive
(hypoactive). When this breakdown and utilization of oxygen compounds is
poorly functioning, free radicals are created, and without proper ionization or
neutralization these free radicals join
in creating more tissue damage. This is
why there is so much current interest in antioxidants—like vitamin E, vitamin
C, beta-carotene, pycnogenol, COQ10—and why they are such a hot
commodity in the health market today. Antioxidants are attracted to free
radicals —bond with them and neutralize their damaging effects. Oxidation leads to ionization, or the transmutation of elements or
compounds into simple ions. Water is one of the greatest catalysts for
oxidation. You see this in action when water combines with metals to create
rust. In our blood serum this oxidation creates electrolytes, which are
conductors of energy. Ionization creates both positive and negative ions. Ions are your catalysts,
like enzymes, which create action and reaction, or building and destroying. Positive ions are sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium, which are
called cations. Negative ions include chloride, sulfates, phosphates and
carbonates, and are called anions. It can become confusing, understanding
how calcium, as we discussed earlier, can be alkaline at first, then charged orionized and become acidic. However, nature must take an element and
dispense it through the body, then make it useable. Calcium must first be
dispersible in blood serum. Then it has to combine with other elements and
become a building material. Too much ionized calcium will cause stone
formation, bone spurs, and the like. Excessive ionized calcium must be
converted back by alkalization/oxidation to its original electrolyte form, or be
converted into a salt for easy elimination. ANABOLISM AND CATABOLISM

The body uses what you eat to create new tissue, or to break down (or
change) existing tissue. You can begin to see through ingestion and digestion
that the body takes more complex compounds and elements, and breaks them
down into their simplest forms. Cells have very small pores that only allow
simple structures to enter. Simple constituents become the catalysts of life,
creating action and reaction throughout your body and the universe. This is
true biological transmutation, or God changing itself, creating the new and
destroying the old. Alkalies create
anabolism
—the building, rebuilding, growing and creating
aspects of life. (This cannot take place without catabolism). Acids create
catabolism
—the tearing down, breaking apart, and the
destroying aspects of nature. (This cannot take place without anabolism). Alkalinity disperses, moves and cleans the body; whereas acids
coagulate, form masses and stagnate the body
. As stated earlier,
alkalization is the key to regeneration. The more anionic you become, the
more acidic you become, causing acidosis. Acidosis causes malnutrition,
inflammation, stone formation, pain, electrolyte depletion (dehydration),
swelling, conv


,
sagapenum, castor oil and the like. Equally strong
measures are abstaining from food entirely and the
avoidance of drinking and the enduring of thirst. There
are already many prepared medications for various
conditions like the theriac, Th eodoric and Mithridatic and
their like. All these medicaments are powerful and one
should prepare them only upon the advice of a physician
who excels in theory and pract ice. From these things, if
they have a beneficial influence in their place, the patient
will recuperate immediately or a short while afterward or
will, at least, be saved from death. But if they fail, they
will cause immediate death or  an illness that will
ultimately cause the patient's death. And therefore it is
proper to exercise care. THE LIGHT PROCEDURES
The light medical procedures  are: the removal of blood
through cupping and scarification on the thighs or on the
upper part of the body, a purge with manna, pears, plums,
cherries, violets and syrup of roses in a cold state. Emetics such as barley water, oxymel, horse-radish,
atriplex littoralis seeds or melon roots and others. Also
light enemas, like those of ba rley water, coarse bran
water, honey water or oil and their like. Also  light  food,  such  as  nourishing  fluids mixed
with sugar, bee honey, barley soup, toasted rusk, soaked
twice, or thin biscuits as  prepared for sick people. We can also include here su ch medication as is also
taken in good health, like th e drinks used by healthy
people—oxymel, rose and lemon water, violets and the
like—and the syrups that are of equal quality, such as
rose sugar, violet sugar and myrobalan jam. THE COMPOUND DRUGS
In the same fashion we must take the fluids
compounded out of light and reliable drugs, such as
licorice, coriander, oxtongue, endive seed, eryngo leaves,
panicaut, asparagus root, rind of lettuce root, fennel root, celery, cucumber seed, portulaca, portulaca oleracea,
sugar melon, althea wood and seed and their like. And
other drinks that are compounded from the fruit, seeds
and flowers that healthy pe ople take, and the tamarind
drink. All these medicaments are light. When they reach
the proper place they will re store the health of the
debilitated patient and will cure the stronger one for a
long time. Even if they miss their aim, they will cause no
death or severe injury. Most  of the physicians rely on
such a system, avoiding doubt in search for perfection. PURGATIVES
The purgatives such as hiera picra, agaricon and
operculina turpethum and their like, such as cassia fistula,
are of medium quality, not t oo strong and not too weak. Cassia fistula, though it frequently causes tenesmus, has a
sure effect. Agaric is al so a sure purgative, but
occasionally it hurts with its sharpness and its
dehydration, when we have to remove fluids from the
entire body or from one orga n. Equally injurious to men
with a warm constitution may be hiera picra and triphylla. They often produce too extensive a reaction. When we warned against indiscriminate medication
with the theriac Mithridatic even when advised by an experienced physician, we had in mind the sick only. As
to those of good health, it ha s already been mentioned as
a good health rule to take the theriac every ten days. NOTHING ABSOLUTE IN MEDICINE
The physicians have already mentioned that there is
nothing absolute in medicine and that everything depends
on specific conditions, as when they advise one to take
the theriac every ten days for the health's sake. It is not proper for one who has a warm constitution to
take [the theriac] or to take it in the summer or in a period
of great heat or when the stomach has any trace of a bad
moisture. EMETICS
And when it is said that to vomit once or twice a
month is good for the health, this is so provided a man
has no weakness in his chest or fullness or pain in his
head. Vomiting is of no help when it is very cold. And
every time it is allowed, it is under the conditions we
have mentioned. We have advised employing light medications and we
mentioned some of the appe rtaining regulations. If one cannot find a very experienced physician, he may turn to
any physician he can find, if  there is no alternative. Sometimes even a small amount of a medication will be
injurious if the physician errs  and applies it to the wrong
place. GALEN : WATER IS AMBIVALENT
Galen has already explained to us that sometimes he
tells a patient to drink wate r until saturation, in order to
cause perspiration, soft stools, absence of fever and
perfect health. And sometimes if one is allowed to drink
water when it is improper for him, it can cause the
patient's death or a chronic disease from which he can
never be cured. And the conditions in which the drinking
of water is allowed or prohibited have already been
explained. And as with drinking water, [one must be careful one
understands] how careful we have  to be in drinking other
fluids. When it is time to drink and we do not know
whether to permit the drinking of water or not, one may
take the normal amount to which he is accustomed. In the
same manner if we are not certain whether to give a
patient food or prevent him from taking it, we should give
him a small amount of it. When one cannot reach a very intelligent physician,
one should follow the habits he is accustomed to when he
is well, but take only a little of  what he usually takes. One
must be careful always to pr eserve the strength of the
patient while he is taking nour ishment. It is advisable to
take light nourishment, if he is allowed to take any, such
as chicken soup, meat broth, th e yolk of a soft-boiled egg
and wine, or even a little heavier food, such as chicken
meat. One must never forget to strengthen the physical
powers with food and the em otional powers through the
aroma of warm fragrant i ngredients, such as musk,
amber, basilicon, and lignaloes for illnesses accompanied
by a feeling of cold, and by co ld ingredients, like those
prepared from roses, nilufa r, myrtle and violets, in
illnesses accompanied by warmth. THE ROLE OF MUSIC
And in order to strengthen the vital powers, one should
employ musical instruments a nd tell patients gay stories
which make the heart swell and narratives that will
distract the mind and cause them and their friends to
laugh. One should select as attendants and caretakers
those who can cheer up the patient. This is a must in every illness. In the absence of a physician one must
figure it out himself. The physicians have advised every physician that if he
can manage to control the illness with diet alone, he
should not employ medicaments, and if he cannot
accomplish this without medical healing, he should
employ ordinary medical means, such as a medical
regimen and therapeutic foods. If this medical regimen
does not help, one can try light medication: if it helps, it
is good and if it does not help the patient, one may
undertake stronger and stronger measures. COMPOUND DRUGS
If one can manage well with one individual drug, one
should not use a compound one; or one should use a
medication which is compounded of the fewest possible
ingredients. One should use medications compounded of
multiple ingredients only when  compelled to do so. All
these provisions are made when one is regulated by a
good physician and this is even  more the case when there
is no physician at all. One should be careful not to
employ strong medications or many medicinal
ingredients. It is best to be  satisfied with ordinary and mild care. This is the amount we found proper to write on
this topic. CHAPTER III

The Care of My Lord in Particular, According to
the Condition He Complains of

It has been the consensus of medical opinion that the
foundation of health is that th e excrements should be soft
and if they are hard one should make them soft. Their
retention produces very bad fu mes that enter the heart and
the brain and cause dehydrati on and confusion of the vital
spirits. They produce bad t houghts, apprehensiveness and
exhaustion and prevent the e limination of superfluities
from digested materials. A special effort is needed to
soften the stool. IBN ZUHR ON LAXATIVES
Ibn Zuhr, let God remember him for good, said: The
best way to soften the stool is by taking a fluid of rhubarb
and tamarind. Your insignificant servant was told of my
lord's disposition, that it is  good for him to soften his
stool with amaranth prepared in a fat chicken with saff


expected way -to the ideas of God and of eternal life. There are reasons for supposing that a revolution of
this kincl was thc original source of sorne of the main
religious ideas, standing in rclacion to them as real -
ity to symbol and cause to effect. The common error
of ordinary religious practice is to mistake che sym -
bol for the reality, to look at the finger pointing the
way ancl thcn to suck it for comfort rather than fol -
low it. Religious ideas are likc wor<ls -of little use,
and oftcn  misleading,  unless  you know  the concrete
-realities  to which  they  refer. The  word  '\vater"  is a
useful means oE communication amongst those who
know water. The same is true of che word and the
idea  called  "Gocl. " I do not, at this point, wish to seem mysterious or
LO be making claims to "secrct knowlcdge. " The real-
ity which corresponds to "God" and "eternal life" is
honest, above -boarcl, plain, and open for all to see. But the seeing requires a correction of mind, just as
clear vision sometimes requires a conection of the
eyes. THE  WISDOJ \. OF INSECURITY
The  discovery  of this reality  is hindered  rather
lhan hclped  by belief,  whether one  believes  in
God  or believcs  in atheism. We must  here  make
a clear  distincLion  between  belief  and faith,  beca
use, in gen- eral  practice,  belief  has come  to mean
a state  of mind  which  is almost che opposite of
faith. Belief, as I use che word  here,  is the
insistence  that  the truth  is what  one would  "lief"
or wish  it to be. The believer  will open  his mind
to the truth  on condition  that  it fits in with  his
preconceived  ideas and wishes. Faith, on  the other
hand,  is an  unrcserved  opening  of the mind  to the
truth,  whatever  it may  turn out  to be. Faith  has
no preconceptions;  it is a plunge  imo the un-
known. Belief clings,  but faith  lets go. In this
sense  of the  word,  faith  is the essential  virtue  of
science,  and likewise  of any religion  that  is not self-
deception. Most of us believe in order to fcel secure, in
order  to make our individual lives seem valuable
and mean - ingf ul. Bclief  has thus  become  an
attempt  to hang  on to lifc, to grasp and keep it for
one's own. But you  cannot understand life and  its
mysteries as long as  you try to grasp it. Indeed,
you cannot grasp it, just  as you cannot,valk off
with a river  in a bucket. If you try to capture
running water in a bucket, it is clcar that you do
not understand it and that you will  always be
disappoimed, for in the bucket che waler  does not
run. To "have" running,valer you must let go of it
and let it run. The same is true of life and of God. THE  AGE  OF ANX. ETY
The present phase of human  thought and
history  is especially  ripe  for this "letting  go. " Our
minds  have been prepared for it by this very
collapse of the  bcliefs  in which  we have  sought
security. From  a point  of view  strictly,  if
strangely,  in accord  with  certain  religious
traditions,  this disappearance  of the old rocks
and absol utes is no calamity, bue rather  a
blessing. It almost compels us to face reality with
open minds, and you can only know God through
an open mind justas you can only see the sky
through a  clear window. You will not sec the sky if
you have  covered  che glass  with  blue  paint. But "religious"  people  who  resise  the scraping
of
the paint from  the glass,  who regard the scientific
attitude  with  fear  and mistrust,  and confuse  faith
with clinging to certain ideas, are curiously
ignorant  of laws of the spiritual life which they
might find in  their  own  tradicional  records. A
careful  study  of comparative  religion  and spiritual
philosophy  re- veals  thac  abandonment  of belief,
of any clinging  to a future  life far one's  own,  and
of any attempt  to escape from finitude and
mortality, is a regular and  normal stage in the way
of thc spirit. Indced, this is actually such a "first
principie''  of che spiricual  life that it should have
been obvious from the beginning,  and ic seems,
after ali, surprising that lcarncd theo - logians
should adopt anything but a cooperative at - titude
towards  the critical  philosophy  of science. Surely  it is old news  that  salvation  comes  only
25 TIIE  WISDOM  OF INSECURITY
through the death of the human form of God. Bm
it was not, perhaps, so easy to see that God's
human  form  is not sim pi y the historie  Ch rist, bu t
also the images, ideas, and beliefs in the Absolute
to which  man clings in his mind. Hcrc is the full
sense o( the  commandment, "Thou shalt not
make to thyself any  graven image, nor the
likencss of anything that is in  heaven above;. tl10u shalt not bow clown to them,  nor worship
them. " To discovcr Lhe ultimate Realily of life -the
Ab- solute,  thc eternal,  God -you 1 1 1 1 1 s t  ccase  LO L r y
lo grnsp it in the forms o( idols. Thesc idols are
not just crude images, such as the mental picwre
of Cod as an old gentleman on a golclen throne. They are our beliefs, our cherished
preconceptions of the truth,  which block the
unreserved opening of mind and  heart to
reality. The legitimale use o[ images is to
express  tite Lruth,  not to posscss  it. This  was  alw:iys  recognized  in the greal
Oriental
traditions such as Buddhism, Vedanta, and
Taoism. The principie has not been unknown to
Christians,  for it was  implicit  in the whole  story
and teaching  of Christ. His life was from the
bcginning a complete  acceptance ancl cmbracing
of insccurity. ''The foxes  have holcs, and thc
birds of thc air havc ncsts, but the Son of l\fan
hath  not where  to lay his hcad. " The principie is yet more to che point if Christ
is regarded as divine in che most onhodox sense -
as the unique  and spccial  incarnaLion  of God. For
the basic
2G THE  ACE  OF ANXIETY
theme of the Christ -story is that this "cxpress image"
of God becomes the source of life in the very act of
being dcstroyed. To che disciples who tried to cling
tO his divinity in  the form of his human  individu -
ality he cxplained,  "Unlcss a grain of corn  fall iuto
the ground and die, it remains alonc. l3ut iE it dies, it
brings forth much fruir. " In rhe same vein he warned
them,  "It is expedient  for you  that  I go away,  for if
I go not away thc Paraclete (the Holy Spirit) cannot
come  unto  you. " These  words  are more  than  ever  applicable  to
Christians, ancl spcak exactly to thc wholc condition
of our times. For we have never actually understood
the revolutionary sense beneath them -the incredible
truth  that whac rcligion calls  the vision  of God  is
found in giving up any belief in thc idea of God. By
thc samc law of rcvcrscd e[ort, wc discover thc "in -
finitc" and the "absolutc," not by straining to escape
from the finitc and relativc worlcl, but by the most
complete acccpcancc o( its limitations. Paradox as il
may  seem,  we likewise  find  lifc meaningful  only
when we have sccn chat it is without purpose, and


 en’t tempting
here; only oﬀ-brand sof t drinks and stale-looking nuts and
chocolates that had melted in the heat. Both her grandpar ents fell asleep, their heads leaning
inwar d, towar d Lupe who had also closed her eyes. She was
softly chanting: “ I love myself; ther efore, I live totally in the
now, e xperiencing each moment as good and knowing that
my futur e is bright, joyous, and secur e.”When a nurse called out their name, both grandpar ents
woke with a start. They all stood and ﬁled into the oﬃce,
wher e their infor mation was enter ed into the computer. Lupe felt as if they wer e stuck in a pr ocess that they’d
repeated hundr eds of times. What was the sense of
computers if every time you had to pr ovide the same
material? But her grandpar ents showed no sign of being
angry. Her grandmother got out a small notebook fr om her
purse and r eported all the data ask ed of her in a pleasant
voice. L upe admir ed her fortitude and level mood; if she
ever got sad or scar ed, she didn’t show it. Poppy was mor e emotional. She had once seen him gr ow
so angry that he br ought his big ﬁst down on the dining-
room table, splitting one of the boar ds. But he never acted
this way in public. His hair was even grayer lately, and much
of it had fallen out at some point she hadn’t noticed. “Do all thr ee of you need to be in her e?” the nurse ask ed
roughly when it was time to enter the doctor’s oﬃce. “Yes,” said L upe’s grandmother. “All of us.”
OceanofPDF.comCHAPTER 8
A crowd of par ents and grandpar ents wer e taking their
seats in the school auditorium. L upe’s grandmother sat in
the fr ont row, wearing a hat and a brightly ﬂower ed dr ess. A
long pr ocession of girls walk ed onstage, one a r eplica of the
other—long pale hair with bangs and dark dr esses with
white collars. Mrs. Saldana clapped loudly when L upe
enter ed the stage, trailing in at the end. She was smiling,
but clearly out of place. Her long hair had partly escaped fr om its elastic and was
curling ar ound her face, and her dr ess was cut fr om the
same bright fabric as her grandmother’s. Lupe tried to stand in tight for mation with the other
singers, but following Brie’s lead, they managed to inch
away fr om her, leaving a space that was visible fr om the
audience, as if she wer e infectious. Brie’s face was steely
tonight, without the smirk she usually wor e. She seemed to
be sear ching the audience for someone. The conductor, a tall nun in moder n habit, bowed to
applause and raised her ar ms. The girls all tur ned to her
and, at her downbeat, commenced singing “The L ord Is
Mighty.” As the singing continued, L upe’s voice r ose,
distinctive among the sopranos: sweet, clear, light, and
lyrical. A t the end of the song, several of the girls look ed
over at her in disdain, but L upe was oblivious. There was a small commotion in the back as the second
song began. A man dr essed all in black with a slouched hatwas helped into a back seat. Appar ently, he was blind. During the ne xt two songs, Jonathan gradually sat up
straighter as he hear d Lupe’s voice above all the others. Her
voice had a high bell-lik e ring to it, and Jonathan listened
carefully. When the singing ended, the conductor perfor med the
“zipper movement,” and L upe smiled. Ther e was a small
commotion in the back—the man in black in the back r ow
had now vanished. As Lupe walk ed into the apartment the ne xt afternoon,
Jonathan was wrapping up a phone call. He sounded
exasperated. “ Okay, all right! I agr ee!”
He hung up the phone and put his head in his hands. “What’s wr ong?” L upe ask ed. “My mother’s going to be in town this week en r oute to
Hawaii. She insists on coming to visit.”
“That’s good, isn’t it?”
“No, it’s not good. I haven’t seen her for ages. And I
haven’t seen her for a r eason.”
“What’s the r eason?”
“She drives me nuts! That’s the r eason. She’s a little
dynamo of negativity.”
“What about your father?”
“He never travels with her. He’s glad to be lef t alone. I
don’t know if I can tak e it—I r eally don’t. She’s truly an
awful woman. She’s still trying to ﬁx me up with her
girlfriends’ daughters.”
“I’ll help you entertain her.”
Jonathan laughed. “That’ll be good. She’s also a bigot,
did I mention that? She’ll tr eat you lik e the maid.”
“I don’t mind. I am the maid, in a way.”
“You’re not the maid. Y ou’re my...”
“Friend?” L upe said. “Is that har d to say?”“No, it’s not har d. Yes, my friend.”
“What day is she coming?”
Jonathan put his head in his hands again. “Thursday.”
“The bingo club meets at Grandmother’s that day. We’ll
work something out. I’ll help you—”
“The bingo club?”
“All the old people in the neighbor hood,” L upe said as
she walk ed out. On Thursday, Jonathan paced back and forth in fr ont of
his fr ont window. “Lupe, I hear someone—come look.”
Lupe emer ged fr om the kitchen with a tray of snacks. “What’s that?”
“Cheese nachos, the specialty of Grandma.” She look ed
out the window. “It’s a taxi, but it’s not your mother.”
“How do you know? “It’s a woman, but she’s tiny, and she’s wearing some
kind of fur, and it looks lik e she’s ar guing with the driver.”
“Oh, God. It’s her!”
“I don’t see how someone so tall as you could come out
of someone so tiny.”
“Well, don’t ask her. I’m sur e it’s a gory story.”
He tur ned to L upe. “I can’t believe how anxious I feel. This is just my mother!”
“Mothers ar e very str ong inﬂuences.”
“How do you know so much at eleven?”
She shrugged as the bell rang. “I just tur ned twelve.”
“Buzz her in,” Jonathan said in a hopeless voice. Lupe buzzed her in twice, and they stood listening to the
click of high heels as she climbed the stairs. L upe opened
the door, and they stood waiting. Jonathan’s mother, Belle,
stopped at the top, panting dramatically. “No elevator. What a surprise.”As she br eathed, she took in L upe and Jonathan. L upe
could tell by her mottled hands and sunk en neck that Belle
was near her grandmother’s age, but something had been
done to her face so that the skin look ed pulled and polished. “Is this my baby? Is this my blind baby?”
She rushed to Jonathan and wrapped her ar ms ar ound
him, knocking him back into the apartment. She burst into
tears. “ How could this be? How could you lose your sight so
young?”
Jonathan’s face was contorted with feeling. He patted her
shoulder and dislodged her fr om his neck. “It was all a long
time ago, Mother. I’m used to it by now.”
“Well, I’m not! I haven’t been allowed to see you—” Her
tears suddenly tur ned oﬀ as if with a spigot as she eyed
Lupe. “Is this your maid?”
“I told you,” Jonathan said to L upe. “No, this is my friend
Lupe. She’s been a r eal help to me.”
“A child? I hope you’r e not having an inappr opriate
relationship with her.”
“No, Mother. Of course not. Unless dusting my apartment
is inappr opriate to you. Come in and sit down.”
Belle sashayed in, looking ar ound the apartment with
clear distaste. “This is so small!”
“It’s suﬃcient for me. Can I get you anything? L upe
brought some wonderful hors d’oeuvr es.”
Belle sat down gingerly on the sofa. “I’ll have some plain
water, if you can spar e it. I’m watching my weight.”
Jonathan sat acr oss fr om her. “Well, how’ve you been? How’s F ather?”
Belle sniﬀed. “If you wer e really curious, you could have


ratio from the next, depending on such factors as ripeness, soil quality, sh ipping environment, and time since harvest. In addition, any attempt to standardize measures like “one apple” or “one h ead of lettuce” (although we do so in the upcoming
ingredient conversion charts) is subjective at best, given the reg ional variability of produce. Thus, the only way to accurately
compare food quantities is to list ingredients by weight, rather than by t he piece. All weights refer to edible portions only,  so be
sure to remove peels, stems, cores, seeds, and pits before you weigh your food. Remember that each individual’s digestive capacity is differen t, as is their level of exercise. Both of these factors affect our
ability to absorb nutrients efficiently. As you mature in this l ifestyle, your natural digestive “fire” will increase. For these reasons and others, the numbers in these charts are rough appr oximations at best. Use them to steer your diet in a
low-fat direction, but track your numbers in the aggregate, and don’t g et too hung up on the details. Seasonal Availability of Produce
The following table offers an overview of domestic availability for comm on fruits and vegetable fruits. It is a broad, general list,
showing the greatest number of months these foods are commonly obtainable  at market nationwide, regardless of variety or where
they are grown. For example, the papaya, shown to be available all year, includes several v arieties, from Florida, California, Hawaii, Mexico,
and Central America—each of which produces papayas at differe nt times. Modern distribution and storage technologies allow us
access to many of these foods throughout the year (sometimes at great c ost to our pocketbooks, our health, and our natural
resources). In the following table, the dark-gray boxes represent a food’s peak dome stic seasonal distribution. The light-gray boxes
represent the onset and decline of the season. During this time, you may  be able to find these foods domestically grown, but they
tend to come at a higher price and reduced quality. To achieve maximum fre shness, I strongly encourage you to choose locally
grown, organic produce in season whenever possible. If Y ou Don’t Own a Scale…
We have listed the ingredients in the menu plan in terms of ounces an d pounds, in order to provide an accurate caloronutrient
breakdown. If you do not have a scale at home, the charts below can help you measu re out the quantities called for. Eventually you
will become proficient in estimating weights and average caloric c ontent of various foods, a skill that will pay dividends in saved
kitchen time. Summer Menu Plan: Day One

BREAKFAST
Watermelon
4 lbs. watermelon
Directions: Slice melon in half and sit outside and bask in summer’s  glory while you spoon this delightful fruit! LUNCH
Peachy Keen
1 lb. bananas
1 lb. peaches
Directions: Blend with 16 oz. water. Adjust water for desired consistenc y. DINNER
Course One: Mango Lime Delight! 1 lb. mangos
Juice of ½ a lime
Directions: Peel and slice mangos into a bowl. Drizzle with lime juic e.
† 300 varieties of mangos are cultivated and studied in Florida alone. The U.S. m arket sees roughly six varieties widely
distributed: Haden, Tommy Atkins, kent, keitt, ataulfo (also called honey, ch ampagne, Manila, Asian, or yellow), and Haitian
mangos. Course Two: Sweet Tomatoes
8 oz. mango
8 oz. heirloom tomatoes
Directions: Blend ¾ of the mango with ¾ of the tomato. Cut the remaining ma ngo and tomato into small chunks, toss in and
stir. Course Three: Mango Red-Pepper Salad
1 lb. romaine lettuce
8 oz. each: cucumbers, mangos, and red peppers
4 oz. tomatoes
Directions: Chop the lettuce into a large bowl. Peel the cucumber if you  prefer. Thinly slice the cucumber and slice tomato into
wedges; toss with salad greens. Peel and pit the mango, core the pepper, and ble nd together as a dressing. Summer Menu Plan: Day Two

BREAKFAST
Watermelon
4 lbs. watermelon
Directions: The other half of the large watermelon awaits you! Spoon t he fruit into a blender for a refreshing morning drink! Seeds can be avoided, as they will sink to the bottom of the glass. LUNCH
Just Bananas! 2 lbs. bananas
Directions: Blend into a smoothie with 16 oz. water, or enjoy them as they ar e.
† If you have a hard time eating very many bananas, it is likely they  are not at peak ripeness. The common variety of banana,
the cavendish, is ripe when it is generously speckled with brown spots and s mells sweet. Prior to this state, they contain more starch
and are harder to digest. Proper fruit ripeness is essential to adequate n utrition and assimilation. DINNER
Course One: Summer Berry Salad
4 oz. blueberries
4 oz. raspberries
8 oz. peaches
Directions: Mix in a bowl and enjoy! Course Two: Peach Heirloom Tomato Soup
8 oz. peaches
8 oz.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        69

This discrepancy results from the fact that I equate health with f itness and athleticism, essentially viewing the two as
inseparable. In contrast, government, fitness, and medical “expert s” distinguish the athlete from the healthy individual, giving th em
separate classifications, as if it were possible to be healthy and not athletic. Although we can indeed feel good and live free of
symptoms for several years as a sedentary individual, this strategy  is sure to fail over time. We should not fool ourselves into
believing that anything resembling true health is possible withou t regular, vigorous exercise. Strategies for Increasing Muscle Mass
Increasing muscle mass is one way to decrease overall body fat percent age. As the percentage of lean tissue increases, the
percentage of fat tissue automatically decreases. If you are thin bu t still carry a higher-than-healthful body fat percentage, this i s an excellent way to achieve your ideal body composition, because increasing  muscle mass has the secondary effect of facilitating fat
loss. How does this occur. When we add muscle, we increase our body’s calori c requirements. For many of us, there is a time
lapse while we become accustomed to eating more food. During this lag time, our bodies commonly utilize stored fats to make up
for the deficit in calories, reducing our body-fat percentage. Unfortunately, muscle mass is easily lost. The phrase “use it or l ose it” definitely applies, as muscles must be used on an
ongoing basis in order to grow and maintain size. Day to day, muscle loss rare ly accounts for even one-hundredth of one percent of
our body-weight fluctuations. Muscle loss can account for a fair amount  of weight loss, however, if an active person becomes totally
sedentary, as in the case of the extended bed rest that is required in ins tances of extreme sickness or recovery from a debilitating
accident. We can measure muscle atrophy within twenty-four hours of  the initiation of complete rest. Fortunately, muscles regain
their prior size with relative ease when we resume normal activi ties, even after months of convalescence or weeks of water fasting. Of course, if we are active and then become unexpectedly sedentary and c ontinue eating as much or more than we did before, we
will gain fat, as the body stores excess calories as fat, not muscle. Gaining muscle is the only truly healthful way to gain weight an d increase size without running the risk of creating hormonal
imbalances that result from harboring excess body fat. The only wa y to gain muscle weight is by “asking” your body to build through
the demands of strength-training activities. Pure strength tra ining is technically defined as “one repetition maximum,” or “1RM,”
meaning you can lift that particular weight a maximum of one time be fore muscular fatigue results. More often, people train for
strength by lifting weights in not more than four sets of one to five re petitions each. Strength training a few times per week is all that
is necessary to develop your new, lean body. Losing or Gaining Fat … the Right and Wrong Way
The simplest method of losing fat is to consume fewer total calories eac h day than the amount you use. Estimating calories
consumed versus calories used can provide a very good assessment of your pote ntial overall rate of weight loss. (See Appendix D. Resources for Diet Analysis) Given that a pound of fat contains 3,500 calor ies, if you expend 115 calories per day more than you
consume, you will fairly reliably lose one pound per month. Such calculati ons are not necessary on an ongoing basis; typically you
only need to figure calories in versus calories out to develop an understa nding and a routine. Once you establish healthful daily
habits, tracking your diet and exercise will become a thing of the past. Another way to achieve a net loss of calories for weight reduction is to m ake a commitment to add regular exercise into your
daily routine. You must be patient about it, however, as briskly walking a mi le per day only yields on average about a one-pound
weight loss over the course of


 my head are mine!” Actually, they are
not. T o be hypnotized by the m ind is to think that its thoughts are “my”
thoughts. In reality, the thoughts emanate from the field of consciousness
impersonally. Each level of consciousness has its own prevailing thought
field. The minute you connect with a certain level of consciousness, you are
connected to an attractor field. That attractor field has had the same
thoughts for thousands of years. There is nothing novel about the content of
your thoughts. I wa nt to be first in line —you think you invented that
thought? W ith sel f-importance, the ego is designed to want gain, and it ha s a lot of
thoughts about monetary gain and how that will finally bring happiness. Interestingly, our research has found that happiness is correlated with level
of consciousness, not with wealth or health. A person can be delighted with
nothing. In fact, on a certain lev el, the less, the better! Y ou can live with a
cot, a blanket you got from the thrift store, a box with a candle on it, an
apple, a piece of cheese, and a six-pack of Pepsi. And to a dd to your
heavenly abode,  you have a cat. Do you need anything to read? No. Do you
need television? No. Do you need to keep up with the news? No. The experiencer  of the ego fears boredom, and it lives of f the ener gy that
it pu lls o ut of excitement. How to transcend the dread of bored om? Simply
allow yourself to be bored and in vestigate why you feel bored an d what that
emotion is. If you want to discover what the experiencer does, allow
yourself, instead of indulging in escapism, to be bored and just contemplate:
What is bor edom, and what is it that I am experiencing? Why do I have an
aversion to it? Th at is a very rapid way to find out exactly what the
experiencer is, what it does, and what it subserves. And then yo u ask, Whatis it that’ s bor ed? What aspect o f myself is it that is bor ed and complaining? What is it complaining of? “Th ere’ s nothing interesting go ing on.” What do
I ge t out of things that ar e inter esting? “ A sense of aliveness and
excitement.” Is that aliveness of the spirit or of the ego? It turns out to be
the little animal in you that wants constant entertainment. It dreads boredom
because boredom feels like death. Attraction A version
Desire Not get
Status A “nobody”
Noticed Ignored
Opinion Ordinariness
Crave Frustrate
Control Accept
Save world Surrender it
The ego thrives on desire. It fea rs it won’ t “get.” It becomes driven and
pushy to  get what it wants. Paradoxically, as described in Letting Go: The
Pathway of Surr ender, this very desiringness repels that which is desired. For exam ple, when we put press ure on other people in order to get what we
want, th ey autom atically resist, because we are trying to pressure them with
our demands or unconscious e xpectations. W e have all experienced this
phenomenon when someone comes to our door wanting to sell us
something. The harder they push, the more we resist. American
entrepreneur Robert Ringer call ed it the “boy/girl theory.” (Boy meets girl. As soon as she realizes he wants her, she becomes hard to get. So  then if
boy decides to withdraw, she now wants him, and he in return acts aloof.) The key  to letting go of desire is the understanding that all attractions are
a pr ojection of that ener gy fiel d called “glamour,” as described by Alice
Bailey in Glamour, one of the most helpful books ever written. The ego
projects specialness and glamou r onto the object, which imbue  it with that
attraction. T ypic ally, people think that the attraction exists within the object,
such as the cheesebur ger. But obviously the attraction is not in thecheesebur ger itself, because many people would not eat one e ven if they
were very hungry. T o them, ch eesebur gers may even be abhorrent: “It’ s
meat. Meat will kill you. Meat  causes methane gas and global warming. Let’ s all become vegetarians to  cool down the earth!” So the way out of
desire is  to let g o of the project ion of glamour onto whatever i t is that the
experiencer is craving. This aligns with the Buddha’ s teaching t hat the first
step is to stop being ruled by the ego’ s attachment to sensory pleasures. The experiencer  looks for status and fears being a nobody. It w ants to be
noticed and is afraid of being ignored. It wants to express its opi nions about
everything and dreads just being ordinary. Free speech is today’ s  ego circus. One day  a good friend said, “I  just made the most amazing discovery. I
don’ t ha ve to have an opinion on everything. I don’ t feel called upon to
express my free speech, take a stand, and get out there with a placard. I’ve
never experienced such freedom.”
This is to realize the value of just being ordinary and not giv ing your
opinion on everything. Being ordinary saves your life. When th e gunman is
looking for someone to shoot, it pays to ble nd in. “Hey! Y ou with the pink
mustache and the red hair standing over there!” Bang! The ego despises
being ordinary, but do you kno w anybody ordinary who was assassinated
lately? The way to survive is to be ordinary and peaceable. If you are
aggressive, you invite aggress ion. When you see the safety of being
ordinary, you can let go of the ego’ s craving to “be somebody.”
The ego wants to be noticed, h ave an opinion, crave things, a nd be in
control. It wants to control others and control the world, instead of looking
within. I t wants to change the world instead of changing itself. If we do not
like the world the way it is, we do the world a favor by looking within and
changing oursel ves. All the wondrous do-gooders, the great monarchs, are
dead. Their dynasties sought to establish the greatest nation on Earth, and
now they are all dead. If the word God  ove r the court house makes us
uncomfortable, then we have to ask, Why is that? One of the bigge st surrenders is letting go of our desire to control things. The prob lem wi th the world is not that it is the way it is but rat her our own
blindness and lack of vision. If w e open our vision, we see that the world is
evolving accord ing to a design not of our own making. W e roma nticize how
it co uld or should be, and we cr iticize those who disagree with u s. The way
out of this critic ism is in this very simple statement: “Just because you like
vanilla d oesn’ t m ean you have t o hate chocolate. And just becau se you lovechocolate doesn’ t mean you have to hate vanilla.” W e can enjoy our own
preferences without having to vilify the preferences of others. Then we
accept th at cons ciousness is evolving in a certain way, and trying to control
things presumes  one knows better than Go d. Good  wisdom is to surrender
the world to God (cal. 535). The spiritual ego wants to save the world. What is it going to be saved
from? A ll the great teachers hav e said the same thing: the only problem that
exists in  the world is ignorance. So, if you want to do someth ing for the
world, th e best you can do is try to overcome ignorance through education,
starting with yourself and the fact that the world you see do es not even
exist. The ego’ s ignorance is its egocentric presumption that the world it
sees is the way the world really is. The ego sees injustice, but it is from its
dualistic positio n that it does so. From another position, the same thing is
perfect justice. Attraction A version
Novelty Boring sameness
Thrill Miss out
Aggression Passivity
Gossip: “In” “Out”
Fashionable Drab
The ego  likes novelty; hates bor edom and routine; is afraid to miss out on
something; and gets addicted to  thrills, risk, and danger. The sound of the
motorcycle racing— vr oom-vr oom —says, “C’mon, boys, get into the
excitement, get into the risk, get into the danger!” People go to mind-
boggling extrem es, like the Fren chman who has a compulsion to climb the
tallest buildings in major cities around the world. He is like a human fly. He
climbs u p the side of tall marb le buildings, and the police ke ep bringing
him down and a rresting him. But as soon as he is released, h e


 the microbes seem
very relevant to society, consisted almost entirely
of people in the so-called third state, and - seeing no other
output - already fixated on this fight. But it made little sense:
because in the body of most people waiting for them "well-covered
table. " Disease, perhaps, be able to temporarily suppress, but through
while it still come back... perhaps in a more
menacing appearance, for example, in the form of influenza, in the form of cancer or
AIDS. Very relevant hypothesis pathologist A V Rusakov - pretty
bold, according to a few friends with her orthodox
physicians. Is it that the sick body does not fight
with the disease, and it nourishes itself. From my point of view, viruses and microbes
can be regarded as bearers of the body. Infections - one
of the greatest natural wealth, which we simply do not know how
enjoy. But we know that many feel better
after undergoing a cold! True naturopaths know that
immunodeficiency state, precisely in order there to
during the illness to allow fellow microbes to work in our
mortal body, to clean it from the food for the microbes, which
otherwise the body could not remove. Speaking about his attitude to orthodox medicine, like
quote from the book of a member of the British Association
naturopaths Harry Benjamin: "The author is with great
respect for the efforts being made by both individual physicians,
and all of medicine in general, to help suffering humanity. But the tragedy is that these efforts are directed
in a completely wrong direction. For the philosophy of the disease, this
foundation on which to build the whole edifice of modern medicine,
fundamentally false... "
There is no specific antiviral agent - in it and needs-
no. Disease - this is not the enemy but the friend of man. Deal with it has no
meaning, it must cooperate. Therefore it is necessary to help the disease
by using mainly a diet of dry starvation
and hygienic procedures to achieve the appearance of the patient
primary care crisis, to put it simply - exacerbation of chronic
disease. Then "prescribers" of dry fasting - up
complete disappearance of symptoms of the crisis. Of course, we always
is to refuse to continue on lifestyle and nutrition that
led to ill health. 112
112As a result of dry fasting is an active cleansing
organism from its own internal waste - an organism like
feeds on itself. Fasting - a universal and comprehensive
method, that it has almost nothing to add. During the absolute
fasting self-dissolution (autolysis) of dead cells and protein
mass increases sharply, and in this case there is no need for assistance
microbes and viruses. Therefore, they are removed by the body,
which includes the mechanisms of immune protection. Changes in chronic patients with an absolute starvation
and intestinal microflora. Putrid flora dies, remains
and recovering flora of fermented milk fermentation, as
a long-lived or have yogis. as a result of improving the quality of synthesis
microflora of vitamins and other bioactive substances. Perhaps, therefore, in the body during the healing of dry starvation
there is no problem of synthesis of essential amino acids. Work
Scientists show that endogenous feeding organism
provides a synthesis of different amino acids, including
and irreplaceable, as well as protein structures - enzymes. Mechanical ZM acidification I
DNAs FRICTION J MEDIA ORGANIZATIONS Since PCA (acido W)
Making limotherapy to get good medical
effect is necessary to pass certain stages. Stage 1 is
name of food excitation, the duration of the wet
starvation for 2-3 days, the dry fasting 1 - 2 days. Stages of the food
excitation is a mild stress to the body. This stress
primarily causes activation of the hypothalamus. He begins
separate different substances that have a particular impact
on endocrine glands in order to adapt the organism
livelihood without food and water. After 24 hours of fasting
a person dramatically increases the secretion of pituitary somatotropic
hormone - growth hormone, according to modern data, the SG has
rejuvenating effect on the body. It activates hormones
pancreas glyukagen that enhances cleavage
glycogen in the liver, which provides the body with nutrition. He also
removes the intoxication of the organism through a beneficial effect on
thyroid gland. During the first stage usually can irritate
any signals of food: the sight and smell it, talk about food, the sound of the dining room
dishes and stuff. They salivate, rumbling in the stomach,
sensation of sucking in the stomach, worsening sleep, increased
irritability, sometimes a bad mood. Thirst - tolerable. Stage 2: the increasing acidosis. Typically, this stage is to dry
fasting lasts from 2 to 4 days. Once a person is fully
refused food and water, his body begins consumption
stored reserves and secondary tissues. Splitting
nutrients and tissues during starvation leads
to the accumulation of their decay products inside the body. as a result of
113
113then quickly shift the pH of the body in an acidic
side (acidosis), but the magnitude of acidification does not go beyond
physiological norms. Acidosis during fasting is the first
and most important physiological mechanism that causes
the inclusion of the chain of other healing mechanisms that
conventional food regime is in an inactive state. Acidification of the internal environment of an organism leads to the launch
processes of dissolution of tissues - autolyze (this mechanism will
discussed in more detail). It turns out that in the acidic environment
activated phagocytes and certain enzymes, whose function
reduces to the destruction of their own weakened tissue and total
alien in the body. in turn the processes of autolysis
trigger mechanism for cleansing the body of toxins, weakened
and pathologically altered tissue. Due to the splitting of tissue
Finally, it toxins are released and eliminated from the body,
and the modified tissue is destroyed. Control over the splitting of tissues by
special function, which we call the principle of priority. As
again, this function ensures that was initially split
everything superfluous, pathological changes, and then the turn of
healthy tissue - on the principle of vital importance for
organism. Acidification of the body and increase phagocytic activity
lead to the normalization of the microflora. Acidosis includes a mechanism for uptake by cells of the body
carbon dioxide and nitrogen from the air. It was he who helps to fix
soluble in blood carbon dioxide on the principle of photosynthesis, ie
by the most perfect synthesis of our world. Atmospheric air,
that we breathe becomes a breeding ground. In other words,
assimilation at elevated CO cells in combination with the increased
consumption of nitrogen from the air are the most favorable
conditions for constructing high-quality nucleic acids,
proteins and other biologically active substances required for
full-fledged human life. In other words,
dry hunger we consume carbon dioxide and nitrogen from the air and create a
are necessary to our body proteins. But the question arises: by
Why? Recall plants. They take energy from the sun and can therefore
turn the same carbon dioxide air and nitrogen mineral salts
into organic compounds. Man also has the ability to
eat natural and cosmic energies, only in the usual
state is seen only in very small numbers of people. currently known only a few people who do
nothing to eat or drink (I wrote about them). The inclusion of this mechanism
means moving the body to a full internal (endogenous)
food, which provides a complete synthesis of amino acids
and other biological compounds during fasting. 114
114In the process of starvation, many organs and systems get
physiological rest, which allows them to recover their
damaged structures and functions. Increased splitting of tissues as a result of autolysis
and restore the structure and function of digestive organs
under dry starvation stimulate metabolism and increase
digestive ability of the body during recovery
supply. During fasting there is a strengthening of protective functions
organism at the level of cells and whole organism. He
becomes much more resistant to various internal and external
damaging factors. All of the above physiological mechanisms lead
to a powerful regenerating and rejuvenating effect
in the subsequent period of starvation. After we described what starts the process of acidification
(Acidosis), the internal environment during starvation, back to the very acidosis. The process of acidification of the internal environment is growing rapidly. Typically, the maximum acidification observed on 2-3rd day of fasting. And there it is. at the beginning of starvation, when the body has
have stocks of animal sugar - glycogen, the body uses it. But once the glycogen stores run out (and it usually occurs
the first day of fasting) in the blood begin to accumulate acid
products of incomplete cleavage of fat (butyric acid, acetone)
alkaline reserves of its decline, and this is reflected in the well-being:
from hunger may appear headache, nausea, feeling
weakness and malaise. Growing white patches on the tongue, dry tongue and lips, mucus on
teeth, the smell of acetone breath, dry and pale skin,
hunger is much reduced, whereas thirst at this time of
increases. Poor health - the result of accumulation in the blood
harmful products. At this time the man on the dry fasting may appear
inner glow, this is the body begins to incorporate mechanisms
disposal of hazardous


iefs. Your
state	of	consciousness	determines	your	behaviour	and	interactions	with	the
world	and	with	other	human	beings. It	is	not	enough	to	simply	have	noble	beliefs,	to	believe	in	the	good. It	is
imperative	that	we	integrate	these	beliefs	into	our	very	being. We	must
internalise	these	convictions	so	that	our	consciousness	may	change	to	embody
the	values	in	which	we	believe. Once	our	consciousness	has	transformed,	our	actions	and	behaviours	will	be
able	to	change,	following	the	pattern	set	by	our	psyche. The	author	presents	the	concepts	of	Heaven	and	Earth	not	as	physical	places,
but	rather	as	two	levels	of	existence:	a	new	Heaven	designates	the	emergence
of	a	new	human	consciousness	that	has	integrated	its	noble	beliefs;	Earth,	for
its	part,	the	manifestation	of	a	consciousness	on	the	physical	plane,	the
actions	of	people. How	does	one	achieve	this	necessary	change	of	consciousness? The	first	step
is	to	know	our	current	state,	to	know	our	situation,	and	starting	from	that
knowledge,	to	begin	to	change.IN	SEARCH	OF	THE	SOLUTION

History	shows	us	the	attempts	of	individuals	or	groups	who	have	tried	to
come	to	the	aid	of	society. Social	movements	have	emerged	to	try	to	avoid	a
universal	collapse. An	example	of	this	is	Communism,	which	has	largely
failed	in	the	world;	partly	because	of	the	very	leaders	who	created	it,	as	they
did	not,	in	essence,	embody	its	principles. They	did	not	change	themselves,
which	crippled	their	ability	to	change	others. Religious	leaders	tried	to	become	vehicles	of	this	new	spirit	for	the	benefit	of
the	world,	from	Buddha	to	Lao	Tzu. Their	influence,	however,	have	been
limited. Many	were	misunderstood	by	their	followers,	their	messages	blurred	and
distorted	so	that	the	strength	of	their	leadership	was	not	enough	to	drive	the
necessary	change. Ideas	were	often	added,	diluting	the	original	message. Some	teachers	were	killed	for	their	preaching,	others	revered	as	gods. The
message	of	Jesus'	goodness,	humility,	and	union,	as	well	as	his	preaching	of
mercy	and	love,	were	transformed	into	a	religion	of	hatred	and	division,
feeding	the	madness	he	had	set	out	to	heal. The	Crusades	and	the	Spanish
Inquisition,	carried	out	under	the	mantle	of	Christianity,	brought	nothing	but
widespread	devastation. Likewise,	scientific	and	technological	progress	that	carries	the	potential	for
great	benefit	to	mankind	has	been	turned	to	enhance	the	human	capacity	to
destroy	and	to	kill	one	another	and	the	planet. Violence,	slavery,	and	torture	have	always	been	part	of	human	history,	but	the
twentieth	century	has	taken	these	calamities	to	unsustainable	new	levels	level. Evolve	or	die;	this	is	the	Human	Dilemma.EGO:	THE	ROOT	OF	OUR
PROBLEM

To	overcome	the	inner	impulses	that	lead	to	destruction,	we	must	understand
that	the	ego	dominates	us,	that	it	is	what	strengthens	the	negative	forces	that
we	carry	within	ourselves. Identification	is	the	structure	by	which	the	ego	exists:	identification	with
forms	of	thought,	both	in	physical	and	emotional	forms. The	extent	of	our
identification	with	these	forms	is	the	extent	to	which	we	allow	them	to
become	our	identity. The	consequence	of	this	identification	is	the	ignorance	that	we	have	toward
the	connection	between	the	"being"	and	the	"everything"	within	the	Source. This	separation	is	what	causes	our	problems. It	dilutes	our	awareness	of	the
interconnectedness	between	every	person	and	the	rest	of	the	world. We	are
settled	in	our	Maya,	our	dukkha,	our	sins. From	there,	we	lose	our	way. We
begin	to	act	on	our	madness,	to	promote	the	evil. We	live	floating	in	our	identification	with	our	mind,	and	thus
misunderstandings	appear	throughout	the	world. It	is	in	this	way	that	the	ego
deceives	us	and	makes	us	believe	that	our	being	and	our	identity	is	composed
of	achievements,	material	possessions,	and	history. We	manufacture	a	perception	in	our	minds	that	gives	us	an	image	of	who	we
are,	an	image	that	is	based	on	deception	and	fallacy. It	is	necessary	to	our	development	that	we	break	free	of	the	identification	thatthe	ego	has	lead	us	to. We	must	free	it,	therefore	freeing	ourselves,	in	order	to
begin	to	change. Releasing	the	ego	is	not	easy,	but	it	is	essential	to	leaving
behind	discontent,	insecurity,	anxiety,	and	everything	that	makes	us	unhappy. Releasing	ourselves	from	the	ego	does	not	mean	simply	giving	up	our	love	for
material	goods,	our	constant	search	for	forms;	it	is	more	than	just	that. To
renounce	the	ego	required	that	we	convince	ourselves	that	we	are	not	what	we
think	or	what	we	feel. It	is	only	our	True	Selves	that	can	achieve	this,	because
only	our	True	Selves	can	observe	the	flow	of	consciousness	by	transcending	it
and	acting	as	an	external	observer. Tolle	illustrates	this	with	an	example. As	a	student,	one	day	he	was	travelling
on	the	subway. He	saw	a	woman	acting	as	if	she	were	disconnected	from	the
world. She	spoke	to	nobody	and	cursed	at	the	air. Watching	her,	he
automatically	thought	"I	hope	I	do	not	end	up	like	her." Immediately,	he
realised	that	he	had	spoken	out	loud. Analysing	his	own	reaction,	he
understood	that	he	had	acted	exactly	like	the	woman,	absorbed	in	himself,
without	attending	to	the	present. He	realised	that	if	that	woman	was	crazy,	so	must	be	everyone,	including
himself. This	realization	ignited	a	change	in	his	consciousness. He	began	to
work	to	separate	himself	from	his	thoughts,	to	analyse	them	objectively. By
doing	so,	he	slowly	began	to	succeed	in	stripping	himself	of	the	identity	of	his
ego.A	LINK	TO	EGO:	THE	“ME”

Many	people	become	trapped	in	suffering	because	of	their	obsessive
preoccupation	with	possession. We	fail	to	feel	what	we	are,	and	so	we	try	to
fulfill	our	existence	with	possessions. "My	toy,"	"my	car,"	"my	wife,"	even
"my	country"	and	"my	life." “Me”	begins	to	appear	in	all	of	our	references	to
our	own	lives. In	a	Vipassana	meditation	course	that	the	author	attended	for	10	days,	SN
Goenka,	the	Buddhist	teacher,	referred	in	a	fun	way	to	this	concept	of	"me." He	invited	his	students	to	imagine	these	situations:	"My	watch	was	stolen",
"My	car	broke",	"My	wife	deceived	me." In	these	situations,	the	identity	of
“me”	has	a	deeply	negative	impact. In	order	to	change,	we	must	be	aware	of	this	eagerness	of	possession. Only
then	will	we	be	able	to	free	ourselves	from	it. It	is	time	to	end	the	desire	for
control	over	all	things	that	is	characterized	by	“me”	and	“mine.”WE	ARE	NOT	OUR	ROLES


 to guide us. We
were cold, tired, and hungry, and I was afraid of running out of gas. With a bruised ego, I prayed. Fortunately, God was with us. After
motoring all day and into the night, we accidentally landed upon a buoy
where we moored. When the sun rose the next morning, I was able to figure
out our position and motor to a safe ending. We no longer have a sailboat. What is the moral of my story? Ignorance and stubborn pride nearly
caused a disaste r for Christie and me. Facing the truth of the situation from
the beginning would have set us free from near calamity. It’s critical to have
the right information to make the right decision. The truth— knowledge
about navigation—would have created a much more pleasant journey. So it is for you. Believing lies spells disaster for you, but the truth will
set you on the right course for healing and well-being. Howeve r, you must
first be willing to face the truth. You must look deeply and courageously
into yourself for any deception or misguided feeling. The truth will set you
free only if you face it and embrace it. That is what this chapter is about.The Lies Y ou Believe
Believing what we want to believe feels good, but it does not help us. We may temporarily convince ourselves of something, but in the end this
denial of truth only hurts us. Though you and I have likely never met, there is something about you
that I already know: You are tempted to believe lies. You convin ce yourself
of things that are not true. You see a shred of evidence and believe it to be
the whole truth. How do I know this? I know this because you cannot live with a narcissistic and emotional
abuser without being indoctrinated into his “spin.” Remember that
emotional abuse is largely a defensive effort at self-protection, filled with
lies. He lies to himself and to you. I also know this because you would not be reading this book and
seeking healing if you weren’ t following a path of pain. You have been
deceived and must now face truth. And not just one truth, but perhaps many
different truths. Before you can face the truth, however, you must admit to believ ing lies
and learn to fully understand them. With that, let’s consider some of the
common lies abused women believe. You Should Be Ashamed
Aubrey Sampso n, in her articl e “The Most Dangerous Lies Women
Believe,” says women struggl e with two main lies—that they aren’ t
sufficient, and that they should feel ashamed of themselves for something. She shares that many women struggle constantly with the shame-based
feeling that they should be something other than who they are.1
Just as Adam and Eve hid their shame behind fig leaves, so many
women continue  to hide parts of themselves, believing the lie that part of
them is too shameful to be revea led.2 This has certain ly been what I’ve seen
with the thousan ds of abused women I’ve counseled. They hide the fact that
they are in an abusive relationship, which further intensifies their feelings
of shame, creating a vicious cycle. Shame causes hiding and hiding causes
shame. It has been said that we are only as sick as our secrets. Just as shame
gains power in hiding, shame begins to dissipate when brought into the lightof God’s truth. By owning sham eful feelings and sharing them with others
(along with other secrets you’ve been keeping), and by inviting God in with
truth, you break the power of shame. To experience truth, however, you
must be courageous enough to expose your shame. Herein lies the power of suppo rt. As we express our vulnerability and
shame, the secrets become open  to truth. Allowing other women to speak
into your life will bring incredible healing. Lies cannot exist next to the
truth. When we bring our sham e to God, He transforms it into radiance
(Psalm 34:5). This Is As Good As It Gets
Here’ s another lie many wome n believe: If you temporarily separate
from an abusive man, you and your children will suffer endlessly. While
certainly any separation will cause distress, staying with an unchanging,
narcissistic, and emotionally abusive man will cause greater harm. The truth is that appropriate help and support are available, and with
them, you will rebound. The separation may also be the impetus  he needs to
change. So don’t be paralyzed by fear, but rather take courage and immerse
yourself in truth. You Got What Y ou Deserve
A final lie I want to discuss is that you don’t deserve to have your own
ideas or preferences. Of course, most abusive men won’ t admit to being
controlling. They will rarely own that they talk over you, but they do. They
rarely admit being defensive, but they are. He says he wants you to think  your own thoughts, to have your own
preferences. But when your preferences come face-to-face with his, his will
win out every time. Subsequen tly, you feel smaller, and the only way to
regain yourself is to rediscover who you are and cultivate your sense of self. All this may sound terribly selfish. It isn’t. In fact, your life is both
connected to him and separate from him. Yet you are responsible for caring
for your self, and this is healthy. GullibilityCynthia was an accomplished musician, playing violin for a major city
orchestra. As if that were not enough, she also practiced law part-time. Additionally, she and her husband, Daniel, were raising eight-year -old twin
boys and were active in their church. To say that Cynt hia had her plate full would be an understateme nt. Still,
she appeared to do it all with relative ease. She had always been a high
achiever, and her life reflected that. It looked to everyone who knew them
that she had the perfect life. Not all was going smoothly, however. Her marriage was slowly
disintegrating. She hadn’ t even  realized when she’d begun spending less
time with her husband and more time at her other activities. She came to see
me because she noticed herse lf becoming increasingly unha ppy in her
marriage. She had asked her husband to join her in counseling, but he’d
refused. “It’s hard for me to be here,” she said. “I’ve always prided myself in
being able to handle things. I was taught to be in control of my life and my
emotions.”
“Well,” I said after hearing about parts of her life, “you’ve certainly
done that. What isn’ t working?”
“I feel myself slipping away from Daniel, my husband,” she said. “I’m
not even sure I love him anymore. We do fine raising our sons and being
involved in our community. But I don’t feel close to him. I suppose this
sounds foolish.”
“No, it doesn’ t at all,” I said. “T ell me more about your marriage.”
“There isn’t really much to tell,” she said. “He annoys me and
sometimes scares me. He’s always irritable, demanding, and selfish. I can’t
stand it. Originally I thought he would grow out of it, but that hasn’ t
happened.”
“Grow out of it?” I asked. “I know  that sounds strange,” she continued. “Yes, I thought he would
grow up. He’s like a third child. His temper tantrums are worse than our
boys’. He barks at me when he’s upset. He embarrasses me. I hate it. I
thought he would stop it at some point.”
She paused and seemed to consider what she was saying. “I assumed he would see how badly he behaves and just stop it,” she
said. “I guess that was naive on my part. Now I tiptoe around him. Or evenworse, I avoid him and stop relating to him. Am I fooling myse lf about this
relationship working?”
“Possibly,” I said. “Men will act immaturely if they can. They often
continue with bad behavior if they get away with it. Not all men, mind you,
but many. What have you done to indicate your unhappiness?”
“Nothing,” she said. “I just take care of things. I don’ t want other people
to see what’ s going on. I overfunction and he underfunctions. But I’m
feeling resentful, gullible, and taken advantage of.”
“Yes,” I said. “That seems to be the theme of your marriage.”
Codependency
Can you sense the lies Cynthia has been telling herself? Can you see
how she has painted herself into a corner and has taught Daniel that he can
mistreat her? Of course, that was not her intent but rather a result of her
own fears and codependency. Cynthia seemed  to overfunction and act codependently—losing  herself
to him, becomi ng smaller as he became larger. She overfunctioned by
carrying the weight of responsibility in her marriage while Daniel acted
immaturely. She was functioning codependently by avoiding these issues
rather than facing them, and it was beginning to take an enormous toll on
her. Here’ s a good definition of code pendency: seeing a weakness in another
and ignoring it, thereby enabling and reinforcing it.


 years and helped many
patients and students with the problem of impotence, and most
recover in a very short time. Some have very serious nocturnal
emissions (wet dreams). Some have emissions every two or three
nights or sometimes in the daytime. They lose too much seed es-
sence, or ching, and so lose the ability to have sex. They usually
feel weak, and their face is pale. Using the moxa method combined
with the power lock exercise (described in chapter 6) is the most
effective, and the students who do both recover the most quickly,
you should clench 108 times each morning and evening until your
erection returns. Many people get desperate and try to cure impotence with
other methods. They try to stimulate themselves with even more
sex, with hormones, Spanish fly, etc., but these only drain off their
energy more quickly. The best way I can advise to cure impotence
is to use Taoist methods of cultivation. I'm not telling you to have
sex as much as you want but to have sex as a meaningful and
delightful act in your life. Any compulsive sex is meaningless and dangerous to your
health. It's better to complete one very successful sexual act than
10 or 100 of unprepared, unpracticed sex. If you regard every act of
sexual intercourse as a special or sacred occasion, take a bath, put
perfume on, brush teeth, wash penis and anus, wash hair, ears,
change bed cover, clean up the room, have some flowers, etc., it
will help you reduce your compulsiveness. If you have a gun you can't go out and begin shooting any
person you see on the street. You'll get yourself in big trouble. Sex
is the same; it's a powerful tool that becomes a dangerous weapon
when fired indiscriminately. If you practice the Taoist method,
your sexual organ will become strong but you need not give it to
every woman you see. Use it meaningfully. A tool like a gun can
help protect life or it can kill you and others. Using these things one
must be very careful. If you know that excess ejaculatory sex can
harm you and that cultivation of harmonious sexual energy with
love makes life meaningful, you can cure yourself of impotence and
return to full sexual fulfillment. RESTORE SEXUAL VITALITY THROUGH DIET
Food is alive, and each kind of food contains its own energy vibra-Acupuncture, Moxibustion and Herbs 265
tions that when eaten forms part of the overall vibration of your
body. The process of food selection, therefore, becomes a process
of selecting vibrations for ourselves that not only are in harmony
with the universe but that will bring us into harmony with a love
partner. Factors involved in food classification include size, shape,
color, taste, nutritional level, and animal or vegetable origin. Ev-
erybody's balance of chi energy and bodily health is different, so
everyone needs to choose the foods most balancing for their spe-
cific state of health. Thus the Taoists avoid prescribing any one
dietary regimen such as macrobiotics, vegetarianism, fruit-
arianism, etc. although these diets may well be suited to particular
individuals or good at certain times of the year. The topic of diet is
a large one that I intend to cover in another book. Here is a super-
ficial outline that will give you a sense of the possibilities of balanc-
ing yin and yang energies in your body using food. Very Yin: (Drugs) Sugar, Alcohol, Fruit. Yin: Beans, Veg-
gies, grains, fish. Yang: Poultry, Meat, Eggs, salt. Very Yang:
garlic, ginger, red pepper. EATING FOODS IN EXCESS
If men eat very yin foods in excess after a while sexual activity will
diminish. When their yang energy is exhausted it will peeter out all
together. Yin foods include foods that grow below ground level:
roots, fibers, and bulbs. Men eating very yang foods to excess may cultivate a strong,
even violent sexual appetite characterized by egotism, insen-
sitivity, and its short duration. Eat from both extremes and your
sexual activity and desire will fluctuate, sometimes on and some-
times off. SEX AND SEASONS OF THE DIET
According to the Taoist Lui Ching "In Spring a man can allow
himself to emit semen once every three days, in Summer and Au-
tumn twice a month and during the Wintertime he should save his
semen and not ejaculate at all. The loss of yang energy caused by
one emission in Winter is considered a hundred times worse than
one emission in Spring.266 Taoist Secrets Of Love
In accordance with nature Winter was believed to be the sea-
son of storage and accumulation of energy. For a man this means
he should conserve his semen and increase his "hot" energy by
eating hot and warming and fortifying foods during winter, and
cooler foods in the summer. SEPARATE STEPS TO TAKE FOR MEN AND WOMEN TO
ACHIEVE
YIN/YANG BALANCE
Women:
Less salt
More vegetables
Shorter cooking time
More green, leafy veggies
Little or no fish
Little or no animal foodMen:
Slightly more salt
More grains
Longer cooking time
More Root veggies
Very moderate to low fish
Very moderate to low animal food
Too much yang food makes a woman hard and insensitive
(foods such as meats, eggs, and dairy foods). Too much yin food can make a man soft and incapable of
having an erection. FOOD FOR SEXUAL ORGANS
During sexual intercourse a great deal of "hot chi" is released, and
anything that supplements this hot chi is considered a great help. This means that foods that are extremely cold should be avoided
because they bring down the chi quotient of the body. On the other
hand, foods that are cold but stimulate the Kidneys can be eaten
since the Kidney is in charge of the sexual apparatus and is thus
stimulated. Examples of extremely cold foods to be avoided are:
coconut milk, mentholated wines, chrysanthemum tea, and ice
water. Foods that provide nourishment to the entire organism are
adviseable after sexual activity, for example, muscle and organ
meats, ginger, red dates, sharks fin, swallow nest, and sea
cucumber. These are examples of tonic foods, in that they build the
energy of the body.CHAPTER 17
BIOLOGICAL FACTS EVERY MAN SHOULD
KNOW ABOUT FEMALE SEXUALITY
Few things confuse men more than women's bodies and their
monthly cycles. Women's bodies are different from men and this
alters their psychological and spiritual path of development. Many
spiritual groups don't discuss the female body because it carries
such a loaded charge of sexual energy they don't like dealing with
it. But men need to understand woman and her biology if he is to
move beyond the level of emotional struggle and come into com-
plete harmony with her yin essence. As Taoist sex brings a man
into the most intimate contact he'll ever have with a woman's
body, I am including some brief but important pieces of informa-
tion about their sexual organs and reproductive cycle. This will be
vastly expanded in volume two of this series, "Taoist Secrets Of
Love: Cultivating Female Sexual Energy," also known as Ovarian
Kung Fu. The best education you can get is from loving a woman and
observing how her particular subtle energies change with the moon
and seasons of nature. If a man cultivates his yang energy he can
have a powerful effect in strengthening his lover's body and sta-
bilizing her energy cycles. When the subtle energies of yin and
yang have proper intercourse, the hormones and vital organs func-
tion at a more refined level and produce radiant good health.268 Taoist Secrets Of Love
THE UTERUS
The uterus, a muscular organ smaller than a woman's fist, is sus-
pended in the pelvis by large ligaments which attach to the pelvic
bones. It is like an upside-down pear. The lower part, the cervix,
(like the stem end) is the only part that is visible in the vagina, and
is at the end of the vaginal canal. It is pink, round, and has an
opening in the middle (called the cervical os) which leads through
the cervix (about W2" long) and into the uterus. The fallopian tubes
extend out at the right and left side of the uterus and form an
umbrella over the ovaries. The ovaries are white, about the size
and shape of an unshelled almond. OVULATION
Around the middle of a woman's cycle (the timing can be ex-
tremely variable) an egg breaks out of one of the ovaries. Some
women experience a brief twinge at ovulation, some women have
severe pain that can last up to a day or two. Most women are not
aware of any changes at all during this process. Although the egg only lives for 12 to 24 hours, a woman's
fertile period can be as long as five days. How is this possible? DIAGRAM 47
Uterus
Cervix
External OSBiological Facts About Female Sexuality 269
FERTILE MUCUS
Before ovulation, the glands lining the cervical canal start produc-
ing a slippery, stretchy clear or translucent mucus which flows
down the cervical canal and