 the diverticulitis was healed. Later, there were
some minor recurrences; but each one was handled in the same way, and
eventually the attacks subsided and disappeared. So the mechanism of
surrender passed the acid test. It succeeded where everything else had
failed. W ith continued application, other disorders began to fade away.
Over time, the experience of “knowing” replaced thinking. Knowing
comes on in a totally dif ferent manner. It is just standing there for our
recognition. One morning upon waking, there was the “knowing” of being
cured of poison ivy. At the same time, it was obvious that the very name,
the label “poison ivy,” was a program and a belief system in and of itself. In
any case, there was the “knowing” of being immune to poison ivy, even
when going outside, touching it, playing with it, and putting some of it in a
flower pot to carry to an interview program that evening! The subject of the
interview was: “The Power of Consciousness in Self-Healing.”Another episode of “knowingness” occurred one day when
unexpectedly confronted by intense insecticide fumes. Such fumes had been
a severe aller gy for many years and invariably triggered a severe migraine.
On this particular day, however, there was the sudden “knowing” of
immunity to fumes. W alking into a recently fumigated home and taking
very deep breaths of the fumes without any consequences at all, a sudden
elated feeling of freedom prevailed. How wonderful to be free and to
experience the power of mind! It was obvious in that moment that we are
only subject to those things that we hold in mind. It is not necessary to be a
slave or victim in the world.
The same thing happened with a long-standing belief about elevated
cholesterol. As the belief and concept of it were cancelled, eating dairy
products was resumed with no negative impact on cholesterol. In fact, blood
testing showed a progressive lowering of unhealthy cholesterol levels!
Moreover, food intolerances and aller gies disappeared. It took at least
another year, however, for the sugar intolerance and functional
hypoglycemia to disappear. For a period of time, it would still recur under
periods of stress, especially physical exertion, after eating sugar and sweets
accompanied by caf feine.
In the meantime, it was possible to return to a regular diet after many
years of severe restrictions. How freeing to eat foods with seeds (not
allowed with diverticulitis), all the foods that were supposed to be
contraindicated for ulcers and colitis, and even hot fudge sundaes! It took a
couple of years for the functional hypoglycemia to disappear, but eventually
it was possible to eat all of the sweets that had been forbidden for years.
The whole middle age syndrome was a belief system as well. As this
belief system was cancelled and surrendered, the coldness disappeared from
the hands and feet. The fatigue, mild depression, and irritability also
disappeared. Physical stamina increased and the tolerance for physical work
became almost unlimited.
Now that the more major things were out of the way, some of the minor
ailments were consciously addressed. The belief in pilonidal cyst was
surrendered. In six weeks, it disappeared. The Eustachian tube, which
always blocked when flying in airplanes, caused severe pain in the right ear.
It took two years to correct itself. There was a continual letting go of all
thoughts and feelings about it and, at the same time, the use of visualization
in which the angle of the canal with the right temple bone was pictured aschanging to a normal angle. This was the only ailment with which
visualization was used. At the end of two years, the ailment disappeared,
and there was never any further dif ficulty in clearing the ears with changes
in altitude.
In the meantime, the neck pains were progressively disappearing, and
this made dancing possible. While dancing and surrendering any resistance
to the neck pain, soon the body began to automatically put itself into self-
healing postures and movements, as though there were an inner chiropractor
manipulating the spine. It was an uncanny sensation, as though invisible
healers were realigning the spine.
As this was going on, there were changes in circulation occurring in the
hands and feet, and they were no longer cold all the time. The vibration
disease in the fingertips, which had been threatening gangrene, now
reversed itself. The pads on the fingertips swelled back out and turned pink
again. The burning pain in the fingertips disappeared. Sensation returned.
Up to that time, the fingers had become so numb that it was not possible to
turn the pages of a book.
As the more serious ailments were healed, there was the ener gy and
time to look at even more minor issues. There had been a long-standing
belief that people catch dandruf f in barbershops. When that belief was
surrendered, the dandruf f disappeared. A similar process occurred with the
belief that correlated athlete’ s foot with hotel room floors. Upon continual
cancellation of that belief, athlete’ s foot disappeared.
At Thanksgiving time one year, there was the opportunity to test the
technique in an acute situation. A huge log dropped on the left foot and
broke all the bones across the whole forefoot. Instead of rushing out to get a
cast, the letting go technique was used. By Christmas, it was possible to
return to the dance floor. At a later time, a severely sprained ankle healed
itself in minutes by instantly surrendering the pain.
Healing of V ision
One evening while giving a lecture on the mechanism of surrender and
making note of all of the above healings which had been experienced, a
member of the audience said, “Doctor, if you healed all of those ailments,
then why do you still wear glasses? Couldn’ t poor eyesight be healed the
same way?”“W ell, I never thought of wearing glasses as a disease. I always thought
of it as an anatomical-structural defect of the body. But now that you
mention it, I don’ t see any reason why that shouldn’ t heal.”
So, the bifocals were removed and stowed in a coat pocket. Indeed, at
that time, eyesight was declining to the point that trifocals had been
prescribed and ordered. In leaving the lecture that evening, the same inner
knowingness came, that the condition would heal itself with suf ficient faith
and trust.
Driving home without glasses, vision was blurred. The pace was slow,
with headlights on the curb. There was an inner knowingness that we would
always see what we needed  to see but unable to see what we wanted  to see.
During the next six weeks, a great deal was observed and learned about
what goes on behind our everyday, ordinary seeing. There is a whole
myriad of feelings, varying from curiosity to competition to erotic interest
to intellectual titillation. Only about five percent of our vision is absolutely
necessary to function in the world.
A peculiar phenomenon occurred; only that which was necessary to see
was seen. Reading newspapers and magazines, watching television, or
going to the movies were all impossible. It became clear how most of vision
is merely escapism. On the road, it was as if Mr. Magoo were behind the
wheel. Again and again that same mysterious phenomenon would occur. As
soon as it was vital to see something, that’ s when it would be seen. The
edge of the clif f was made visible just as it was necessary to see it. There
was a great deal of anxiety, with a constant surrendering of fear. Finally, by
the end of six weeks, the fear seemed to run out. Instead, a deep surrender
took place. “W ell, I will only see that which I am allowed to see.” The other
emotional objectives which seeing had subserved up to that time were
willingly surrendered.
Then, a profound sense of inner stillness and peace occurred and a
feeling of oneness with whatever it is that runs the universe. And in that
instant, suddenly, vision returned totally and perfectly. What had not been
visible or readable now was crystal clear: street signs, fine print in dim
light, objects in great detail across the room and at great distance. At the
next eye test for a driving license renewal, the evaluator said that the vision
was perfect and that glasses would no longer be required. This had never
occurred on any previous eye test!Since telling this story around the country, quite a number of other
people have taken of f their glasses and gone through the same experience.
Interestingly enough, each one said that it took about six weeks. One of the
people who accomplished this decided to put his glasses on again. When
asked the reason, he said that his wife was so used to seeing him with
glasses that he looked homely without them, and so he put on blank ones in
order to please her. He did it just because he loved her and wanted to make
her happy, which is a very dif ferent reason than having to wear glasses
because of impaired vision.
Those of us who have had the experience of healed vision agree on one
discovery: It is with the mind itself that we see, not the eyeballs! Recently,
one of the cases was a woman who had been blind since shortly after birth
and


 m ore goo d feelings or m ore bad feelings. How you feel about each subject
in your life, such as money, health, your job, and every individual relationship, is
an exact reflection of what you have been giving out on each subject.
When you think about money, your feelings reflect what you are giving about
money. If you feel bad when you think about money, because you don't have
enough, you must receive back negative circumstances and experiences of not
having enough money - because that is the negative feeling you're giving.
When you think about your job, your feelings tell you what you are giving about
your job. If you feel good about your job, you must receive back positive
circumstances a nd experiences in your job - because that is th e positive feeling
you're giving. When you think about your family, health, or any subject that is
important to you, your feelings tell you what you're giving.
"Be car eful of your moods and feelings, for ther e is an unbr oken connection
between your feelings and your visible world."(Neville Goddar d 1905-1972)

Life isn't happening to you; life is responding to you. Life is your call! Every area
of your life is your call. Y ou are the creator of your life. Y ou are  the writer of your
life story. Y ou are the dire ctor of your life  movie. Y ou decide what your life will
be - by what you give out.
There ar e infinit e levels of good  feelings you can feel, which means there's no end
to th e heights o f the life you can receive. There are also many levels of bad
feelings that become increasingl y negative, but with bad feeling s there is a bottom
limit be yond wh ich you can't e ndure, which forces you to cho ose good feelings
again.
It's not a fluke or an accident that good feelings fee l amazing and that bad feelings
feel really bad. Love is the su preme ruling power of life, an d it calls you and
attracts y ou through your good feelings, so you will live the life you are meant to
live. Lov e also calls you through  your bad feelings, because the y tell you that you
are disconnected from the positive force of life!
 Everything Is About How Y ou Feel

Everything in life is about how y ou feel. Every de cision y ou make in your lif e is based on how
you feel. The single motivating power of your entire life is your feelings!
Whatever you want in your life, you want it because you love it and because it will make you
feel goo d. Whatever you don't want in your life you don't want because it will make you feel
bad.
Y ou want health because it feels good to be healthy, and it feels bad to be sick. Y ou want
money b ecause i t feels good to buy and do the things you love, and it feels bad whe n you can't.
Y ou wa nt happy  relationships because they make you feel go od, and dif ficult relationships
make you feel bad. Y ou want happiness because happine ss feels good, and to be unhappy feels
bad.
Y our go od feelin gs harness the force of love - the power to everything good in li fe. Y our goo d
feelings tell y ou this is the way to what you want. Y our good feelings tell you that when you
feel good, life will be goodl But you have to give good feelings first!
If you have bee n living your li fe saying to yourself, "I will be happy when I h ave a better
house," "I will be happy when I get a job or promotion," "I w ill be happy when the kids are
through college," "I will be happy when we have more money," "I will be happy when I can
travel," or "I will be happy when my business is a success," you will never have those things
because your thoughts are delY ing the way love works. They're defying the law of attraction.
Y ou have to be happy first, and give happ iness, to receive happy thingsl It can't happen any
other way, because whatever you want to receive in life, you must give first! Y ou are incommand of your feelings, you are in command of your love, and the force of love will give
back to you whatever you give out.
 Points of Power

• How you feel in  anyone moment is more important than anyt hing else,
because how you feel right now is creating your life.
 • Y our feelings are the power of your thoughts and words. It's what ) you
feel that matters!
 • All g ood feelings come from love! Al l negative feelings come from a lack
of love.
 • Every g ood feeling unites you with the force of love, because l ove is the
source of all good feelings.
• Amplify your good feelings by t hinking about all the things you love.
Count the things you love nonstop one afte r the other. Keep lis ting
everything you love until you feel amazing.
• How yo u feel about each subjec t in your life is an exact reflectio n of what
you have been giving out on each subject.
• Life isn't happening to you - lif e is responding to you! Every subject of
your life is your call and you make the call on everything in life by what
you give.
• There are i nfinite levels of good feelin gs you can fee l, which means there
is no end to the heights of life you can receive.
 • All the things you love want you! Dollars want you. Health wants you.
Happiness wants you.
 • Don't struggle to change the circ umstances of your life. Give lov e through
your good feelings and what you want will appear!
• Y ou have to give good feelings first. Y ou have to be happy first, and give
happiness, to receive happy things! Whatever you want to receive in life,
you must give first!
Feeling Fr equenciesIf Y ou Can Feel It, Y ou Can Receive It
Everything in the universe is magnetic and everything has a magnetic frequency.
Y our fee lings and thoughts have magnetic frequencies too. Good feelings mean
you're on a pos itive frequency of love. Bad feelings mean you're on a negative
frequency. Wha tever you feel, whether good or bad, dete rmines your frequency,
and like a magnet you attract the people, events, and circumstances that are on the
same frequency!
If y ou are fee ling enthusiastic, your frequency of enthus iasm will attract
enthusiastic people, situations, and events. If you are feeling fearful, your
frequency of fear will attract fea rful people, situations, and events to you. Y ou are
never left in any doubt about the frequency you're on because your frequency is
always exactly whatever you're feeling! Y ou can  change  your frequency at any
time by changing how you feel, and everything around you will change because
you're on a new frequency.
Y ou can take  any situation in your  life, and every possible outcome of that
situation can happen. Any outcome can happen because you can have any feeling
about the situation!
A relationship can be on a happy, joyful, exciting, satisfying, and every good
feeling frequency. A re lationship can also be on a boring, frustrating, worrisome,
resentful, depre ssing, and every bad feeling frequenc y. Any outcome of that
relationship can happen! And the way you feel determines exactly what will
happen in that re lationship. Wha tever feeling you are giving abo ut the relationship
is exactly what you will receive back in the relationship. If you're feeling joyful
about the relationship most of the time, you're giving love, and you  must receive
love and joy back through that relationship because that's the frequency you're on.
"A change of feeling is a change of destiny." (Neville Goddar d 1905-1972)
Look at the list  of feeling freq uencies and you'll see that no matter what the
subject in your life, there are many dif ferent feeling frequencies. And you
determine the outcome of each subject through how you feel about it!
Y ou can feel excited, happy, joyful, hopeful, worried, fearful, or depressed about
money. Y ou can feel ecstatic, passionate, blissful, discouraged, or anxious about
your health.
 Love
Gratitude
Joy
Passion
Excitement
Enthusiasm
Hope
Satisfaction
___________________________________________________________________

Bor edom
Irritation
Dissappointment
W orry Criticism
Anger Hate
Envy Guilt
Despair Fear

These ar e all dif ferent feeling fr equencies, and whatever feeling frequency you're
on is what you wilJ receive.
Y ou may want to travel, but if you feel disa ppointment that you don't have the
money t o travel , then on the s ubject of travel, you are feeling disappointment.
Feeling disappointment means you're on the disappointment frequency, and you
will continue to receive disappointing circumstances in which you cannot travel,
until yo u chan ge the way y ou feel. The force of love will  move everycircumstance fo r you to travel,  but you have to be on one of the good feeling
frequencies to receive it.
When y ou chan ge the way you  feel about a situation, you are giving a dif


panchakarma, 54–55
panchamrit, 273–74
parenthood, 11, 12, 14, 46, 47, 53
partnership
celibacy in, 94–95
conscious, 3–4
explorations for, 53
in postpartum period, 185–88, 189
in preconception, 46
separation and, 117–18passionflower, 208, 306, 307
pediatricians, 243, 244, 249, 251, 252
pelvis, 102, 107–8, 181
peppermint, 76, 254
peppermint oil, 101, 123, 308, 311, 313, 314, 316, 317, 319
perineum
during birthing, 149
cleaning, 180
essential oils for, 316
massage, 124–25, 145
softening, 126
pippali, 179, 212, 286
pitta
balancing, 25–26
digestive problems and, 98–99, 106, 107
imbalances, 24–25, 58, 62
during labor, 155–56
of newborns, 248, 256
overview, 23–24
postpartum, 202, 281, 289
sadhaka, 217
placenta
delivery, 150
previa, 95, 147
PMS, 208
poppy seeds, 207
postpartum, 238
asking for help, 182–84, 195
checklist, 177
diet and nourishment for, 277–79, 280–81, 286–87
doshas and, 17
essential oils for, 311–12, 316–18
foods contraindicated for, 281–83
four pillars of care for, 177–82
Frozen Feminine Pads, 318
grocery lists, 284, 285
herbal support for, 179–80, 212–13, 283, 284
imbalances in, common, 203–10
meal train, 89, 197
partners during, guidance for, 185–88
practices to support healing, 210–1 1
preparing for, 195–200
support during, 197–98
vata in, 20, 61–62, 259See also under  meals ; sacred window
Prabhupada, Srila, 34
prakruti, 15, 16, 17
prana (life force), 32, 56, 96, 211
pranayama, 42
during late pregnancy, 128
postpartum, 210–1 1
for sattva, increasing, 75
ujjai, 208, 210, 211
See also  alternate-nostril breathing ; cooling breath
prasadam (spiritual food), 80–81, 138
prayers
to baby in womb, 79–80
in conception ritual, 68
maha mantra, 83–84
for name-giving, 234
for safe delivery, 138
for welcoming baby to world, 220–21
preconception, 20
daily rituals for, 123–24
time for (“season”), 32–33
preeclampsia, 108–9, 127, 314
pregnancy, 33
diet and nourishment for, 85, 86, 87, 126–27, 277–79
doshas and, 17
early loss, 102–3
energy levels during, 121
essential oils, general, 311
essential oils by condition, 312–15
herbs for, 302–5
imbalances common in, 97, 98–102, 103–1 1
kapha in, 27
mother ’s happiness in, importance of, 47, 72, 106
pitta in, 24
sattvic lifestyle during, 77
self-care practices for, 90–92
senses during, 73
support during, 2, 46
three main responsibilities during, 268
vata in, 20
See also under  meals ; and individual trimesters
presence, 3, 12
while breastfeeding, 258–59
while eating, 54in mothering, 224, 231, 239
during pregnancy, 2
progesterone, 106
prolactin, 151
Puranans, 232
R
Radha, 232
raisins, 99, 273, 276, 284, 297
rajas, 73, 74, 76
rakta dhatu, 85
rasa dhatu, 85, 259–60
red raspberry leaf, 126, 199, 304
relationships
commitment in, 51–52
communication in, 51
conflict in, 46–48
real health and, 8
trust in, 48–51
See also  partnership
reproductive system, 32, 199, 303, 304
reproductive tissues, 54, 55, 56–58, 59, 87
Rescue Remedy Back Flower Essence, 177
rice. See basmati rice
Roman chamomile, 252, 312, 314, 316, 318, 319
Romm, Aviva, 120, 134, 210
rose, 75, 188, 194
in baths, 92, 126, 151, 184, 199
description, 304
essential oil, 68, 125, 152, 198, 313, 316, 317
for newborns, 256
postpartum, 181, 182, 200, 205, 207
Sun-Cooked Ayurvedic Rose Petal Jam, 217–18
in teas, 208, 306, 307
rosehips, 99
rosemary, 76, 199
rosemary essential oil, 101, 317
Rosenber g, Marshall, Nonviolent Communication,  51
rosewater, 69, 89, 106, 156, 247–48, 304
rosewood oil, 136, 312
Rothman, Barbara Katz, Bun in the Oven, A, 116S
Sacinandana Swami, Living Name, The, 84
sacred window, 171
author ’s experience, 196
beauty in, 184
end of, 189–90, 220–21
greatest need during, 174
poem for, 175–76
traditional practices, 172, 191–92
saffron, 207, 282
for lactation, 260, 263
for ojas-building, 56, 69, 215–16
for postpartum, 286, 291, 296–97
sage, 181, 199, 254, 283. See also  clary sage oil
samskaras. See sensory impressions ( samskaras )
sandalwood, 75
essential oil, 68, 316, 317, 319
powder, 247–48, 256
sat-chit-ananda,  10
sattva, 213
increasing, 75
mind of, 36–37, 58
in postpartum, 192, 197, 210, 280
during pregnancy, 72, 86
qualities and characteristics, 73, 74
signs of, 75
sattvic ahara, 270
Schott, Lelia, 223
seasons
dosha fluctuation in, 15–16
ritucharya and, 60–61
selflessness, 233
self-realization, 36, 43
senses
consciousness and, 33–34
controlling, 39–41, 45
doshas and, 16, 25
misusing, 13
overstimulating, 21
sensory impressions ( samskaras ), 41, 42, 72, 85
sesame oil, 197, 207
for babies, 154, 246, 250, 255
for basti, 125, 181cooking/eating, 280, 282, 284, 287
infusions, 198, 205
for massage, 22, 29, 124–25, 151, 152, 155, 181, 313
for oil pulling, 65
for stretch marks, 182
for yoni picchu, 126
sesame seeds, 56, 128, 260
Dry-Fruit Laddus, 276
Herbal Chewing Mix, 213, 289–90
See also  tahini
sexual desire, regulating, 41
sexual intercourse
apana vata and, 102
Ayurvedic guidelines for,


 body – no meal should stay in the human
colon more than 36 hours. We have trained our bowels to move a meal out
of our bodies in 16 to 18 hours, and never more than 24 hours. When the
normal rhythm of bowel evacuation is reached, many of your physical
problems will vanish! Read more page 88.
Famous Doctor Julian Whitaker Says: Do as I
Do – Drink Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar.
Julian Whitaker, M.D. and editor of the popular HEAL TH & HEALING
Newsletter, writes that all vinegar is not created equal. He says that
comparing organic, raw apple cider vinegar to distilled or synthetic vinegar
is like comparing fresh-squeezed orange juice to toxic Kool-A id. “Do as I
do,” says Dr. Whitaker. “Drink 3 Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar drinks daily.
2 tsps. of each Bragg Vinegar and raw honey in an 8 oz. glass of
distilled/purified water.” This health newsletter feature also shared the
following testimonial:
John R., a 76-year -old suffer ed from stomach distress his entire life. After
$2,000  worth of medic al tests, doctors recommended he take Zantac daily. A
friend of John’ s read about the healing qualities of apple cider vinegar and
suggested he try it. John  reports that his digestive problems disappear ed
after only one week of taking a daily dose of Bragg’ s Apple Cider Vinegar
with honey in a glass of warm distilled water. (See page 122.)
How to Improve Your Digestion
Millions have poor indigestion which is aggravated by weak saliva-
enzyme juices that causes: gas, heartburn and stomach bloating. Five
minutes before mealtime, take 1 Tbsp. distilled water with 1/2 tsp. Bragg
Vinegar. Before swallowing, hold in the mouth for a few seconds. Thispromotes saliva,  which allows digestion to begin in the mouth. This small
amount of diluted Bragg Or ganic V inegar causes stomach digestive fluids to
flow faster, better and the results are improved digestion!
Never chew gum! Chewing gum fools the body into thinking you are eating food and triggers the
precious digestive juices to flow. This also promotes hunger. These strong juices cause trouble with
your empty stomach’ s lining, r esulting in stomach pr oblems, bloating, ulcers, gas.Important insert fr om the Bragg Heart Book – see back pages for book list.
Vitamin E Antioxidant-Rich Healthy Foods Are
Important for Your Health & Longevity
A partial list of foods that contain the following amounts of precious,
healthy Vitamin E. This list was compiled from The Bridges Food and
Beverage Analysis.OceanofPDF.comChapter 11
Healthy Foods for Energy & Youthful
Body
Healthy High Vibration Foods Contain Life-
Giving, Energy Substances
When you eat only foods that are in a high vibration, your body performs
and operates by God’ s Universal Law. It becomes a self-starting, self-
cleansing, self-governing, self-generating instrument! We want you to live
by Mother Nature’ s and God’ s Laws so your body will be a fine working
instrument at every age. If you desire to retain the vivaciousness, vitality,
energy and enthusiasm of youth... if you have the desire to turn back the
clock of Father Time when your body is tired and your gait is halting at an
age when you should be buoyant with the spirit of youthfulness, then we say:
“There is but one healthy way to live and that is according to Mother
Nature’ s and God’ s Eternal Laws!”
Bad Nutrition –
#1 Cause of Sickness
“Diet-related diseases account for 68% of all deaths.”
– Dr. C. Everett Koop
America’ s former Surgeon General and our
friend, said this in his famous 1988 landmark report
on nutri tion and health in America. People don’t
die of infectious conditions as such, but of
malnutrition that allows the germs to get a foothold
in sickly bodies. Also, bad nutrition is usually the
cause of non-infectious, fatal or degenerative
conditions. When the body has its full nutrition
quota of vitamin and minerals, including potassium,
it’s almost impossible for germs  to get a foothold in
a healthy, powerful bloodstream and tissues!What a person eats and drinks becomes his own body chemistry.
Apples are Powerful Nutritional Foods
“An apple a day keeps the doctor away,” a wise saying known to millions.
This carries truth and common sense, because apples are one of God’ s great
health-giving foods and some say “Apples keep cancer away”  (page 131).
Apples are a rich source of potassium, as vital to soft tissues of the body
as calcium is to bones and harder tissues. Potassium, the mineral of
youthfulness is the “artery soften er,” keeping the body’ s arteries flexible and
resilient. It fights dangerous viruses and bacteria. An old fashioned folk
medicine, apples and the skins have quercetin, a flavonoid – potent anti-
oxidant, also found in green tea and our favorite red onions.
The apple has stood the test of time. It is one of the oldest known fruits
that humans consume. From the time of the Garden of Eden the apple has
played a vital part in our destiny. People have been eating apples for
thousands of years. Apple eaters enjoy a certain healthfulness that non-apple
eaters never achieve.
Fight Arthritis with Apple Cider Vinegar
Hard, stony deposits fill up, cement, enlar ge and cripple the joints!
Crippling, painf ul arthritis and joint problems are the sad result! Fight and
help flush out those stony  deposits with Apple Cider Vinegar and by being
faithful to The Bragg Healthy Lifestyle. Eat 60% to 70% healthy raw foods
(organic is best), drink 8 glasses of pure distilled water (free of chemicals &
inorganic minerals)  and daily take your multi vitamin-mineral supplements,
kelp and alfalfa tablets, aloe gel or juice, cod liver oil and follow page 88.
You will be amazed by the great health improvements!
Upon arising, an hour before lunch and also hour before dinner  have your
delicious Bragg V inegar Health Cocktail (see r ecipe page 122). Also, sprinkle
Bragg Organic Apple Cider Vinegar or Ginger Dressing (page 154) over your
salads and steamed greens. Remember, eating 1 to 2 organic apples a day
helps keep the doctor and his bills away!
Happiness is not being pained in body or tr oubled in mind.
– Thomas Jef ferson, 3rd U.S. President 1801-1809
Keep Your Joints and Tissues Youthful
Most people have lost their normal contact with Mother Nature and
simple, natural living. They no longer know how to eat the simple way God
intended.
If you suffer from prematurely old joints and hardened tissue s, take the
ACV mixture three times daily. Eliminate animal proteins and diary products.
Stop using all refined sugars, products and beverages! You soon will see
how youthful your body will begin to look and feel.
After several months on The Bragg Healthy Lifestyle and the ACV and
honey cocktail taken 3 times daily, you will find that joint stiffness and
misery starts vanishing. You will discover you can walk or run up stairs
without effort! You will notice that you look younger and feel younger than
you have in years! (Also, follow page 88.)
Make The Bragg Healthy Lifest yle a life-long daily habit! Over the years
we have seen many stiff-jointed, prematurely old people transform
themselves into new, youthful, healthy people! We can’t do it for you. You
must make the effort to give this Fasting & ACV  and honey program a chance
to prove what it can do for you! Don’ t procrastinate: we challenge you to
begin today!
Your Waistline is Your Life-Line,Date-Line and
Health-Line!
Get a tape measu re and measure your waist. Write down the measurement.
If you consciously pursue vigorous abdominal and postural exercises
combined with correct eating and a weekly 24 hour fast (and, later on, 3 to 7
day fasts), in a short time you’ll see a more trim and youthful waistline.
Studies show the bigger the waistline – the shorter the lifespan. Trim
waistlines can make people appear years younger! Now, let’s get yours down
to where it shou ld be, if it has grown too big and fat. It’s a trim, lean horse
for the long race of life! I’m sure we all want to enjoy longevity! Living TheBragg Healthy Lifestyle is wonderful! Each day is a precious gift to honor,
cherish, guard, and treasure, for the healthy life is truly so rewarding and
beautiful!
People Over-Stuff & Abuse Their Stomachs
Most people abuse their stomachs! You can’t overeat dead, empty-calorie
foods night and day and tell yourself that it won’ t harm or show on you! You
are completely wrong! Devitali zed foods create toxic poisons inside your
body and add unhealthy, flabby inches to your stomach and body. Don’ t


 to its environment and resist
adversity. If the Lung Qi is weak, our physical and emotional
protection is reduced, making  us vulnerable to infectious diseases as
well as to the negative thoughts and feelings of other people.
DISPERSION OF  MOISTURE
The smooth dispersion of Moisture  to all parts of the body is also a
task of the Lung. It collects the Fluid Essence  transported upward
from the Spleen  and moisture from the air and “precipitates” it
downward, like mist, to the Kidney  and Bladder  as well as releasing
it as sweat. Thus the Lungs  serve to regulate urine output. If the Lung
Qi is prevented from properly descending, Moisture  accumulates in
the upper body, causing facial edema above and scanty urinary
output below. If, on the other hand, the Lung Qi is severely
weakened, Moisture  and vitality may leak away from the body
through excessive sweating (perspiration at rest) or uncontrolled
urination (incontinence), because the Lung Yang can no longer
vaporize the Qi upward. Since Moisture  is generated by the Spleen
and transported to the Lung, if there is a Spleen  problem, there willbe a buildup of Moisture, or Dampness. This Dampness  in the Lung can
congeal into phlegm, which obstructs the bronchi, throat, and nose,
impairing respiration, causing coughing, asthma, and nasal
congestion. The Lung is the upper source that accepts the Qi, and the
Kidney  is the lower source that grasps and anchors the Qi. Shortness
of breath can occur when the Kidney  cannot store the Qi that the
Lung receives.
THE LUNG-HEART CONNECTION
Since the Lung commands the Qi and the Heart  rules the Blood, the
Lung and Heart  depend upon each other. The axiom “Where Qi goes,
Blood  ows” means that the movement of Qi governs the ow of
Blood. The beat of the heart keeps pace with the breath, and the
Blood  follows the Qi on its return to the Heart. A congestion of Lung
Qi impedes the circulation of Blood, causing palpitations and fullness
in the chest. A deciency  of Heart  function impairs respiration,
causing shortness of breath and easy sweating. Other disturbances of
the Lung manife st as disorders of the skin, mucous membrane, and
venous circulation. Manifestations of this include dry and wrinkled
skin, allergic dermatitis, loss of body hair, varicose veins, sensitivity
to drafts and changes in temperature, and diminished immunity to
colds, us, and other infectious microbes.
MATE OF THE  LUNG: THE  LARGE INTESTINE
The Large Intestine  is the Yang partner of the Lung Network  It amasses
and discharges the refuse of digestion and metabolism, continuing
the process of rening that begins in the Lung. By dispelling stale air
and excreting turbid matter, the Lung and Large Intestine  separate
out that which we no longer desire or need.
Generally, the Large Intestine  delineates and shapes that which we
no longer want and that which is not us—creating the space for
recognition of what we do want and who we are. It helps us to
concretely distinguish between what is useful and useless, benecial
and harmful, right and wrong, self and nonself.When the Large Intestine  is not functio ning properly,  distinctions
become vague  and ambiguous, and the mind becomes unclear and
cluttered. Failu re to eliminate the old leaves no room to take in
what is fresh and new, leaving an unpleasant feeling of stuness,
staleness, and lifelessness. Conversely, being unable to extract and
retain the good leaves a person weak, empty, and withered. The
Large Intestine, together with the Lung, promotes the processes of
separation, distillation, individuation, and elimination, engendering
a distinct sense of form and value.
The ease with which we are able to let go of unnecessary
thoughts, feelings, and attachments is facilitated by the function of
this Network. Letting go can be experienced in the extreme as a loss
of control, provoking an urgent desire to exercise stricter self-
regulation. For the sake of security, relaxation and exibility may be
sacriced. This reluctance to easily release impulses and express
feelings develops into a posture of rigidity and withholding.
Suppressing physical and emotional responsiveness is a way of
armoring oneself, stiening and hardening the protectiv e envelope
of the psyche  and soma. The skin and supercial musculature
become rigid, the deeper muscles of the diaphragm and intestines
become spastic and tense. Asthma, constipation, stiness of the
spine and neck, and spastic colon are the consequences of this
overrestraint of Lung and Large Intestine. Ment al xation and
emotional inhibition limit the range of response, restricting
creativity and the adaptability of the organism.
INSPIRATION, FORM
With inspiration and expiration the body inates and shrinks,
dening the margins of contraction and expansion, the fundamental
polarities of Yin and Yang. Breath ing is separated into inhalation
and exhalation—between the two there is a brief interval,  a moment
of stillness that partitions events, marking beginnings and endings.
The Lung is sensitive, tender, yielding,  open, and rened as it directs
the Qi, providing form, structure, and denition. When the Lung is
vigorous and strong, the skin is smooth, supple, and vibrant, thebody has abundant physical power, an even tempo, and superior
immunity. The Lung is the source of inspiration—it creates the open
space, the emptiness within  which new ideas and emotions take
shape.
WATER: THE KIDNEY
The Kidney  consol idates and stores the Qi that initiates and keeps
life growing. Like a minister of interior who conserves natural
resources, stockpiling essential raw materials for use in times of
growth, crisis, or transition, the Kidney preserves  what is essential,
the Essence, of human life. As the well of vitality and endurance, the
Kidney  is the germ of intellect, creativity, and houses our instinct to
procreate and survive.
Kidney-Bladder
HARBORS THE  GERM
Before we are born our parents endow us with Essence Qi, which
following birth is fortied by Air Qi  from the Lungs  and Food Qi  from
the Spleen. Both inherited and acquire d Qi is collected within the
reservoir of the Kidney  to be dispensed as needed. To say the Kidney
holds the Essence  means it generates and warehouses the original
material substance that forms  the basis of all other tissues—it grasps
the kernel from which all life springs. Kidney Essence  can be likened
to the geneti c information encoded in DNA, the template of
biological destiny, which along with basic structural proteins formshormones and enzymes that direct cellular metabolism. The Kidney
is the fundament that uphold s our continuous regeneration, the link
in our chain of being. Responsible for procreation, the Kidney
transmits our physical and cultural inheritance as a species from
millions of years of evolution. It is the source of our imagination,
enabling us to look backward at our ancestral origins, our heritage,
and look forward to envision our future and create our progeny.
Kidney NetworkAs the deep-reaching roots of a sapling suck the juices of the earth
while its leafy branches imbibe sunlight and air, so the Kidney
secures essent ial sap (Yin) while imparting essential heat (Yang).
Kidney Yin, like the root system, nourishes and moisturizes, whereas
Kidney Yang warms  and activates. Even though the Kidney  is the
most Yin organ, it contains within it the Yang seed of its opposite,
Fire. The rudime ntary vegetative mechanisms that sustain the
organism—analogous to the integrated function of the
hypothalamus, pituitary, and adrenal glands in Western terms—are
governed by the Kidney. The primary catalytic substance, Kidney
Essence  (Jing), enables the Spirit  (Shen) to express itself. Jing and
Shen interac t to create the soma and the psyche, the Water  and Fire,
the Yin and Yang. The presence  (Shen) that animates the being is
required to humanize its vessel, the body. The vessel (Jing) is
necessary to give mindful existence its form.
REGENERATION
The Kidney  supports the reproductive organs (ovaries, uterus,
testicles, prost ate), the reproductive material (sperm and ovum),
and reproduct ive activity (sexual impulse, ovulation, ejaculation,fertilization, gestation). When the Kidney Qi  is abundant, sexual and
reproductive life is vigorous  and lasting. The supply of inherited
Essence  is nite—our lifespan is demarcated by its ultimate
diminution.
GROWTH
The Kidney  engenders the structural elements of the body and
regulates growth. The


	and	there	is	no	identification	with	it.	It	moves	about	spontaneously,
correctly	executes	its	bodily	functions,	and	effortlessly	walks	and	breathes.	It
is	self-propelled,	and	its	actions	are	determined	and	activated	by	the	Presence.
The	body	is	merely	an	‘it’,	equal	to	any	other	‘thing’	in	the	room.
When	addressed	by	other	persons,	the	body’s	voice	responds
appropriately,	but	what	is	heard	in	the	discussion	resonates	at	a	higher	level	of
meaning.	The	deeper	and	more	profound	meaning	is	revealed	in	every
sentence.	All	communication	is	now	understood	at	a	deeper	level,	almost	as
though	each	simple-sounding	question	is	actually	an	existential	question	and
statement	about	mankind	itself.	On	the	surface,	the	wording	sounds
superficial,	but	on	the	deeper	level,	there	are	profound	spiritual	implications.
Appropriate	responses	are	given	by	the	body,	which	everyone	assumes	is
a	‘me’	that	they	are	talking	to.	This	in	itself	is	strange	because	there	is	no
actual	‘me’	associated	with	this	body	at	all.	The	real	Self	is	invisible	and	has
no	locality.	The	body	speaks	and	answers	questions	simultaneously	in	parallel
ways,	on	two	levels	at	the	same	time.
Stilled	by	the	Silence	of	the	Presence,	the	mind	is	silent	and	wordless.	No
images,	concepts,	or	thoughts	occur.	There	is	no	one	to	think	them.	With	no
person	present,	there	is	neither	thinker	nor	doer.	All	is	happening	of	itself	as
an	aspect	of	the	Presence.
In	ordinary	states	of	consciousness,	sound	prevails	over	a	background	of
silence	and	replaces	it.	In	contrast,	in	the	Presence,	the	opposite	occurs.
Although	sound	is	perceptible,	it	is	in	the	background.	The	Silence	prevails	so
that	the	silence	is	actually	not	interrupted	or	displaced	by	the	sound.	Nothing
disturbs	the	stillness	or	interferes	with	its	peace.	Although	movement	occurs,
it	does	not	disturb	the	motionless	stillness	that	is	beyond,	yet	inclusive	of,
motion.	Everything	appears	to	move	as	though	in	slow	motion	because	time	is
absent.	There	is	only	a	continuous	state	of	Now.	There	are	neither	events	norhappenings	because	all	starts	and	stops,	all	beginnings	and	endings,	occur
only	in	the	dualistic	consciousness	of	an	observer.	In	their	absence,	there	is	no
succession	of	events	to	be	described	or	explained.
Instead	of	thinkingness,	there	is	a	self-revealing	knowingness	that	imparts
complete	understanding	and	is	self-explanatory	by	its	self-effulgent	essence.
It	is	as	though	everything	speaks	silently	and	presents	itself	in	its	entirety	in
the	absolute	beauty	of	its	perfection.	In	so	doing,	it	manifests	its	glory	and
reveals	its	intrinsic	Divinity.
The	suffusion	of	the	Presence	throughout	the	totality	and	essence	of	all
that	exists	is	exquisite	in	its	gentleness,	and	its	touch	is	like	a	meltingness.
The	inner	Self	is	its	very	core.	In	the	ordinary	world,	only	the	surfaces	of
things	can	be	touched,	but	in	the	Presence,	it	is	the	innermost	essence	of
everything	that	is	interspersed	with	every	other	thing.	This	touch,	which	is	the
Hand	of	God	in	its	soft	gentleness,	is	at	the	same	time	an	expression	and	the
abode	of	infinite	power.	In	its	contact	with	the	inner	essence	of	everything,
one	is	aware	that	the	Presence	is	being	felt	by	every	other	thing,	object,	or
person.
The	power	of	this	gentleness	is	unlimited,	and	because	it	is	total	and	all
present,	no	opposition	is	possible.	It	pervades	All	That	Is,	and	out	of	its	power
arises	existence	itself,	which	is	both	created	by	the	power	and,	at	the	same
time,	held	together	by	it.	That	power	is	an	intrinsic	quality	of	the	Presence,
and	its	presence	is	the	essence	of	existence	itself.	It	is	equally	present	in	all
objects.	There	is	no	emptiness	anywhere	as	the	Presence	fills	all	of	space	and
the	objects	in	it.	Every	leaf	shares	in	the	joy	of	the	Divine	Presence.
All	things	are	in	a	state	of	silent	rejoicing	that	their	consciousness	is	an
experience	of	Divinity.	Unique	to	all	things	is	a	still,	ever-present	gratitude
that	it	has	been	granted	the	gift	of	experiencing	the	presence	of	God.	This
gratitude	is	the	form	in	which	worship	is	expressed.	All	that	is	created	and	has
existence	shares	in	reflecting	the	glory	of	God.
Human	appearance	has	taken	on	a	whole	new	aura.	The	One	Self	shines
forth	through	everyone’s	eyes.	A	radiance	shines	forth	from	everyone’s	face;
everyone	is	equally	beautiful.
Most	difficult	to	describe	is	the	interaction	among	people	that	moves	onto
a	different	level	of	communication.	There	is	obvious	love	among	everyone.
Their	speech,	however,	has	changed	so	that	all	conversation	has	become
loving	and	peaceful.	The	meaning	of	the	words	that	are	heard	is	not	the	same
as	others	hear.	It	is	as	though	there	are	two	different	levels	of	consciousness
going	on,	coming	out	of	the	same	scenario	of	form	and	movement;	two
different	scripts	are	being	spoken	via	the	same	words.	The	meanings	of	words
themselves	have	been	transformed	onto	a	different	plane	by	the	higher	selvesof	the	people	involved	with	each	other,	and	the	communication	of
understanding	is	on	a	higher	plane.	At	the	same	time,	it	is	clear	that	the	lower
selves	of	the	people	are	unaware	of	the	communication	simultaneously	going
on	with	their	higher	selves.	People	are	as	though	hypnotized	into	believing	the
reality	of	the	ordinary	selves,	which	is	merely	the	unwitting	acting	out	of
scenarios	or	roles,	as	in	a	movie.
By	ignoring	the	lesser	selves,	the	higher	selves	address	each	other	directly,
and	the	persons’	ordinary	selves	appear	to	be	unaware	of	this	ongoing	higher
level	of	conversation.	At	the	same	time,	people	are	sensing	intuitively	that
something	different	from	the	ordinary	is	happening.	The	conscious	presence
of	the	Self	creates	an	energy	field	that	people	find	extremely	pleasurable.	It	is
this	energy	field	that	performs	the	miraculous	and	brings	occurrences	into
harmony,	along	with	a	sense	of	peace	to	all	who	experience	it.
Visitors	who	had	traveled	many	miles	to	ask	questions	suddenly	knew	in
the	presence	of	that	aura	the	answers	that	came	about	through	an	inner
understanding	that	made	the	original	question	irrelevant.	This	occurred
because	the	Presence	recontextualized	the	illusion	of	a	‘problem’	and	thus
caused	it	to	disappear.
The	body	continued	in	its	operation	and	reflected	the	intentions
transmitted	through	consciousness.	The	continuance	of	the	body	was	not	of
any	great	interest,	and	it	was	clear	that	the	body	is	actually	the	property	of	the
universe.	The	bodies	and	objects	in	the	world	reflect	endless	variation	and	are
without	imperfection.	Nothing	is	better	or	worse	than	anything	else,	nor	is	it
of	different	value	or	significance.	The	quality	of	perfect	self-identity	defines
the	intrinsic	worth	of


ic acid.Seafood, molasses, nuts, legumes, whole-grain cereals.
FLUORINE: Found and needed mostly in the
structural system. Tooth enamel. Preservesbones.Disease resister and beautifier. Strengthenstendons. Knits bones, Cauliflower, cabbage, cheese, raw goat milkraw egg yolk, cod liver oil, brussels sprouts.Spinach, tomatoes, watercress,
IODINE: Found and needed mostly in
nervous system. Gland and brain mineral. (T)Metabolism norm alizer in the body, Prevents
goiter, normalizes gland and celi action.Ejects and counteracts poisons.Powdered Nova Scotia dulse and sea lettuce(very high), seafoods. Carrots, pears,onions,
tomatoes. pineapple, potato skins, cod liver
oil, kelp, garlic, watercress, safflower oil.
IRON: Found in blood. Stored in liver. (O.W) Essential in blood as oxy gen carrier, Pro-
motes vitality and ambition. Prevents anemia.All green leafy vegetables. blackberries, black
cherries, e ggyolk, liver, oysters, potato
peelings, whole wheat.MAGNESIUM: Found and needed mostly in
the digestive system. Nerve mineral. Nature's
laxative. (W.T)New celi promoter in the body. Relaxes,Refreshens system. Prevents and relievesconstipation and auto-intoxication- Grapefruit. Oranges, figs, whole barley,yellow corn, wheat, coconut, goat's milk, rawegg yolk.
MANGANESE: Found and needed mostly in
the nervous system. Tissue strengthener.Memory mineral. (W)Controlling nerves in the body. Increases
resistance. Coordinates thought and action.
Improves memory.Nasturtium leaves, raw egg yolk, almonds.
walnuts. watercress. mint, parsley, winter-
green, endive, pignolia nuts.
PHOSPHORUS' Found and needed mostly in
nervous system. Brain and bone mineral,
(T.W)Body and nerve builder. Nourishes brain and
nerves. Builds power of thought. Stimulates
growth of hair and bone.Seafoods, milk, raw egg yolk, parsnips,
whole
wheat, barley, yellow corn, nuts, peas. beans
lentils.
POTASSIUM: Found and needed mostly in
digestive system. Tissue and secretion
mineral. (W)Healer in the body. Liver activator. Strongly
alkaline. Makes tissues elastic, muscles
supple, creates grace, beauty, good
disposition.Potato skin, dandelion, dill. sage, cress, dried
olives, parsley, blueberries, poaches, prunes
coconut, gooseberries, Cabbage. figs,
almonds.
SILICON: Found and needed mostly instruc-
tural system, Nails, skin, teeth and hair. (W)Surgeon in the body. Gives keen hearing,
sparkling eyes. hard teeth, glossy hair. Tonessystem and gives resistance 10 the body.Cats, barley, spinach, asparagus, lettuce,tomatoes, cabbage, figs, strawberries.
SODIUM: Found and needed mostly in diges-
tive system. Gland, ligament and bloodbuilder, (W)Youth maintainer in thebody. Aids digestion.
Counteracts acidosis. Halts fermentation.
Purifies the blood,Okra, celery, carrots, beets, cucumbers,
string beans. asparagus, turnips, straw-
berries, oatmeal, cheese, raw egg yolk.
coconut. black figs.
SULPHUR; Found and needed mostly in the
nervous system. Brain and tissue mineral.
(O,T)purifies. and activates the body. Purifies and
tones the system. intensifies feelings and
emotion.Cabbage, cauliflower, onions. asparagus,
carrots, horseradish, shrimp, chestnuts,
mustard greens.
ZINC: Found in liver, muscles, bones, organs,
seminal fluid, insulin.Enzyme metabolism, aids digestion,phosphorus, metabolism.Wheat germ. yeast, sunflower seeds. seafoodmushrooms, soybean.
WHAT CAN YOU EXPECT FROM IRIDOLOGY?
Because of seeming simplicity and easy access, iridology has been
the study of many minds, from the devoted truth seeker to the
casually curious.
There have always been those who have abused a good thing by
taking advantage of it for personal gain, and iridology has been no
exception to this aspect of human behavior, There are those who have
fathomed the great truths in iridology and endeavor to upgrade and
make respectable the practice, and much progress has been made,
Likewise, there are those who, having had a single course or none atall, and having read a book or two, have gone out to "practice"
iridology, doing themselves and the science a disfavor.
Many have made claims about iridology that are ridiculous and
untrue.
We owe it to ourselves and those who seek self health care to keep
iridology clean and useful for everyone.
We believe that iris analysis should be used with all other forms of
analytical and diagnostic procedures to make as complete a diagnosisas possible.
This is a partial list of what you can and cannot expect from
iridology, and some questions it can answer,
1. Reveals constitutional strength. Are we built strongly or weakly?
How well does the body endure stress?
2. Reveals the health level. What is the health potential?
3. Reveals inherent strengths and weaknesses. What and where
are they'?
4. Reveals nutritional and chemical needs. What elements are
lacking and where?
5. Reveals the location of environmentally obtained toxic
accumulations.
5. Reveals the quality of nerve force in the body. What is the
condition of the nervous system?
7. Reveals response to treatment; how well the body is healing
itself and at what rate.
8. Reveals the acid/catarrh level inthe body. Where are the
accumulations?
9.Reveals the "whole" body as a unified structure. What is the "
overall" health level?IRIDOLOGY DOES NOT...
1. Iridology does not name diseases. Often we see situations and
conditions developing long before there are symptoms to which disease
names are attached. Instead, we see tissue strengths and weaknesses with
which we work to bring about a higher quality of health,
2.It does not reveal operations performed under anesthesia. Nerve
impulses are short circuited under these conditions.
3. It does not reveal pregnancy, because such a condition is normal
for the female body.
4. It does not reveal the presence of gallstones,
5. Iridology is not a psychic analysis.
6. Iridology cannot tell you what accident has occurred but can see
damaged tissue.
7. Iridology cannot tell specific pathology in the body, As individuals
vary greatly in their ability to endure stress, what appears to be a pathologyin one may not be a bother to another.
8, Iridology cannot pinpoint the location of parasites, germlife or
bacterial invasions that may exist in any part of the body. It does show,however, the condition of the tissue and the development of a host
situation that may allow for these things to manifest.
Iridology is a whole new branch of science. It is a speciality that works
well with any other science that is open minded enough to seethe
information
ithasto offer and work with it. Iridology is a "wholistic" tool in that it does
not deal specifically with one segment of the body, but realizes the trinity
of body, mind and spirit as having interrelated functions.
IN CONCLUSION
Methods should be investigated for improving the performance of thebody. Although a perfectly well individual may not exist, one is
afforded the opportunity to prevent
illness through amore healthy way of
living.
The body is a servant to our mental leadership, discipline and
discernment: it knows so little without a good leader. Truly, the body needs
a good path on which to travel; and the body molds to that good path. A
more natural life is the means of obtaining a cleaner body. One who has
earned a clean body, has a zest for living.Life is a challenge, Greater contributions may be made to society and to
the family unit by an individual who's reaching his natural health potential.
Happiness and harmony are a wonderful reflection, and an example to
friends, family and professional associates.
Good health allows the person to become the individual he wants to
be, and to obtain the highest goals in life. Of all the earthly treasures,
vibrant health is the most precious.
Iridology helps us to obtain our maximum health level, It brings an
awareness of how to prevent disease. It helps us to understand our
weaknesses, so we can try to strengthen them for future generations. It tells
us what foods we need to strengthen our bodies.
Iridology is now coming of age. The need for more effective health care
services has ushered in a host of alternative disciplines in an effort to stem
the tide of ever-increasing disease and physical malfunctioning. The test oftime will determine the truth and usefulness of all things. Those which are
shown to be of lasting value will pro sper while those whi ch do not will fall
away,
For


ue, simply  change the words that define your concept of yourself.
Don’ t discuss what you’re doing, because involving others in your I ams
invites their ego to assert its self-importance. Redefine your self-concept by
choosing the words that you opt to place into your imagination. Try this
rewording of your inner world as a beginning step to accessing the
assistance of your higher self and fulfilling your desires.
In the book of Joel, the Lord’ s advice is in harmony with what I’m writing
in this chapter: “Let the weak say, ‘I am strong’” (Joel 3:10). It is truly as
simple as these seven words from  the Bible advise. If you say, “I am weak,”
you defile the name of God that is your highest self. How is it possible for
the creative Source of the universe, the Source energy responsible for
creating worlds, to say, “I am weak”?As I’ve quoted previously, Jesus said, “Is it not written in your law, ‘I
said, “You are gods”’?” So how can you, as you now operate in your life
from your highest self, ever even think such a thought as I am weak, let
alone define yourself in such a blasphemous manner? By thinking I am
strong, you place in your imagination  the tools you need to achieve your
pronouncements, and you align with the Source of all, with strength instead
of weak ness. Align yourself so as to synchronistically invite the guidance
that is unavailable when you declare, “I am weak.”
Instead of I am incapable of getting a job, shift to I am capable. Similarly,
replace proclam ations of I am not able to live in peace  with I am peace. I
am unlucky in love is replaced by I am love. I am unworthy of happiness
becomes I am happiness.  The words I am, which you consistently use to
define who you are and what you are capable of, are holy expressions for
the name of God—the highest aspect of yourself. Break lifelo ng habits of
unwittingly besmirching this holy name. Discontinue using pejorative labels
to cast aspersions on your holy self.
One of the many great lessons of The “I AM” Discourses  is to always
make your very first considerati on to your Divine self. In fact, adoration to
it will allow you to rise to previously unimagined heights. You must make
your outer self accept the unlimited power of your inner presence.
Expanding Y our Inner Presence
It is impossible  for me to overstate the significance of using these two
words I am. They have transformative energy to guide and direct the
highest power in the universe, revealing you as a God-realized being. The
next four chapters explore in detail how to manifest a wishes fulfilled life.
This chapter emphasizes training yourself to become comfortable with
recognizing your tendency to think and say I am not or I hope to be, and
replacing it with I am. Neville spoke of it this way: “By creating an ideal in
your mind, you can identify yourself with it until you become one and the
same with the ideal, thereby transforming yourself into it.”16
It matte rs not how long you’ve  been stuck in a pattern that’s kept you
from fulfilling your highest ideal of yourself. By shifting so that you restate
who you are in your imagination and choosing to live from this perspective,
you will, as Neville suggests, achieve that transformation. This is truewhether you’ve  been a drug addict, a chronic stutterer, enmeshed in
poverty, riddled with illness, chronically lazy, unlucky in love, intellectually
inferior—or whatever you’ve wished you weren’ t! Apply the teachings of
the next four chapters first in your mind and then with actions that match
your inner I am.
Here are a few examples:
•   Addictions: Af firm, I am sober; I am perfectly healthy.
•   Stuttering: Af firm, I am in perfect command of my speech.
•   Poverty: Af firm, I am pr osper ous.
•   Illness: Af firm, I am well; I am perfect health.
•   Laziness: Af firm, I am in possession of unlimited ener gy.
•   Seeking love: Af firm, I am love, and I am in a loving r elationship.
•   Intellectually weak: Af firm, I am a genius.
You might be thinking that this is all self-delusion, and just saying I am
doesn’ t make it so. It’s probably  natural to feel skeptical if you believe that
what your sense s tell you is your only reality. The scriptures  offer some
words that may help you overc ome your cynical viewpoint. The opening
words in the book of John in the New Testament are: “In the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).
Thirteen verses later, there is this phrase: “And the Word became flesh and
dwelt among us” (John 1:14).
What do you suppose the phrase “and the Word was God” means? You
are more than your sensory awareness. You are also your own spiritual
divinity, which is impervious to those five senses. God procl aims in the
same scriptures, as I noted in the previous chapter, “My name is I Am.”
Those two words are now in your imagination in such a way that they align
perfectly with God. This is your beginning.
Steadfastly retain and repeat I am, and you will discover the reality of
“and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” Yes, the words I am.
Calling upon this name and placing it in your imagination and living from
this place literally joins you with the Source of power that allows you to
become all that you’ve affirme d, as well as to create miracles. Begin by
being willing to use these Divin e words as the name of your highest self:
God. That is the inauguration of the you that will live a wishes fulfilled life,as long as those  wishes are in alignment with the Source of being, which is
love—love for yourself and your magnificence, love for all of God’ s
creations. You will observe with joyous bewilderment as the words I am
become flesh and dwell in your life as a hardened fact.
Three Suggestions
— Com mit yourself to your own magnificence. Every time you look into
a mirror, remind yourself that what stares back at you is not an ever-
changing body, but an invisibleness that is truly your highest self. Affirm: I
am love, I am God, I am worthy, I am infinite, silently and out loud. Do this
frequently so that it eventually becomes your inner mantra. This is not an
ego exercise, it is an awakening  to the incredible miracle that you are. This
will help you abandon old patterns you’ve carried that have sullied your
personal relationship to this universe and all of the inherent beauty and
perfection it beholds.
— Fearlessly place I ams into your imagination. Recognize that
previously, your false self, your ego, would never have allowed this
expansion of your awareness. Ignore three-dimensional evidence that has
defined your existence up until now. Enter into a higher fourth dimension
that allows for the primary teaching of Jesus the Christ: “With God all
things are possible.” Your imagination is yours. You are free to place
anything in there at your discretion. I am talented, I am heroic, I am
ecstatically happy, I am wealthy beyond words, I am content, I am God.  Be
fearless, and let those ideals be your reality.
— Take this advice from The “I AM” Discourses.  Decide what you want
to do or become, and then, ignoring any and all interference, repeatedly say,
“‘I AM the Presence’ doing it.”17 Treat this as your calling to love and
adore your own mighty I am presence so that it always anchors and fortifies
you. Every time you use the words I am with anything, you are also calling
in the Divine power to do whatever you are proclaiming.
Implement these three suggestions and enter a dimension where there
isn’t a shred of doubt about your divinity and power.OceanofPDF.comCHAPTER SIX
THE THIRD  WISHES  FULFILLED  FOUNDA TION :
FEELING  IT
“That which you feel yourself to be you ar e, and you ar e given that which
you ar e. So assume the feeling that would be yours wer e you alr eady in
possession of your wish, and your wish must be r ealized. … So live in the
feeling of being the one you want to be and that you shall be.”18
— N EVILLE
I have a quotation on the wall near my bed that’s from a recording Neville
made in 1944, which reads: “Make your future dream a present fact, by
assuming the feeling of the wish fulfilled.” This is what I read and practice
each night befor e I sleep. These  are the words that eventually prompted me
to write this book. They capture the essential message, not only of this
chapter, but this entire book. There is so much wisdom in this idea of
assuming the feeling of the wish fulfilled.
Until this point I’ve been explaining the


 to have a basic message: relax. I
was confused to hear that because I had always associated
relaxing with r esigning. I had been waiting for someone to
explain to me how to ﬁght the ﬁght, or to ﬁght the ﬁght for
me, and now this book suggested that I sur render the ﬁght
completely. I was surprised but so r elieved. I had long
suspected I wasn’t made for worldly combat.
For me, this was not just another book. This was my
personal teacher, my path out of hell. As I began r eading
the Course and following its W orkbook e xercises, I could feel
almost immediately that the changes it pr oduced inside of
me wer e positive. I felt happy. I felt lik e I was beginning to
calm down. I began to understand myself, to get some hook
on why my r elationships had been so painful, why I couldnever stay with anything, why I hated my body. Most
importantly, I began to have some sense that I could
change. Studying the Course unleashed huge amounts of
hopeful ener gy inside me, ener gy that had been tur ning
darker and mor e self -destructive every day.
The Course, a self -study pr ogram of spiritual
psychotherapy contained in thr ee books, claims no
monopoly on God. It is a statement of universal spiritual
themes. Ther e’s only one truth, spok en diﬀer ent ways, and
the Course is just one path to it out of many. If it’s your
path, however, you know it. F or me, the Course was a
breakthr ough e xperience intellectually, emotionally, and
psychologically. It freed me fr om a ter rible emotional pain.
I wanted that “awar eness of love’s pr esence” that I had
read about, and over the ne xt ﬁve years I studied the
Course passionately. As my mother said at the time, I “ read
it like a menu.” In 1983, I began sharing my understanding
of the Course with a small gathering of people in L os
Angeles. The gr oup began to gr ow. Since then, my lectur e
audiences have gr own signiﬁcantly her e and abr oad. I have
had the opportunity to see how r elevant this material is to
people thr oughout the world.
A Return to L ove is based on what I have lear ned fr om A
Course in Miracles. It is about some of the Course’s basic
principles as I understand them and r elate them to various
issues that aﬀect our daily lives.
A Return to L ove is about the practice of love, as a
strength and not a weakness, as a daily answer to the
problems that confr ont us. How is love a practical solution?
This book is written as a guide to the miraculous application
of love as a balm on every wound. Whether our psychic painis in the ar ea of r elationships, health, car eer, or elsewher e,
love is a potent for ce, the cur e, the Answer.
Americans ar e not that big on philosophy. We’re very big
on action, however, once we understand the r eason for it.
As we begin to understand mor e deeply why love is such a
necessary element in the healing of the world, a shif t will
occur in how we live our lives within and without.
My prayer is that this book might help someone. I have
written it with an open heart. I hope you’ll r ead it with an
open mind.
Marianne W illiamson
Los Angeles, CA
OceanofPDF.comI N T R O D U C T I O N
When we wer e bor n, we wer e programmed perfectly. We
had a natural tendency to focus on love. Our imaginations
were creative and ﬂourishing, and we knew how to use
them. W e wer e connected to a world much richer than the
one we connect to now, a world full of enchantment and a
sense of the miraculous.
So what happened? Why is it that we r eached a certain
age, look ed ar ound, and the enchantment was gone?
Because we wer e taught to focus elsewher e. We wer e
taught to think unnaturally. We wer e taught a very bad
philosophy, a way of looking at the world that contradicts
who we ar e.
We wer e taught to think thoughts lik e competition,
struggle, sickness, ﬁnite r esour ces, limitation, guilt, bad,
death, scar city, and loss. W e began to think these things,
and so we began to know them. W e wer e taught that things
like grades, being good enough, money, and doing things
the right way, ar e mor e important than love. W e wer e
taught that we’r e separate fr om other people, that we have
to compete to get ahead, that we’r e not quite good enough
the way we ar e. We wer e taught to see the world the waythat others had come to see it. It’s as though, as soon as we
got her e, we wer e given a sleeping pill. The thinking of the
world, which is not based on love, began pounding in our
ears the moment we hit shor e.
Love is what we wer e bor n with. F ear is what we have
learned her e. The spiritual jour ney is the r elinquishment—or
unlear ning—of fear and the acceptance of love back into our
hearts. L ove is the essential e xistential fact. It is our
ultimate r eality and our purpose on earth. T o be consciously
awar e of it, to e xperience love in ourselves and others, is
the meaning of life.
Meaning doesn’t lie in things. Meaning lies in us. When
we attach value to things that ar en’t love—the money, the
car, the house, the pr estige—we ar e loving things that can’t
love us back. W e are sear ching for meaning in the
meaningless. Money, of itself, means nothing. Material
things, of themselves, mean nothing. It’s not that they’r e
bad. It’s that they’r e nothing.
We came her e to co -create with God by e xtending love.
Life spent with any other purpose in mind is meaningless,
contrary to our natur e, and ultimately painful. It’s as though
we’ve been lost in a dark, parallel universe wher e things ar e
loved mor e than people. W e overvalue what we per ceive
with our physical senses, and undervalue what we know to
be true in our hearts.
Love isn’t seen with the physical eyes or hear d with
physical ears. The physical senses can’t per ceive it; it’s
perceived thr ough another kind of vision. Metaphysicians
call it the Thir d Eye, esoteric Christians call it the vision of
the Holy Spirit, and others call it the Higher Self. Regardless
of what it’s called, love r equir es a diﬀer ent kind of “seeing”
than we’r e used to—a diﬀer ent kind of knowing or thinking.Love is the intuitive knowledge of our hearts. It’s a “ world
beyond” that we all secr etly long for. An ancient memory of
this love haunts all of us all the time, and beck ons us to
return.
Love isn’t material. It’s ener gy. It’s the feeling in a r oom,
a situation, a person. Money can’t buy it. Se x doesn’t
guarantee it. It has nothing at all to do with the physical
world, but it can be e xpressed nonetheless. W e experience
it as kindness, giving, mer cy, compassion, peace, joy,
acceptance, non-judgment, joining, and intimacy.
Fear is our shar ed lovelessness, our individual and
collective hells. It’s a world that seems to pr ess on us fr om
within and without, giving constant false testimony to the
meaninglessness of love. When fear is e xpressed, we
recognize it as anger, abuse, disease, pain, greed, addiction,
selﬁshness, obsession, cor ruption, violence, and war.
Love is within us. It cannot be destr oyed, but can only be
hidden. The world we knew as childr en is still buried within
our minds. I once r ead a delightful book called The Mists of
Avalon. The mists of A valon ar e a mythical allusion to the
tales of King Arthur. Avalon is a magical island that is hidden
behind huge impenetrable mists. Unless the mists part,
there is no way to navigate your way to the island. But
unless you believe the island is ther e, the mists won’t part.
Avalon symbolizes a world beyond the world we see with
our physical eyes. It r epresents a miraculous sense of
things, the enchanted r ealm that we knew as childr en. Our
childlik e self is the deepest level of our being


  that the
necessary regeneration can take place.
The cyclical nature of the universe is closely linked with the
impermanence o f all things and situations. The Buddha made this a
central part of his teaching. All conditions are highly u nstable and in
constant flux, or, as he put it, impermanence is a characteristic of every
condition, every situation you will ever encounter in your life. It will
change, disappea r, or no longer satisfy you. Impermanence is als o central
to Jesus ’ s teaching: “Do not la y up for yourselves treasures on earth,
where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal....”
As l ong as a condition is judged as “good” by your mind, whether it be a
relationship, a possession, a social role, a place, or your physical body,
the mind  attaches itself to it and identifies with it. It makes yo u happy,
makes you feel g ood about yourself, and it may become part of who you
are o r th ink you are. But nothing lasts in this dimension where moth and
rust consume. Either it ends or it changes, or it may under go a  polarity
shift: The same condition that was good yesterday or last year has
suddenly or gradually turned into bad. The same condition that made you
happy th en makes you unhappy. The prosperity of today becomes the
empty consumerism of tomorrow. The happy wedding and honeymoon
become the unhappy divorce or the unhappy coexistence. Or a condition
disappears, so its absence makes you unhappy. When a condition or
situation that the mind has attac hed itself to and identified with changes
or d isappears, the mind cannot accept it. It will cling to the disappearing
condition and resist the change.  It is almost as if a limb were b eing torn
of f your body.
W e som etimes h ear of people w ho have lost all their money or whose
reputations have  been ruined committing suicide. Those are the extremecases. O thers, w henever a major loss of one kind or another oc curs, just
become deeply unhappy or make themselves ill. They cannot distinguish
between their life and the ir life situation. I recently read about a famous
actress who died in her eighties. As her beauty started to fade and
became ravaged  by old age, she grew desperately unhappy and became a
recluse. She, too, had identified with a condition: her external
appearance. Firs t, the condition gave her a happy sense of self, then an
unhappy one. If she had been able to connect with the form less and
timeless life within, she could h ave watched and allowed the fading of
her exte rnal form from a place of serenity and peace. Moreover, her
external form would have become increasingly transparent to the light
shining through  from her ageless true nature, so her beauty would not
really have faded but simply be come transformed into spiritual beauty.
However, nobody told her that this is possible. The most essential kind
of knowledge is not yet widely accessible.
The Buddha taught that even your happiness is dukkha  — a Pali word
meaning “suf fering” or “unsatisfactoriness.” It is inseparable from its
opposite. This means that your happiness and unhappiness are in fact
one. Only the illusion of time separates them.
This is not being negative. It is simply recognizing the nature of things,
so th at you don’ t pursue an illusion for the rest of your life. Nor is it
saying that you should no longe r appreciate pleasant or beautiful things
or condi tions. But to seek something through them that they cannot give
— an identity, a sense of perma nency and fulfillment — is a recipe for
frustration and suf fering. The whole advertising industry and consumer
society would collapse if people became enlightened and no longer
sought to find their identity through things. T he more you s eek happiness
in th is w ay, the more it will elud e you. Nothing out there will ever satisfy
you exc ept temporarily and superficially, but you may need to
experience many disillusionments before you realize that truth. Things
and conditions can give you pleasure, but they will also give you pain.
Things a nd conditions can give you pleasure, but they cannot give you
joy. No thing can give  you joy. Joy is uncaused and arises from within as
the joy of Being. It is an essential part of the inner state of p eace, thestate that has been called the peace of God. It is your natural state, not
something that you need to work hard for or struggle to attain.
Many people never realize that there can be no “salvation” in anything
they do, possess, or attain. Those who do realize it often become world-
weary and depressed: If nothin g can give you true fulfillment, what is
there left to strive for, what is the point in anything? The Old T estament
prophet must have arrived at such a realization when he wrote: “I have
seen eve rything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a
striving after wind.” When you  reach this point, you are one s tep away
from despair — and one step away from enlightenment.
A Buddhist monk once told me : “All I have learned in the twenty years
that I have been  a monk I can sum up in one sentence: All th at arises
passes away. This I know.” What he meant, of course, was this: I have
learned to of fer no resistance to what is ; I  have learned to allow the
present moment to be and to accept the impermanent nature of all things
and conditions. Thus have I found peace.
T o o f fer no res istance to life is to be in a state of grace, ease, and
lightness. This state is then no longer dependent upon things being in a
certain way, good or bad. It seems almost paradoxical, yet when your
inner dependency on form is g one, the general conditions of y our life,
the outer forms, tend to improve greatly. Things, people, or conditions
that you  though t you needed fo r your happiness now come to you with
no strug gle or ef fort on your  part, and you are free to enjoy and
appreciate them  — while they last. All those things, of course, will still
pass aw ay, cycle s will come an d go, but with dependency gone  there is
no fear of loss anymore. Life flows with ease.
The happiness that is derived from some secondary source is never very
deep. It is only a pale reflection of the joy of Being, the vibrant peace
that you  find within as you ente r the state of nonresistance. Be ing takes
you beyond the polar opposites of the mind and frees you from
dependency on form. Even if everything were to collapse and crumble all
around y ou, you  would still feel a deep inner core of peace. Y ou may not
be happy, but you will be at peace.
USING AND RELINQUISHING NEGA TIVITY
All inner resistance is experienced as negativity in one form or another.
All negativity is  resi stance. In this context, the  two words are almost
synonymous. Negativity ranges from irritation or impatience to fierce
anger, from a depressed mood or sullen resentment to suicidal despair.
Sometimes the resistance triggers the emotional pain-body, in which case
even a minor si tuation may produce intense negativity, such as anger,
depression, or deep grief.
The ego believes that through ne gativity it can manipulate reality and get
what it wants. It believes that through it, it can attract a desirable
condition or dissolve an undesirable one. A Cours e in Miracles  rightly
points out that, whenever you are unhappy, there is the unc onscious
belief th at the unhappiness “bu ys” you what you want. If “you” — the
mind — did not believe that unhappiness works, why would y ou create
it? T he fact is,  of course, tha t negativity does not work. In stead of
attracting a desirable conditio n, it stops it from arising. Instead of
dissolving an undesirable one, it keeps it in place. Its only “useful”
function is that it strengthens the ego, and that is why the ego loves it.
Once you have identified with some form of negativity, you do not want
to let go, and on a deeply unco nscious level, you do not want positive
change. It would threaten your identity as a depressed, angry, or hard-
done-by person. Y ou will then ignore, deny, or sabotage the positive in
your life. This is a common phenomenon. It is also insane.
Negativity is totally unnatural. It is a psychic pollutant, and t here is a
deep lin k between the poisoning and destruction of nature and  the vast
negativity that has accumulated in the collective human psyche. No other
life-form on the planet knows negativity, only humans, just as no other
life-form violate s and poisons the Earth that sustains it. Have you ever
seen an unhappy  flower or a stressed oak tree? Have you come across a
depressed dolph in, a frog that has a problem with self-esteem, a cat that
cannot r elax, or a bird that carries hatred and resentment? T


 palate, pancreas, skin, kidneys, bladder
Plasma heart, blood vessels, lymphatic system
Blood liver, spleen, blood vessels, arteries, capillaries
Muscle nutrients ligaments, tendons, skin
Fat fatty tissue, arteriesBone nutrients teeth, hips, joints
Bone marrow marrow, nerve tissue
Ovum/sperm testes, ovaries
Urine kidneys, bladder
Feces colon, rectum
Sweat fatty tissue, hair follicles
Menses uterus (only in women)
Milk breasts (only in women)
Similarly, the mind and the heart are couriers of thought and emotion.
Try to imagine a traf fic jam in any one department, and you can see how
easy it is to create chaos and breakdown in the entire channel network. Take
the exam ple of blood pooling in the veins of the lower foot — something
that happens to many people. To begin with, poor circulation results in poor
distribution of nutrients across the cells and tissues. It also reduces the flow
of oxygen to and from the body, causing irregular heartbeat, dizziness, and
fatigue. The feet swell up and the blood can form clots. In serious cases a
clot can travel to the lungs, becoming a potentially fatal pulmonary
embolism.
In fact, the root of most mino r and major illnesses is some kind of
blockage: a tooth pocket filled with plaque, mucus-choked sinuses,
accumulated fat, a stone blocking the gall bladder, a clogged artery.
At the stage when toxins are still building up, we sense discomfort,
pain, and restlessness. When the jam becomes crippling, we give the
resulting disease a name: cystitis, arthritis, diabetes, depression, heart
disease, cancer.
Until I began studying Ayurve da, I didn’ t realize how easy it is to
collect toxins on an average day without even trying. My daily toxin pile
accumulates from small acts of neglect: eating a late dinner, omitting to
moisturize my skin, breathing shallowly all day, sitting hunched for hours
over my computer, hurting over an insensitive comment.On a rushed day, I go on my toxin-collecting spree more system atically.
I work late into the night, depriving my body and mind of the rest they
need. I wake up irritable and groggy, with little appetite for breakfast.
Whatever appetite I have, I dous e with three continuous cups of coffee. I go
to work  and plunge straightaway into the waiting files. I make careless
mistakes, then simmer when they’re pointed out. Just before a crucial
meeting, I find I have gone completely blank. How do these acts of neglect
translate into actual physical toxins? They generate such substances as acid,
bile, cholesterol, and adrenaline.  In moderate amounts, these are essential to
life. But produced in excess, they overwhelm the body, compromising its
ability to perform the routine  functions of metabolism and digestion
normally.
Thus burdened on the home front, the body finds it increasingly difficult
to keep away the enemies straining at its barriers — smoke, dust, nitrates,
pesticides — and the agents of disease begin to stroll in. In this stage of
weakened immunity, the body becomes what vaidyas call a beej-bhoomi,  or
“breeding ground” (beej means “seed,” and bhoomi  is Sanskrit for “earth”),
for disease to take root. It is a seedbed for disease to thrive in, fed with the
manure of toxins by a self-destructive gardener. Not a pretty image, but alas
true.
In Ayurveda, these toxins are called ama (pronou nced “aa-ma”). This
deceptively sweet-sounding Sanskrit word literally means “unripe,
immature, undigested.” All undigested, toxic matter inside you is ama —
whether in the form of food, bile, acid, or negative thoughts.
ama up close
Because the Ayurvedic perspec tive encompasses the total picture, it takes
into account toxins that germinate in both body and mind. Ama, therefore,
is both physical and mental. If ignored for too long, it can even seep into the
soul.
Physical AmaAma in the body  almost always begins with inefficient digestion. When
your lifestyle is at odds with the needs of your constitution — you skip
meals, eat foods that are not right for you, and eat at the wrong time — your
body’ s vital digestive fire, which  vaidyas call jatharagni,  dims. As a result,
food fails to be totally digested and properly absorbed.
Undigested food, or ama, sits in the stomach and putrefies, releasing
toxic chemicals. Slowly, it clogs the intestines and prevents the colon from
assimilating nutrients from digested food.
In Ayurveda, this kind of ama is described as a sticky, white, foul-
smelling substan ce that blocks arteries and capillaries. It jams the tissues
and cells of the body. This, in turn, inhibits the free flow of water, blood,
wastes, nutrients, and air in the system. If neglected, ama spreads and
lodges in the tiniest circulatory channels of your body, causing a plethora of
symptoms ranging from unease and bloating to heaviness and pain.
These symptoms are your body’ s SOS signals, telling you that ama has
weakened your innate capacity to heal yourself. Your body is asking you for
help.
Why not help your body before it is forced to ask for assistance? It’s
easy to do. From  time to time, check for ama buildup by asking yourself
some basic questions:
•   Is my breathing slow and steady, deep and unrestricted?
•   Is my appetite keen?
•  Do I experience thirst at regular intervals?
•  Is my waste (urine, stool, sweat) output normal? (Healthy urine is
light-colored and odor-free, occurring without obstruction or
urgency; healthy stool occurs once or twice a day, floats in water,
and does not smell foul; sweat should be free of strong odor—  and
not be either profuse or insuf ficient.)
•  Are my five senses (sight, hearing, taste, touch, and smell)
performing well?
•  Is my skin lustrous and supple?
•  Am I generally free of ulcers, lumps, and bumps?
•  Do I feel active and ener getic?
•  Is my breath fresh and are my teeth strong?•  Are my joints well-lubricated and healthy?
•  Is my sexual ur ge normal?
•  Do I sleep well?
Do you notice the common thread that runs through these seemingly
diverse questions? That thread is blockage. You’re checking for obstruction
in all areas of your body — from hunger and vision to elimination and
energy. Your answers should give you a fair idea of your ama levels while
also pinpointing the trouble spots. I strongly recommend paying attention to
the clues you receive from this test. Small discomforts and complaints —
whether slight trouble focusing on faraway objects or a recurrent muscle
twitch — indicate that disorder is still at an elementary stage and can be
turned around with positive ef fort.
One obvious sign of ama in your system is a coated, “furry” tongue.
That is why vaidyas ask you to open your mouth and stick out your tongue;
the amount and color of coating on your tongue gives them vital
information about the extent to which ama has accumulated in your system.
Mental and Emotional Ama
Though you cannot see it, you can sense non-physiological ama. You
can feel it in the little irritations and anxieties that pile up durin g your day.
Slowly, these negative thoughts and energies multiply, leadin g to bigger
problems such as insomnia and depression.
The loss of a loved one, tension at work, divorce — these are the big
ama generators. The mind cannot easily process them and the heart cannot
easily “digest” them. A pang of jealousy or a creative block will make a
small but significant contribution to your reservoir of emotional ama.
Here is a quick mental-ama assessment test. Before you take it, a word
of advice: Answer these questio ns when you are in a relaxed frame of mind
so that you can analyze your responses without being filled with guilt or
alarm. If you do find yourself being swamped by those feelings, remember
two things:
1. The purpose here is not to chide yourself; it is to read your slate as it
is, then decide how to wipe off the smudged portions and write a
new script on it. Just like a slow, steady hand prints neat letters, aslow and relaxed approach to rewriting your health will always work
best.
2. A good garde ner knows why leaves develop brown patches; there is
a problem at the root level. Similarly, this little quiz could guide you
to the root of your own emotional behavior. And when you start
from the depths, there’ s only one way things can go: upward.
Here are the questions that will help you assess your level of mental
ama:
•  Am I happy at work?
•  Do I have a stable family life and a strong support system?
•  Am I happy with my partner?
•  Do I have a strong relationship with my coworkers and friends?
•  Is my ability to rest — both physically and mentally — adequate?


dead
air’ periods. Any form of anger must always be avoided as
it disturbs the rhythmic ﬂow of the breath.
Breathing exercises aime d to transmute the breath into
soul-substance and so make it one with the universal
breath or ch'i. ‘Womb breathing’ had another association
in the esoteric sense in that it helped to develop and bring
to birth the embryo of the imperishable spiritual body. In
the Tao Tê Ching  the regulation of the breath is spoken of
as becoming  ‘soft and pliant as an infant.’ Ko Hung said
that medicines could help in the work but breathing
exercises speeded the attainment of the goal, whileChuang Tzu said: ‘The pure men of old slept without
dreams and woke without anxiety. They ate with
discretion, breathing deep breaths; for pure men draw
breath from their uttermost depth, literally “from their
heels”; the vulgar only from their throats.’ Chuang Tzu
obviously knew of and accepted yogic practices of
breathing, but, with characteristic amusement, rejected
the too serious minded and vigorous eﬀorts of the yogins
and ascetics.
In Chinese yoga, as has been said, one adopted the
posture of sitting on the heels (which always was, and still
should be, the correct posture for women) or one might
‘lie with the eyes shut and hands closed, keep the breath
shut up inside to two hundred, then expel it from inside
the mouth.’ Ultimately one should be able to hold the
breath for one thousand respirations; at this point the
pulse practic ally stops and a state of total serenity is
achieved; this is called the ‘freezing spirit.’ Holding the
breath was also used therapeutically. The breath was
‘harmonized’ then swallowed and held as long as possible,
while concentrating the mind on the aﬀected organ. Here
we have direct evidence  of the theory of the power of
thought in inﬂuencing physical conditions; the ﬁrst
psychosomatic remedy.
Before starting exercises ‘One must withdraw  to a
retired chamber, shut the doors, seat oneself on a bed with
a soft cover and a pillow two and a half inches high, lie
down with the body in the right position, close the eyes
and keep the breath shut in the diaphragm of the chest so
that a hair laid on the mouth will not move.’ This deep
breathing, almost silent, is a characteristic of both the
condition of hibernation  in animals, the experience of
mystical ecstasy, and of the samhadi  or satori  of yoga; it is
achieved at both extremes of the animal-human
experience; in other words, throughout nature. Thishibernation-yogic breathing also transcends time and rises
out of it into the eternal Now.
In Taoist-yog ic breathing  exercises a circular motion is
set up; the ‘voluntary’ or ascending movement draws the
breath up from the base of the spine to the top of the
head, while the ‘involuntary’ or descending movement
goes back from the lower lip, through the other ‘centres,’
to the tail of the spine, known as the ‘gate of the tail.’ This
motion can set up a heat current. Each centre is known as
a ‘ﬁeld of the elixir,’ the lowest centre or ﬁeld being
symbolized by the cauldron. This circular movement, and
the heat it involves, brings about the union of the two
great powers, ﬁre and water, the ﬁre of the heart region
and the watery element of the stomach and kidneys. It is
also a reﬂection in the microcosm of the human  body of
the cycles of the macrocosm. In alchemical terms, the
mercury of the heart centre is compounded with the lead
of the kidney  centre to produce the elixir of life. The Blue
Dragon and White Tiger, Fire and Water, are uniﬁed, yin
and yang  are uniﬁed and the Golden Flower is born. The
region of the navel is known as the ‘burning cauldron’ or
stove, and when the vital force is roused it ascend s to the
‘precious cauldron’ in the head and is transformed into
spirit. This is the ‘cavity of the spirit,’ between and behind
the eyes.
From this it will be seen that there is a considerable
similarity between Taoist and Tantric yoga. The perfect
health of the body as a vehicle for the spirit is basic to
both and various techniq ues in Tantrism are at one with
Chinese alchemy in being  designed to ‘destroy old age and
conquer death.’ Many of the famous Tantric yogins were
also well-kn own alchemists; both traditions developed
siddhi  powers and both aimed at the same transmutation
of the lower body, or base metal, into the perfect  body of
the True Man. An analog y can also be traced betw een theTaoist circul ar movemen t of the force or energ y in the
body and the Indian kundalini, the power symbolized by
the serpent coiled at the base of the spine, which lies
dormant until, awakened by yogic practices, it begins the
ascent up the spinal region through the chakras, each
represented by a lotus, until, increasing in power at each
stage, it reaches the highest point in the head and beings
about realization, enlightenment.
Kundalini, like ch'i, is spoken of as an ‘energy,’ a ‘cosmic
life energy;’ when roused it transverses all the chakras, or
‘ﬁelds,’ upwards to ﬁnal union of the opposites at the
highest point. This is also spoken of as symbolizing the
Sacred Marriage and in Hinduism as the union of Siva
with the female goddes s or shakti.  The ﬁrst chakra  in
kundalini  symbolism can be compared with the ﬁrst or
‘mortal gate’ in Taoist yoga, from whence the vital force
ascends the spinal region; but in Chinese yoga the
movement and force are cyclic, ascending in a spiral form
to the ‘head gate,’ then returning from the ‘cavit y of the
spirit’ to the source, passing downwards again through the
other centres of the heart, navel and womb, thus
activating the ‘foetal breath’ and bringing about a union of
the yin and yang  powers to form a total unity in the body
as a medium for the spirit. This process of ascending and
descending sets up a cycle of vitality. The spine in both
Indian and Chinese yoga symbolizes the world axis, while
the ascent is the alchemical change from the lower to the
higher, lead to gold. There is also an analogy between the
lotus of the chakras  and the Golden Flower of Taoism, in
that when the yogic-alchemical process is fulﬁlled and the
inner light is found, the lotus, or ﬂower, begins to
circulate, to move of its own volition—the Mover  at Will.
This is also paralleled in many western texts which state
that the Philosophers' Stone has to circulate.Chinese alchemical yoga combined both mental control
and physical exercises with a diet designed to contain the
‘vital forces’  and to avoid any that were inimical to their
development. The taking of alchemical medicines also
played a part. Diet varied, but in yoga it was largely
vegetarian, although the ‘ﬁve pungent roots,’ the garlic
and onion family,' were to be avoided as aphrodisiacs,
while anothe r dietary course advocated abstaining from
cereals, ‘the ﬁve grains,’ and eliminating ﬁsh, fowl and
meat. Fasting was also recommended as beneﬁcial and
was, indeed, essential to many alchemical practices that
lead towards hsien -hood. Eatin g too much coarsens the
body and as the body increases so the soul decreases. It is
said in the Book of Lieh Tzu that those who dwell in the
Isles of the Immortals ‘do not eat the ﬁve grains but inhale
air and drink dew.’ In fact when the ‘vitality’ is fully
developed the yogin or hsien  is said to be able to ‘disp ense
with eating and forget about sleep,’ and there were those,
such as the female hsien  Mao Nü, who, on a diet of pine
needles, recommended by a Taoist hermit, became
immune from  hunger and cold and whose body became so
etherialized that she appeared to ﬂy.
There was also a wine which appeared to have the
qualities of the elixir in conferring immortality: ‘There is a
jade rock on Ying Chou Island, about 10,000 feet in height,
from which issues a sprin g resembling wine in taste. It is
called Jade-wine Spring. If one drinks several pints of this
wine one will immediately become intoxicated. It confers
immortality on human beings.’
Many of the rules on diet