, when they end you would end too.
Y our body and mind together  make up what we call a
person—the imagined self.
A person is what you experience, it is not what you ar e.
W e can never ha ve true lasting happiness while we hold on
to the belief that we’r e a person.
Y ou ar e  experiencing a body, experiencing a mind, and
having the  experience of being a person, but they ar e not
you.
W e’r e pr etending we’r e a small, limited person thr ough
constant thoughts of limitation.
Who you r eally ar e is  un limited, which means absolutely
nothing has power over you.
Y ou’ve b een awar e your entir e life; A war eness is and has
been the only constant in your life.That awar eness is who you  really ar e.  Y ou are awareness.
Y ou couldn’ t know or experience any of life without
awar eness.
It’ s not the min d or the body that is awar e of your life.
A war eness is what is awar e of every single life experience
you have.
Imagine you have no body or mind, name, life story, past,
memory, beliefs, or thought. What is left is A war eness.
W e usua lly give our attention exclusively to thoughts and to
everything we per ceive, so we m iss what is always pr esent—
A war eness.
A war eness is pr esent even when you’r e asleep.
When you ask yourself the question, “Am I awar e?”
immediately awar eness is noticed. It didn’ t appear; it was
always pr esent.
Everything other than awar eness eventually ends or dies.
The “I” that we call ourselves at every age is the ageless
“I” of A war eness, which has witnessed our entir e life.
Instead of looking outwar d to t he world for happiness, we
need to turn and  look inwar d; it’ s only in that dir ection that
we will find everything we’r e looking for.C h a p t e r  3
The Reveal Continued
Y ou ar e  A wareness; you’re not a person being awar e  of something. Y ou are
Infinite A wareness itself.
As Francis Lucille said, a telescope is just an instrument without the astronomer
looking through it. Y our body and mind are instruments too. And so what’ s
looking through  your eyes? Y ou, A wareness! What’ s hearing sounds? Y ou,
A wareness! Y our body is alive because of A wareness—A wareness is actually
the life force that animates your body.
“The fu ndamental mistake is to believe a human being is experiencing
awareness. This is not correct. Only awareness is aware, and  therefore only
awareness can experience awareness. When I ask you, ‘Are yo u aware?,’ you
will pau se to check your experie nce and you will answer, ‘Y es.’ That ‘yes’ is an
af firmation of awareness’ s awareness of itself. It is not a body or a brain that
experiences being aware. The body and brain are experienced ; they don’ t
experience.”
Rupert Spira, fr om the talk “The Light of Consciousness”
Ther e Is Only One: Our Name Is “I”
“Only awarenes s is aware. Hum an beings aren’ t aware. Dogs and cats aren’ t
aware. Animals  aren’ t aware. Only awareness is aware. There is only one
awareness, just as there is only  one space in the universe. That awareness is
refracted in each of our minds and, as a result, each of our minds seems to have
its o wn package of awareness, just as every building seems to contain its own
space. B ut the awareness with  which each of our minds is aware of its
experience is the only awareness there is, infinite awareness, just as the space in
all buildings is the same space.”
Rupert Spira, fr om the talk “A war eness Is the Only A war e Entity in Existence”
This Infinite A wareness—this one and only A wareness— is you, and every other
person! There is only one A wareness, and it’ s the same A wareness that is
operating through everybody. There is just one of us. Our name is “I.”“There is only one ‘I,’ and you are It, as everyone is It.”
David Bingham
It’ s the one A w areness operating through every living form. A ll the physical
forms are simply dif ferent veh icles for the one glorious, Infin ite A wareness.
This is the true meaning of the teaching, “W e are one.”
Consciousness and A wareness are dif ferent words used to des cribe the same
thing. They both describe you.
“This very ordinary consciousn ess, which is hearing these w ords right this
moment, and understanding the m, happens to be also the divine consciousness
that lives all lives. There is not a single separate entity in the entire cosmos.”
Francis Lucille, fr om  T ruth Love Beauty
“W e are One. There is only one in us. There is only one as us.”
Mooji, fr om  White Fire, second edition
It’ s a little like t he trillions of individual cells living, working, a nd operating in
your bod y. Unbe knownst to each of the individual cells, they are really part of
the one human being. There ar e billions of beings in the world, operating as
individuals, and unbeknownst to most of them, they’re the one a nd only Infinite
Being.
“W e have been taught to believe that this consciousness is personal and limited,
and that  each person is endowed with a private and separate co nsciousness, so
that ther e are many consciousne sses. W e have never considered that while it is
easy to verify that two objects are separate, because it is possible to see their
borders and limits, it is not possible to find any border or limit to
consciousness.”
Francis Lucille, fr om  T ruth Love Beauty
If there’ s only one A wareness or Consciousness, why aren’ t you aware of
thoughts or sensations in other people’ s bodies? Or of what an animal in Africa
is seein g or hearing? It’ s bec ause A wareness or Consciousness has been
funneled throug h your mind, m aking it localized to your body. Plus, the belief
that you’re a s eparate individual prevents you from experi encing the full
expansiveness of A wareness. But when you feel compassio n or love for
another, you are far more tuned in to the one A wareness than you might have
realized.
W e’ve all had gl impses in our li fe of the A wareness that we are, but more often
than not  we passed them of f as something we imagined or a trick of the mind.
Whether we remember them or not, we’ve had experiences that we can’ t
explain, very often when we were children. It may have been an experience
where y ou felt you expanded to be really big, and felt like the w orld was within
you, or maybe you saw or heard something that no one else could see or hear.
Children are more tuned in to A wareness because their mind hasn’ t yet covered
A wareness over  with a whole array of mental concepts and beliefs. Under the
age of two and a  half, children are pure, simple A wareness. They don’ t have the
experience of being separate, wh ich is why they refer to themselves in the third
person. On seeing herself in a photograph, two-year -old Sarah  will point andsay, “Th at’ s Sarah!” She won’ t say, “That’ s me,” because she’ s not yet
experiencing herself  as a “m e,” a separate person. H er experience is that there’ s
only One and she is it, and everyone else is it.
“There’ s nothing out there but our consciousness. The re’ s only one
consciousness and we’re it.”
Lester Levenson, fr om  Happiness Is Free, volumes 1–5
A wareness or Consciousness is all through your body and everywhere outside
your body; A wareness can’ t be contained within your body because A wareness
is formless. It would be like trying to contain space in a jar; of course, space is
both inside the jar and everywh ere outside the jar. In fact, the jar is in space,
just as all bodi es are in A war eness. Ab solutely everything is con tained in
A wareness, and it’ s the reason why the enlightened beings’ expe rience of life is
that they  are everything—becau se they ar e  e veryth ing. And as A wareness, so
are you!
“Behind your eyes is the same consciousness, the only consciousness that is
behind Jesus, Buddha, Krishna, and behind all eyes.”
My teacher
Think ab out tha t. Y our Consciousness is the same Consciousness as all of the
great beings; that’ s how close you are to them


, effort, and resources addressing
this toe—there may have been a huge focus for years on this toe—we are
looking in the wrong place for healing. We are looking to the external
perceptual realm. What we really need to do, first of all, is to take the
focus off the toe. The toe and the pain in the toe is an effect. The mind is
misdirected when it’s so riveted  on what’ s just an effect. We have to pull
the attention off the toe and open to the awareness that the problem does
not have  anythi ng to do with the specifics—the pain or the toe. The
problem is a perceptual problem. We may need a lot of convincing to
realize this, and we will have to remind ourselves over and over and train
our mind to pull our attention off of effects. We do this by stepping away
from our current perception and training our mind to find and realize the
real cause of our problems: the belief in separation. This is the only real
and lasting option for relief. It’s reframing the problem from perception
and pulling it back to see that it’s much more profound than that. The toe
is just a tiny ef fect of the actual problem. Sickness Is a Grievance
Sickness, in other words, is wrong-minded thinking. It is a grievance,
and only forgiveness heals a grievance. This grievance lies much, much
deeper than the surface symptoms that you are aware of. In fact, thegrievance probably doesn’ t even seem to have any overt or obvious
connection to the symptom. You may not understand it conscio usly, but
you will begin to feel an impetus to go much, much deeper and start to
welcome what’ s unconscious into awareness. And this is really a time of
rejoicing. It’s not a time of think ing you have failed to find a solution to
this specific symptom. It’s more like a time of rejoicing that you’re
getting to the point where you want to look much deeper inside. So
rather than looking for symptom relief, you start to look for perceptual
problem relief. It is a huge difference! It’s a relief to no longer try to heal
the toe, but rather to focus on the unconscious wrong-minded thinking
that has projected the painful toe: the story of how it happened, the life
situation in general, the body, and the whole universe. We can see sickness as a call for help. It is a call for love. By
exercising our willingness to expose and dispel our attack thoughts, we
can answer this call for help and experience healing—physically,
emotionally, and mentally. We start to clearly see that the ego is
constantly tryin g to play a major trick on us by covering the original
attack thought of separation with other surface attack thoughts that
generate the sickness: attack thoughts around the body, attack thoughts
around the toe, fear thoughts around any symptom that you seem to
have. It can take a lot of convincing to accept that all illness is actually
mental illness, that it is all in the mind. The convincing will happen
through miracle s that will help us fully release the belief that events and
circumstances are the cause of sickness. Feeling sick is a call for us to question our unconscious beliefs and
conclusions and to gently invite another perception. We do this step by
step, little by little, practicing with what’ s currently in front of us in our
awareness, in our life. If somebody says they are ill, the immediate thoughts that follow
are usually questions about what is wrong with them, what is hurting
them, what are the symptoms, and what is the diagnosis. There is such a
focus and fixation on the body and physical symptoms, on the particulars
of the disease, and the form of the illness. The world has set up a
sophisticated medical model to treat and prevent physical and mentalhealth problems. As such, there is often a desire to try to find the
answers on the level of form. The attempts at solutions are endless: diet,
exercise, surgery, and a countless variety of different therapies and
practices. Dismantle and Heal
Let’s take a look at a scenario that could have a transcending nature for
you if you yearn for healing. A patient typically goes to a doctor or
therapist becaus e they want a magical shift. They want a better life in
form. They want the doctor to magically take away their problems, their
difficulties, and their pains and symptoms. And herein lies the problem. Getting a better life in form is just a temporary shift; it can never be
lasting. The true healer, the Holy Spirit, is the real therapist and doctor. However, the patient thinks twice about accepting this healing, since
healing with the Holy Spirit requires a complete shift. It means that they
would have their self-concept, their entire world, dismantled. They might
think, I didn’t ask you to take my life away. I asked you to make it better! Give me a better life; give me a better illusion instead of the dism antling. Because of the fear of the loss of this life as they know it, the patient will
not trust the Holy Spirit, so the sickness and the temporary fixes churn
on and on like a treadmill. But dism antling is what we are in for now. When we go for healing,
we are in for a journey of letting go of everything we believe and
everything we think we know, and this is how we discover the full power
and potential of our holy mind. Healing occurs the instant we no longer
see any value in sickness. It can be hard to understand what that even
means! First we have to admit that we must have some kind of attraction
to sickn ess—a sick attraction to wrong-mindedness, a sick attraction to
pain, a sick attraction to guilt, or an addiction to misery. People who
have gone throu gh a 12-steps program often feel that they had some kind
of sick attraction  to their addictions. And what we need to ackn owledge
is that deep down, we are choo sing our sickness. It comes from a bad
thinking habit. But you can change your habit. Whatever you made can
be unma de. Whatever you thought you did can be undone. No matter
how bad you think it has becom e, it is reversible because you can acceptthe correction in your mind. You just need to quit hiding. You must go
inside, face what’ s there, and for give it. We are responsible for what we think, and if we hold on to ego
thoughts, fear will inevitably be the emotion that we experience. There is
usually a resistance to completely letting go of these thoughts because
many of them are part of a defense mechanism that the mind uses to try
to keep things the way they are. We have to be convinced through
miracles that it is safe to let go of our habitual thinking—the judgments
and the attack thoughts—and trust that this is the only way we can heal
our mind. We are invited to join with the Holy Spirit to have our
unconscious issues flushed into awareness so we can transcend them
completely. When we rise above the battleground of our conflicts and
hurts, peace starts to settle in our mind. Then there’ s no longer a need to
act out the grievances and wrong-minded thinking in the form of
sickness. Free from Grievances
There can be an enormous temp tation to be hard on yourself as you go
through your healing process. Don’ t give in to it. The ego wants to
sabotage the whole healing process by having you throw in the towel,
thinking it’s too difficult. Maybe you think you’re not doing it good
enough or that you’ll never get past the obstacles, the sickness, or the
darkness of your wrong-minde d thinking. The ego just wants you to
come up with some conclusion to shut down your willingness. But it is a
fact that the ego has no defense when your willingness is joined  with the
Holy Spirit. This ignites a huge powerful healing. The only thing that
you are really asked to do is offer your willingness, and if you stay
willing, it can be a pretty quick journey! Here is a story that clearly shows how a little willingness to forgive
can bring about a powerful heali ng. I used to work at a hospice. One day
I went for lunch with a colleagu e, who is also a minister, as he wanted to
talk. He looked at me and said, “I have been diagnosed with leukemia,
and it’s pretty far advanced, so I don’t know how many more  weeks I
can continue on with the hospice training.”I looked at him, and the Holy Spirit guided me to say, “Is there
somebody in your life who used to be really close to you, someone
whom you used to just talk and laugh with, but whom you haven’ t
spoken to in years?”
He sat back, he put his burger down, and he said, “How did you
know about my sister?”
I said, “So, you haven’ t spoken to your sister in years?” And the
Holy Spirit guided me to continue, “You know what, this leukemia
diagnosis that you have got; it’s not what you think it is. You have got a
grievance again st your sister, and you need to go home. Here is your
hospice homew ork


 bladders were highly symptomatic. Treatment
with prednisone had been tried but without success. Then the two patients
responded very well to instillations of DMSO intravesically (into the bladder) and
had their conditions disappear. 11
DMSO works well to alleviate an unhealed wound at the site of a tooth
extraction, the well-known “dry socket” that defeats the surgical skills of many
dentists. Characterized by intense pain, discharge of pus, and sequestra (residual
symptoms, signs, and other ill effects), dry socket is most often associated with a
difficult extraction. Dripping DMSO directly into the extraction site tends to
prevent this problem from arising. 12Lastly, dimethyl sulfoxide has been used to offset inflammations associated
with sunburn. Phytophotodermatitis arising in the summer months in temperate
climates varies from mild to severe erythematous reactions (inflammation of the
skin due to widening or clogging of capillaries near the skin surface) with or
without vesicles or bullae (blisters) on the exposed parts of the body. By treating
the skin with a membrane labilizing agent (an agent that causes chemical change)
such as DMSO and a membrane stabilizing agent such as the steroid
desoximethasone, comfort for the patient is achieved. 13
DMSO ANTI-ARTHRITIS THERAPY
DMSO is not a cure for arthritis. It is one part of a five-part treatment program that
consists of:
1. Nutrition
2. Microendocrinology
3. Immunotherapy
4. Food allergy elimination
5. DMSO
Powerful chemical agents such as cortisone, phenoprophins, phenylbutazones,
and gold have no place in this arthritis treatment program. Nutrition writer Adelle Davis, the idol of health food enthusiasts who has been
wrongly, in my opinion, sneered at by numerous medical traditionalists, was way
ahead of her time. Many of her nutritional suggestions have been confirmed by
good scientific research. The ultimate traditionalist in nutrition, the United States
Department of Agriculture, has, in fact, adapted much of her wisdom in its
“Dietary Goals” for Americans. The National Research Council of the National
Academy of Science proved Adelle Davis correct when it issued its 1982 report—
two years in the making—on
Diet, Nutrition, and Cancer. The Council was
chaired by Dr. Clifford Grobstein of the University of California, and made up of
fourteen highly respected medical scientists. As we know from high school biology, and were reminded in college and
medical school, the anterior pituitary gland is the so-called “master gland. ”
Through the action of ACTH, it directly controls the adrenals. But something we were not taught, and which is of great clinical significance, is
that the highest concentration of certain nutrients is in the adrenals and pituitarygland. The highest concentration of vitamin
E in the body is stored in the pituitary;
the highest concentration of vitamin C is held by the adrenals. Also, the pituitary
gland needs sufficient protein for efficient function, and the greatest concentration
of pantothenic acid lies in the adrenal glands. Adelle Davis reasoned that if the adrenals were excreting enough natural
cortisone, exogenous cortisone would not be needed in the treatment of arthritis. She knew from the work of Dugal (
Endocrinology
 44: 420, 1949) that animals
under stress need
seventy times
 the normal requirement of vitamin C to protect the
adrenals and that people in the “arthritis years” require twice as much vitamin C as
the young. As we can see from my simple little diagram (see
Figure A-1
), vitamin E
deficiency will lead to pituitary insufficiency and, from hyposecretion of ACTH,
adrenal insufficiency follows. Therefore, a
deficiency
 of vitamin C, vitamin E, pantothenic acid, and protein,
or perhaps certain combinations of these deficiencies, will, over a period of years,
lead to arthritis. Because of the high intake of sugar and junk food in this country,
subclinical deficiencies of these nutrients (and others) are common. Vitamin C deficiency is the easiest to measure. Studies of the night nursing
personnel of the Emergency Department at Memorial Hospital in Sarasota, Florida,
were revealing. These women were under extreme stress (which decreases vitamin
C levels) due to the abnormal hours they worked and the nature of the cases they
saw—such as gunshot wounds—with the concomitant responsibility. All of the
nurses smoked cigarettes, which drastically depresses vitamin C levels. Most of
them were on the birth control pill, which depresses vitamin C. They ate large
amounts of sugar-filled foods and drank copious amounts of cola drinks, which
drive down vitamin C levels. And they took frequent doses of aspirin (C-
depressing) for the headaches induced by their usual hypoglycemic swings brought
on by the colas and other junk food they ate. Figure A-1
 Diagram showing that adrenal insufficiency follows vitamin E deficiency. Eighty percent of these young women, who appeared to be in good health, were
vitamin C deficient. Over a period of years they have had chronic adrenalexhaustion, and arthritis is likely to follow. Yet, these workers were registered
nurses who should have known how to take care of themselves. I have barely scratched the surface on the importance of nutrition and arthritis. But, contrary to the pronouncements of the Arthritis Foundation, nutritional
deficiencies play a major role in the etiology of arthritis, something the writings on
orthomolecular nutrition by Adelle Davis and other authors will teach you. MICROENDOCRINOLOGY
Dr. Melvin Page’s extensive work with the calcium-phosphorus ratio,
anthropometric measurements, and microendocrinology is a major advance in the
treatment of arthritis in particular and degenerative disease in general. ALLERGY TESTING
For good results in the treatment of arthritis, food allergies must be investigated. The method I like best is cytotoxic testing of the blood. But, unfortunately,
cytotoxic labs are available in only a few cities. Sublingual testing or the
cumbersome elimination diet technique might possibly be used as a substitute. For excellent assistance with the various sophisticated allergy tests, including
the paper radioimmunosorbent (PRIST) test, the cytotoxic (or leukocytotoxic) test,
the radioallergosorbent (RAST) test, the fluoroallergosorbent (FAST) test, the
autoradiographic (MAST) test, the immunoperoxidase (IP) test, and the enzyme-
linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test, you might use the services of several
laboratories that I am listing here. Note: of all the tests, the RAST and the ELISA
have proven most popular among those physicians specializing in environmental
medicine, because these two diagnostic procedures seem to be most accurate. Since this is not a book about food allergy, hypersensitivity, cytolytic reaction,
immune complex mediated reaction, delayed hypersensitivity reaction, food
intolerance, food idiosyncrasy, food metabolic reaction, toxicity reactions, or
anaphylaxis, I won’t go into detail describing the various tests. Instead, acquire
information from the following laboratories, which are quite accommodating to the
health professional:
Immuno Laboratories, 1620 West Oakland Park Boulevard, Ft. Lauderdale,
Florida 33311; toll-free nationally (800) 231–9197, in Florida (305) 486–
4500, teleFAX (305) 739–6563. Meridian Valley Clinical Laboratory, 24030 132nd Avenue SE, Kent,
Washington 98042; toll-free nationally (800) 234–6825, in Washington (206)
631–8922, teleFAX (206) 631–8691. (This is the laboratory with which
Jonathan Wright, M. D., was associated and that was raided at gunpoint by
agents of the FDA in May 1992. ) Metametrix Medical Laboratory, 5000 Peachtree Industrial Boulevard, Suite
110, Norcross, Georgia 30071; telephone (404) 446-5483, teleFAX (404)
441-2237. Great Smokies Diagnostic Laboratory, 18A Regent Boulevard, Asheville,
North Carolina 28806; toll-free nationally (800) 522-4762, in North Carolina
(704) 253-0621, teleFAX (704) 253-1127. National BioTechnology Laboratory, Inc., 13215 SE 240th Street, Suite C,
Kent, Washington 98042; telephone (206) 630-2295, (800) 846-6285. IMMUNOTHERAPY
Another weapon in our treatment armamentarium is immunotherapy. Bernard A. Bellew, M.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>
Q: What is the pH level of the aqueous solution used to dissolve noncholesterol residues?,
A: 8.8
Q: What is the composition of the solvent used to dissolve human cholesterol stones in rabbits?,
A: Methyl tert-butyl ether-DMSO (70:30)
Q: What is the effect of infusing the solvent into the gallbladder?,
A: The infusion leads


 to be made available, and thus the Self
activates the capacity of the Teacher to communicate by virtue of the
reemergence of the persona/personage functionality that thereby interfaces
with the world via mind/languaging faculties. Even though the mind is
silent, speaking occurs spontaneously as a consequence of the proximate
invitational field. The same spontaneity occurs via writing, which supports
availability and access to information. As a result, information becomes
accessible worldwide and transgenerational. To a live audience, the persona becomes interactive as an autonomous
agency that is simultaneously devoid of individuality or personhood. Thus,
the speaker is a functionality and not a personality. The persona rapidly and
autonomously adjusts to changes in a situation, but when inactivated, it is
silent and nonexistent, just as silence prevails in the absence of sound. Communication therefore represents the activation of a potentiality. Similarly, activation of the body occurs autonomously and spontaneously in
coordination with environmental situations. Paradoxically, the option to
depart from physicality remains an open potentiality. The Nature of Communication
Spiritual truth represents nonlinear power and strength. Thereby, its
expression may likewise be unadorned. The style of communication
automatically tends to align with the goal of serviceability to the listeners
and the capacity to comprehend and intuit the recognition of the innate
reality of Truth. Sometimes there is elaboration of explanation, and at other
times brevity, which serves economy of time and energy. Thus, the style of
communication is an expression of the stewardship of that which is ofvalue. Actually, it takes only 1/10,000th of a second to ‘get’ something for
which one is ready by virtue of surrendering the gratification of personal
intentions. The Teacher is not motivated to convince anyone because acceptance is
a privilege of freedom, nor is the Teacher interested in ‘proving’,
persuading, proselytizing, or promoting. When the time is right, the apple
falls from the tree. There is no need to shake it, intimidate it, or resort to
cajolery. All occurs when it is propitious by virtue of intention, karmic
propensities, and favorable conditions. All that evolves does so by the
agency of the evolution of consciousness itself; thus, the Teacher represents
fulfillment of potential. Spiritual statements are valid at their calibrated level of Truth. The
truths of formal religion can also be verified at the respective calibration
levels. Religious truths are reinforced by ecclesiastical authority and formal
acceptance as doctrine. Spiritual truth, on the other hand, relies on no
external authority but stands on its own by virtue of its pristine origin. The
invitation of spiritual pathways is to subjectively reaffirm those spiritual
realities upon which the survival of humankind actually relies, knowingly
or not. Characteristics of Integrous Teachers and Teachings
That to which devotees trust their very souls should be verifiably
trustworthy and integrous. Therefore, the basic essentials of researched and
documented spiritual integrity, teachers, teachings, and organizations are
reprinted here from Truth vs. Falsehood for convenience. Identification and Characteristics of Spiritual Truth, Integrous
Teachers, and Teachings
  1. Universality: Truth is true at all times and places, independent of
culture, personalities, or circumstances. 2. Nonexclusionary: Truth is all-inclusive, nonsecretive, and nonsectarian. 3. Availability: It is open to all; nonexclusive. There are no secrets to be
revealed, hidden, or sold, and no magical formulas or ‘mysteries’. 4. Integrity of purpose: There is nothing to gain or lose. 5. Nonsectarian: Truth is not the exposition of limitation. 6. Independent of opinion: Truth is nonlinear and not subject to the
limitations of intellect or form.  7. Devoid of Positionality: Truth is not ‘anti’ anything. Falsehood and
ignorance are not its enemies but merely represent its absence. 8. No requirements or demands: There are no required memberships,
dues, regulations, oaths, rules, or conditions. 9. Noncontrolling: Spiritual purity has no interest in the personal lives of
aspirants, or in clothing, dress, style, sex lives, economics, family
patterns, lifestyles, or dietary habits. 10. Free of force or intimidation: There is no brainwashing, adulation of
leaders, training rituals, indoctrinations, or intrusions into private life. 11. Nonbinding: There are no regulations, laws, edicts, contracts, or
pledges. 12. Freedom: Participants are free to come and go without persuasion,
coercion, intimidation, or consequences. There is no hierarchy; instead,
there is voluntary fulfillment of practical necessities and duties. 13. Commonality: Recognition is a consequence of what one has become
rather than a result of ascribed titles, adjectives, or trappings. 14. Inspirational: Truth eschews and avoids glamorization, seduction, and
theatrics. 15. Nonmaterialistic: Truth is devoid of neediness of worldly wealth,
prestige, pomp, or edifices. 16. Self-fulfilling: Truth is already total and complete and has no need to
proselytize or gain adherents, followers, or ‘sign up members’. 17. Detached: There is noninvolvement in world affairs. 18. Benign: Truth is identifiable along a progressive gradient. It has no
‘opposite’ and therefore no ‘enemies’ to castigate or oppose. 19. Nonintentional: Truth does not intervene or have an agenda to propose,
inflict, or promulgate. 20. Nondualistic: All transpires by virtue of intrinsic (karmic) propensity
within the field by which potentiality manifests as actuality rather than
by ‘cause’ and effect. 21. Tranquility and Peace: There are no ‘issues’ or partialities. There is no
desire to change others or impose on society. The effect of higher
energies is innate and not dependent on propagation or effort. God does
not need help anymore than gravity needs the ‘help’ of an apple’s falling
off the tree. 22. Equality: This is expressed in reverence for all of life in all its
expressions and merely avoids that which is deleterious rather thanopposing it. 23. Nontemporality: Life is realized to be eternal and physicality to be a
temporality. Life is not subject to death. 24. Beyond proof: That which is ‘provable’ is linear, limited, and a product
of intellectualization and mentation. Reality needs no agreement. Reality
is not an acquisition but instead is a purely spontaneous, subjective
realization when the positionalities of the dualistic ego are surrendered. 25. Mystical: The origination of truth is a spontaneous effulgence, radiance,
and illumination, which is the Revelation that replaces the illusion of a
separate individual self, the ego, and its mentation. 26. Ineffable: Not capable of definition. Radical subjectivity is experiential. It is a condition that replaces the former. With this event, context
replaces content, devoid of temporality and beyond time. Reality does
not exist in time, nor of it, beyond it, nor outside of it, and it has no
relationship to that which is an artifice of mentation. It is therefore
beyond all nouns, adjectives, or verbs, transitive or intransitive. 27. Simplistic: One sees the intrinsic beauty and perfection of all that exists
beyond appearance and form. 28. Affirmative: Truth is beyond opinion or provability. Confirmation is
purely by its subjective awareness; however, it is identifiable by
consciousness calibration techniques. 29. Nonoperative: Truth does not ‘do’ anything or ‘cause’ anything; it is
everything. 30. Invitational: As contrasted with promotional or persuasive. 31. Nonpredictive: Because Reality is nonlinear, it cannot be localized or
encoded in restriction of form, such as secret messages, codes, numbers,
and inscriptions, or hidden in runes, stones, the dimensions of the
pyramid, the DNA, or the nostril hairs of the camel. Truth has no secrets. The Reality of God is omnipresent and beyond codification or
exclusivity. Codes are indicative of man’s imagination and not the
capriciousness of Divinity. 32. Nonsentimental: Emotionality is based on perception. Compassion
results from the discernment of truth. 33. Nonauthoritarian: There are no rules or dictates to be followed. 34. Non-egoistic: Teachers are respected but reject personal adulation or
specialness.35. Educational: Provides information in a variety of formats and ensures
availability. 36. Self-supporting: Neither mercenary nor materialistic. 37. Freestanding: Complete without dependence on external or historical
authorities. 38. Natural: Devoid of induced, altered status of consciousness or
manipulations of energies by artificial exercises, postures, breathing, or
dietary rituals, (i.e., nonreliance on form or physicality; no invoking of
entities or ‘others’). 39. Complete: Devoid of exploitation or gain. Spiritual Teachers
It is useful to calibrate the levels of consciousness of the teachers and
associated literature


hyah  paripalayantam  /  nyajena  margena
mahim  mahisah
Gobrahmanebhyah  subham  astu  nityam  /  lokah  samastah
sukhino  bhavantu
Kale  varsatu  parjanyah  I  prthivi  sasya  salmi
Deso  yam  ksobha  rahita  I  brahmanah  santu  nirbhayah
May  people  be  happy. May  the  peacemakers
righteously  rule  the  Earth. Let  there  be  welfare  for  animals  and  people
of  wisdom  at  all  times. May  all  be  happy. May  it  rain  at  the  proper  time. May  the  Earth
produce  grains. May  this  world  be  free  from  famine. May  people  of
contemplation  be  fearless. I  write  this  book  to  explore  the  nature  of  the  human
universe. From  the  beginning  of  time,  the  ancients
referred  to  both  the  body  and  the  universe  as  food. Christ,  at  the  Last  Supper  with  his  disciples,  shared
the  bread,  which  symbolized  his  body. In  the  Bhagavad
Gita,  Lord  Krishna,  in  conversing  with  Arjuna,  refers
to  his  body  as  food  and  as  the  consumer  of  food. We
are  the  air,  water,  soil,  and  light  of  this  planet. Every grain  of  sand,  every  mountain  range,  every  river,  and
every  leaf  contains  the  same  elements. We  celebrate
nature  in  our  very  nature. We  eat  from  nature  what  is
within  our  nature. The  food  body  of  the  universe  is
our  personal  food  body. There  is  no  difference. I  also  write  this  book  to  refresh  our  cognitive
memories. I  use  many  ancient  precepts  from  the  Vedas
to  paint  images  that  were  originally  transmuted  in  the
fire  of  the  universal  mind. These  pictures  vivify  the
essence  of  being. They  stir  the  cognitive  memories  of
the  ahamkara,  the  individual  self,  so  that  we  may
remember  the  Atman — our  true  timeless  and  bound-
less nature. I  explore  the  transformation  of  the  five  elements,
which  interlace  the  "material"  of  our  being. Body
types,  or  doshas,  are  a  paradigm  of  the  universal  pat-
tern. When  we  understand  this  microcosm,  we  are
fully  aware  of  reflecting  the  macrocosm. The  foods,
menus,  and  recipes  given  here  are  culled  from  the
myriad  of  essential  spices,  herbs,  grains,  legumes,
vegetables,  fruits,  and  seeds  of  the  planet,  all  woven  in
a  state  of  balance  by  the  Vedic  principles  of  life. Each  body  type  has  its  own  special  practices  01
sadhanas. These  are  wholesome  and  abiding  acth  ities
that  are  attuned  to  nature  and  that  have  been  refined
through  the  memory  of  all  time. The  sadhana  inher-
ent within  each  life  form  is  prodded  b)  memory. Every  stirring  within  tree  and  animal,  every  stillness
and  transmutation  within  mountain  and  eai  th,  evei  J
flow  and  confluence  ol  streams  and  1  ivei  s,  evei  \  leap
of  a  kangaroo,  flight  of  the  deer,  hop  ol  a  rabbit,  gait
of  a  tiger,  fluttering  ol  a  sparrow,  gliding  ol  an  <.wl\\c
every  motion  signifies  sadhana  This  is  the  pattern
based  on  the  memory  ol  the  universe. I  propose  we
introduce  sadhana  into  oui  lives  as  a  wholesome  guide
to  remembering  nature. Sadhana  stirs  oui  cognitive
memory  and  revives  the  lost  ai  t  ol  beauty,  grace,  and
accommodation. Through  sadhana  we  are  able  to
garner  the  vibrations  ol  the  universe  to  help  us  meld
with  the  earth  body. ^m^
jrsjr*J'jrirjrJ'jr*irjrjrj'***JHr*jrjrjrjrSSJJ>*J>^
PART     ONE
I
w*************j>j>****M***j>****3rnnr±
CHAPTER      1
COSMIC    ROOTS
yurveda  is  rooted  in  India's  most  cherished  scriptures  known  as  the  Vedas,  which  date  to  about
B.C. 1500. Of  the  four  Vedas,  two  of  them — the  Rig  Veda  and  Atharva  Veda — give  detailed
information  about  healing,  surgery,  and  longevity. The  Rishis,  the  holy  bards  of  ancient  India  who
compiled  the  Vedas,  received  their  instruction  and  information  internally. The  Rishis,  which  literally
translates  as  "seers,"  would  immerse  themselves  in  contemplation  and  meditation  and  would  "see"  the
truth. They  culled  their  information  from  the  cosmos. While  we  could  say  that  Western  medicine
sprang  from  a  microscopic  examination  of  the  microcosm,  the  physical  world  of  amoebas  and  cells,
Indian  medicine  arose  from  a  microscopic  examination  of  the  macrocosm,  the  sublime  embracing
silence  that  contains  all  knowledge  and  the  sacred  memory  of  all  time,  our  cognitive  memory. Ayurveda  is  not  only  the  ancient  Indian  science  of  preventative  health  and  healing  but  also  a
philosophy  of  living. Rarely  treating  the  symptoms,  Ayurveda  cures  by  removing  the  cause  of  disease. From  the  rich  legacy  left  us  by  the  Rishis,  we  learn  what  we  are  now  coming  to  know  again  in  the  West:
transgressions  against  Nature's  laws,  against  our  own  inner  wisdom,  are  the  cause  of  all  disease. The
disease  may  be  either  physical  or  karmic  in  origin. Physical  diseases  are  due  to  engaging  in  excessive
use  of  our  senses,  improper  eating,  or  ignoring  the  cycles  of  the  seasons  or  our  age. Karmic  diseases
result  from  incorrect  actions  performed  in  this  or  previous  lifetimes. Around  the  eighth  century  in
India,  when  rebirth  became  recognized  as  a  truth,  it  became  understood  that  the  physical  body  was
the  only  part  of  us  that  dies. Our  psychic  instrument,  or  antahkarana,  which  is  composed  of  the
intellect,  mind,  and  ego,  or  ahamkara,  travels  with  us  lifetime  after  lifetime  until  we  attain  final
liberation,  or  moksha. This  book  concerns  itself  with  both  types  of  transgressions  because,  in  fact,  they  cannot  be
separated. As  long  as  we  are  ignoring  a  karmic  condition,  we  cannot  be  whole;  as  long  as  we  are
ignoring  a


 process. Mix  thoroughly. A  good  ratio  of  these  ingredients  would  be  1  cup
seeds,  1  tablespoon  each  tamari  and  water. Steaming
This  is  an  excellent  method  for  preserving  the  fresh-
ness and  vital  minerals  in  foods. In  India  this  proce-
dure, known  as  bhap  dayana,  is  generally  used  in  the
spring  and  summer. Although  it  may  be  done  through-
out the  year,  steaming  is  not  advisable  in  the  cold
seasons  since  heat  is  not  retained  in  the  food. Steamers — both  of  bamboo  and  stainless  steel — are
available  with  anywhere  from  one  to  four  tiers. Place  a
198
smt,
INTRODUCTION    TO    THE    RECIPES
small  amount  of  water  in  the  bottom  of  a  pan  that  has
a  tight-fitting  lid;  the  water  level  should  remain  below
the  lowest  steam  basket. Add  the  steamer,  filled  with
uncooked  vegetables,  to  the  pan  and  cover. Maintain  a
medium-high  heat  to  keep  the  water  boiling. The  cooking  time  varies  from  7  to  45  minutes
depending  on  the  soft  or  firm  qualities  of  the  veg-
etables, the  cutting  styles  used,  and  the  desired  result. Leafy  greens  and  watery  vegetables  take  about  10
minutes  to  steam;  stalk  vegetables,  such  as  broccoli,
cauliflower,  and  Brussels  sprouts,  take  about  15  to  20
minutes,  as  do  soft  root  vegetables,  such  as  daikon. Hard  root  vegetables,  such  as  carrots,  burdock,  and
potato  chunks,  require  a  deeper  pot  and  more  water;
they  take  about  30  to  35  minutes  to  steam. With  leafy
greens,  be  careful  not  to  oversteam;  ideally,  the  cooked
leaf  should  be  a  vibrant  green. Vegetables  are  best
cooked  just  until  fairly  crisp,  or  al  dente. Sauteing
This  method,  lightly  cooking  a  food  in  a  small  amount
of  oil,  is  ideal  for  most  vegetables. The  freshness  and vital  minerals  are  maintained  in  the  vegetables,  while
the  rich  accent  of  oil  adds  to  the  flavor  of  the  food. Sauteing  requires  much  less  oil  than  frying — a  mere
2  teaspoons  of  oil  being  enough  to  saute  a  handful  of
vegetables. The  addition  of  a  few  teaspoons  of  water
extends  the  effects  of  the  oil  on  the  food. Vegetables
may  also  be  sauteed  in  a  few  tablespoons  of  water,  in-
stead of  oil. If  spices  are  called  for,  they  may  be  sauteed
in  the  oil  before  the  vegetables  are  added. Either  a
heavy  stainless  steel  frying  pan  or  a  cast-iron  skillet,
both  with  a  tight-fitting  lid,  is  required  for  sauteing. Moderate  heat  is  best  for  sauteing. The  cooking
time  varies  from  5  to  25  minutes  depending  on  the
soft  or  firm  qualities  of  the  vegetables,  the  cutting
styles  used,  and  the  desired  result. Place  the  oil  in  the  skillet  and  allow  to  warm  over
medium  heat. Add  the  spices  (if  called  for)  and  saute
for  2  minutes. Add  the  vegetables  and  water  equal  to
the  amount  of  oil  used  and  cook  until  done. Vata
types:  use  1  tablespoon  oil  to  1  handful  of  vegetables;
Pitta  types:  use  2  teaspoons  of  oil  to  1  handful  of
vegetables;  Kapha  types:  use  1  tablespoon  of  oil  to  1
handful  of  vegetables. 191; >m
TRADITIONAL    GROUND
DHALS   AND    GRAINS
n  India,  dhals  and  grains  are  freshly  ground  into  various  textures,  such  as  flours  and  wet-pastes,
for  daily  use. Once  broken,  the  grains  and  seeds  begin  to  lose  their  vital  energy. The  longer  the
time  between  the  processing  and  use  of  ground  dhal  and  grain,  the  more  depleted  their  energy. Freshly  ground  flours  and  pastes  produce  the  most  nutritive  and  wholesome  results. The  grinding
processes  are  very  simple  (see  page  194). Once  you  incorporate  them  into  your  daily  cooking  routines,
you'll  find  it  difficult  to  revert  to  cooking  with  lifeless  flour. Vadai  and  amavadai  are  deep-fried  patties  made  from  ground  dhal  that  have  been  spiced  and
soaked  in  yogurt. Traditional  to  South  India,  the  vadai  are  made  with  urad  dhal  and  the  amavadai  are
made  with  toor  or  chana  dhal. They  are  often  served  at  religious  ceremonies  and  wedding  festivities. Adai  and  othappam  are  also  traditional  to  South  India. Adai  is  made  from  freshly  ground  mung
dhal  and  basmati  rice,  and  othappam  is  made  from  urad  dhal  and  rice. The  dhals  and  rice  are  soaked
and  ground  separately  and  then  combined. The  adai  batter  is  used  immediately,  whereas  the  othappam
usually  ferments  for  one  day  before  use. Othappam  is  also  known  as  dosa,  or  Indian  pancakes. This  traditional  food  is  made  from  a  batter
of  freshly  ground  grains  and  dhals. Dosa  batters  are  usually  fermented,  but  this  step  is  not  required. To  ensure  maximum  nutrition,  a  ratio  of  approximately  2.5  parts  grain  to  1  part  dhal  (beans,  dried
peas,  lentils)  is  used. A  combination  of  different  dhals  may  also  be  used  with  the  grain. Traditionally,  the  grain  used  for  making  dosas  is  rice;  during  the  last  half  of  this  century,  processed
white  rice  has  been  commonly  used. Except  for  white  basmati  rice,  I  do  not  recommend  the  use  of
processed  white  rice;  nor  do  I  recommend  the  use  of  parboiled  rice. In  the  recipes  that  follow,  each
body  type  may  substitute  the  appropriate  grain  and  dhal. Also,  V  types  may  add  a  pinch  of  asafoetida,
200
jmz,
TRADITIONAL    GROUND    DHALS    AND    GRAINS
K  types  'A  teaspoon  of  fenugreek  seeds,  and  P  types
'A  teaspoon  of  cinnamon  or  coriander. Perhaps  the  king  of  fresh  grain  and  bean  foods  is
rice  idli — a  dome-shaped  steamed  patty  made  from  a
slightly  fermented  ground  rice  and  dhal  batter. A  tra-
ditional breakfast  food  of  South


 intens ely. If I’m
diagnosing today’ s world, I want to calibrate every politician out there,
every big-time spokesman, everybody who gets on there with a big spiel,
and people’ s stories and excuses. I say, “What’ s the ener gy of this candidate? This candidate tells this story. Is that so? All right, this candidate hung out with so and so. What does thatperson calibrate  at?” I get a whole picture of multiple aspects, because
pretty soon what happens is a whole picture begins to fill in. Your whole
movie set fills in. First you get the walls, then you get the carpet, then your
pictures on the walls and the various actors. And the picture begins to fit in,
and then the storyline becomes quite obvious—why this person said this at
this time. And you constantly verify. Now, people also change. So, you may see a change in a prominent
person. And you can ask, “Is this person still at the same level? Or has this
one been bought out?” Y ou have to be prepared to find out things you’re not
going to like. Of course, don’t forget: the more often you do this, the more things you
calibrate, the more experience you have, the greater your degree of
accuracy. After you’ve done it 10,000 times, you could look at almost
anything and know what it’ s going to calibrate at within a couple degrees. It’s a great learning tool. You learn a lot about your own consciousness. You learn a lot about your own motivations. You’re not going to get an
accurate answer, unless you can remove your own personal prejudice of
wanting this answer or that answer. Somebody that you think is a scurrilous,
horrible person,  you find out that they calibrate over 200. Somebody else
that you think is going to be the savior of the world, you find out they’re
under 200, that they’re actually full of hot wind. They’re a very adept
politician, but a good politician is dif ferent than a statesman. Generally speaking, Americans don’t appreciate the difference. To them,
a politician and a statesman are one and the same. They’re quite different,
and they calibrate quite differently. The politician is interested in me, me,
me, and is very glib. They get what they want for their own personal gain. A statesman is what he is for the sake of the world and the sake of the
country. An example is Winston Churchill: Britain would’ve been beaten
senseless if it wasn’ t for W inston. He calibrated 500. GETTING ST ARTED
You can do muscle testing by yourself. On your left hand, touch your
middle finger and your thumb so that they make an O. Now, with your right
hand, take your forefinger and hook it inside the O. Try to pull the middle
finger and thumb apart. Now, if something is true, you’ll find it takes a lotof effort to try and break that O. If what you’re holding in mind is negative,
you’ll find it’ s weak. Muscle testing can also be cond ucted with multiple people. Here’ s how:
hold your right arm or your left arm out parallel with the ground. Now, have
somebody else press down on your wrist with two fingers—maybe four,
five ounces of pressure. We’re not trying to break the arm down. As always,
the accuracy of this method depends on the consciousness level of the
participants. If you’re both over 200, then the likelihood is you’ll get an
accurate result. Remember: both participants have to be integrous to begin
with. What does integr ous really mean, anyway? It means that you’re more
interested in the truth than trying to prove some preconsidered notion. So, if
I hold something that has a negative energy against the solar plexus of a
person with their arm stretched out to the side and press down on their
wrist, their arm will fall down. Their arm will drop. They’re very weak. If I
think about certain kinds of music such as types of heavy metal or rap, or
pesticides, or anything that’s negative—there’ s a whole lot of things—
within the aura of the person being tested, and I press down, their arm will
go weak. Conversely, if I hold something or someone in mind that is
positive, their arm will go strong. Now, the difference is quite marked. The person who’ s very strong will
be very strong, and with two fingers, you’re not going to push them down. And with some thing that makes them go weak, a child could push them
down with two fingers. When they go weak, they go weak. So, for instance,
if I take a volume by Plato or Socrates and hold it against the solar plexus,
the person goes strong. If I take The Communist Manifesto  and hold it
against their stomach, their arm goes weak. Karl Marx calibrates at 130. You might ask, “How do you know Marx’ s calibration level?” Well,
Marx calibrates over 110, 120, 130. When I get to 130, that’s the end of the
yes and no. Does he calibrate over 130? The answer is no. I can do the same thing with President Reagan. I can do it with Abraham
Lincoln. I can do it with the great pyramids in Egypt. I can do it with
anything on the planet. Truth makes you go strong; falsehood makes you
weak. So, this has a biologic basis. The capacity to discern essence from
appearance is essential for life. If a bacterium doesn’ t know the difference
between that which is poisonous and that which is nutritious, it will soondie... and there won’ t be any bacteria left. Survival depends, from a
protoplasmic point of view, on the capacity to discern that which is pro-life
from that which is anti-life. And falsehood is anti-life, and truth is pro-life. It’s like riding a bicycle. It takes  some experience. Some people are quite
adept at it. First of all, they take my word for what I say as absolute truth,
and don’t put up a lot of doubt blocks and quizzicalness. If I say it works, it
works. If it didn’ t work, why would I say it works? You have to have a
certain trust in the authenticity of people. I share the muscle testing method with people because it’s extremely
helpful. There are societies in which it is very common. When I was in the
East, it was very common. You’d see a person shopping, holding a tomato
in his hand, pressing down on it, and if it went weak it was not a good
tomato. Some people incorporate it into their culture. The fact that truth
makes you strong and falsehood makes you weak seems to be such basic
common sense, you wouldn’ t think that intellectual people would argue
with it. Let’s say I’m the person who’ s doing the testing, and my partner is
resisting, and I’m pressing down  with two fingers. I don’t want to influence
that person’ s thinking or tip them off to what I’m thinking. With integrous
people, you could say it out loud and it’s not going to affect them. But most
people are not that integrous. So what I’ll say is, “What I’m holding in
mind calibrates over 100, 150, 200, 250, 300,” until I get a yes from the
participant. That way, I’m not influencing the answer, because the person
whose arm I’m pressing down on doesn’ t know what I’m holding in my
mind. I don’ t want to contaminate the answer. I’m not going to waste my time getting a false answer, eithe r. People
think, Oh, you’r e out to get a false answer. Why would I waste my time
getting a false answer, chasing my own tail for amusement? I don’t think
it’s very enterta ining. I want to make it count. So I say, “Now, what I’m
holding in mind... calibrates over so and so,” such as political candidates
or programs. I don’t influence the response, because I myself want to know
the answer. If both participants want to know what is the truth for truth’ s
sake, then you’re going to have a successful team. Like anything, it takes a little practice. Some things will blow  you out,
like the negative  heavy metal music we tested. I suggest turnin g off music,
television, and other distraction s. There’ s all kinds of negative energiescoming through, so you’re going to get false negatives. That’ s because of
the background ener gy of the sounds, so you’ve got to turn those of f.
To help resolve doubt, and all the controversies and gossip and all, often I
will get up and say, “This guy calibrates over so and so. I wonder where
he’s coming from. He sounds like about 160 to me.” Well, he was coming
from 160. In other words, I want to confirm my own impression. So, there’ s
perception and then there’ s essence. So what I do is I use calibration  to confirm the essence of a thing—that
I’m not just falling for perception. Because a smooth


 symptoms. It is one of the chronic digestive diseases, which, according to the
National Center for Health Statistics, are the number one cause of hospitalization and
rank second as the cause of disability due to illness. The cost of these ailments is
estimated at $10 billion annually, making them the leading cause of economic loss from chronic human illness. About 100,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. Ulcerative colitis is a pre-cancerous state, and it was at this point the doctor granted
me two choices--namely, that if nothing was done I would die, or a drastic operation
could be tried, a total colectomy (complete removal of the five or six feet of large
intestine and rectum), with a bag being attached to the abdomen for the collection and
elimination of waste matter (ileostomy), which would have made me a permanent
physiologic cripple, and of course could not guarantee my survival. So how does one react when there isn't much hope? I reacted with a calmness, with a feeling bordering
on apathy. I almost didn't care. I thought pe rhaps it was for the better because soon it
would be all over. Soon it would end. No more suffering. Eternal peace. But I didn't
realize that I was destined to make a deci sion that was to change the course of my
entire life, the lives of my wife and children, and the lives of thousands of people with whom I would cross paths. I was going to hang on to precious life. I was going to defy
all the doctors. I was not aware of it at the time, but I was, in a sense, going to be reborn. I had a mission in life! We have to go back to 1958. I was 28 years old, separated from the army for four
years after serving in Korea during the Korean war, had been in private practice only
three and one-half years and was trying to make a new start with my wife of two
years. It was at this time that it all began--an occurrence which was to become a
nightmare and make my life a living hell for the next six years. My wife, Corinne, and I were relaxing one evening after supper, when suddenly and
without warning came a feeling of pressure and discomfort in my lower abdomen,
accompanied by strong urge to have a B.M. (bowel movement; the letters "B.M." will
be used throughout this story). It happened so fast, there was no time to reach the
lavatory and I found myself sitting in a small pool of blood, the sight of which worried and frightened me. After the initial shock wore off, I decided to do nothing for the present. After all, I
didn't seem to have any other particular h ealth problems; my diet was the normal run
of-the-mill American type that lacks nutrition (doesn't everyone enjoy a package of
cookies and a quart of milk as a meal, with a candy bar or two for dessert? ); and of
course I was a worrier, a pessimist, and a pe rfectionist with an emotional inability to
cope with stressful situations--but then don 't we all have these "normal" hang-ups? Normal? I wonder now, as I'm writing this and looking back. Anyway, I waited three weeks before I worked up enough nerve to see a doctor. During that time, diarrhea developed, accompanied by bleeding and intestinal spasm. This frightened me enough to seek out a doctor who came highly recommended (his
real name will not be used for personal reasons, as will not the other doctors who
"cared" for me, with the exception of the doctor who finally led me out of the
darkness, Dr. Robert Gross). The initial examination consisted of the usual history taking, blood and urine tests,
and physical examination. These things being concluded, I was ushered into a room
and told to "hop up" on the table, drop my trousers, and bend over. Dr. Leopold
informed me he was going to insert a stainl ess steel tube up my rectum to visually
examine part of the colon (large intestine). I took one look at that instrument, which
looked to me like a short stainless steel broomhandle, and asked how he was going to get that thing into me. He said, "Just relax and bear down." But I had built up such a
fear and anticipation that it was impossible to relax, and when that cold steel tube
(why are doctors' instruments always cold?) touched my sensitive parts and I
tightened up every muscle in my body, I knew there was no way he was going to pass
that tube into me. He pushed and I sweated. The more he pushed, the more I tightened
until finally he gave up and referred me to Dr. Price, an expert in conducting this type
of examination. Did he get that instrument into me? You can bet on it! It was probably one of the most enervating experiences I had had to date, and it was to be the
first of dozens of this kind of examination over the next six years. However, Dr. Price
taught me how to relax during this procedure, which is called a proctosigmoidoscopy,
and soon I became an old pro at it, which was to make it easier on me in the years to come. The diagnosis had been made--ulcerative colitis. A horrible name for a horrible
disease. In fact, one of the most debilitating afflictions of man. Treatment began. If only I knew then what I know now, the agony of the next six
years could have been prevented--the agony of a physical, emotional, and spiritual deterioration. Part of the treatment was to find a cause, so blood samples were drawn,
urine samples were taken, and I was given a dozen or so small boxes in which to
deposit stool samples each week for analysis. Everyone was looking for a germ of
some type which was assumed to be causing the disease. None were found, for rarely,
if ever, will they be isolated at the beginning of disease because contrary to popular belief--and this may stun you a little--germs are not generally a primary cause of
disease. They are ubiquitous and ever present and we cannot rule them out, but their
role is secondary. They will grow and thrive in a medium conducive to their
propagation, and that medium is an unhealthy body, an enervated body, which mine
eventually became. Germs generally won't grow in a vitally healthy body, a body properly nourished and having the highest degree of resistance and immunity, a body
that is functioning as it should. After all, what is health? It is merely a state where the
body's 25 or 30 quadrillion cells (give or take a few) are all doing their job. I'll go into
this later. Much of the treatment was based on the destruction of germs whether they were
present or not. Another aspect of treatment is the assumption that those with
ulcerative colitis are supposed to have varying degrees of emotional problems. This is
far from always being true. In fact, it is a sick body that usually causes depression and
emotional problems as a secondary manifestation. At this point I was started on drugs, and for the next six years I was to take some
forty different types, sometimes gulping down combinations of half a dozen varieties,
which when mixed together in my bloodstream caused reactions and crises that made the ulcerative colitis look like child's play. The drugs first prescribed were Azulfidine,
for some type of effect on the intestinal tissues; Theragran, a multiple vitamin to
replace those lost from diarrhea and the body's inability to absorb the nutrients from
food; Pro-Banthine, to dry up secretions such  as the fluidity from diarrhea; Trasentine,
to relax spasm in the intestinal musculature; Metamucil, to absorb water from the
intestines and create a form of soft bulk; and Erythromycin, an antibiotic for an
infection that hadn't yet occurred. Diet was of course regimented. A lo w-residue type was instituted that avoids
roughage, which irritates the large intestine. No raw fruits, vegetables, or nuts. Instead, I used mostly cooked, canned, and pureed foods along with certain meats. This is what I call a diet of foodless foods. Later on you will learn why this type of
diet cannot maintain health, much less help recover health. You will also come to
understand why drugs do not cause one to get well and that if one recovers health
while taking medication, he usually gets well in spite of, not because of, the
medicines. After a number of months my condition grew steadily worse, not so much bleeding
now but more diarrhea, intestinal spasm and pain, dehydration, and some weight loss. It was at this point Dr. Leopold decided to hospitalize me. I was there for two weeks,
during which time I was given the low-residue and high-protein diet. There were
some new drugs administered: Robanul, to hope-fully reduce fluid content of B.M.s;
Lomotil, to reduce intestinal motility; Sulfathalidine, for further extermination of the non-existent germs; Belladenal, to sort of calm everything down; penicillin, for what
was called infection; and Amphojel, to combat the stomach upset and indigestion
caused by the other drugs. I was also started on one of the most


 the greatest fools, and you must never listen to them,”
said Udaka. Somebody gave a sharp laugh; the older bikkhus stirred
uncomfortably. “How can you meet God when God is invisible and ever -present. ”
Udaka asked. “If He is everywhere, you cannot meet God, and you cannot
leave Him, either. So how many of you are seeking God right now, with all
your hearts. ”
This time a great many of the men sitting around the campfire raised
their hands. “T ake a close look at yourselves,” said Udaka. “Y ou too are
fools. I just told you that God is everywhere. How can you seek what is
already here. If someone came up to you and said, ‘A thousand pardons,
sir, but I am seeking this mysterious thing called air. Can you tell me where
it is. ’ you would mark him down as a fool, wouldn’ t you. Y et you follow
like sheep somebody’ s word who told you that you must seek God. ”
What Udaka taught instead was redeeming the soul, or atman. “Your
soul is just as invisible as God, but it belongs to you. It’ s your divine spark,
hidden and disguised by restless desires. Y our atman is always watching
you, but you do not notice it. Y ou notice your next meal, your next
argument, your next fear. It is always drawing you closer to the divine, but
you do not heed it. Y ou heed a thousand desires instead. Be still and know
your soul. Seek it, and when you meet your soul, seize it for yourself,
because it’ s worth far more than gold. ”
Gautama, who had been disillusioned by the higher self, felt a sympathy
for this new teaching. For one thing, it gave him time in seclusion, where he
could meditate and sit in the cool silence that he considered his real home. Udaka knew that the other bikkhus held the new arrival in awe; they vied to
sit next to Gautama because his mere presence deepened their meditations. The guru put Gautama on his right hand when the group next sat together,
and this unspoken gesture was enough to raise him above even the most
senior monks, who were not so holy that they enjoyed being displaced. “Let them hate you, let them love you. It’ s all a waste of time,” Udaka
said indif ferently. Gautama believed him. He’d grown up in a world tornapart by worse things than petty jealousy in an ashram. “But if another monk hates me,” asked Gautama, “why can’ t he see that
he is being distracted from his purpose. ”
“He might. His soul could send him a message,” Udaka said. “But not always. He could go on hating me a long time, then. ”
“Yes. ”
Gautama felt a disquiet. “But if the soul is always loving, why doesn’ t it
tell him immediately not to hate me. What reason does it have to hold
back. ”
“You’re asking me to be wiser than the soul,” said Udaka, with a trace
of irritation. “Don’ t be so clever. I’ve never seen anyone think their way to
heaven. ”
Now Gautama knew what his disquiet was about. He had lost the forest
hermit and Alara. If he kept on this way, Udaka would fall away next. Disciples without masters are like fallow fields where no rain falls. He
couldn’ t do without nourishment. Udaka knew this too; he gave Gautama a
hard look. “Y ou have something more to say. Perhaps you want to ask me
about humility. ”
“No. ” Gautama kept his composure. “I wanted to tell you that I’ve been
having a vision. My wife comes to me. She says that I deserve compassion. Can you tell me what that means. ”
“Ignore it. ”
Udaka said this without the slightest sign that he cared about such
things. Gautama wouldn’ t be put of f, however. “Master,” he said, “many of the disciples have left homes and women
they love. Their children are for getting their father ’s face. Can’ t a devoted
wife be part of my soul. ”“No one belongs in your soul but you,” said Udaka. “Then perhaps her image is a message. Y ou said that the soul sends
messages. ”
“But it doesn’ t send dreams. She’ s the figment of an ignorant mind,”
Udaka said curtly. “What if you caught a cold. W ould you want me to tell
you what the soul means when it sends you a cold. Get over her as you
would get over any other disease. ” Gautama’ s master had never been
married, and like many yogis he made a sour face whenever women were
mentioned. Udaka’ s revulsion bothered Gautama. Does he imagine that
women have no souls. But the discussion was over. Gautama bowed and
left without an other word. That night he returned to his tent, where he found Ganaka sitting up
eating a bowl of millet gruel. “Why so worried, saint. ” asked Ganaka,
looking up. “You must be feeling better. ”
“Much. ” Ganaka began slurping the last bit of gruel from the bowl. “I
should be strong enough in the morning to leave. ”
“Where will you go. ” asked Gautama. “Deeper into the jungle. I don’ t intend to be found a second time. ”
Gautama was shocked. “Y ou’re going to try to kill yourself again. ”
“Of course. It’ s my Dharma. ” Ganaka looked perfectly calm and
serious, speaking without a trace of cynicism. “Strange, isn’ t it. I have to
eat to get the strength to go out and starve myself. ”
“I can’ t let you,” Gautama blurted out. He was so shaken that he wanted
to pace back and forth. Instead, he forced himself to sit on the ground with
his hands folded in his lap. His heart pounded. Ganaka said, “There are two things even a saint can’ t stop. One is being
born, and the other is dying. ” He waited for Gautama to protest. It was hardto miss who in the tent was calmer and more collected. “Killing yourself is a sin,” said Gautama, then he stopped himself. Ganaka wasn’ t a fool or ignorant of scripture. “Please explain what you
mean,” Gautama said. Ganaka burst out laughing. “Excuse me, but I just can’ t help myself,
little saint. Look at you. Y ou wanted to jump out of your skin when I told
you what I’m going to do. But you didn’ t. Oh, no, you controlled yourself. You know how a holy man acts, and I must say you’ve gotten it down. I
wish I could train a monkey half as well. ”
Gautama felt the heat creeping up his face. “That’ s unfair. ”
“Who cares. I’m going to die tomorrow. I can say what I want. ” The
strange thing is that Ganaka wasn’ t speaking harshly; his tone toward
Gautama was almost kind. “I once told you that you reminded me of my
younger self. Has it occurred to you yet that I might be your older self. ”
Seeing the scowl that Gautama was trying not to show, Ganaka broke out
into laughter again. “Y ou’re like a traveling show. I can see at least five or
six people fighting inside you. Quite a spectacle. ”
“Stop it. ” Gautama jumped to his feet and began pacing as anxiously as
he’d wanted to since entering the tent. “Good,” said Ganaka. “Even a cat is smart enough to thrash its tail
when it’ s disturbed. Most people aren’ t. ”
This show of implacable honesty caused Gautama’ s heart to sink. “You’re making me so sad,” he said, half pleading. “Then I’ll stop,” said Ganaka. “W isdom is never sad, and you want one
last word of wisdom, don’ t you. ” He stood up and placed his hands on
Gautama’ s shoulders to stop him in place. “Dharma is worthless unless it
teaches one how to be free. I have listened to all the masters, read all the
scriptures, bathed in all the sacred springs. I found freedom in none of
them. ”“And killing yourself will set you free. ”
“When all else fails, whatever is left must be right,” Ganaka said with
serious simplicity. He let go of Gautama and turned away for a moment. “What is freedom, little saint. It’ s the end of struggle. Is not death the same
thing. I want to meet God, but my ef forts have failed. Not just failed, but
made me more unhappy than when I was married and lived with a loving
wife. I do not say your seeking is a fraud. Perhaps you must walk as many
paths as I did before you reach this point. ”
He turned back and fixed Gautama with a clear, unflinching gaze. “Y ou
can shed your tears now. ”
“I won’ t weep for you,” said Gautama mournfully. Ganaka sat back down on the cot. It


 a n d  i t ’ s  i n c r e a s i n g l y
d i f f i c u l t  t o  r e c o n c i l e  t h e  r h y t h m s  o f  o u r  p e r s o n a l  l i v e s  w i t h
t h e  r a p i d i t y  o f  a  t w e n t y - f o u r - h o u r  n e w s  c y c l e. D r a m a t i c  e n d i n g s  a n d  b e g i n n i n g s  s e e m  m o r e  p r e v a l e n t
t h a n  u s u a l. B i r t h,  d e a t h,  d i v o r c e,  r e l o c a t i o n,  a g i n g,  c a r e e r
c h a n g e —  n o t  t o  m e n t i o n  t h e  f a c t  t h a t  t h e  w o r l d  i t s e l f  s e e m s
s o  i r r e v o c a b l y  a l t e r e d — a l l  s e e m  t o  h a i l  s o m e  k i n d  o f  s e a
c h a n g e. T h i n g s  w e  t h o u g h t  s t a b l e  a n d  s e c u r e  s e e m  l e s s  s o,
a n d  t h i n g s  w e  t h o u g h t  d i s t a n t  p o s s i b i l i t i e s  h a v e  c o m e
s t r a n g e l y  c l o s e. M a n y  p e o p l e  f e e l  r i g h t  n o w  l i k e  w e ’ r e
j u m p i n g  o u t  o f  o u r  s k i n. I t ’ s  g o n e  w a y  p a s t  u n c o m f o r t a b l e
i n t o  a  h a u n t i n g  s e n s e  t h a t  w e  m i g h t  b e  l i v i n g  a  l i e. I t ’ s  n o t  t h a t  o u r  r e l a t i o n s h i p s  l a c k  i n t e g r i t y  o r  o u r  c a r e e r s
d o n ’ t  t r u l y  j i v e  w i t h  o u r  d e e p e s t  s o u l  p u r p o s e. I t ’ s  d e e p e r
t h a n  t h a t — s o m e  s e n s e  t h a t  r e a l i t y  i s  l i k e  a  l a y e r  o f
c e l l o p h a n e  s e p a r a t i n g  u s  f r o m  a  t r u l y  m a g i c a l  e x i s t e n c e. W e
f e e l  s o m e  l o s s  o f  m e a n i n g  l i k e  a  s i c k n e s s  w e  c a n ’ t  s h a k e. W e  w o u l d  l o v e  t o  b u r s t  o u t,  a s  t h o u g h  w e ’ v e  b e e n
c r o u c h i n g  i n  a  s m a l l  b o x  f o r  a  l o n g  t i m e. W e  a c h e  t o  s p r e a d
o u r  a r m s  a n d  l e g s  a n d  b a c k s,  t o  t h r o w  o u r  h e a d s  b a c k,  t o
l a u g h  w i t h  g l e e  a t  t h e  f e e l  o f  s u n s h i n e  o n  o u r  f a c e s. W e
c a n ’ t  r e m e m b e r  w h e n  w e  l a s t  d i d  t h a t. O r  w h e n  w e  d i d,  i t
w a s  l i k e  t a k i n g  a  v a c a t i o n,  v i s i t i n g  a  t o u r i s t  a t t r a c t i o n. T h e
m o s t  m a r v e l o u s  t h i n g s  a b o u t  l i f e  d o n ’ t  s e e m  t o  m a k e  u p  t h e
f a b r i c  o f  o u r  n o r m a l  e x i s t e n c e  a n y m o r e. O r  m a y b e  t h e y
n e v e r  d i d. W e ’ r e  n o t  s u r e. M o s t  o f  u s  l i v e  w i t h  a  d e e p,  s u b c o n s c i o u s  l o n g i n g  f o r
a n o t h e r  k i n d  o f  w o r l d. W e  s i n g  a b o u t  i t,  w r i t e  p o e t r y  a b o u ti t,  w a t c h  m o v i e s  a b o u t  i t,  c r e a t e  m y t h s  a b o u t  i t. W e
c o n t i n u e  t o  i m a g i n e  i t  t h o u g h  w e  n e v e r  q u i t e  s e e m  t o  f i n d
i t. O u r  s e c r e t  d e s i r e  i s  t o  p e n e t r a t e  t h e  v e i l  b e t w e e n  t h e
w o r l d  w e  l i v e  i n  a n d  a  w o r l d  o f  s o m e t h i n g  m u c h  m o r e  r e a l. O n e  t h i n g  w e  k n o w  f o r  s u r e :  t h i s  w o r l d  c a n ’ t  b e  i t. M a n y  o f  u s  a r e  r e a d y  t o  m a k e  a  b r e a k  f o r  f r e e d o m,  t o
f i n d  t h a t  b e t t e r  w o r l d  b e y o n d  t h e  v e i l  a n d  n o  l o n g e r  b u y
i n t o  t h e  a b s u r d i t y  o f  a  p a i n - l a d e n  w o r l d  t h a t  t a k e s  i t s e l f  s o
s e r i o u s l y. T h e  q u e s t i o n  i s,  H o w  d o  w e  d o  t h a t? I f  t h e  w o r l d
w e  l i v e  i n  i s n ’ t  a s  r e a l  a s  i t ’ s  c


 ”  o r
“ b e g i n n e r ’ s  m i n d ” ;  i n  t h e  I  C h i n g  i t  i s  s a i d  t h a t  o u r  m i n d
s h o u l d  b e  l i k e  a n  e m p t y  r i c e  b o w l. I n  A  C o u r s e  i n  M i r a c l e s
i t  i s  s t a t e d,  “ F o r g e t  y o u r  i d e a s  o f  g o o d  a n d  b a d,  f o r g e t  y o u r
i d e a s  o f  r i g h t  o r  w r o n g,  f o r g e t  t h i s  C o u r s e,  a n d  c o m e  w i t h
e m p t y  h a n d s  u n t o  y o u r  G o d. ”  T h e  i d e a  o f  e m p t y i n g  o n e ’ sm i n d  i s  f u n d a m e n t a l  t o  a l l  m e d i t a t i v e  p r a c t i c e. F o r  o n c e  w e
h a v e  s u r r e n d e r e d  o u r  e x t r a n e o u s  t h i n k i n g,  t h e n  G o d ’ s  t r u t h
c a n  m o v e  i n t o  t h e  v a c u u m. W e  s u b s t i t u t e  H i s  M i n d  f o r  o u r
m i n d,  a n d  t h u s  t h e y  b e c o m e  o n e. F i v e  m i n u t e s  i n  t h e  m o r n i n g  i s  b e t t e r  t h a n  n o t h i n g. T h i r t y  m i n u t e s  p r o v i d e s  s e r i o u s  s p i r i t u a l  s u p p o r t. N o t
m e d i t a t i n g  a t  a l l? E x p e c t  t h e  s t r e s s  t o  c o n t i n u e. Y o u  c a n  m a k e  a n o t h e r  c h o i c e :  c l o s e  y o u r  e y e s,  b r e a t h e
i n  t h e  q u i e t,  s u r r e n d e r  i t  a l l …
T h i s  i s  f r o m  t h e  w o r k b o o k  o f  A  C o u r s e  i n  M i r a c l e s :

F i v e  m i n u t e s  n o w  b e c o m e s  t h e  l e a s t  w e  g i v e  t o
p r e p a r a t i o n  f o r  a  d a y  i n  w h i c h  s a l v a t i o n  i s  t h e  o n l y
g o a l  w e  h a v e. T e n  w o u l d  b e  b e t t e r ;  f i f t e e n  b e t t e r  s t i l l. A n d  a s  d i s t r a c t i o n  c e a s e s  t o  a r i s e  t o  t u r n  u s  f r o m  o u r
p u r p o s e,  w e  w i l l  f i n d  t h a t  h a l f  a n  h o u r  i s  t o o  s h o r t  a
t i m e  t o  s p e n d  w i t h  G o d. E a c h  h o u r  a d d s  t o  o u r  i n c r e a s i n g  p e a c e,  a s  w e
r e m e m b e r  t o  b e  f a i t h f u l  t o  t h e  W i l l  w e  s h a r e  w i t h  G o d. A t  t i m e s,  p e r h a p s,  a  m i n u t e,  e v e n  l e s s,  w i l l  b e  t h e  m o s t
t h a t  w e  c a n  o f f e r  a s  t h e  h o u r  s t r i k e s. S o m e t i m e s  w e
w i l l  f o r g e t. A t  o t h e r  t i m e s  t h e  b u s i n e s s  o f  t h e  w o r l d
w i l l  c l o s e  o n  u s,  a n d  w e  w i l l  b e  u n a b l e  t o  w i t h d r a w  a
l i t t l e  w h i l e,  a n d  t u r n  o u r  t h o u g h t s  t o  G o d. … A n d  w e  w i l l  q u i e t l y  s i t  b y  a n d  w a i t  o n  H i m  a n d
l i s t e n  t o  H i s  V o i c e,  a n d  l e a r n  w h a t  H e  w o u l d  h a v e  u s
d o  t h e  h o u r  t h a t  i s  y e t  t o  c o m e ;  w h i l e  t h a n k i n g  H i m  f o r
a l l  t h e  g i f t s  H e  g a v e  u s  i n  t h e  o n e  g o n e  b y. I n  t i m e,  w i t h  p r a c t i c e,  y o u  w i l l  n e v e r  c e a s e  t o  t h i n k
o f  H i m,  a n d  h e a r  H i s  l o v i n g  V o i c e  g u i d i n g  y o u r
f o o t s t e p s  i n t o  q u i e t  w a y s,  w h e r e  y o u  w i l l  w a l k  i n  t r u e
d e f e n s e l e s s n e s s. F o r  y o u  w i l l  k n o w  t h a t  H e a v e n  g o e s
w i t h  y o u. N o r  w o u l d  y o u  k e e p  y o u r  m i n d  a w a y  f r o m
H i m  a  m o m e n t …. Y o u r  p r a c t i c i n g  w i l l  n o w  b e g i n  t o  t a k e  t h e
e a r n e s t n e s s  o f  l o v e,  t o  h e l p  y o u  k e e p  y o u r  m i n d  f r o m
w a n d e r i n g  f r o m  i t s  i n t e n t. B e  n o t  a f r a i d  n o r  t i m i


  d a y s  l a t e r  I  r e a l i z e d  I  h a d  m a d e  a  m i s t a k e. S o  h e r e  I  w a s,  a n n o y e d  w i t h  m y s e l f  f o r  h a v i n g  g i v e n  i n
t o  p r e s s u r e  t o  d o  s o m e t h i n g  t h a t  w e n t  a g a i n s t  m y  o w n  i n n e r
k n o w i n g  a n d  a l s o  a n n o y e d  a t  m y  f r i e n d  f o r  h a v i n g
p r e s s u r e d  m e  i n  t h e  f i r s t  p l a c e. S o  t h e  s p i r i t u a l  q u e s t i o n  w a st h i s :  S h o u l d  I  s a y  a n y t h i n g  t o  h e r,  o r  s h o u l d  I  s i m p l y  e a t  m y
f e e l i n g s. T h e r e  i s  a  m i d d l e  w a y,  i n  w h i c h  w e  n e i t h e r  j u d g e  o t h e r s
n o r  s u p p r e s s  o u r  f e e l i n g s. W e  c a n  e x p r e s s  o u r s e l v e s
h o n e s t l y  a n d  d e m o n s t r a t e  c o m p a s s i o n  a t  t h e  s a m e  t i m e. I  s h a r e d  w i t h  h e r  t h a t  I  w a s n ’ t  h a p p y  a b o u t  h o w  I  h a d
b e e n  p r e s s u r e d  i n t o  t a k i n g  a c t i o n. E l l e n  b e g a n  t o  g e t
d e f e n s i v e  a n d  s a y  h o w  m u c h  s h e  l o v e d  m e  a n d  t h a t  s h e
w o u l d  n e v e r  h a v e  d o n e  t h a t. I  s a i d,  “ W a i t. I  l o v e  y o u  t o o. A n d  I  k n o w  y o u  l o v e  m e. B u t  y o u  d i d  d o  t h a t. “ I t ’ s  a  n o - f a u l t  u n i v e r s e,  E l l e n. O u r  f r i e n d s h i p  i s  m u c h,
m u c h  b i g g e r  t h a n  a  m i s t a k e  t h a t  e i t h e r  o f  u s  m a d e,  a n d  t h i s
s i t u a t i o n  d o e s n ’ t  t o u c h  t h e  r o c k - b o t t o m  r e a l i t y  o f  o u r  l o v e
f o r  e a c h  o t h e r  a s  f r i e n d s. B u t  w i t h i n  t h a t  l o v e,  f r i e n d s  h a v e
t o  b e  a b l e  t o  s h a r e  t h e i r  t r u t h  w i t h  e a c h  o t h e r. I  n e e d  y o u  t o
k n o w  t h a t  ( 1 )  I  l o v e  y o u  a n d  t h i s  d o e s n ’ t  i n  a n y  w a y  c h a n g e
t h a t,  ( 2 )  I  k n o w  I ’ m  u l t i m a t e l y  r e s p o n s i b l e  f o r  m y  o w n
b e h a v i o r,  n o  m a t t e r  w h a t  y o u  d i d,  a n d  ( 3 )  I  h o p e  y o u  w i l l
n o t  p r e s s u r e  m e  l i k e  t h a t  a g a i n. ”
I  c o u l d  f e e l  h e r  r e l a x,  f o r  s h e  n o  l o n g e r  f e l t  t h e  n e e d  t o
b e  d e f e n s i v e. A n d  f r o m  t h e n  o n,  s h e  d i d  e v e r y t h i n g  s h e
c o u l d  t o  r e c t i f y  t h e  p r o b l e m. T h a t  o n e  s h i f t — f r o m  h e r
f e a r i n g  t h a t  h e r  m i s  t a k e  w a s  m o r e  i m p o r t a n t  t h a n  o u r  l o v e
t o  m y  c l a r i t y  t h a t  o u r  l o v e  w a s  m o r e  i m p o r t a n t  t h a n  h e r
m i s t a k e — c r e a t e d  a n  e m o t i o n a l  o p e n i n g  t h a t  m a d e  a l l  t h e
d i f f e r e n c e. W h e n  w e  f e e l  b l a m e d,  o u r  d e f e n s e s  c o m e  u p. A n d  a l l  d e f e n s e s  a r e  a  p a s s i v e  a t t a c k. *  T h a t  c y c l e  o f
e m o t i o n a l  v i o l e n c e,  h o w e v e r  s u b t l e,  i s  t h e  b e g i n n i n g  o f  a l lc o n f l i c t s  i n  t h e  w o r l d. O u r  s h i f t  m a d e  t h e  d i f f e r e n c e
b e t w e e n  t h e  s i t u a t i o n  h u r t i n g  o u r  r e l a t i o n s h i p  a n d
d e e p e n i n g  i t. I t  d i d  t h e  l a t t e r  b e c a u s e  t r u t h  w a s  p r e s e n t  o n
e v e r y  l e v e l. M i r a c l e s  o c c u r  w h e n  t o t a l  c o m m u n i c a t i o n  i s  g i v e n  a n d
r e c e i v e d. *  O f t e n  w e  o n l y  c o m m u n i c a t e  h a l f  t h e  t r u t h ;  w


 m o n g  u s,  a n d
w h a t e v e r  w e ’ v e  d o n e  o r  h a v e n ’ t  d o n e,  s u c c e e d e d  a t  o r
f a i l e d  a t ;  w h a t e v e r  t i m e  w e ’ v e  u s e d  w e l l  o r  t i m e  w e ’ v e
w a s t e d ;  w e  a r e  h e r e,  w e  a r e  a v a i l a b l e,  w e  a r e  p r e s e n t  t o  t h e
m o m e n t  a n d  u p  t o  t h e  c h a l l e n g e. A l l  w e  n e e d  r e m e m b e r  i s  t h i s :  i f  G o d  h a s  g i v e n  u s  a  j o b
t o  d o,  H e  w i l l  p r o v i d e  f o r  u s  t h e  m e a n s  b y  w h i c h  t o
a c c o m p l i s h  i t. *  A l l  w e  h a v e  t o  d o  i s  a s k  H i m  w h a t  H e
w a n t s  u s  t o  d o  a n d  t h e n  b e  w i l l i n g  t o  d o  i t. G o a l s

B e f o r e  a  s p i r i t u a l  a w a k e n i n g,  w e  l i v e  o u r  l i v e s  p r e t t y  m u c h
o n  o u r  o w n. W e  g o  i n t o  s i t u a t i o n s  w i t h  o u r  w o r l d l y  t h o u g h t
f o r m s  u s u a l l y  c e n t e r e d  a r o u n d  o u r  o w n  a g e n d a,  o u r
i n d i v i d u a l  g o a l s,  a n d  o u r  n e e d s  a s  w e  d e f i n e  t h e m. Y e t  o n c e
w e ’ r e  o n  t h e  m i r a c l e  w o r k e r ’ s  p a t h,  w e  s t a r t  t o  s u r r e n d e r
o u r  g o a l s  t o  G o d. S o m e t i m e s  I  h a v e  f o u n d  m y s e l f  b e i n g  f a i r l y  s u r r e n d e r e d
i n  d e c i d i n g  w h a t  t o  d o,  y e t  g r a b  t h e  c o n t r o l s  w h e n  i t  c o m e s
t o  h o w  I  g o  a b o u t  d o i n g  i t. I t ’ s  n o t  e n o u g h  t o  a l l o w  G o d  t o
d e c i d e  w h a t  a c t i o n  t o  t a k e. W e  h a v e  t o  a l s o  a l l o w  t h e  S p i r i t
o f  G o d  t o  d e e p l y  i n f l u e n c e  w h o  w e  a r e  w i t h i n  t h e  a c t i o n. Y o u  m i g h t  f e e l  g u i d e d  t o  a  c e r t a i n  m e e t i n g. B u t  i f  y o u r
t h o u g h t s  d u r i n g  t h e  m e e t i n g  a r e  a r r o g a n t  o r  j u d g m e n t a l,  i f
y o u r  b e h a v i o r  i s  c o n t r o l l i n g  o r  i m m a t u r e,  t h e n  e v e n  i f
y o u ’ r e  w h e r e  y o u  “ s h o u l d ”  b e,  y o u  s t i l l  b l o w  i t  o n c e  y o u ’ r e
t h e r e. O u r  p e r s o n a l  e n e r g y  b o t h  a t t r a c t s  a n d  r e p e l s  o u r
g o o d. P e o p l e  t e l e p a t h i c a l l y  f e e l  t h e  t e n o r  o f  o u r  t h o u g h t s,
a n d  v e r y  f e w  p e o p l e  j u m p  u p  a n d  d o w n  t o  b e  w i t h  a
n e g a t i v e  p e r s o n. I f  I  w a l k  i n t o  a  r o o m  a n d  s i l e n t l y  b l e s s  e v e r y o n e  i n  i t,  n o
o n e  w i l l  k n o w  e x a c t l y  w h y  t h e y  f e e l  m o r e  p e a c e f u l,  b u t
t h e y  w i l l. W h e n  o u r  t h o u g h t s  a r e  a l i g n e d  w i t h  G o d ’ s,  w e
a r e  l i f t e d  i n t o  a  g r e a t e r  r e a l m  o f  p o s s i b i l i t y  t h a n  o u r  e g o -
b a s e d  t h i n k i n g  c a n  p r o v i d e. I t  i s  n o t  e n o u g h  t o  p r a y,  “ D e a r
G o d,  s h o u l d  I  g o  t o  t h i s  m e e t i n g. ”  I t ’ s  a l s o  h e l p f u l  t o
r e m e m b e r,  b e f o r e  w a l k i n g  i n t o  i t,  t o  p r a y,  “ D e a r  G o d,  n o w
t h a t  I ’ m  h e r e,  I  s u r r e n d e r  t h i s  m e e t i n g  t o  y o u. M a y  I  b e  a n
i n s t r u m e n t  o f  y o u r  p e a c e. A m e n. ”
W e  o f t e n  i g n o r e  t h e  a m a z i n g  p o w e r  o f  p r a y e r,  a n d  f o r  a n
e q u a l l y  a m a z i n g  r e a s o n :  w e  d o n ’ t  b e l i e v e  i t  c o u l d  b e  t h a t
e a s y. Y e t  i s  i t  d i


,
meaning and value because they are
regaining market share have not beenloses is not any real, innate value. The
whether in a product, a company or an
aligned with Service, a commitment to
successful because they merely imitated
inflated price of glamour and novelty
employee. In our research, the the support of life and human value. All
the A>B>C instead of aligning with the
does not reflect any actual worth. People
dif ferences between businesses that have
W al-Marts feature an area where you can
ABC from which those features will gladly pay fifty thousand dollars or
failed and businesses that have succeeded
rest your feet and decide about
emanated. more for a used Rolls Royce knowing
have proved so marked that excellent
purchases. Such allocation of space to
that twenty years from now it will still be
predictive accuracy can be expected. meet simple human needs would not pass
Our research on attractor patterns
the scrutiny of scientific management
correlates closely with the conclusionsclassic in style and mechanically sound,
(134) All too often the "buyer" who can be
calculations in terms of gross sales per
arrived at by Peters and W aterman in
with high resale value. a voter, investor or truth-seeker, as well
square footage. But such ef ficiency
their work, In Search of Excellence, a
Our research indicates that Americans
as a purchaser -is captured by the glamour
expertise has discarded, along with
detailed analysis of several great would willingly pay such high prices
for of an imitator pattern which on the
human compassion, the market
companies. Z They concluded that cars if their intrinsic worth were
surface appears to be a high ener gy
allegiance of millions of customers. successful companies were those which
equivalent to their purchase price, so as
attractor pattern. People are dazzled by
Computers don't feel; more attention
had "heart," as opposed to strictly leftto protect the investment, and if they
superficial style and slick presentation,
would be paid to feelings if it was
brain, scientifically managed companies. would run well and maintain value a long
like those naive investors who recently
realized that feelings determine
In reading this study, one cannot help but
time, ideally a lifetime. (For instance, a
bought silver only to find that the entire
purchases. be struck by the inadequacy of many
modular car in which the motor, drive
commodity market had been (135)
marketing survey procedures: the train, etc., were easily removable and
manipulated. Our notorious savings-andA commercial factor of great,
though
statisticians simply don't know what
replaceable-with a lifetime guarantee-
loan fiascoes and their perpetrators could
often unrecognized, importance is the
questions to ask. would be a sure winner.) Attractoreasily have been identified long before
"family" feeling of employees-their
research tells us that customers are
the scandals surfaced. Similar disasters
loyalty to their or ganization. This is a
In addition to counting the millions that
willing to pay for quality, and that good
can be avoided by simply examining
very prominent quality in successful
companies make, analysts might well
products would sell themselves without
whether a business endeavor is companies. Employees who feel nurtured
assess the multimillions that they do not
slick advertising gimmicks. Integrity and
associated with a high or a low attractor
and supported are those who smile
make. A good example is the recent
excellence speak for themselves, because
pattern. This identification can become
genuinely at customers. Another
decline in the U.S.(136)auto industry. One
they are aligned with power.almost instinctive once one understands
characteristic of such an environment is
would think it would be apparent from
65
66
1 1. POWER IN THE
the dif ference between the operation of
low employee turnover, whereas cold and
the success of the Rolls Royce or the
MARKETPLACE
force and power in commerce. impersonal companies have very rapid
V olkswagen Beetle that espousing a
employee turnover. Employee shortage is
philosophy of planned obsolescence
MAN HAS FREEDOM OF CHOICE,
Sam W alton, the founder of W al-Mart,
always an expression of a low attractor
rather than enduring quality demonstrates
without which there would be no provides a model of how power comes
ener gy pattern. Critical factor analysis of
a gross miscalculation. Our researchaccountability or responsibility. The from aligning with high ener gy
attractor a lar ge cut-rate drug chain that had just
indicated years ago that by following the
ultimate choice, really, is whether to
patterns. The ABC which he conceived
gone Chapter Eleven revealed that the
high ener gy attractor patterns we have
align with a high ener gy attractor field or
has resulted in the A>B>C that is the
few dollars saved by not having extra
already identified Detroit could reclaim
a low ener gy attractor field. The same
rapidly growing W al-Mart colossus. The
employees at the checkout counter the auto market. T ruly creative
weak attractor patterns that have brought
basic principles involved are spelled out
regularly cost thousands of dollars in
innovation is required in order to
down governments, social movements
in the book Sam W alton by V ance
sales; such shortsightedness is common
recapture the imagination of the public,and entire civilizations routinely destroy
T rimble.1
in businesses dominated by low ener gy
and enduring quality must supplant
or ganizations and careers. One makes
In the aisles of many of today's giant
fields. planned obsolescence, as the price of a
one's choice and then takes the stores there seem to be no employees
new car approaches twenty thousand
consequences. whatsoever; the gross indif ference to
T o be a success it is necessary to
embrace and operate from the principles
dollars. Nowhere are these consequences more
customer goodwill is shocking. W al-
that produce success, not just imitate the
Sensibly enough, not many Americans
dramatically visible than in the realm of
Mart's employees, in contrast, are trained
actions of successful people. T o really doare happy to lay out such sums in full
business. Nowhere else, however, could
to be accommodating, warm and
what they do, it is necessary to be like
knowledge that that investment will
failure be more easily avoided if a few
ener getic, to reflect a humane ener gy
they are. Companies that have imitated
shortly be lost to obsolescence. basic concepts were clearly understood. field in their workplace. Their jobs have
some of W al-Mart's features in hopes of
Obviously, what the depreciating car
Attractor fields can be quickly calibrated,
meaning and value because they are
regaining market share have not been
loses is not any real, innate value. The
whether in a product, a company or an
aligned with Service, a commitment to
successful because they merely imitated
inflated price of glamour and noveltyemployee. In our research, the the support of life and human value. All
the A>B>C instead of aligning with the
does not reflect any actual worth. People
dif ferences between businesses that have
W al-Marts feature an area where you can
ABC from which those features will gladly pay fifty thousand dollars or
failed and businesses that have succeeded
rest your feet and decide about
emanated. more for a used Rolls Royce knowing
have proved so marked that excellent
purchases. Such allocation of space to
that twenty years from now it will still be
predictive accuracy can be expected. meet simple human needs would not pass
Our research on attractor patterns
the scrutiny of scientific management
correlates closely with the conclusions
classic in style and mechanically sound,
(134) All too often the "buyer" who can be
calculations in terms of gross sales per
arrived at by Peters and W aterman in
with high resale value.a voter, investor or truth-seeker, as well
square footage. But such ef ficiency
their work, In Search of Excellence, a
Our research indicates that Americans
as a purchaser -is captured by the glamour
expertise has discarded, along with
detailed analysis of several great would willingly pay such high prices
for of an imitator pattern which on the
human compassion, the market
companies. Z They concluded that cars if their intrinsic worth were
surface appears to be a high ener gy
allegiance of millions of customers. successful companies were those which
equivalent to their purchase price, so as
attractor pattern. People are dazzled by
Computers don't feel; more attention
had "heart," as opposed to strictly left
to protect the investment, and if they
superficial style and slick presentation,
would be paid to feelings if it was
brain, scientifically managed companies. would run well and maintain value a longlike those naive investors who recently
realized that feelings determine
In reading this study, one cannot help but
time, ideally a lifetime. (For instance, a
bought silver only to find that the entire
purchases. be struck by the inadequacy of many
modular car in which the motor, drive
commodity market had been (135)
marketing survey procedures: the train, etc., were easily removable and
manipulated. Our notorious savings-andA commercial factor of great,