 : yielding to their hurried environment. The
most delicious flavors of foods are developed by long
mastication, which gives the saliva time enough to act upon their chemical properties and begin the process of changing
and digesting them. For instance, the changing of starch into dextrine and
grape sugar is the first process of digestion; if done by
mastication it develops a most delicious taste. If this most
important function is not performed in the mouth by the act of
mastication, the taste-buds are not only robbed of their rights,
but extra labor is put upon the stomach, and the process of
digestion much retarded and made more difficult. Perfect mastication is the surest means of avoiding the
habit of over-eating, which is  so disastrous to the health and
so common among civilized people. Every pennyweight of
food taken into the stomach more than is necessary becomes
at once a leaden load upon the body. It is converted into a
poison. It so over-burdens the excretory organs that they
become torpid and diseased and Bright's disease,
constipation, and the long train of evils that follow are the
result. Not long since, we dined with some friends whose
knowledge of the culinary art was very highly developed. From memory we made an inventory of the quantity of food
consumed by one of the most advanced disciples of French
cookery; and according to our best calculations if the same
quantity of material had been eaten in its elementary state and
thoroughly masticated it would have taken about thirty-one
hours' continuous chewing to have disposed of the cargo. The only excuse nature offers to man for creating him is
that she gives him liberty and the means of securing his
happiness and contentment. Yet nearly everything he does
with reference to his physical structure seems to be especially
designed to defeat this purpose. There is a great deal of pleasure to be gained from eating,
but when our highly civilized man comes to perform this very
important function, he shovels in the provender with one
hand while he makes out a mortgage or figures per cent. with
the other. The result is that he gets no happiness from the
mortgage or per cent., but a great deal of unhappiness from
the provender; therefore, at the age of forty the majority of
men stand dejected and defeated, while half the amount of
study bestowed upon themselves and the inexorable laws of
nature that they have given to the foibles of fashion or the
fight for food would have brought health and abundant
vitality up to and even beyond the century mark. Old age is the most valuable period of life. When the
strife and chase is ended we st and before our fellows with
accumulated knowledge, with no ambition to serve except the
common good, which should be given to the world in
exchange for what Mother Nature has given to us. FEEDING CHILDREN. THE first year of the baby's existence is the most trying and
hazardous period of its life. The frightful fatality among
children the first year after birth furnishes ample evidence
that something is wrong. The average mother or nurse knows
but little about the few simple la ws that nature has framed to
govern infant life. The greatest of all errors are made in
reference to feeding. The nurse or mother seems to think that
the least outcry or expression of disturbance is a demand or
evidence that baby must be fed, and straightway the place is
searched for something—something sweet —anything that
will temporarily give employment or divert the mind of the
child from its trouble, while in the great majority of cases it is
caused by too much or the wrong kind of food being given. For the first twelve months, or until all the molar teeth
have appeared, a child should take nothing but liquid food. Mother's milk if possible. If this cannot be supplied, then
whole, unsterilized cow's milk is the best substitute. The
practice of boiling or sterilizing milk is positively
mischievous. This subject is treated at some length in our
chapter on milk. Dried or powdered milk and all kinds of "infant foods"
should be religiously avoide d. Putting milk through the
drying process destroys the cellular tissues of the fat globules,
and the butter fat is set free and becomes very difficult of
digestion. Every mother should read Dr. Fischer's "Infant
Feeding," which treats this subject at great length in the most
frank and scientific manner. Dr. Fischer gives the analysis of
"Nestle's Food," which he term s "a farinaceous, dried milk
food." He shows that this food has not quite one-sixth the
amount of fat, and only one-third the amount of proteids that
is to be found in mother's milk. Over one-half of the proteid
matter has been made insoluble by the drying process. Dr.
Fischer refers to "Horlick's Malted Milk" and a preparation
called "Milkine," both of which he shows to be about the
same in food value or more properly speaking, in lack of food
value as that of "Nestle's." By the exercise of reasonable thought and intelligence a
child might be raised without ever giving but few expressions
or cries of disturbance or illness. To begin with, the mother-
to-be should surround herself only with that which is the most
pleasant and agreeable. Her diet should be selected with great
care. It should not be composed of too much calcareous
matter or starchy foods such as cereals, potatoes and legumes
which go to construct bone a nd cartilage. Moderate exercise
and deep breathing should be the most conspicuous part of
the daily duties. She should read the best books, write and
compose the best literature of which her mind is capable, she
should endeavor to create something, think the best and
loftiest thoughts, hear the best music, look upon the best
works of art, and commune closely with nature in all its
solemnity, poetry and grandeur. This will endow her child with a vivid and active imagination without which no great
thing has ever been accomplishe d. She should live as near as
possible in the aesthetic and keep her thoughts as near as
possible to the domain of ethics. She should endeavor to be
all that she would have her child become in character. If the
unsatisfied want of a strawberry will in some strange way,
through the mind, leave its impression upon the body of her
child, how much more certain are the higher, nobler, grander
thoughts to leave their indelible impression upon the
embryotic mind and heart. When baby comes, the first thing done is to bundle it up
in three feet of foolish rags, putting its little limbs in a strait-
jacket, depriving it of its liberty and right to exercise which
nature so strenuously demands. Wh en it is taken out into the
air it is bundled and wrapped a nd rolled into more and more
wool, caps and cloaks, the air only being allowed to touch a
part of its face. It is propped up with pillows, and when its
little spine begins to ache and curve from the unnatural
weight it bears and it cries and weeps in anguish, telling in
the only language it has learned of the pain affectionate
ignorance is inflicting, it is given a dose of Lydia Killem's
Soothing Syrup, until from the effect of the powerful drug
and sheer exhaustion it falls into slumber awakening only to
suffer the same torture inflicted in the same way again and
again, day after day, until from want of natural nourishment,
fresh air, sunshine and exerci se, its cheeks grow pale and
wan, its vitality is lowered from week to week, and it passes
into the great unknown from which it has just emerged—
passes away like a drop of dew that reflected for an hour the
prismatic colors of a morning sun, and faded forever from
those who loved it most. Who is to blame? Who is
responsible for the tens of t housands of little ones who come
unbidden into a world and are thrust out of it by ignorance
and stupidity through a veil of sorrow and tears? Mother's milk is preferable to all foods for a baby, and
upon it often depends the question of life or death. Mother's
milk, upon which so much depends, necessarily involves the
question of the mother's diet. Good milk—good baby food,
the thing upon which baby's health, maybe its life, depends,
cannot be made out of such things as tea and toast, coffee,
vinegar, pickles and pastries, gravies and condiments, canned
foods, greasy meats, fermented bread, wines and beer. There is no period in life when diet is so important as
when it is taken second-hand in the form of mother's milk. The diet of the mother should consist of pure, clean,
wholesome, nourishing foods such as fresh, unsterilized milk,
cream, nuts, fresh ripe fruits, fresh green vegetables, and
newly laid eggs, all of which can be taken without cooking,
without devitalizing them with fire. If the above foods are partaken of by the mother, it will
stimulate the secretions of the breast and purify its contents
so that baby ills, especially such ailments as "three months'
baby colic," would never be known. A mother should


	prime	objective
has	been	reached. Innate	within	the	level	of	Unconditional	Love	is	the
desire	to	perfect	that	condition. As	that	level	is	reached,	even	the	slightest
imperfection	of	Love	is	unacceptable	and	calls	for	correction.Q:	What	is	the	most	effective	means	of	spiritual	purification? A:	Focus	on	Love	itself. That	is	the	royal	road	to	God	and	one	that	is
everywhere	present	and	available	to	everyone. In	the	beginning,	love	is
seen	as	dualistic,	i.e.,	the	one	who	loves	and	that	or	who	which	is	loved. Love	starts	out	as	conditional	and	a	feeling	state,	but	it	progresses. It
becomes	apparent	that	love	is	a	way	of	seeing,	experiencing,	and
interpreting	life. Later,	it	becomes	apparent	that	it	is	a	state	of	being. Life	itself	becomes	the	expression	of	love,	and	that	love	is	the	way	to
realizing	that	one’s	life	is	love. In	the	final	realization,	the	divinity	of	love
transforms	perception	into	spiritual	vision,	and	the	presence	of	God	as	All
That	Is	becomes	self-revealing. All	existence	radiates	forth	the	Divinity	of
its	essence	as	Creation,	which	is	the	manifestation	of	the	love	of	God. Q:	Love	is	the	pathway	of	devotion. Is	it	not	therefore	the	most	effective? A:	Love	is	transformative;	its	power	sweeps	away	all	obstacles. It	is	both	the
means	and	the	end. It	brings	forth	willingness	and	the	capacity	to
surrender. It	brings	forth	compassion	and	the	desire	to	understand. With
understanding,	forgiveness	ensues. With	the	relinquishment	of
positionality,	one	then	realizes	there	is	nothing	to	forgive. Judgment
dissolves	and	condemnation	and	hatred	are	no	longer	possible. Ignorance
born	of	innocence	is	seen	to	be	the	only	‘defect’	that	needs	to	be
transcended. It	is	seen	that	the	nature	of	Creation	is	as	it	is	and	not	in	need
of	correction. Q:	Is	love	not	merely	a	commonplace	emotion? It	is	talked	about
endlessly. A:	Love	is	definitely	not	the	prevailing	level	of	consciousness	of	mankind. Seventy-eight	percent	of	the	world’s	population	calibrates	below	200
(basic	Integrity)	and	is	therefore	focused	on	negativity. Only	0.4	percent	of
the	population	ever	reaches	the	level	of	Unconditional	Love	that	can	be
called	‘lovingness’. Love	is	an	awareness,	an	attitude,	a	context	for	understanding	life. Love	is	the	leading	edge	of	Reality	and	the	oneness	and	essence	of	the
Spirit. To	deny	love	is	to	deny	God. Love	is	obscured	by	positionality	and
judgment. Most	of	society	invalidates	love	as	a	rational	basis	for	decision
and	action. There	are	whole	segments	of	the	population	that	view	love	for
one’s	fellowman	as	a	weakness. Mankind	really	wants	gain,	pride,
possession,	power,	and	the	right	to	revenge	and	retaliate	with	punishment. The	United	States,	or	the	land	of	‘freedom’,	has	more	people	and	a
greater	percentage	of	its	population	in	prison	than	any	other	countryexcept	China. Society	declares	‘war’	on	its	problems	that,	of	course,	then
multiply. Force	is	ineffective	and	a	weak	substitute	for	power. In	contrast,
people	will	do	almost	anything	out	of	respect	and	love	and	very	little	out
of	fear. Without	the	loyalty	born	of	respect,	even	a	general	cannot
command	his	troops	to	obey,	and	without	that	aspect	of	love	called	respect,
insurrection	and	mutiny	arise. Force	can	only	act	as	a	temporary	stopgap. All	the	empires	that	were	ruled	by	fear	have	collapsed. Religions	that	are
based	on	the	fear	of	sin	rather	than	on	the	love	of	God	are	inherently	weak. Lovingness	is	a	way	of	relating	to	the	world. It	is	a	generosity	of
attitude	that	expresses	itself	in	seemingly	small	but	powerful	ways. It	is	a
wish	to	bring	happiness	to	others,	to	brighten	their	day	and	lighten	their
load. To	merely	be	friendly	and	complimentary	to	everyone	one	meets	in
the	course	of	a	day	is	revealing. That	this	is	not	a	commonplace	attitude	is
revealed	by	people’s	responses	when	they	encounter	it. Often,	they
respond	with	surprise	or	even	a	pleased	state	of	shock. “Nobody	ever
compliments	what	I	do;	they	only	complain,”	is	a	remark	that	will	be
heard. Most	people,	because	they	are	focused	on	their	own	wants	and
critical	attitudes,	apparently	do	not	even	see	the	positive	aspects	of	life	and
cannot	respond	to	them. They	take	others’	service	for	granted	with	the
explanation,	“Well,	they’re	getting	paid	for	it,	aren’t	they?”	(Which	is
really	beside	the	point.) Major	segments	of	society	operate	on	the	level	of	lovelessness. Giant
corporations	and	government	agencies	can	only	be	described	as	dourly
functioning. Gratitude	does	not	appear	nor	is	it	even	considered	to	be
socially	appropriate. Love	is	belittled	as	‘touchy-feely’. Love	is	therefore
socially	restricted	to	romance,	mothers	and	their	children,	or	one’s	dog. Expressed	elsewhere,	it	becomes	an	embarrassment. There	are	a	few
masculine	areas	where	love	is	okay,	such	as	for	family,	sports,	one’s
country,	or	a	car. The	large	area	of	life	that	is	socially	acceptable	and	open	to	everyone	is
that	which	is	called	‘caring’. To	‘care	for’	is	a	wide-open	avenue	for	the
expression	and	expansion	of	love. People	say	they	cannot	find	love	as
though	it	were	something	to	be	gotten. Once	one	becomes	willing	to	give
love,	the	discovery	quickly	follows	that	one	is	surrounded	by	love	and
merely	did	not	know	how	to	access	it. Love	is	actually	present
everywhere,	and	its	presence	only	needs	to	be	realized. The	universe	responds	to	love	by	revealing	its	prevalence. It	is	hidden
to	ordinary	perception,	but	the	awareness	is	finessed	by	lovingness	itself. Awareness	is	a	capacity	that	is	beyond	the	senses	or	emotions. If	one
ceases	anthropomorphic	projections	and	limitations,	it	is	revealed	that	allthat	exists	is	innately	conscious	and	emanates	love	as	a	consequence	of	the
divinity	of	Creation. Every	plant	is	aware	of	its	surroundings	and	the	admiration	and	respect
for	it. It	returns	to	us	by	reviewing	its	own	intrinsic	perfection	and	beauty. Each	plant	stands	forth	as	a	unique,	creative	sculpture	and	is	a	perfect
expression	of	its	essence. Divinity	shines	forth	from	all	Creation	to	those
who	can	see. Nature	becomes	not	unlike	a	children’s	cartoon	where	the
trees	smile,	the	animals	talk,	and	the	flowers	move	gaily. When	perception
ceases,	the	world	of	wonder	reveals	itself. Consciousness	is	in	all	that
exists. It	recognizes	itself	manifesting	as	the	Allness	of	Creation. Q:	How	can	such	a	wondrous	revelation	come	about? A:	By	the	mere	intention	of	kindness,	respect,	and	consideration	for	All	That
Is,	without	exception,and	in	every	detail,	including	oneself. We	see	what
we	believe	and	accept	that	we	ourselves


 the shadow self. Another way to cultivate light is to commune with others
in a holy space. In spiritual gr oups joined in love and
devotion—r eligious or otherwise—a ﬁeld of love is magniﬁed
so that it lif ts all members in the gr oup up to a higher
vibration. When you ar e at chur ch, synagogue, twelve-step
meetings, or other gr oup meditations, listening to your
heart seems natural. Y our shadow self seems far away,
neither evident nor trigger ed. The temptation to enter your
shadow still e xists and needs to be dealt with, but one of
the ways the shadow is diminished is by joining with others
in the sear ch for light. When we’r e with other people who ar e saying, “I want to
listen to my heart, I need to ask what the most loving thing
would be, I want to be ethical, I want to hear God’s voice,”
then it becomes easier to live that way. Like any habit, it
becomes easier to cultivate when we’r e around others doing
the same. In developing the habits of spiritual practice, you
ground yourself in the light of your true being. If you do not
so gr ound yourself, do not be surprised when you say or do
things that you later r egret.On an average day in the life of an average person, the
number of shadow thoughts that come up is astr onomical. We do our best, we try to be good, but our brain is
constantly active, and the tendency towar d fear -based
thought is always ther e. But the Illuminator is ther e as well. And the Illuminator is authorized by God to give us whatever
help we need. Talking to my therapist one day, I was sharing with him
that I felt in a very negative place. I told him I was in a place
of self -loathing. He ask ed me, “What is your case against yourself?”
I said, “I hate myself because I’m so negative.” I could see
the ir ony, but I couldn’t laugh. Or maybe I did. He suggested that I try something. “ Be in the ﬂow of
gratitude,” he said. “Whenever you ar e having that kind of
negative thought, go into naming all the things you have to
be grateful for.”
And I found that technique to be very powerful. F or hours,
I’d been on a rampage of negativity, but as soon as I began
the ﬂow of gratitude, it was as though my shadow
disappear ed the way the W icked W itch melted when
Dorothy thr ew water on her. And it was the same
phenomenon, r eally. The shadow isn’t even r eal. It just
appears so. And as soon as it’s e xposed to light, then the
darkness disappears. The pr oblem, then, was not just the
presence of my negativity, but the absence of my positivity! As soon as I ﬁlled my mind with gratitude, the shadow trait
of self -hatr ed could no longer e xist. In the pr esence of love,
fear is gone. But let us not under estimate the power of the shadow. It’s
not enough to just meditate sometimes; we should mediate
daily. It’s not enough, if you’r e a recovering addict, to attend
a meeting every once in a while; you should attend a
meeting every day. It’s not enough that we for give a few
people; we must try our best to for give every one, for only
love is r eal. If I withhold it fr om anyone, then I withhold itfrom myself. And it’s not enough to love only when it’s easy;
we must try to e xpand our capacity to love even when it’s
hard. The shadows that ar e lurking today, in our own
circumstances and ar ound our planet, demand nothing short
of sacr ed illumination if we ar e to cast them out. And each
of us can add to the light by adding to our love. Of course
we love our childr en, but it’s no longer enough to just love
our own childr en. W e must lear n to love the childr en on the
other side of town and the other side of the world. It’s easy
enough to love those who agr ee with us and tr eat us well. We must lear n to love those with whom we do not agr ee and
who have not necessarily tr eated us justly. Just as we work
to build up our muscles, we must work to e xpand our
capacity to love. There is only one thing that can triumph over our lower
self, our shadow self, and that is our higher self. And the
higher self dwells within the highest love of all: the love of
our Cr eator, in whom ther e is no darkness, no suﬀering or
fear. It is psychologically unr ealistic to under estimate the
power of the shadow, but it is spiritually immatur e to
under estimate the power of God. P rayer is not just a
symbol; it is a force. Meditation is not just something that
relaxes us; it is something that har monizes the ener gies of
the universe. F orgiveness doesn’t just mak e us feel better; it
literally transfor ms the heart. All the powers that emanate
from God ar e powers that will set us fr ee. To the shadow, the light is an enemy. But to the light, the
shadow is nothing. It simply does not e xist. BY THE W AY, IT’S ON THE MO VE
Consciousness is a dynamic, cr eative ener gy. It is not inert,
it is not stagnant. It is always e xpanding in whatever
direction it’s moving. Love will always build on love, andfear will always build on fear. The shadow is an ine xorable
drive towar d suﬀering and pain. Yet how does this thing—which itself is an illusion, which
itself has no life—act as though it does? The answer to that
is that although fear itself is not r eal, the power of thought
that car ries it is. Fear is lik e an e xplosive device, and
thought is the missile on which it rides. The mind is cr eated
to be a conduit of the divine, delivering e xplosions of love,
but fr ee will means we can dir ect it otherwise, should we
choose. Your mind is always either e xtending love or pr ojecting
fear as well as subconsciously planning how to do mor e of
the same. The shadow is your own mind tur ned against
yourself. Just as L ucifer was the most beautiful angel in
heaven befor e he fell and a cancer cell was a nor mal
working cell befor e it went haywir e, the shadow is your own
thinking tur ned in the wr ong dir ection. It is your self -hatr ed
masquerading as self -love. Y our shadow is as intelligent as
you ar e, because it is your own intelligence co -opted for
fear’s purposes. It has all the attributes of life, because it
has attached itself to your life. And lik e all life, it seeks to
preserve itself. Whenever love is near, the shadow becomes particularly
active in or der to guar d against its own demise. It knows
that love is its only r eal enemy. When the shadow senses
love, when it senses the light in you, it literally runs for its
life. The shadow will try, in whatever way possible, to
invalidate, suppr ess, mak e wrong the good in you—for it
knows that once you r emember the light of your true self,
it’s gone. And so it ﬁghts. Thus the well-known phrase, “ Love brings up everything
unlike itself.” You met someone with whom your soul feels is
a sacr ed connection? Bewar e, you’r e likely to do something
stupid in that person’s pr esence. Y ou have an e xtraor dinary
chance to manifest your dr eams? Bewar e, you’r e likely tosabotage the opportunity. And that is the shadow : the evil
twin of your better self. Until ther e is a conscious movement away fr om fear
towar d love, the dynamic ener gy of fear will be acting as a
destructive for ce that tak es no prisoners. It can lead to
something as seemingly small as an incident in which you
say something stupid but har mless or as consequential as
an action that could actually ruin your life. W e should
neither under estimate its power nor doubt its viciousness,
for the shadow is on a rampage—sometimes in a slow and
long drawn- out fashion and sometimes mor e quickly—but it
is always intentional in the dir ection of pain. In Alcoholics Anonymous, it is said that alcoholism is a
“progressive disease.” What this means is that it will not
stay put; if you’ve got a pr oblem with alcohol today, then
you’ll have even a bigger pr oblem with it tomor row unless
you deal with it. And its ultimate goal is destruction, even to
the point of death. An addiction such as


step-by-step,showing
howyou,too,cantriumphoverpainrediscoverthejoyofliving. Brownsteinhaswrittenapersonal,practical,andinformativebook
helppeoplepreventandtreatbackpain.Itsapproachisconsistent
thephilosophyofintegrativemedicinethatIteach,anditscontentscientificallyaccurateandfullofhopeforsufferers.”
—AndrewWell,M.D.Founder,TheCenterforIntegrativeMedicineAuthorofNaturalHealth,NaturalMedicine;SpontaneousHealing;and8WeekstoOptimumHealth
\HealingBackPainNaturallyonlineat
~www.harborpress.com. byphone,calltoll-free888-851-9090. a
AlsobyDr.Brownstein
Inhisfirstbook,HealingBackPainNaturally:TheMind-BodyProgramProventoWork,Dr.ArtBrownsteintellshowhelearnedtopermanentlycurehimselfafterenduring20yearsofcrippling
backpain. Dr.Brownsteinincorporatedthe
lessonsofhisownextraordinary
healingintotherevolutionaryandworld-famousBacktoLifeprogram,
whichhassincecuredthousandsof
otherpatientswithoutdrugsorsur
gery.InHealingBackPainNaturally,
Dr.Brownsteinleadsyouthrough
theprogramstep-by-step,showing
howyou,too,cantriumphoverpain
andrediscoverthejoyofliving. “Dr.Brownsteinhaswrittenapersonal,practical,andinformativebook
tohelppeoplepreventandtreatbackpain.Itsapproachisconsistent
withthephilosophyofintegrativemedicinethatIteach,anditscontent
isbothscientificallyaccurateandfullofhopeforsufferers.”
—AndrewWeil,M.D.Founder,TheCenterforIntegrativeMedicineAuthorofNaturalHealth,NaturalMedicine;SpontaneousHealing;and8WeekstoOptimumHealthff1h~pc—ANnR,%’.MI)
OrderHealingBackPainNaturallyonlineatwww.harborpress.com. Ortoorderbyphone,calltoll-free888-85 I-9090. ‘1<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        •Duringthispause,takeabriefinventoryofhowyoufeelinyourbodyandmind. Makesureyouarenotforcingorstraining,and
thatyouarecomfortablewithyourbreathing. •Makesureyouarecomfortableatalltimeswhileyouareperformingthispowerfulbreathingexercise. Ifyoutrytoprolong
thepauselongerthanyoucanhandle,youwillexperiencebreathdeprivation,discomfort,andasensationofforcingorstraining. Additionally,therhythmofyourbreathingwillnotbesmoothandflowing,butratherjerkyandinterrupted. Asyoubreatheout,andthenagainasyoubreathein,andevenduring
thepause,yourbreathshouldbesmoothandflowing,andyoushouldfeelcomfortableandpleasurablesensations. Inthebeginning,dothisbreathingexercisefornomorethan3to
5minutesatatime,andnotmorethanfourtimesaday,nomatter
howpleasurableandrelaxingyoumayfindit. Eventhoughitisgentleandsoothing,thistechniqueisalsoextremelypowerfulandsubtle,andyoucanoverdoit,especiallyinthebeginning. Intime,
youcanbuildupto20to30minutesatatime. •Also,overtime,youcangentlyprolongthepausebetweeneachinspirationandexpirationforuptooneminute,orevenlonger. Remembertofocusyourawarenesswithin,andtakeabriefinventoryofyourbodyandmindduringthispause. Duringthe
pause,whichisatimeofcompletecessationofrespiration,anaccompanyingslowingdownofphysiologicalprocessesandmentalactivitiesoccurs. Thisslowingdowncanbecalmingandpeaceful,anditisextremelybeneficialtoyourhealingsystem,which,asyou’llrecall,doesitsbestworkwhenyourbody’sinter
nalenvironmentisquietandcalm. Breathingexercisescalmthemindandbody,andtheyareextremelybeneficialtoyourhealingsystem. Incorporatetheseexer
cisesintoyourdailyroutine,andbeforelongyou’llbegintoseetheirremarkableeffects. 358ActivatingYourHealingSystemWhenYou’reSick
GuidedImagerytoStrengthen
andFortifyYourHealingSystem
Yourbraintranslatesmentalimagesintoelectricalandchemicalsignalsthataretransmittedtoyourbody. Becauseofthisdeepconnectionbetweenyourbrainandyourbody,thetechniquesofvisualizationorguidedimagerycanbeapowerfulwaytoactivate,strengthen,andfortifyyourhealingsystem. Manystudieshaveshownthehealth-enhancingbenefitsofguidedimageryandvisualizationtechniquesinhelpingmotivatedpatientsovercomeseriousillnesses,includingcancerandheartdisease. (Formoreinformation
onguidedimageryandvisualization,seeChapter6. ) “MeetingYourHealingSystem”Guided-VisualizationTechnique
Beginthistechniqueasyouwouldtherelaxationtechniquesdescribedearlierinthebook,suchasDeepRelaxation,ProgressiveRelaxation,orBlueSkyFloatingonYourBackRelaxation. Readthroughthedirectionscompletelyonceortwicebeforeyouattempt
topracticeit. Youmayalsowanttogetataperecorderandrecord
yourownvoiceasyoureadthroughthisexercise. Thenyouwillbe
abletocloseyoureyesandlistentoyourownvoiceguideyouthroughtheimagery. Followthesesimplestepstodothistechnique:
oMakesureyouareinacomfortableposition,lyingonyourback
withyoureyesclosed. oFocusonyourbreathingasyouallowyourmindandbodyto
relaxcompletely. oAsyoubegintofeelyourselfbecomingrelaxed,takeadeep,sigh
ingbreath. Asyoubreatheout,letallthetensionleaveyourbody. oTakeasecond,deep,sighingbreath,and,asyoubreatheout,allowyourmindandbodytobecompletelyrelaxed. Makesure
youfeelcompletelyrelaxedbeforeyouproceedfurtherwiththisexercise. Itisimportantnottohurryorrushthroughthisstep. oAfteryouaresomewhatrelaxed,keepyoureyesclosed,andallow
animagetoforminyourmindofanyquiet,serene,uplifting
AdditionalMethodsandTechniques 359
place. Yourimagecouldbeabeautifuloutdoorsettingorinsidein
afavorite,cozyroomofahouse. Itcouldbeaplaceyouhaveactu
allybeentoinreallife,aplaceyousawinapicture,oratotallyfreshimagethatyouhaveneverseenbefore. ‘Whateverimagebeginstoappear,donotforceorstrainwiththeimagery~anddo
notjudgeitinanyway. *Asyoucontinuetobreatheandrelax,bepatientwiththeimagery. Allowittokeepforminginyourminduntilyouhave
afairlyclearpictureoftheplace. •Onceyourspecialplacebeginstocomeintofocus,andyouhave
afairlyclearideaofwhereyouare,continuetobreathedeeply
andrelax. •Allowtheimagetobecomeclearerandmorewelldefined. •Noticeallthesenses,andanswerthesequestionsinyourmind:•
•Whatarethesights. ‘Whatarethesounds. ‘Whatarethesmells. •‘Whatkindofdayisit. Whatdoestheskylooklike. ‘Where
isthesun. •Whatdoesthecountrysideorsurroundingenvironment
looklike. •Whatsensationsareyoufeelingonyourskin. •‘Whatistheairquality. Isitcoolorwarm. Istherehumid
ity,orisitdry. Arethereanybreezes. •Whatareyouwearing. •Breathedeeplyandrelaxasyouallowyourmindtoabsorbtheimages. *Findaplacetositdown(or,ifyoufeelmorecomfortable,toliedown,orevenstand)inyourquiet,specialplace. Inyourimage,makesureyouareinacomfortableposition. •Onceyouarecomfortableinyourspecialplace,allowyourawarenessandimaginationtogoinsideyourbody. •Seeyourselfexaminingtheinnerworkingsofyourbodyasyougentlysurveythelandscape. 360ActivatingYourHealingSystemWhenYou’reSick
oAsyoumovearoundwithinthevariousstructuresandtissuesof
yourbody,imagineyourselfgoingonajourneyofdiscovery. oFindaquietplace,deepwithintherecessesofyourbody’sinter
nalenvironment,whereyoufeelsafeandprotected. oStopandrelaxonceyou’vefoundaplacewhereyoufeelcomfortable. Letyourintuitionguideyou. 0Breathedeeply,andallowyourselftorelaxinthisquietplacewithinyourbody. oSeeyourselfwaitingwithanticipation,asyoupreparetomeet
yourhealingsystem. 0Waitforthefirstimagetoformasy


	is	called	MS,	and	if	it	occurs	in	organ	tissue,	it	is
called	cancer. Yet,	seen	from	a	deeper	perspective,	the	self-destruction	is	but	a	final
attempt	at	self-preservation. The	body	only	“attacks”	itself	if	the	toxicity	has	increased	to
such	a	degree	that	it	could	cause	more	damage	than	an	autoimmune	response	would. It
certainly	has	no	intention	of	committing	suicide,	which	is	what	the	meaning	of
“autoimmune	disease”	suggests. When	the	body’s	cell	membranes	are	clogged	with
foreign,	harmful	chemicals	and	toxic	particles	like	trans	fatty	acids	(as	found	in	fast	foods,
such	as	hamburgers	and	french	fries),	it	is	an	absolutely	normal	response	by	the	immune
system	to	attack	these	contaminants. To	call	this	survival	response	a	disease	is	unscientific
and	reflects	a	lack	of	knowledge	of	the	true	nature	of	the	body. Gallstones	inhibit	the	body’s	ability	to	keep	itself	nourished	and	clean,	which	makes
them	a	leading	cause	of	toxicity. They	prevent	the	liver	from	adequately	taking	noxious
substances	out	of	the	bloodstream. If	the	liver	cannot	filter	out	toxins	from	the	blood,	they
end	up	being	dumped	into	the	extracellular	fluid. The	more	toxins	accumulate	in	the
extracellular	fluid,	the	more	severely	cell	membranes	become	clogged	with	injurious
materials. An	autoimmune	response	may	be	necessary	to	destroy	the	most	contaminated
cells	and	thereby	save	the	rest	of	the	body,	at	least	for	a	while. When	all	gallstones	are
removed	from	the	liver	and	gallbladder,	the	immune	system	does	not	have	to	take	recourse
to	such	extreme	measures	of	defending	the	body	on	the	cellular	level. Osteoarthritis
	is	a	degenerative,	noninflammatory	illness. It	occurs	when	the	renewal
of
articular	cartilage
	(a	smooth,	strong	surface,	covering	bones	that	are	in	contact	with
other	bones)	does	not	keep	pace	with	its	removal. The	articular	cartilage	gradually
becomes	thinner	until,	eventually,	the	bony	articular	surfaces	come	into	contact,	and	the
bones	begin	to	degenerate. Abnormal	bone	repair	and	chronic	inflammation	may	follow
this	form	of	damage. Like	most	diseases,	this	symptom	results	from	a	long-standing
digestive	disorder. As	fewer	nutrients	are	absorbed	and	distributed	for	tissue	building,	it
becomes	increasingly	difficult	to	maintain	healthy	sustenance	of	bone	and	articular
cartilage. Gallstones	in	the	liver	impair	the	basic	digestive	processes	and,	therefore,	play
perhaps	the	most	important	role	in	the	development	of	osteoarthritis. Gout
,
	which	is	another	joint	disease	connected	to	weak	liver	performance,	is	caused	bysodium	urate	crystals
	in	joints	and	tendons. Gout	occurs	in	some	people	whose
blood	uric
acid
	is	abnormally	high. When	gallstones	in	the	liver	begin	to	affect	blood	circulation	in
the	kidneys	(see	“
Disorders	of	the	Urinary	System
”),	uric	acid	excretion	becomes
inefficient. This	also	causes	increased	cell	damage	and	cell	destruction	in	the	liver	and
kidneys,	as	well	as	in	other	parts	of	the	body. Uric	acid	is	a	waste	product	resulting	from	the	breakdown	of	cell	nuclei;	it	is	produced
in	excess	with	increased	cell	destruction. Smoking	cigarettes,	drinking	alcoholic	beverages
regularly,	using	stimulants,	and	so	forth,	all	cause	marked	cell	destruction,	which	releases
large	quantities	of	degenerate	cell	protein	into	the	bloodstream. In	addition,	uric	acid
production	rises	sharply	with	overconsumption	of	protein	foods,	such	as	meat,	fish,	pork,
and	eggs. 9
	Incidentally,	all	the	aforementioned	foods	and	substances	lead	to	gallstone
formation	in	the	liver	and	gallbladder. A	person	may	experience	several	acute	attacks	of	arthritis	before	damage	to	the	joints
decreases	mobility	and	the	gout	condition	becomes	chronic. Disorders	of	the	Reproductive	System

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

This passage discusses how high concentrations of protein in blood hinder nutrient distribution to cells leading to various health issues including hypertension, heart disease, cancer, etc. Moreover it highlights that excess proteins are stored as collagen fibers within capilla

=====

Here is a concise yet accurate summarization:

**Protein buildup**: Extremely elevated levels of serum albumin can lead to several detrimental consequences


 every for m
taught me something essential to my “car eer development.As ministers of God, we let our car eers be an e xpression
of our own depth, of what r eally matters  to us. Knowing that
we ar e acting on behalf of a higher purpose than our own
self-aggrandizement gives us the joy we’r e all seeking. Whatever we do, whatever our job, it can be a vessel
through which we teach the message of salvation: that the
Son of God is innocent, and we ar e all Sons of God. Kindness
to Him transfor ms the world. W e don’t necessarily teach this
verbally, but rather non- verbally. The pr oblem most people
have is that they’r e mor e concer ned with the mode of their
expression than with what they’r e seeking to e xpress. That’s
because they don’t know  what they want to e xpress. This
generation, this cultur e, is full of people who want
desperately to write a story, but for all the wr ong r easons. I
meet people who want to be in the spotlight, but have no
idea what they would say if it was pointed at them. This is a
fraudulent postur e. It means we want the r ecord contract
more than the satisfaction of making music. The highest
prize we can r eceive for cr eative work is the joy of being
creative. Cr eative eﬀort spent for any other r eason than the
joy of being in that light-ﬁlled place, love, God, whatever we
want to call it, is lacking in integrity. It diminishes us. It
reduces inspiration to mer e sales. A few years ago I visited K auai. My friend and I took a
ride on a boat along the Napali coastline. The boat was one
of a ﬂeet owned by a man known as Captain Zodiac. Zodiac
is the wor d for the incr edible land for mations that meet the
sea ther e. This man loved the coastline so passionately that
he took the wor d for his own name. One day someone said
to him, “Y ou know a lot about this coastline and its history. A
lot of people would love to see what you see her e, and know
what you know. Why don’t you tak e people out on your boat
and give them a tour?”Captain Zodiac’s rides ar e a gr eat service to tourists on
Kauai. They spr ead joy. They lif t the cultural vibration. And
the boat rides became quite a business. Captain Zodiac now
has lots of boats, and he’s very successful. His business
formed ar ound his love. The issue is whether we’r e working for money, or
working for love. What we need to investigate is which one
is the mor e abundant attitude. As with Captain Zodiac, and
contrary to the ego’s ar guments, love is actually good
business. Any job can become a ministry, as long as it is dedicated
to love. Y our car eer can be an empty canvas for God to write
on. Whatever your talents or abilities, He can use them. Our
ministry becomes a joyous e xperience for ourselves and
others as we let a mysterious for ce dir ect us. W e simply
follow instructions. W e are allowing God’s spirit to move
through us, using our gif ts and r esour ces however He sees
ﬁt, to do His work in the world. This is the k ey to a
successful car eer. Success is not unnatural; it is the most natural thing in
the world because it is the natural r esult of man’s
cocreation with God. In A Movable F east, Hemingway writes
about writing. He describes the diﬀer ence between his
writing a story, and a story writing itself. When he ﬁnds
himself writing the story, he knows it’s time to stop for the
day. Our life is meant to be a story that mysteriously writes
itself, and our work is the cr eative fruit of our lives. “God, please use me” is the most powerful aﬃr mation
we can say for an abundant car eer. It is the miracle work er’s
prayer. Everybody wants a gr eat job. A ccept that it’s alr eady
been given to you. The fact that you’r e alive means a
function has been assigned to you: open your heart toeveryone and everything. That way you’r e a vessel of God. Don’t wor ry about what to say or what to do. He’ll let you
know. I used to think I was lazy. I was always tir ed. A ctually, I
was just block ed until I discover ed the purpose of my life. When our ener gy is applied in the dir ection of co -creating
with God, of a willingness to supply love wher e ther e was
none befor e, new ener gy bursts forth fr om deep inside us. The world never gives you per mission to shine. Only love
does that. I r emember being a cocktail waitr ess and walking
into work one night thinking, “ Oh, I get it! They think this is
a bar!” As A Course in Miracles  student, I now saw it
diﬀer ently. “This isn’t a bar, and I’m not a waitr ess. That’s
just an illusion. Every busi ness is a fr ont for a chur ch, and
I’m her e to purif y the thought for ms, to minister to the
childr en of God.” W e can tak e our own lives seriously,
regardless of whether or not anyone else does. No job r eally
has any mor e potential impact on the planet than any other. We’re always impacting the world in which we live, thr ough
our pr esence, our ener gy, our interactions with others. The
question is, what kind of impact ar e we having? I once knew a woman who wanted to be an actr ess, but
wasn’t getting work. In the meantime, she was working as a
personal assistant to a pr ofessional writer. He ador ed her
work and wanted her to travel with him all ar ound the
country, doing book tours, setting up lectur es and helping
him in various ways. Although she told me that she found
working with him very e xhilarating, she didn’t want to leave
Los Angeles because she felt she needed to be available in
case ther e wer e acting jobs her e that she might audition for. “Nothing would be better for your acting car eer,” I told
my friend, “than that you would start star ring in your ownlife.” The r eason many people want to be actors is not
because they ar e truly called to the art, but rather because
they want so desperately to cr eate something beautiful in
their own lives. Show up! Be enthusiastic! P ut some ener gy
into the life you’r e living now! How will anyone ever be
impressed by your starlik e quality if you’r e waiting to
cultivate that quality until you become a star? How would a miracle work er decide whether to go on the
trip or stay in L os Angeles? W e mak e decisions by asking
that the ‘Holy Spirit decide for us.’ Ther e are always so
many factors in life that we can’t know. ‘We mak e no
decisions by ourselves,’ but ask how we might be most
helpful in car rying out His plan. The moral authority that this
attitude gives us cr eates a starlik e quality. It is our humility,
our desir e to be of service, that mak es us stars. Not our
arrogance. An ego thought that tempts a lot of people is the
insistence that “I don’t do windows.” Ther e’s an old Zen
tradition of disciples spending years dusting the altars of
their masters as part of their pr eparation and training. The
apprentice lear ns from being in the pr esence of the master,
from serving him, and in time will surpass him. As the I
Ching says, the universe ﬁlls up the modest and cuts down
the pr oud. In modesty, we allow things to blossom. W e’re
not ashamed to admit we’r e still in pr ocess. The ego
emphasizes the goal rather than the pr ocess by which we
achieve it. This is actually the ego’s way of sabotaging us. We become pr oud and har dened, and ther eby less
attractive. Ther e is nothing lik able about false pride. It
doesn’t help us get work, or to get mor e successful. Our job is to tend to our own gr owth as people, our grace
and integrity and humility. We need no other goal. The cor e
of our being then gr ows into a substantial power, e xternallyas well as inter nally. Our ministry becomes a dir ect line of
creation, fr om God thr ough us to all mankind. 6. NEW HEAR TS, NEW JOBS
“Child of God, you wer e created to cr eate the
good, the beautiful and the holy. Do not for get
this.”
The ego


general rule, the major obstacle for men tends to be the thinking mind,
and the major obstacle for women the pain-body, although in certain
individual cases  the opposite m ay be true, and in others the tw o factors
may be equal. DISSOL VING THE COLLECTIVE FEMALE P AIN-BODYWhy is the pain-body mor e of an obstacle for women. The pain -body u sually has a col lective as well as a personal aspect. The
personal aspect is the accumula ted residue of emotional pain su f fered in
one’ s ow n past. The collective one is the pain accumulate d in the
collective human psyche over thousands of years through disease,
torture, war, murder, cruelty, m adness, and so on. Everyone’ s personal
pain-body also partakes of this collective pain-body. There are dif ferent
strands in the collective pain -body. For example, certain races or
countries in which extreme forms of strife and violence occu r have a
heavier collective pain-body than others. Anyone with a strong pain-
body and not enough consciousness to disidentify from it will not only
continuously or periodically be forced to relive their emotional  pain but
may also easily become either t he perpetrator or the victim of violence,
depending on whether their pain-body is predominantly active or
passive. On the other hand, they may also be potentially closer to
enlightenment. This potential is n’ t necessarily realized, of course, but if
you are trapped in a nightmare you will probably be more strongly
motivated to awaken than som eone who is just caught in the ups and
downs of an ordinary dream. Apart fr om her personal pain-bo dy, every woman has her share in what
could be described as the colle ctive female pain-body — unless she is
fully conscious. This consists of accumulated pain suf fered by women
partly through male subjugation of the female, through slavery,
exploitation, rape, childbirth, child loss, and so on, over thousands of
years. T he emotional or physical pain that for many women precedes and
coincides with the menstrual flow is the pain-body in its collective aspect
that awakens from its dormancy at that time, although it can be triggered
at other times t oo. It restricts the free flow of life ener gy thr ough the
body, of which menstruation is a  physical expression. Let’ s dwell on this
for a moment and see how  it can become an opportu nity for
enlightenment. Often a woman is “taken over”  by the pain-body at that time. It has an
extremely powerful ener getic char ge that can easily pull you into
unconscious identification with it. Y ou are then actively possess ed by anener gy field that occupies your inner space and pretends to be you —
but, of course, is  not you at all. It speaks through you, acts through you,
thinks th rough y ou. It will create negative situations in your life so that it
can feed on the  ener gy. It wants more pain, in whatever form. I have
described this process already. It can be vicious and destructive. It is pure
pain, past pain — and it is not you. The number of women who ar e now approaching the fully c onscious
state already exceeds that of me n and will be growing even faster in the
years to come. Men may catch up with them in the end, but for some
considerable time there will be a gap between the consciousnes s of men
and that of women. W omen a re regaining the function that is their
birthright and, therefore, comes  to them more naturally than it does to
men: to be a bridge between the manifested world and the Unma nifested,
between physicality and spirit. Y our main task as a woman now is to
transmute the pain-body so that it no longer comes between you and your
true self, the essence of who you are. Of course, you also hav e to deal
with the other obstacle to enligh tenment, which is the thinking m ind, but
the i ntense presence you genera te when dealing with the pain-b ody will
also free you from identification with the mind. The first thing t o remember is t his: As long as you make an identity for
yourself out of t he pain, you cannot become free of it. As long as part of
your sense of self is investe d in your emotional pain, you will
unconsciously re sist or sabotage every attempt that you make to heal that
pain. Why. Quite simply because you want to keep yourself intact, and
the pain has become an essential part of you. This is an unconscious
process, and the only way to overcome it is to make it conscious. T o s uddenly see that you are or have been attached to your pai n can be
quite a shocking realization. The moment you realize this, you have
broken the attachment. The pain-body is an ener gy field, almos t like an
entity, th at has become tempora rily lodged in your inner space. It is life
ener gy that has become trapped, ener gy that is no longer flowing. Of
course, the pain-body is there because of certain things that happened in
the past. It is  the living past in you, and if you identify with it, you
identify with the past. A victim identity is the belief that the past is more
powerful than the present, which is the opposite of the truth. It is the
belief that other people and what they did to you are responsible for who
you are now, fo r your emotional pain or your inability to be your trueself. Th e truth is that the only power there is is contained w ithin this
moment: It is the power of your presence. Once you know that,  you also
realize that you  ar e responsible for your inner s pace now — nobody else
is — and that the past cannot prevail against the power of the Now. So identification  prevents you from dealing with the pain-body. Some
women who are already consc ious enough to have relinquished their
victim id entity o n the personal level are still holding on to a collective
victim identity: “what men did to women. ” They are right — and they
are also wrong. They are right inasmuch as the collective female pain-
body is  in lar g e part due to male violence inflicted on women an d
repression of the female princip le throughout the planet over millennia. They are wrong if they derive a sense of self from this fact and thereby
keep themselves  imprisoned in a  collective victim identity. If a woman is
still holding on to anger, resentment, or condemnation, she is holding on
to her pain-body. This may giv e her a comforting sense of identity, of
solidarity with other women, but it is keeping her in bondage to  the past
and blocking full access to her essence and true power. If women
exclude themselves from men, that fosters a sense of separation and
therefore a strengthening of the ego. And the stronger the ego, the more
distant you are from your true nature. So do not use the pain-body  to give you an identity. Use it for
enlightenment instead. T ransmute it into consciousness. One of  the best
times fo r this is during menses. I  believe that, in the years to com e, many
women will enter the fully conscious state during that time. Usually, it is
a time of unconsciousness for many women, as they are taken over by
the collective female pain-body. Once you have reached a certain level of
consciousness, however, you ca n reverse this, so instead of becoming
unconscious yo u become mor e  conscious. I have described the basic
process already,  but let me take you through it again, this t ime with
special reference to the collective female pain-body. When yo u know that the menstrual flow is approaching, before  you feel
the first signs o f what is commonly called premenstrual tension, the
awakening of the collective female pain-body, become very alert andinhabit y our bod y as fully as possible. When the first sign appears, you
need to be alert enough to “catch” it before it takes you o ver. For
example, the first sign may be a sudden, strong irritation or a  flash of
anger, or it may be a purely physical symptom. Whatever it is, catch it
before it can take over your thinking or behavior. This simpl y means
putting the spotlight of your attention on it. If it is an emotion, feel the
strong e ner gy c har ge behind it. Know that it is the pain-body. At the
same tim e, be the knowing; that is to say, be aware of your c onscious
presence and feel its power. An y emotion that you take your presence
into wil l quickly subside and become transmuted. If it is a purely
physical symptom, the attention that you give it will preven t it from
turning i nto an emotion or a thought. Then continue to be alert and wait
for the next sign of the pain-body. When it appears, catch it again in the
same way as before. Later, w hen the pain-body has fully awakened from its dormant state,
you may experience considerab le turbulence in your inner sp ace for a
while, p erhaps for several days. Whatever form this takes, stay


pit prunes andchop), 1 tsp each of sage and savory, 2 tsp thyme,
  cup fresh parsley
finely chopped, and ¼ cup fresh orange juice. Yvonne Nienstadt says: “I love the texture and taste of this Japanese
squash. It’s very meaty and sweet, but you could use pumpkin, turban, or
acorn squash too (cut the latter in half and seed). You may also use 2 or 3
smaller -sized squashes rather than a large one. This makes a very attractive
presentation, especially if the squash are of dif ferent sizes.”
Cook rice and wild rice together in vegetable stock for 45 minutes or
until rice is done. Using stock to cook the grain adds both nutrition and flavor. Just save your vegetable trimmings, for carrots, parsnips, chard stems or
greens, celery, celery root, onion all work well. Avoid cabbage family veggies as they impart a strong flavor. Cover with pure water and simmer until done. Use in soups, to make sauces or what have you. Carefully cut the top off of the squash as you would when carving a
pumpkin. Remove seeds. Place squash face down on baking pan together with the squash lid and
prebake for 25 to 30 minutes in a 350° F oven. Take care not to overcook; a mushy squash cannot be stuf fed. Place onion, garlic, peas, and celery in a pot and cook on low for 20
minutes to barely tenderize. Add diced pepper, raisins, herbs, citrus juice, and cooked rice, mixing
well. Fill squash with stuf fing, packing it down. Return to oven and bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until squash is tender, but
still firm. If there is extra filling, bake in a covered casserole with a tablespoon of
stock or juice, or fill a bell pepper or two and do the same. To serve, arrange a platter with fresh kale or other leafy greens. Place squash in center of platter and artistically prop squash lid up
against squash. Spoon out each helping, making sure to get some of the delicious squash
meat. Alternatively, if squash is cooled  a bit before serving, it may be sliced in
wedges.Ladle Parsley Yogurt Sauce (see recipe below under Sauces and Dips)
over each portion, if dairy is allowed; otherwise, a squeeze of orange juice
adds a bit of zing. Enjoy! Stuffed SquashYN
3-4 acorn squash, ½ cup onion diced, ½ cup celery diced, ½ cup carrot
diced, 1¼ cup cooked brown rice, ½ cup lentils sprouted, ¼ cup raisins or
chopped prunes soaked and drained, 3 tsp fresh parsley minced, ½ tsp
rubbed sage, ½ tsp thyme, and 1 lar ge clove of garlic crushed. Slice squash lengthwise and remove seeds. Combine remaining ingredients; fill squash halves. Cover and bake at 300–325° F for 1½ hours, or until squash is tender. Delicious with Apricot Sauce or Golden Gravy (see under Sauces and
Dips). Try using 6–8 whole cloves garlic for a delicious mild flavor. Crushing
the fresh  garlic releases its strong aromatic oils, whereas using garlic uncut
imparts a very mild flavor. Stir-Steamed Snow Peas Medley*
1 lb snow peas, 1 bunch bok choy, 1 medium zucchini, 1 medium
crookneck yello w squash, 1 small red onion, 1 carrot, 1 leek, 1 cup orange
juice, 1 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp vinegar, and 1 tsp of allspice. Clean all vegetables, removing stem from snow peas, slicing white stalk
and green leaf of bok choy into strips, slicing yellow squash lengthwise and
then into half circles. You can make attractive planks out of the zucchini by trimming off each
end, and then cutting in half, then half again. Stand each barrel of squash on end and slice down into
 " planks. Dice red onion, then slice carrot s oriental style as thin as possible at a 45-
degree angle into ovals. Slice leek in similar fashion across stalk into ovals. Put orange juice, honey, allspice, and vinegar into a blender, then pour
into a suitable-sized steam pot.Cover with all the vegetables and simmer 15–20 minutes until tender. Very succulent! String Beans
1 lb green beans (cut tips, wash, and cut into any size piece desired). Add: 1 onion chopped, some soup stock (just enough to keep beans
moist). Stew approximately 50 minutes (until tender). Sweet Potato
Cut of f tips and wash.
Perforate potato with knife to let steam escape and place in casserole
(covered for soft skin, uncovered for crisp skin). Bake in low oven for 2 to 2½ hours. Tomatoes, Grilled
Slice tomatoes in half. Put in pan, sliced side up, and cover each half with chopped onions. Bake in a low oven 1 hour. Save juice to put into soup. Green T omato Mincemeat
1 qt green tomatoes, 2 oz golden raisins, ½ cup brown sugar, ¼ cup
water, 2 oz seeded raisins, ¼ tsp cloves, ¼ cup wine vinegar, along with 1
pt of tart apples. Put tomatoes through coarse chopper. Combine all ingredients except apples. Heat to tender about 30 minutes, stirring. Add chopped apples and cook until thick.Tomatoes Stuffed with Mixed V egetables
4 tomatoes (hollowed out as the vessel), vegetables: a variety, as much as
desired, 2 tomatoes and 6 garlic cloves (the sauce). Wash tomatoes well. Hollow out the 4 tomatoes. Cut the vegetab les into small pieces and boil in a little water for half an
hour. Put cook ed vege tables in the tomatoes and place them in a baking dish
without the lid. In the blender, blend the 2 tomatoes and garlic. Spread sauce on top of each tomato. Preheat oven to 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Turn it of f and put tomatoes in for another 10 minutes. Zucchini
Combine: sliced  zucchini, raw chopped onion, chopped tomatoes, and a
touch of soup stock. Stew for 20 minutes or cut squash into small pieces and place in a baking
dish. In the blender, blend the tomatoes, onion, and 4 garlic cloves. Pour sauce over squash and bake 1½ hours at 200–250° F. Zucchini and Rice
½ lb or ganic brown rice, 1 carrot, 1 zucchini, and 2 garlic cloves. Wash the rice and vegetables well. Put rice in a baking dish and add chopped up parsley, carrot, celery, and
zucchini squash. At the same time blend tomato  and garlic in the blender and spread on
top of the rice and vegetables. Bake in the oven for 1½ hours at 250°F. Zucchini and T omatoesSD6 small zucchini sliced, 1 mediu m or large onion chopped, 2-3 tomatoes
chopped, plus garlic and herbs to taste (thyme, mace, marjoram). Saute onion, tomatoes, and seasonings in a little water. Add zucchini when half done, and simmer. Serve as a vegetable or potato topping. Spaghetti with BeetballsYN
Wash I medium spaghetti squash and cut in half. Scoop out seeds and place cut side down on baking sheet. Bake in low oven for 2 hours or until tender. Or, place cut side up in a large covered pot with 1” water and steam over
low flame for 1 hour or until done. Note: Spaghetti squash is a yellow hard winter squash develo ped by a
Japanese farmer  some 30 years ago. When cooked, it comes out in strands
like spaghetti. It is now widely available especially in organic growers’
circles. Spaghetti Beetball Sauce
2 lb ripe tomatoe s (6–8 large), 3–5 cloves garlic minced, 1 medi um onion
diced fine, 1 green pepper diced, 2 stalks celery diced, or 1 small fennel
bulb diced, 2 small zucchini sliced, or 1 cup eggplant cubed,  4 tsp fresh
parsley minced,  pinch each of rosemary, thyme, sage, and marjoram, a and
½ tsp fennel seeds. Cook whole tomatoes over a low flame for 30–35 minutes or until tender. To ensure a thick, rich sauce,  pour off the extra juice drawn from the
tomatoes during cooking.b
Put drained tomatoes through food mill or sieve to remove skins and
seeds. Pour sauce back into pot and add remaining veggies and seasonings. Cover and stew over low flame for 1 hour or until veggies are done to
your liking. For a little extra bite add a dash or two of wine vinegar with a tsp of
honey.Beetballs
2 tsp parsley minced, 1 small onion minced, 1 medium beet grated, and
3-4 medium carrots grated. Or, 1 cup eggplant ground, ½ cup Essene rye
bread or saltless and fatless rye, 1½ cup of 2-day-old lentils germinated, c 1
small bunch endive, spinach or young chard finely chopped, and 2–3


’re defeated. All hope is lost; the anxiety mounts. Such
is the crucifixion of self. Sometimes the crucifixion is individual, as in the perpetration of a
wrong committed against one person; at other times, the crucifixion is
collective, such as war or genocide committed against a group  of people. The crucifixion is a universal experience. It relates as much to the suffering
of humanity today as it related to the suffering of Jesus on the cross two
thousand years ago. Jesus on the cross is the symbo l of fear’s rampage and the suffering it
produces. Whatever the form or size, the crucifixion is always an example
of the conscious ness of fear seeking to obliterate the consciousness of love. The crucifixion was a sign that apparently fear had won. But only apparently. For the ego’s win was temporary. Three days after
the crucifixion, the women who arrived to retrieve the body of Jesus were
told it was no longer there. They were met by angels who told them, “He is
risen.” His being had been transformed. The three days between the crucifixion and the resurrection are
psychologically significant. They symbolize the time it takes for a pattern of
fear to transform  into a pattern of love. It is the time it takes for forgiveness
to shift our consciousness and rearrange our circumstances. The way we
think  while we are in the middle of a crucifixion determines our power to
invoke the resurrection. If Jesus had closed his heart or lost his faith, the resurrection would not
have occurred. He placed his mind so fully in the hands of God that allpower of God was given unto him. He doubted, perhaps, but he did not
waver. What does it mean to waver? It means to give in to hatred, anger,
resentment, victimization, revenge, or any other closed-hearted response to
the crucifixions in our lives. Lovelessness deflects the miracle by which the
universe would otherwise self-correct. While such feelings might be
thoroughly valid, even in the midst of our tears we can say, “I am willing to
see this dif ferently.”
Knowing that nothing real can be threatened  and nothing unreal exists
is the thought that casts out darkness. We don’t wait until we feel that way
to embrace the thought; we embrace that thought, which begins to
alchemize our feelings. If some thing is not love, it exists within the three
dimensions yet has no ultimate reality. As we embrace the knowledge of
what’ s Real, what is unreal begins to lose its hold on us. During that time, it makes sense that we’re in grief over the conditions
that hurt us. But knowing the deeper significance of that time period gives
us the power to hasten its end. It gives us faith. It gives us the ability to see
the victo ry that is as yet unseen. It gives us the strength to endure, to know
that “this too shall pass.”
None of this is always easy and sometimes it’ s very hard. It doesn’ t take a lot of work to complain, but it does take a lot of work
sometimes to burn through the pain and hold on to our faith. Faith in things
unseen is like flying on instruments, when a pilot knows the horizon is there
but simply can’t see it through the clouds. Faith is the realization that no
matter what tears we’re crying now, we’re in the process of an awakening
that will lead us to a peaceful place. We can’t see that when our spiritual
eyes are not yet open. Jesus will lend us his, if we ask. In the meantime, we don’t deny  our tears. They are part of the healing
process. Women wept at the feet of the crucified Jesus, and so do we. Tomb time, as my friend Sandhi calls it, is sacred in its own way. It’s
important to surround ourselves at such times with people who have
compassion for our suffering, yet refuse to join in an interpretation of
events that would only prolon g it. It’s the meaning of the Simon &
Garfunkel lyric, “Hello darkness, my old friend, I’ve come to talk with you
again.” Tomb time is often a period of deep sadness—over a divorce, a poor
diagnosis, the loss of a loved one, and so on—and we cannot rush through
it. The time to be heartbroken is when our heart is breaking.There’ s a way in which, given the state of the world today, being
heartbroken—sharing in the sentiment “Jesus wept” in response to the
suffering of the world—is not only legitimate, it is healthy. It is a functional
response to the sorrow of our times, not a dysfunctional one. If anything,
our denying how far off course humanity has swerved—our trying to
suppress the pain and even calling our heartbreak a “syndrome”— that is
pathological. Nothing would be better for humanity right now than if we
could all together have a big, long cry. Good Friday is that, in a way. Or that
is what it should be. Going through the pain of life, even its extreme pain, and allowing
Jesus to impress himself upon your mind while you do, invokes the
resurrection in your life as in his. He will mystically overs hadow you
during your time of heartbreak. He will share his resurrection with you. The fact that you hold on to love while having endured a cruci fixion—
that you are willing to forgive, that you continue to serve, that you have
faith in miracles—is your salvat ion and rebirth. You will literal ly no longer
be who you used to be, having  been transformed and illumined by your
pain. The emoti onal body of your broken self, like the physi cal body of
Jesus, will disappear. The wome n at the tomb being told that his body had
disappeared means your defeated personality will no longer exist. Your
persona will shift. You will become someone new. You will no longer be
who you used to be. He rose, and so shall you. OceanofPDF.comEaster
Christmas and Easter are like existential bookends that hold the psyche
together. They relate not only to events in the past but also to the meaning
of every  moment. In any instan t we can give birth to Christ through the
expression of our love, and in any situation we can overcome the darkness
of the world through the expression of our love. Jesus is the Alpha and the
Omega because his mind is both the beginning and the end of everything. Easter is the good news because it’s the ultimate triumph of spirit over
matter. The purpose of the crucifixion was not to perpetuate suffering but to
end it. Jesus doesn’ t invite you to take up his cross, but to put down yours. It’s not that we are asked to ignore our problems. We should look at our
crucifixions but not dwell on them. If we simply ignore a problem, we’re
not in transcendence but in denial. If we overemphasize the problem,
however, we increase its power over us. The art of living lies in
acknowledging the existence of the crucifixion—the ego, the fear, the
destructiveness it causes—yet denying its power over us. That is the
resurrection: not just the gentleness of love, but also the power of love. The power of the resurrection is a power in each of us; the issue is not
that our power is weak, but that our faith is weak. We often have more faith
in the power of a problem than we have faith in the power of God to solve
it. That’s why faith matters; it is a power of the mind. And miracles arise
from conviction. Conviction is a force multiplier. Standing with conviction
that the power of love is great er than the power of fear creates a portal
through which miracles flow. Jesus did not say he had fixed the world; he said he had overcome it. His consciousness was lifted above attachment to the world, and therefore
its cruelty could not ultimately destroy him. We say to darkness : “Yes, I see
you, but I deny your power to defeat me. I claim the power of theovercoming. Jesus robbed you of your power; therefore you have no power
over me.”
Because all minds are joined, when anyone achieves anything, then
their achievement becomes an available option for everyone. Jesus having
broken the ego’s spell, it is now broken for anyone who chooses to place
their mind under his guidance. The ego is literally a misunderst anding. Its biggest falsehood is that our
lives are limited to the life of the body. It is the illusion that we are
temporary beings when the life of the spirit is eternal. Overcoming that
illusion is the miracle that sets us free. In fact, the body is like a suit of clothes. “Physical birth is not a
beginning; it is a continuing” (T-81). And physical death is not an ending; it
is a continuing as well. Death, accordin g to the ego, is proof that we are locked into the body,
destined to suffer and doomed to die. But if death is in fact not the end of
our lives, then we are liberated from all manner of limited beliefs. We are
freed from the idea that we are separate, and we are freed from  the belief
that we are tied to the limitations of the mortal plane. The ego mind is
trapped within illusions


after. These two young people were full of resentment, fear, suspicion,
and anger. These attitudes weaken, exhaust, and debilitate the whol e
being. They learned that hate divides and that love unites. They began
to realize what they had been doing with their minds. Neither one of
them knew the law of  mental action, nor they were misusing the ir
minds and bringing on chaos and misery. These two people went bac k
together at my suggestion and experimented with prayer therapy. They began to radiate love, peace, and good will to each other. Each
one practiced radiating harmony, health, peace, and love to the other,
and they alternated in the reading of the
Psalms every night. Their marriage is growing more beautiful  every
day. 152  • The nagging wife
Many times the reason the wife nags is because she gets n o
attention. Oftentimes, it is a craving for love and affection. Give your
wife attention, and show your appreciation. Praise and ex-alt  all her
many good points. There is also the nagging type of woman who wants to make the
man conform to her particular pattern. This is about the quic kest way
in the world to get rid of a man. The wife and the husband must cease being scavengers— always
looking at the petty faults or errors in each other. Let e ach give
attention and praise for the constructive and wonder-ful qualit ies in
the other. • The brooding husband
If a man begins to brood, grows morbid against his wife because  of
the things she said or did, he is, psychologically speak-ing,
committing adultery. One of the meanings of adultery is idolatry, i.e., giving attent ion to
or uniting mentally with that which is negative and destructi ve. When
a man is silently re-senting his wife and is full of hostilit y toward her,
he is unfaithful. He is not faithful to his marriage vows, which are to love, c herish,
and honor her all the days of his life. The man who is brooding, bitter, and resentful can swallow his
sharp remarks, abate his anger, and he can go to great lengths to be
considerate, kind, and courteous. He can deftly skirt the differe nces. Through praise and mental effort, he can get out of the habit of
antagonism. Then, he will be able to get along better, not only with his
wife, but with business associates also. Assume the harmonious state,
and eventually you will find peace and harmony. 153  •The great mistake
A great mistake is to discuss your marital problems or  diffi-culties
with neighbors and relatives. Suppose, for example, a wife s ays to the
neighbor, “John never gives me any money. He treats my mother
abominably, drinks to excess, and is constantly abusive and insulting.”
Now, this wife is degrading and belittling her husband in the eyes  of
all the neighbors and relatives. He no longer appears as the i deal
husband to them. Never discuss your marital prob-lems with any one
except a trained counselor. Why cause numer-ous people to think
negatively of your marriage? Moreover, as you discuss and dwell
upon these shortcomings of your husband, you are actually creating
these states within yourself. Who is thinking and feeling it? You are! As you think and feel, so are you. Relatives will usually give you the wrong advice. It is us u-ally
biased and prejudiced because it is not given in an im-per sonal way. Any advice you receive which violates the golden rule, which is  a
cosmic law, is not good or sound. It is well to remember that no two human beings ever lived be neath
the same roof without clashes of temperament, periods of hurts and
strain. Never display the unhappy side of your mar-riage to your
friends. Keep your quarrels to yourself. Refrain from criticism  and
condemnation of your partner. • Don ’t try to make your wife over
A husband must not try to make his wife over into a second edition
of himself. The tactless attempt to change her in many ways i s foreign
to her nature. These attempts are always foolish, and many time s
result in dissolution of the marriage. These attempts to alt er her
destroy her pride and self-esteem, and arouse a spirit of con trariness
and resentment that proves fatal to the marriage bond. Adjustments are needed, of course, but if you have a good look
inside your own mind, and study your character and be-havior, you
will find so many shortcomings, they will keep you busy the res t of
 154  your Me. If you say, “I will make him over into what I want,” you are
looking for trouble and the divorce court. You are asking for miser y. You will have to learn the hard way that there is no one to cha nge but
yourself. • Pray together and stay together through steps in prayer
The first step: Never carry over from one day to another
accumulated irritations arising from little disappointments. Be sure to
forgive each other for any sharpness before you retire at night. The
moment you awaken in the morning, claim infinite intelligence is
guiding you in all your ways. Send out loving thoughts of peace,
harmony, and love to your marriage partner, to all members of  the
family, and to the whole world. The second step: Say grace at breakfast. Give thanks for the
wonderful food, for your abundance, and for all your bless-ings. Make
sure that  no problems, worries, or arguments shall enter i nto the table
conversation; the same applies at dinnertime. Say to your wif e or
husband, “I appreciate all you are doing, and I radiate love and good
will to you all day long.”
The third step: The husband and wife should alternate in praying
each night. Do not take your marriage partner for granted. Show y our
appreciation and love. Think appreciation and good will, rather than
condemnation, criticism, and nagging. The way to build a peaceful
home and a happy marriage is to use a foundation of love, beauty,
harmony, mutual respect, faith in God, and all things good. Read the
23rd, 27th, and 91st Psalms, the 11th chapter of Hebrews, the 13th
chapter of I Corinthians, and other great texts of the Bibl e before
going to sleep. As you practice these truths, your marriage w ill grow
more and more blessed through the years. 155  • Review your actions
1. Ignorance of mental and spiritual laws is the cause of all  marital
unhappiness. By praying scientifically together, you stay together. 2. The best time to prevent divorce is before marriage. If you learn
how to pray in the right way, you will attract the right mate for you. 3. Marriage is the union of a man and woman who are bound
together by love. Their hearts beat as one, and they move onward,
upward, and Godward. 4. Marriage does not bequeath happiness. People find hap-piness by
dwelling on the eternal truths of God and the spiritual values of life. Then, the man and woman can con-tribute to each other’s happiness
and joy. 5. You attract the right mate by dwelling on the qualities and
characteristics you admire in a woman or a man, and then your
subconscious mind will bring you together in divine order. 6. You must build into your mentality the mental equivalent of  what
you want in a marriage partner. If you want to attract an  honest,
sincere, and loving partner in life, you must be honest, sincere, an d
loving yourself. 7. You do not have to repeat mistakes in marriage. When you really
believe you can have the type man or woman you idealize, it is  done
unto you, as you believe. To believe is to accept something as t rue. Accept your ideal companion now mentally. 8. Do not wonder how, why, or where you will meet the mate you
are praying for. Trust implicitly the wisdom of your subconsc ious
mind. It has the “know-how,” and you don’t have to assist it. 9. You are mentally divorced when you indulge in peeves, grudges,
ill will, and hostility toward your marriage partner. You are mentally
dwelling with error in the bed of your mind. Adhere to your marriage
vows, “I promise to cherish, love, and honor him (or her) all the days
of my life.”
 156  10. Cease projecting fear patterns to your marriage partner. Project
love, peace, harmony, and good will, and your mar-riage will grow
more beautiful and more wonderful through the years. 11. Radiate love, peace, and good will to each other. These
vibrations are picked up by the subconscious mind resulting in  mutual
trust, affection, and respect. 12. A nagging wife is usually seeking attention and apprecia-t ion. She is craving for love and affection. Praise and exalt her many good
points. Show her that you love her and ap-preciate her. 13


his time did not recognize the fact that the patient needed not a temporary treatment, but
a permanent one. They did not recognize the fact the ulcers were due to dietary deficiencies, and that the patients must be put on a correct diet for the rest of their lives. They assumed that the patient was consuming a normal diet, and that the ulcer was due to some mysterious and unexplainable happening which in some way was connected
with the production of too much acid in the stomach. We now know that the acid is the
defense mechanism. It is the only mechanism the stomach has for fighting back against
irritations from without. The person suffering with this kind of diseases always has
some degree of scurvy. The scurvy has produced bad teeth and infected gums. The bad teeth and infected gums have caused pus to be swallowed into the stomach sometimes at
the rate of about a teaspoonful every hour. The swallowing of pus produces local
irritation. The irritation calls out the increased stomach secretion. Continuation of the
irritation results in an increase of hydrochloric add, leading eventually to ulceration. These happenings cover a period of years, and by the time the ulcer appears in stomach or duodenum the whole gastrointestinal tract is diseased and along with it the liver bile
duct and gall bladder. The ulcer is a focal breakdown in a completely diseased gastro-intestinal canal. In connection with colds and other respiratory diseases, there is no doubt about the
resistance being high in well-nourished pers ons and low in badly nourished persons. In
connection with gastrointestinal disease of the type described, there is no question but that the evidence is just as well established. The chronic gastritis and hyperacidity and stomach and duodenal ulcers are deficiency dis eases the same as scurvy, beriberi, and
rickets, and may be cured just as certainly and just as permanently by diet and proper mineral and vitamin intake. The study of what we need and what we get in the way of diet establishes the fact that
diseases of the respiratory tract and diseas es of the stomach are unnecessary luxuries. We may have them if we wish. We need not have them if we do not wish. Every person who exists on a general dietary deficiency for a period of years, even
though he may not develop chronic respiratory infections, or actual peptic ulcer, will
have vague, indefinite stomach distress whic h is called indigestion. He will also have some degree of constipation, and such person will have an abnormal colon. In the past,
this disease of the colon has been called colitis. The fitness of this name has been
questioned, as it is hard to establish an actual inflammation present in these cases. However, the mucous membrane of the colon does become diseased. It does fail in its
function. The walls of the colon become thinne r. In some cases these walls break partly
through, producing diverticula. A diverticulum is a hernia of the lining of the colon. In
the person who has such a diseased colon, ulceration occurs in the advanced stages of
the disease. In some such diseased colons a widely distributed mass of warts grow up, and these warts may become ulcerated or cancerous (papilloma). The x-ray shows in
advanced stages of colonic disease that the entire colon may be excited to contraction,
thereby narrowing the whole organ. The contr action may occur only in certain sections
of the colon; but whether it occurs in the col on as a whole or in sections, the disease is
referred to as spastic colon. It is simply the old, long-continued chronic disease irritating the organ to the point where it is thrown in to a chronic spasm. The spastic colon, the
ulcerated colon and the atonic are of course painful. Nervousness has nothing to do with
producing colitis but the colon disease and the nervousness are both the result of the same diet deficiencies. The same relationshi p exists in connection with overfatness and
diabetes. They are both caused by the bad diet. One does not cause the other. The many forms of colitis produce a more or less shifting and advancing and receding
group of pains. These colon pains may appear in any part of the abdomen. Since the
colon is a large organ, it is doubled upon itself, and sections of it may occupy any
abdominal position. The pains of colonic disease are often mistaken for inflammation of
the appendix, ovaries, or gallbladder. Since diet deficiency is almost universal, and different degrees of colitis or colonic disease are also widespread, colonic pains are the
most common pains in both the male and female abdomen. The colon bacillus is a normal form of germ life within the colon. It exists without
doing any harm to the mucous membrane. However, in persons who have a lowered
resistance on account of deficiency disease, or who have an old, chronic, constipation
which causes stagnation within the colon, these bacilli lose their friendly attitude and
become disease producers. They not only attack the lining of the colon, but make their way through, especially in the case of females, into the kidneys and bladder, setting up
colon bacillus pyelitis and cystitis. They may filter through into the parenchyma of the
kidneys, causing more or less severe nephrit is. This is the commonest cause of bladder
inflammation in women. While the disease may be temporarily relieved by giving
urinary antiseptics, there is a tendency for the disease to recur until the colon is brought
back to better health by vitamins and minerals and a better dietary intake. The dietary deficiencies which promote the invasion of the nasal cavity, throat, and
lungs by the virus of colds, which subsequen tly leads to establishment of abscesses in
the sinuses, and which produce a lack of resistance to infections along the
gastronintestinal tract, also affect resistance against infection in the deeper parts of the
body. Every living cell in the body has an inherited ability to maintain its health in the
face of a constant threat by microscopic enemies. These microscopic enemies have a
very great degree of selectivity. They are the commonly known disease germs and the
less commonly known disease-producing viruses. Viruses are much smaller than bacilli
or bacteria or fungi. Viruses are so small that some of them are parasites on these other forms of life. Viruses pass through the finest filters. Bacteria do not. Since both bacteria
and viruses produce disease, and since they have a very delicate selectivity, it is quite apparent that virus disease as well as bacterial disease is encouraged by food
deficiencies and discouraged by the sound, healthy cell that is properly nourished. At the present time there are probably many  diseases where the viruses attain entrance
into the body by way of local damage which has been caused by bacteria. In other cases
the reverse is true. Smallpox is a virus disease. The damage done admits the common pus-producing germs. The common cold is a virus disease. The virus causes enough
destruction to admit the pneumococcus, streptococcus, and other forms of bacterial
disease. Arthritis is undoubtedly due to infection built up on a deficiency basis, and may
or may not have some connection with virus diseases. One of the common virus
diseases is poliomyelitis (infantile paralysis). Here a fine degree of selectivity occurs, as the virus only attacks certain nerve cells. These are nerve cells deep in the body. Apparently the deeper parts of the body have a lower resistance in the person who is
carrying a food deficiency. Disease of the brain is well known to result from food
deficiencies as in the case of the insanity accompanying pellagra. The insanities
following attacks of flu, and the insanities which have been known to be cured after the removal of abscessed teeth are low grade brain infections which have been made
possible by nutritional deficiency. In the case of brain disease, poliomyelitis, and arthritis, we are dealing with internal
parts of the body far removed from body surfaces. The idea that the battle against infection occurs only in the mouth, nose, stomach, and other parts where infectious material actually comes in contact with body cells is therefore entirely erroneous. The
point to be made here is that not only the body areas which come in direct contact with
infection, but every cell in the body, even its most remote parts, is subject to the action
of invading microorganisms in cases where nutrition is below normal. It is quite
obvious that skin, eyes, teeth, gums, and tonsils do have a constant contact with infectious material from the outside. When th e cells of these organs lose their fighting
power by lack of certain vitamins and minerals in the diet, it is easy to see how such
structures are invaded. The connection between bones and joints, brain and spinal cord,
blood vessels and heart is not quite so easy to see; but that it does occur is quite evident. After the outer defenses are broken through the poisonous infectious material is carried
by the blood stream to every inner part of the body. In the mortality records, the disease which leads all others as the cause of death is
heart disease. As the mortality records cl assify heart disease apart from blood-vessel
disease, it does not give a true picture. Blood  vessels and heart are all one organ. Brittle
arterioscelerotic blood vessels are never attach ed to a healthy heart. The same general
disease that produces heart failure also pr oduces disease of the blood vessels. Mortality
records should


 of having the pain
threshold rise and fall, no mechanism had ever accounted
for it. Now medicine could explain it by using these internal
painkillers, the endorphi ns and enkephalins, which every
neuron in the body is able to produce at will. Very quickly
the general public was told that the brain produces
narcotics up to two hundred times stronger than anything
you can buy on the street, with the added boon  that our
own painkillers seemed to be nonaddictive. Perhaps in the
future a physician would anesthetize his patients by
stimulating some region in their brains, giving Western
medicine a scientiﬁc form of Chinese acupuncture. Morphine and endorphins both block pain by ﬁlling a
certain receptor on the neuron and preventing other
chemicals that carry the message of pain from coming in. Without these chemicals, there can be no sensatio n of pain,
no matter how much physical provocation is present. Using
this model, a molecule of endorphin is like a speciﬁc word,
the word painkiller. One can imagine that whenever the
word pain comes to the brain’s attention, it has the option
of sending painkiller  back as its answer. Unfortunately, this
simple picture was clouded over by later research. It was found that levels of endorphins in the body do not
correspond on a one-to-one basis with how much pain is
being felt. This can be proved with placebos, or dummy
drugs. Patients who are in pain can often be relieved by
receiving a placebo, usually a coated sugar pill, which they
are told is a powerful painkiller. Not everyone will respon d
to this, but generally between 30 percent and 60 percent
will report that their pain went away. This result, called the
placebo eﬀec t, has been noted for centuries, but it is highly
unpredictable. The doctor cannot tell in advance which
patients will beneﬁt or to what extent. Why should a totally inert sugar pill relieve pain in the
ﬁrst place, even the stabbing pain of peptic ulcers or
traumatic surgery. Endorphins, it was now discovered,
must hold the answer. A drug called naloxone acts as a
chemical antagonist to morphine, meaning that it has the
ability to knock morphine  molecules out of a receptor site. When naloxo ne is administered on top of a paink iller, the
sensation of pain instantly ﬂoods back. As it turns out, the
same thing will happen  with the placebo. The patients
whose pain went away from the sugar pill reported that it
returned again after they took naloxone. This implied that
endorphins and morphine must basically be the same drug,
the diﬀerence being that one is manufactured by the body
and the other by the opium poppy. But once again, it was only a certain percentage of
patients who showed this result. Naloxone made the pain
return in full force for certain patients; for others, the
placebo eﬀec t still worked totally; and for still others, only
a little of the pain came back. Researchers found
themselves in a state of renewed confusion, where they
remain today. Endorphins are certainly internal painkillers,
but uncovering these new molecules was not the whole
answer. Pain studies have now shown that morphine is not
chemically identical to endorphins, that endorphins interact
in a more complex way than narcotic drugs, and that any
form of treatment for pain relief—morphine, endorphins,
acupuncture, or hypnosis—is highly variable in its
eﬀectiveness. It was also discovered  that endorphins
cannot be made into satisfactory pharmaceuti cals: our
internal painkillers are just as addictive as heroin if given
by injection. Soon, the same frustrating complications that scientists
ran up against with the endorphins and enkephalins spread
to all the other neuro-transmitters. It turns out that a
neuron does not simply catch a signal from a neighboring
nerve cell and pass it along untouched to the next synapse. That is only one of its choices. Although no one can
describe exactly how neurons receive their chemical
messages or how they transport them down their own
axons, or trunks, it is known that the process must be very
ﬂexible. The nerve cell can change the message en route,
turning the chemical it received at point A into a diﬀerent
one at point B. The receptor sites on the ends of nerve cells
can also modify themselves to receive diﬀerent types of
messages; the sending station on the other side of the
synapse is equally versatile. For our purposes, this confusion is actually a highly
encouraging state of aﬀairs, because it proves that the
body cannot be understood without the missing ingredient
of intelligence. The physical makeup of endorphins, or any
other neurochemical, is not nearly as important as their
know-how—how they choose their sites, what trigg ers them
to act, how they “talk” to the rest of the body in precise
coordination, and so on. Even in the midst of a genuine
chemical revolution, mind is superior to matter. In fact, it
now appears that the molecular structure of any neuro-transmitter is completely secondary to the brain’s ability to
employ it. It came as a tremendous  surprise to cell biologists that,
as far as molecules go, neurotransmitters are nothing
special. All of the protein in our bodies is built up from
chains of twenty basic amino acids, and these chains can be
further arranged into longer strands called peptides. Neuropeptides have their own signature, making them
distinct from the other peptide chains in the body, but the
same factory, our DNA, makes all of them. DNA is the
source for all the proteins that repair cells, build new ones,
replace missing or defective pieces of the genetic code,
heal cuts and bruises, and so forth. Without bothering to invent a new class of chemic als, the
DNA has ﬁgured out another use for its familiar raw
materials, the amines, amino acids, and peptides. Once
again, it is just the ability  to make these diﬀerent products
that is crucial. There is nothing special about the molecules
themselves, even though their discovery by a molecular
biologist may be special to science. Where does the ability to make the neurotrans mitters
come from, then. Perhaps we should look to the
contribution made by the mind. After all, it is not really the
adrenaline molecule that makes a mother rush into a
burning building to save her child or an endorphin
molecule that protects her from feeling the ﬂames. Love
makes her rush in, and single-minded determination
protects her from pain. It just happe ns that these attributes
of her mind have found a chemical pathway that the brain
can follow to talk to the body. Now we have arrived at the heart of the matter. Mind by
any deﬁnition is nonmat erial, yet it has devised a way to
work in partnership with these complicated comm unicator
molecules. Their association is so close, as we have seen,that mind cannot be projected into the body without such
chemicals. Yet these chemicals are not mind. Or are they. The whole paradoxical situation was wittily summ arized
several years ago when the eminent English neurologist
and Nobel Prize winner Sir John Eccles was asked to
address a conference of parapsychologists, who were
discussing the usual topics of ESP, telepathy, and
psychokinesis—the ability  to move physical objects with the
mind. If you want to see real psychokinesis, he told his
audience, then consider the feats of mind-ov er-matter
performed in the brain. It is quite astonishing that with
every thought, the mind  manages to move the atoms of
hydrogen, carbon, oxygen, and the other particles in the
brain’s cells. It would appear that nothing is further apart
than an insubstantial thought and the solid gray matter of
the brain. The whole trick is somehow done without any
apparent link. The mystery of mind-over-matter has not been explained
by biology, which prefers to push on to more and more
complicated chemical structures operating at ﬁner and
ﬁner levels of the physiology. It is still obvious that no one
is ever going to ﬁnd a particle, however minute, that nature
has labeled “intelligence. ” This is all the more apparent
when we realize that all the matter in our bodies, large or
small, has been designed with intelligence as a built-in
feature. DNA itself, although ackn owledged as the chemica l
mastermind of the body, is made up of essentially the same
basic building blocks as the neurotransmitters it
manufactures and regulates. DNA is like a brick factory
that is also made out of bricks. (The great Hungarian
mathematician John von Neumann, besides being a founder
of the modern computer, was interested in robots of all
types. He once invented, on paper, a truly ingeniou s
machine, a robot that could build robots identical to itself—
in other words, a self-reproducing machine.