 Blessed  Ones;  and  their  Hearts  are so good.  Yet because
their  feeling  does  not follow  their  attention  in the applica-
tion,  they  do not have  the Full  Results  in the control  of their
human  feeling.  I cannot  tell you tonight  in so many  words,
how  My Heart  goes  out to you.  I can see the struggle  you 198 THE  "I AM99  DISCOURSES
are having  and  the unhappiness  which  comes  out of it.
Don't  let it do it! Say  to all human  feeling:  "Be  silent!
Stop  this  nonsense  I will  have  no more  of it"! Then,  you
will find,  how quickly  the human  will  subside  within  you.
It must  be done,  Dear  Ones,  sometime,  somewhere!  So let
Us do it now!  Go forward  into  That  Great  Victory  which
your  Application  will  bring.
Behold  the  Chart  with  Me,  for just  a moment!  The
Stream  of Light  and  Energy  comes  from  your  "I AM  Pres-
ence,"  the Source  of your  Life!  When  you call to That  Great
Intelligence  and  Presence  with  intense  feeling,  It floods
your  mind  and  body  with  Its Invincible  Stream  of Light;
which  is Self-luminous  Intelligent  Substance,  Energy  and
Activity.  If your  thought  and  feeling  were  still  enough,
Free  enough  from  the feeling  of discord,  your  Call  would
sweep  every  discord  out of your  body  and  out of your  feel-
ing world  that  instant;  because  the Light  IS All-powerful!
It knows  no resistance  nor interference;  and  when  you call
It forth  into  action,  It proceeds  with  the Power  of the Uni-
verse  to fulfill  your  Requirement.  Won't  you feel It and  let
It come  forth  and  do Its Mighty  Work  for you  at your
every  Call!
We don't  want  you  to go on, and  on, not having  the Re-
sults  you should  have!  We want  you  to have  them  NOW!
There  is nothing  in the world,  but your  own  feeling  which
can stand  between  you  and  the Complete  Fulfillment  of
your  Call  right  then  and  there;  Won't  you  feel  that,  Pre-
cious  Ones  tonight,  and  let Us give  you  the Strength  and DISCOURSE  VIII  199
Courage  to help,  which  will  enable  you to go forth  tomor-
row Victorious  in everything  thru  your  Call  to the Pres-
ence ? Your  "I AM  Presence"  is the Power  of the Universe
and will  fill you and your  world  with  Its Directing  Intelli-
gence.
Say: "Beloved  'Mighty  I AM  Presence'!  see that  I never
make  another  mistake!  See  that  Your  Mighty  Directing
Intelligence  takes  command  of my mind,  body  and feeling;
and directs  me unerringly  in the Perfect  Thing  I should  do;
to have  the Greatest  Release  from  your  Mighty  Presence."
Your  "Beloved  Mighty  I Am  Presence"  cannot  fail you!
At this  point,  let Me assure  you  first,  the Most  Magnifi-
cent Activity  We have  ever  seen  on the face  of This  Earth,
has been  thru  these  Mighty  Decrees,  issued  by these  Beloved
Students  all over  America.  I want  you  to know  how  very
great  they  are and how  powerful!
You can  believe  it or not,  but I tell you,  your  Panama
Canal  would  not exist  today;  if it had not been  for the Call
of the students  thru  these  Decrees!  Your  Eastern  Coast
from  Philadelphia  to Maine,  would  not have  been  there  to-
day, but for the Call  which  has enabled  Us to govern  the
energy  and  activity  in the gas belts.  It is the same  on the
Western  Coast  of your  beloved  California.
In San  Francisco,  when  the Messengers  were  there,  a
great  earth-quake  was  scheduled  to come  forth.  This  Be-
loved  Messenger  went  there,  not telling  even  the Staff,  the
danger  from  the human  standpoint  which  they  were  going
into;  but having  Full  Confidence  in the Call  to the Presence 200 THE  "I AM99  DISCOURSES
that it would  be governed,  and  it was!  Then,  still  people
will continue  their  inharmony.
The Release  and  Activity  of the Goddess  of Liberty  and
Myself  today,  together  with  Saint  Germain  and  the Other
Ascended  Masters  who  are assisting,  give  you  the Full
Feeling  of the Importance  of This  Great  Light;  and  the
Importance  of your  own  Decrees  for the Freedom,  Health,
Blessing  and  Supply  of everything  which  you  require.
Think  of it! human  Beings  are living  in ill health,  limita-
tions  of every  description,  when  the Greatest  Intelligence
in the Universe  is beating  their  Hearts.  They  are in those
conditions,  because  they  have  forgotten  the Presence  was
there.
Dear  People,  if you  will  understand,  not in your  head,
but in your  feeling  that  your  Presence  is there;  and  It will
answer  your  Call  with  Its Resistless  Power  and Intelligence,
there  is not one thing,  you can ask,  which  will  not be yours,
if it be Constructive.
Remember,  your  Higher  Mental  Body  which  stands  be-
tween  your  physical  body  and  your  God-Self,  is your  Dis-
criminating  Intelligence.  Your  Higher  Mental  Body  will
not longer  release  Its Energy,  if you  are going  to use it
destructively.  The  only  energy  which  is used  destructively,
is what  mankind  has already  accumulated  from  the past.
You might  say to Me:  "Why  does  mankind  continue  to do
that"?  Because  the  Energy  which  is All-powerful,  is
charged  into  the feeling  world.  Sometimes  it is what  the
people  have  accumulated  from  previous  destructive  activ-DISCOURSE  VIII 201
itics;  and  they  can only  continue,  while  the energy  already
accumulated  lasts.  When  it is gone,  they  cannot  gather  any
more.
That  is what  is the matter  with  people  today,  who  have
been  powerful  and energetic  and they  collapse.  They  think,
what  has  happened  to Me?  What  has  become  of This
Power,  I was  once  able  to use to bless  others  and  myself?
There  have  been  so many  Christian  Science  practitioners
who  have  come  to the Messengers  in secret,  saying  those
very words:  "What  has  happened  to me?  I have  been  a
practitioner  for years,  but what  has happened  now ? I don't
seem  to be able  to do the same  things,  I once  did" ?
This  is the Explanation.  Precious  People,  they  were  using
mental  power  and  did not know  it! When  they  exhausted
their  reservoir  of energy  which  had  already  been  drawn
forth,  they  did not know  how  to release  more!  No one can
release  It without  this  exact  Ascended  Master  Knowledge
of the "I AM  Presence"—except  in a fragmentary  manner.
Once  the Energy  which  was  gathered  about  them  is gone,
without  the Call  to the "I AM  Presence";  you  cannot  re-
place  it in this embodiment.


 The World’s facts and figures tell a differentstory. Even if you don’t overeat, the food you eat is mostly
unhealthy. Yet a little knowledge of physiology, health,
diet and fasting could save you from health bankruptcy.Ignorance is a worse enemy than over indulgence.
Overhaul your body and save your precious health! You
can’t be a walking toxic factory and expect to live a long
life of super health in a painless, tireless, ageless body.33
Just trust yourself – be wise, then you will know how to live. – von GoetheAutointoxication Promotes Sickness
I was reared in Virginia on a typical southern diet.
Ninety percent of my food was prepared in the frying
pan: fried chicken, fried ham, bacon, potatoes, porkchops and other fried meats of all kinds. I ate heavy
cream, flour gravies and hot biscuits and plenty of pies,
cakes and jellies. When I look back, I see I suffered inmy youth from this self-poisoning and didn’t know it.
Despite my abhorrence of drugs, I let myself be drugged
by the poisons within me. Rarely was I entirely free ofthem, and the average health I enjoyed was far from the
radiant health that was my natural heritage.
I usually slept
10 hours a night instead of 8, and the
excess I am sure was largely due to autointoxication.
Even after a long night of sleep, I seldom woke up feeling
refreshed, plus I had a bitter morning taste in my mouth.Most people are not really living; they are merely
existing. They are so full of toxic poisons that living
becomes an effort. Few people rise early to see the sunriseand greet the new day with eagerness and joy! I do now!
Let us look at our bedrooms as recharge areas where
we are required to spend a certain length of time in sleep
to recharge our life batteries. Let’s make our bedroomsuncluttered and peaceful with ample fresh air and light.
Ceiling fans in hot summers are nice. During the early
morning hours you always get more accomplished – sotry to cultivate early morning rising. You can if you put
your mind to it! Work days, when you get up earlier,
take a “cat nap” for 20 minutes after eating your lunch.
I understand why millions worldwide use stimulants
such as tobacco, alcohol, coffee, tea, cola drinks and “pep
pills”. They try to fight the desperate moods of fatigueand depression caused by autointoxication. I could write
pages depicting the woes of toxins. As a youth my blood
was poisoned. No one would set out to foul their purebloodstream, yet, consistently, in ignorance I polluted
my precious life with unhealthy foods. Analyze your life
and improve where needed. Keep a daily journal.34
Stop your life from an out-of-control down spiral! Become the Health Captain of
your life by following The Bragg Healthy L ifestyle – start today!  – Patricia BraggOutwit Acidosis That Affects Millions
It has taken me all these years of research and study
to discover the great fact that the bloodstream should
be alkaline. Yet, with most of us, it is in an acid state.
From headache and indigestion, to pimples and thecommon cold, most problems arise from acidosis due
to self-poisons caused by unhealthy foods. When the
life stream is so polluted, how can our immune systemdefend the body against disease and illness? People
unwittingly prepare the body for sickness with their
unhealthy lifestyle and then let it be out of control, whilethey search for a magic pill that will work miracles!
Now if you are as naive as I was, you will ask, “What
can I do to counteract this supposed acidity? How can Icleanse my blood?” The answer is: “By supplying it with
alkaline-forming healthy foods.” At the first sign of
acidosis (heartburn, bloating, tired, etc.) go on a
3 day
water fast. After fasting, switch to alkaline-forming
healthy foods and be wise, always avoid unhealthy foods!
What Are Alkaline-Forming Foods?
 “But what are alkaline-for ming foods?” Y ou ask. They
are, generally speaking, organic, raw fruits and vegetables,
salads and leafy greens and lightly steamed vegetables.
Three-fifths of your diet should be composed of fruits
and vegetables, both raw and cooked. It’s alw ays best to
enjoy your raw fresh fruit  or a raw vegetable garden salad
before you eat any cooked foods. See recipe on page 231.
The alkaline forming foods are the most important
to your body. Some of you will say, “raw fruits and
vegetables give me gas, etc.” That is because you are on
the acid side and, when you eat the alkaline foods, theystart to houseclean and move the toxins out of your
bloodstream and body. So you avoid eating them and
use the weak excuse that they don’t agree with you. Theydo agree with you and your toxic body definitely needs
them to help get you clean, healthy and alkaline!35
Bad cooking diminishes happiness and shortens life. – Wisdom of AgesRaw, Organic Fr uits and Vegetables
Are Mother Nature’s Miracle Cleansers
When you get a bad reaction from certain raw fruits
and vegetables, remember that these are cleansing and
purifying foods. Use a small amount until you can reduce
your body’s toxic poisons. Your weekly 24 hour fast is
going to get rid of a lot of your body wastes. If you have
the intestinal strength to fast for 3 to 7 days, most
troubles from cleansing foods disagreeing with you willbe over. What are the acid-forming foods? Chiefly sugar,
its products and coffee, tea, alcohol, meats and fish.
No doubt the idea of excluding even a portion of the
latter will dismay you, but if you want to live agelessly
you must do many things at first that dismay you.
Eventually you will be dismayed at your dismay. Often anew task is difficult because you think it will be. Tackle it
with the idea that it is easy and it becomes easier! Living
on a diet composed mainly of organic fruits, veggies,salads, nuts and seeds isn’t difficult. No one will denythat fruits are luscious. Salads may be enjoyed in great
variety. The list of vegetables is long and diversified. All
the raw nuts and seeds, raw or lightly roasted pecans,almonds, walnuts, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, etc. are
nutritious and delicious. You need not confine yourself
to these foods, but if you lean towards acidosis you shouldcombine fasting with a diet of fruits, salads and veggies.
If you must eat meat, it should be only
2 or 3 times
weekly. On the least symptom of feeling bad, it’s best toget back to the healthier vegetarian alkaline diet quickly.
Headaches, dizziness, specks in the vision, bitterness in
the mouth, body fatigue and mental blockage merelydenote a bile attack, but again the disorder may be more
deep seated. If you think it’s your liver, you should cut
out all fats and flesh foods. Also, cut out all refined sugarsand refined starches. The little protein you need you
can get from organic healthy plant sources, beans, raw
nuts and seeds, sprouts, etc. The Vegetable Protein %Chart on page
233 gives some healthy food-to-eat  ideas.36
It’s never too late to begin getting into shape,
but it does take daily perseverance. – Thomas K. CuretonWe live not upon what we eat, but upon what we digest. – Abernethy
To lengthen thy life, lessen thy meals. – Ben FranklinYour Mind Must Control Your Body
Prudently assume, that your condition is one of
autointoxication. If you feel your energy is at a low ebb,
and not up to par, go on a short fast lasting from 24
hours to 3 or 4 days. Drink nothing but pure, steam
distilled water. I will tell you more about water later.
You will experience a craving for food, but not an
actual hunger. It’s the body reflexes that are accustomedto being fed at certain intervals. Again let me state, “Flesh
is dumb!” It has all kinds of cravings, but you must be its
master. You must control your entire body with yourmind – your human miracle computer. I readily admit
that fasting takes immense determination and willpower.
I remember very well my first
4 day fast. It was while
I was under the care of the famous Dr. A. Rollier at his
sanitarium in Switzerland. I was battling for my life with
tuberculosis and I had been at the sanitarium for severalmonths. Dr. Rollier told me it was going to be a great
experience – and it surely was! The good doctor told me
to study my urine daily, so each day I took a specimenof my urine and kept it in a bottle. I put it on a shelf inmy room and I would look at the specimens each day.
As the urine would cool and settle I could see the great
amount of foreign matter that was leaving my body.
As soon as I finished the fast, I was placed on a highly
alkaline diet with an abundance of fresh fruits and raw
and lightly steamed or


 to us all—we are all lovers trying to
reach perfection. We do this, as Symeon teaches, when “we awaken as the
Beloved in every last part of our body.” In Symeon’ s time these words
violated the dogmatic belief that the body was wicked and corrupt. In our
age the opposit e prejudice applies: a lover is someone whose appeal isbasically physic al, sexual. In both cases the fusion of spirit and body has
been missed.
Yet at moments the piercing joy of love does appear, despite dogma. The
touch of your beloved or simply the sight of her can seem  suddenly
amazing, appea ring like lightning, just as Symeon says. But the same
feeling can penetrate the heart from nowhere, because love is inherent in
life itself. Emily  Dickinson, whose lovers were all in her imagination, is to
me a true lover nonetheless. She writes:
Not “Revelation”—tis—that waits
But our unfurnished eyes—
This is a message of compressed wisdom, which says that we are waiting
not on the day of redemption but on our own perception.
The exquisitene ss of true ecstas y cannot dawn unless we can contain it;
our minds are so absorbed in relentless activity that quietness rarely lasts
more than an instant. The body by its nature is also active and restless.
Since activity and stillness are opposites, the body generally registers some
degree of agitation or even discomfort as it moves into alignment with
spirit. The reputation that ecstasy has for being physically intense
contributes to the frenzy and mutilation that devotees have resorted to in
order to duplicate the opening to ecstasy—they are mistaking the symptom
for the cause.
The divine has nothing to do with pain. Because it stands outside—
ekstasis —the envelope of time and space, spirit cannot be sensuous. Our
five senses cannot take us to where ecstasy dwells. But as true ecstasy
begins to manifest, our senses definitely react. The reaction is entirely
individual and unpredictable, since one person’ s intense erotic opening is
another ’s frightening collapse of defenses. What feels like the expansion of
the soul into infinite space to me may seem like a terrifying fall into the
void to you.
When we say that ecstasy is like the drop melting back into the ocean, it
must be made clear that we are the drop and the ocean at the same time, just
on dif ferent levels.
Ecstasy is the r elease of individuality back into wholeness.  Whatever brings you closer to
wholeness brings you closer to ecstasy.Here I think we’ve reached the secret of ecstasy. Most of us do not see
ourselves as supreme sexual technicians, nor can we relate easily to the
extraordinary mysticism of a saint. Ecstasy will never be ordinar y, yet it can
be brought within our reach once we realize its real nature. Although often
experienced in the most extrem e situations, ecstasy is a quality  of spirit as
natural as any other. We do not have to sojourn into the darkness of the
mythic past to retrieve it. The patient work of inner growth is all we need.
To promote stillness inwardly is to promote ecstasy. The inner being
doesn’ t have to be tricked or manipulated to achieve this stillness. Our
minds are like runners that only have to slow down in order to walk, then
slow down from a walk to standing still. This process of shifting from
activity to stillness is a simple yet very deep description of meditation. We
could modify the biblical injunction to “Be still and know ecstasy.” There is
no single road to this quietness of meditation, yet to be genuine any
meditation must take the mind beyond its superficial nature, which is
restless and chaotic, to its deeper nature as the peace that passes all
understanding.
REACHING  ECSTASY
The emer gence  into stillness can take place under any conceivable
circumstance. Arjuna achieved his moksha on a raging battlefield after the
bloody onslaught of family against family. Medieval saints found theirs in
complete retreat  from the world. At this very moment someone is finding it
in a bustling city or staring out to sea. The release is never incidental or
accidental. Tastes of ecstasy come and go, yet attaining compl ete stillness
of the mind means walking the spiritual path to its concl usion, with
discipline and faith.
Expansion of consciousness is the r oad to ecstasy.
Expansion of consciousness is a broad term that covers almost everything
I have discussed up to now, for the path to love is all about such expansion.
Love pulls you out of ego boundaries, and when you are dedicat ed to acting
from love, you are able to live in spirit. Many of the most important themes
have already been covered:Seeing your beloved as a mirror of your higher Self.
Surrendering to love as a guiding force.
Letting go of attachment to the false self and its needs.
Devoting every day to achieving true union and healing the wounds of separation.
Countless people live with their beloved without following any of these
principles; their love doesn’ t provide a strong enough basis to escape their
old conditioning. Until they discover the spiritual path, few are able to heed
the voice of spirit, which speaks intuitively. If only you perceived it, you
are alrea dy in a state of ecstasy that is permanent and unshakab le. But only
at moments when your boundaries fade away do you have flashes of reality.
Then direct intuitive knowing becomes possible, and you can see yourself
for who you are, sublime and ecstatic. Thousands of years ago the
Upanishads expressed our twofold nature in a beautiful metaphor:
Two birds, one of them mortal, the other immortal,
live in the same tree. The first one pecks at the fruit,
sweet or bitter; the second looks on without eating.
Thus the personal self pecks at the fruit of this world,
bewildered by suf fering, always hungry for more,
but when he meets the true Self, the resplendent God,
the source of creation, all his cravings are stilled.
The two birds in the tree, self and Self, are inseparable; both sit in the same
tree (the body) faced with the same fruit (the material world). Yet for all
their closeness the bird who craves the fruit does not know its mate. It takes
an awak ening to reveal the Self, and although in one sense it is awesome,
being “the resplendent God,” in another sense it is just one’s intimate
beloved, who has faithfully kept watch through all time, waitin g only to be
seen. Once it is seen everything in life changes. As the Upanish ads declare,
the life of the self, once united with the Self, rises to a blessed level:
Good and evil both vanish;
delighting in Self, playing like a child with Self,
he does whatever is called for, whatever the result.
When self-realiz ation dawns, there is no longer any question of struggle
or effort. The spirit guides you to do whatever is called for, according to
your own makeup. In reality universal love requires only one thing, that the
sweet point in the heart expand until bliss and peace become the nature of
our life. This first happens within individuals, then it happens torelationships based on spirit, finally it extends to whole families and
societies.
A single point in the heart can expand to liberate the world.
Ecstasy is therefore not an individual feeling at all but a glimpse of the
wholeness waiting to be seen everywhere. The Upanishads state this very
explicitly:
Self is everywhere, shining forth from all beings,
vaster than the vast, subtler than the most subtle,
unreachable, nearer than breath, than heartbeat.
Our senses tell us that we are breathing and that our hearts beat,  but there is
a breath within the breath that is spirit (in Christian terms it has been called
afflatus, the breath of God).
Near as spirit may be, centur ies of cultural prejudice have made it
necessary to rediscover our intuitive, direct knowledge of it. Many
disciplines and techniques can be employed here, particularly meditation. In
this book I have concentrated on the expansion of conscious ness that is
available throug h love, motivated by the tragic absence of love we see all
around us. Yet the road to the Self is not closed on any side—the
transcendent is “nearer than breath, than heartbeat”—and fortunately a
multitude of teachings exist to put our feet on the path.
In the end the path does not actually ascend anywhere in time or space.
The self is still the self, the ego is still the ego, the senses are still the
senses. How can you go anywh ere to capture what is already so close to
you? The mystery is that this “pathless path,” as the masters refer to it,
causes immense  transformation. There is a world of difference between
those who live in love and those who only touch upon it fitfully. Perhaps the
greatest differen ce is this qualit y called ecstasy, which is the actual feeling
of breathing God’ s breath and beating with His heart.
I do not want to betray the intimacy of ecstasy; it is the most private of
love affairs. Being becomes your beloved, and the merging of yourself with
another person follows with complete ease and naturalness. If one had to
lay down some  kind of pattern for how ecstasy is attained


 in
error, because it causes only injury and abrogates the
strength of the entire body, pa rticularly of the brain. The
small amount that is useful must be taken after the food
leaves the stomach. Young children should not come
close to it because it hurts them and causes harm to their
body and soul. Galen has already said: A child should abstain from it till the age of  twenty-one. The older a man
is, the more beneficial the wine is for him. Old people
need it most.

THE BATH
The bath is very necessary for the maintenance of
health and for the cure of diseases. The physicians
prescribed a bath for illness according to its form, the
season and the age. As to its place in health, it has already
been said that it is proper to  enter it once in ten days. The
physicians reminded us that coming to the bath steadily
every day putrefies the moistures. And this caution is
correct for one who prolongs his stay in a bath until his
perspiration flows. But if one  enters it without staying
there long, but only washes himself and leaves, he is
doing the proper thing even if he does it every day. It is
particularly good for old peopl e and for those who have a
bad constitution. It is not prope r to enter the bath before
the food leaves the stomach and it is best to enter it after
the stomach is empty but before one has hunger pains.
One can go in if he wants to lose weight. The regulation
for the bath and its procedure is as follows: One must
sweat first and remove his sweat with a clean flaxen
cloth. And as long as he sw eats he should wipe himself with a cloth until it becomes we t. Then he should cleanse
the skin, massage the whole body and wash it with warm
water, as warmth is good for the body. Then he should
reduce the warmth, little by little, until finally he washes
himself in lukewarm water, as if exposed to the sun, until
finally it is cold without causing the body to shiver. He
should then go into a bathtub where the water has a
similar temperature. But whoever wants to reduce his
body weight and lose the fat of  his flesh, should take hot
water and enter it when it is as hot as he can stand it. The
head must never be washed in either cold or luke-warm
water, but only in water that is  so hot that he feels he is
scalding his scalp. Cold wate r will strengthen the brain
but will retain its superfluities. It will chil l it and all the
nerves originating in the brain, and all the movements
will become sluggish. It may cause hemiplegia, spasm or
contracture of the hand, re quiring special care. Luke-
warm water will also cool the brain and soften it, making
the movements and the sensations sluggish, but hot water
hardens the substance of the brain, removes its
superfluities, strengthens its nature and all its movements
and sensations. And it is pr oper that a man should sleep
after leaving his bath.
 SAID GALEN : SLEEP AFTER BATHING
I cannot see a better way to boil what has been readied
to boil, and to melt and heat what has been made ready to
melt, than by sleeping after l eaving the bath. But sleeping
in the bathhouse is very bad. It occasionally causes a
heartache through the contradi ctory effects of sleep and
bathroom heat: the heat of th e bath will draw the natural
heat outward to the surface of the body, while sleep
forces the heat deep inside the body. One must be very
careful to abstain from dr inking cold water soon after
leaving the bath. Galen said : There were men who drank
cold water after leaving the bath and they chilled their
kidneys and swelled up their bellies. Therefore it is
advisable for a man to suffer thirst until his body cools
off and loses the heat that the organs absorb from the bath
and then he should drink. If his thirst does not permit him
to wait, then let him drink water mixed with a syrup of
citron rind, mastic or rose. Th e drinking of barley beer
made with pomegranate seeds and sugar tart, myrrh, aloe
wood and cloves, harms one after the bath. But if he waits
after the bath until its warmth leaves the body he may
take it, and it is helpful. I refer to this beer or to the
previously mentioned syrup.
 DISCHARGE FROM THE NOSE
There are many who take lig htly the liquid discharge
from the nose as in their i gnorance they do not understand
what usually develops from it if it goes down to the nose,
or the hoarseness and coughi ng if it goes down to the
trachea. It is best that one be  careful and watchful of such
discharges in winter and summertime and put on his
clothes while he is still in  the bathroom. And one should
always protect his head from the strong cold that comes
with a discharge and also from the strong heat that
liquefies the congealed superf luities in the brain, that
flow down afterward and cause the acute catarrhs. And all
the discharges, the warm and the cold ones, usually run
down into the cavities of the lungs and fill them up,
because of the abundance of the moisture that flows down
and because of the weakness of the receiving organ. They
weaken the expelling force that would remove them by
coughing and thus asphyxiate the man and he dies. Or
they create a pause which is a shortness of breath in the
lying position. Sometimes they flow down to the cavity of
the stomach and cause intestinal irritation and this is a
disease hard to cure. Occasi onally they flow down to the
joints and produce arthritic pain. They may also go down
to the internal organs and their cavities and produce an exudate in the organ, exudate of  the pleura, exudate of the
lungs, exudate of the liver, exudate of the stomach or an
exudate of other organs. This explains how careful we have
to be with these discharges.

STRENGTHENING THE BRAIN
Caution with these discharges consists in being careful not
to overheat or chill the head, as we have mentioned above, and
avoiding to eat that which fills up the head, such as milk or
gas-producing seeds like beans and lentils. One should avoid
sleep right after his meal and especially if he eats at night. One
should avoid taking warm and intoxicating drinks, because
their consumption affects the mind swiftly. One should also
strengthen the brain by smelling balsam and flowers according
to their strength and the season. One of the favorite
medications to strengthen the brain is to grind cloves until
pulverized and place them across half of the forehead during
the winter. One should also anoint his forehead during the
winter with saw-leafed centaury oil, which will strengthen it.
But when it is very warm one should dip his head in rose water
and in nilufar and he should dust his head lightly with nutmeg
powder which has been finely ground.
 FOOD DETERIORATION
One must avoid, at any place and at any time,
partaking of a food which has begun to decompose even slightly or become turbulent, malodorous, slightly warm [if it is naturally cold] or decayed, like fruits prepared in vinegar, small fish in brine, sour milk and like products. They are materials that produce fever and are like deadly poisons. And the good physicians warn against eating food that has remained overnight and meat a day after it has been boiled, because it has begun to deteriorate, even though it does not immediately appear so. And one should eat preferably sweet f oods because it is the sweets
that nourish, according to Galen. One should also prefer drinking water that is sweet and cold. And if the sweet
foods have deteriorated and become inedible, one should improve their taste by making them a little sour with materials that give a salty and astringent taste, like
cooking in gooseberry juice or  acid or lemon or barley
brine, sumac, quince or pomegranates. All these foods, when they are devoid of sweetness, also lack useful nutriments. First of all they  are not nauseating and some
of them liquefy the mucosa in the stomach and increase the appetite, such as a salty  soup. Some fight putrefaction
and cause dryness, like the foods to which vinegar and lemon have been added. Some of them will strengthen the
stomach and close its openi ng, like sumac, pomegranate
seeds, quince and gooseberry ju ice. One can rely on these
foods as much as possible.

AVOID SUDDEN CHANGES
Habit and regularity are great  principles for keeping
well and recovering from illness. It is not proper to
change one's habits in health at once, neither in food, in
drinks nor in intercourse, ba th or exercise. You should
stick to your habits. And ev en if your habit is in
contradiction to medical


ALL DISEASES ONCE INNOCENT

   Cancer, tuberculosis, Bright’s dis ease, and all chronic
diseases were once innocent colds “ameliorated,” and
which returned and were “ameliorated” again and again;
each time accompanied by a greater constitutional
enervation, and a greater constitutional toleration for toxin -
poisoning, req uiring a greater requisition of mucous
membrane through which to eliminate the toxin.

   Research is being carried on vigorously in an attempt to
find the cause of disease; the conception of disease being
that it is individual. Here is where investigator s meet their
Waterloo. All the so -called diseases are increasing
symptom complexes due to repeated crises of Toxemia.
They have no independent existence. As soon as Toxemia
is controlled, they disappear, unless an organ has been
forced by innumerable crise s to degenerate. Even organic
change, when the organ is not destroyed, will be overcome
by correcting the life and getting rid of the cause —crises of
Toxemia.
    To find the cause of cancer, start with colds and catarrh,
and watch the pathology as it tra vels from irritation,
catarrh, inflammation, induration, ulceration to cancer.

   As well try to find the cause of man by ignoring his
conception, embryonic life, childhood, manhood, etc.

   All symptoms of all so -called diseases have one origin.
All diseases are one. Unity in all things is nature’s plan.
Polytheism is gone, and everything pertaining to it and
coming out of it must go.

HERD -BELIEFS

   Few realize man’s possibilities if his handicaps are
removed —handicaps which are old beliefs a nd herd -
instincts.

   The Toxemic Philosophy is founded on the truth that
there is no such thing as cure. In this it differs from all the
so-called curing systems. Every pretense or promise of
cure, in all lines of therapeutics, is false. This cannot be
grasped by all minds until time for thinking has allowed the
idea to soak in. Convention and superstition have the floor,
and they are unwilling to sit down and listen to the other side. Many learn slowly, others not at all, and still others
are put to sle ep mentally by truth.

   There are ox -cart minds in every generation. The recent
episode at Dayton, Tennessee, should cure the enthusiasm
of those who think the world has outgrown superstition. I
have bucked up against medical superstitions of all kinds
all my life, and I know that clear -thinking minds are as
scarce as hens’ teeth. Many compliment me on my clear
reasoning on medical subjects; but the moment I cross the
border -line into their ethical, moral and theological
preserves, they remind me of my t respassing in no
uncertain terms. Even my own profession is quick to ink
the waters of my reasoning by declaring that I am an
infidel —a word that fills the elect with abhorrence. Who is
an infidel? One who rejects a senseless convention. Didn’t
Christ repu diate the Jehovic cult?

   The average mind prefers the old interpretation of to the
“new -fangled” definitions. Until the world agrees on one
dictionary, one Bible, and one God, the tempest in the
teapot of misunderstanding will continue to ebullate,
sending the atomized fundamentalists heavenward and the
anatomized modernists hellward.

    Of course, God made man. He made everything. But why
not find out just how He made him? Surely there is as much
“glory to God” in discovering just how He did it as i n
accepting an infantile interpretation which up to date has
got us nowhere. When we know how man is made, we shall
understand the laws of his being; and it will not be
necessary for him to die of apoplexy, stone in the gall -
bladder or kidney, hardening of  the arteries, or any other
so-called disease caused by breaking the laws of his body
and mind.

   If we do our duty to our children, shall we teach them the
laws of their being and how to respect them, or shall we go
on in the same old way, and, when th ey get sick from
breaking the laws of their being and ruin their health, call a
surgeon who will cut out God’s mistakes? Think it over; or,
if you’re too fanatical or bigoted to think, pay a surgeon to
cut out the effects of wrong living, and continue the cause.

LET US REASON TOGETHER!

   Let us do a little homely reasoning. We are inclined to be
awed by the word “infinite.” The infinite is limitless to our
limited comprehension —it is a relative term and
ambiguous; but, as we grow in experience, our on ce limited comprehensions take on extended dimensions. Each
person’s infinite is personal and varies from every other
person’s comprehension. We cannot think in terms of the
limitless, and we should not try; for, if we know the
analysis of an atom of salt,  we know the analysis of the
infinite amount there is in the world. This is true of all
elements. If we know the analysis of a pound of butter, we
know the analysis of the infinite amount contained in the
world. If we know all about a man, we know all abou t all
men. If we know what finite love is, we know that infinite
love is of the same character.

   We should keep our feet on the ground —stay on earth —
and be satisfied that all worlds are like our world.

HOW TO MEASURE THE INFINITE

   We know al l by an intensive study of a part. If we know
all about one disease, we know all about all diseases.

   We shall tell the reader all about Toxemia, and then he
should know all about all diseases; for Toxemia is the basic
cause of all diseases.

   Inste ad of beginning at the top of any subject, we should begin at the bottom and work up. The usual way for our
finite minds is to accept the infinite on faith; then to us the
comprehensible does not agree with our preconception, our
faith is shocked, our hous e of belief is divided against
itself, and we fall. This is the parting of the ways; and we
must reconcile our faith and knowledge by transferring our
faith to the belief that the road to all knowledge is by way
of the comprehensible. We must either do thi s or live in
doubt concerning the knowable, and accept the unknowable
on faith.

   Every truth squares itself with every other truth; every
department of science and reason blends into a unit. The
laws of life are those of the cosmos; the laws of the
universe are the laws of God. The road to an understanding
of God is from rock to man, and through man to God.
Every step must be a block of truth, or God, the goal, will
be sidestepped. Behold the head -on collision of the
Christian world and the wholesale ma ssacre that took place
during the World War —all due to undigested truth. The
world is full of truth; but mental indigestion, due to wrong
food combinations, is universal.

   Many think they know what I mean when I use the word
“Toxemia,” having referred to the dictionary for its
definition.  TOXEMIA, THE BASAL CAUSE
OF ALL SO -CALLED DISEASES

Toxin Poisoning —Toxin: Any of a class of poisonous
compounds of animal, bacterial, and vegetable origin —any
poisonous ptomaine. (Standard Dictionary.)

   There a re so many ways for the blood to become
poisoned that, unless what I mean by “Toxemia” is
thoroughly comprehended, there must be a confused
understanding. This explanation is made necessary because
even professional men have said to me: “Oh, yes, I believe
in the poisoning resulting froin retained excretions
(constipation) and ptomaine (food) poisoning.”

   As stated before, a ptomaine poisoning resulting from the
ingestion of food that has taken on a state of putrescence, or
a poisoning resulting from th is change taking place in food
after it has been eaten, and which is generally called
autotoxemia, is not an autogenerated poisoning. Both of
these poisons are generated on the outside of the body, and
must be absorbed before the blood can be poisoned. Foo d
or poison in the intestines is still on the outside of the body.
A suppurating wound, ulcer, or chancre is on the outside of
the body, and if it causes septic (blood) poisoning, it will be
because the waste -products are not allowed to drain —to escape. Th e discharge being obstructed, it becomes septic,
and its forced absorption poisons the blood. Even vaccinia
fails to produce septic poisoning, because its poison is
discharged on the surface —on the


and rubbing of urine, his white leprosy was gradually reduced. Some patches of leprosy, however, persisted on his forearms and feet, but those patches do not trouble him in any way. There is no burning sensation, even in summer.”  Urine Therapy by Dr. John O'Quinn  WHOOPING COUGH  “The son of a serviceman in Surat was suffering from whooping cough. The allopathic medicines were tried with no results. His mother made the young patient drink his own 210 urine after every call. Thus the old cough was cured by this simple treatment. They are now conf"med believers, and use Urine Therapy whenever the boy has any trouble. Thus with gradual improvements, the whooping cough was totally cured. His health which had gone down had been fully restored.”  Urine Therapy by Dr. John O'Quinn  WHOOPING COUGH  I shall first relate of whooping cough of a child aged nine months. There is no proper remedy of this disease in allopathy. Period of whooping cough is 90-120 days after which it automatically subsides. But during this period, coughing is violent and dry. When the fit of whooping cough occurs, the fact of child becomes red due to non-stop coughing and he vomits. The scene is difficult to look at. Doctors usually prescribe sooting medicine and some tonics.   When the above mentioned child was brought to me, he had already suffered for a month. Coughing was at its peak. Instead of prescribing the usual medicine I asked the parent if they will experiment with urine. The couple has had some previous experience of urine therapy with success. So they readily agreed. Their only fear was that some unwanted reaction may not set up. However, they started giving child his urine and also anointing his neck and chest with it. Result was highly satisfactory and child was cured in ten days.   "Miracles of Urine Therapy" by Morarji Desai  WHOOPING COUGH  "Master. W. — 4-1/2 years of age. Developed a severe fit of coughing with vomiting. Whooping-cough epidemic in the village.   Urine injection given...In the night, severe fit of coughing with thick phlegm and mucus, sick feeling... Next day, feeling much better in every way, no whooping or return of chronic asthma.   His mother later writes "Child better than ever, is free from asthma since the first injections [several weeks ago)".   Have seen the child [four months after injections]. He is developing physically without any disturbance. Chronic eczema and blepharedenitis (inflammation of the eyelids) also healed."  211 Use of Urine Therapy in the Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Asthma, Allergies, Migraines, Viral Infections, Hayfever, Diabetes, Gout, Dysfunction of the Adrenal and Thyroid Glands, Heart Conditions by Dr. Plesch  WOUND  “Shri Mangilal Maloviya is a naturopath and he had a bad prick in his left foot. He at once urinated over it and put a urine-soaked bandage over it. Pain at once subsided and the deep wound healed in no time without any pus formation.”  Manav Mootra by R.M. Patel  WOUND  “In 1961 in Bulsar, B. Ratimuni began Urine Therapy after his toe was badly hit. He cured it by applying urine-pads. Another time, he was operated on for some  trouble, but the surgeon's wound did not heal. So he applied urine-pads and healed the wound.”  Urine Therapy by Dr. John O'Quinn  WOUND  “A male aged 47 had a septic area on the...third right finger. This was drained but discharge of pus continued. The wound was opened again when it was found that the infection had entered the tendon sheath. Adequate drainage was provided and the finger X-rayed. The wound was then treated with eusol baths. After several days there was no attempt at healing. Urea treatment was started and after 3 days the slough was removed thus exposing the underlying tendon. Healthy granulations (new tissue) were present at this time. The urea treatment was continued. The patient was discharged 22 days after the treatment was begun, the wound having healed completely. There was no loss of function...  As will be seen from the above, we have used urea in a variety of casualty department cases. Owing to the extreme diffusibility of urea even the deepest wound can be treated effectively.”  “Treatment of Infected Wounds with Urea”, 1938, by Leon Muldavis (Senior Casualty Officer at the Royal Free Hospital, London) and Jean M Holtzman (Demonstrator in Physiology, London School of Medicine for Women).  212 WOUNDS  “A prisoner was sentenced to heavy whippings. After the beating a co-prisoner treated him with urine, and the victim was readily cured.”  Urine Therapy by Dr. John O'Quinn  WOUNDS  “Dr. George S. Cotton of Temple, Texas wrote about the benefits of Urine Therapy in 1935:  I have put Urine Therapy to the test and the results have been astonishing. Urine in the treatment of wounds and bums cannot be beaten. This healing power is brought about among other elements contained in urine, by Allontain (C4.H6 03.N4)"  Urine Therapy by Dr. John O'Quinn  WOUNDS  “In Arnhem Land, the aborigines chopped up flower stalks, mixed them with warmed urine, and applied them to spear wounds.  Some tribes used mud or ashes to dress wounds and with no other treatment the injured survived frightful wounds.”  Healing Secrets of the Aborigines by Dr. Ingfried Hobert  ************************* Y ************************* YOUTHFUL APPEARANCE  “Immigration authorities stopped a man from India at Kennedy airport, New York City, for suspicion of traveling with a false passport. The incident happened because according to the birthday on the passport the man was supposed to be 68 years of age, but the agents did not think he was a day over 35. Once the validity of his documents and his identity was verified, the customs agents asked him how he stayed so young looking.   213 The man said, "I am vegetarian, and I only eat fresh and natural foods. And I drink a glass of urine on an empty stomach every day." After revealing this information he was allowed to continue his trip.”  Uropathy by Martin J. Lara        THE END  *******************************************************************************************************  URINE THERAPY INFORMATION SOURCES  URINE THERAPY BOOKS...  "Personal Pharmacy" by Gary Ward  "Your Own Perfect Medicine" by Martha Christy  "The Golden Fountain" by Coen Van der Kroon  "The Miracles of Urine Therapy" by Moraji Desai*  "Auto-Therapy" by Dr. Charles Duncan, M.D.  "Urine the Holy Water" by Harald Tietze  "Miracles of Urine Therapy" by Dr. S.K. Sharma  "Uropathy" by Martin Lara  "Urine Therapy" by Dr. John O'Quinn  "Shivambu Geeta" by Dr. G.K. Thakkar  "Manav Mootra" by R.M. Patel  "The Miracles of Urine Therapy" by Dr. Beatrice Bartnett, D.C., N.D.  "Shivambu Kalpa" by Dr. Arthur Lincoln Pauls, D.O.  214 "Liquid Gold" by Carol Steinfield  "Auto-Urine Therapy" by 'An Experienced Physician'  "Gee Whiz! It's All About Pee" by Susan E. Goodman  "Jungle View" by Dionysus Junior  "Urinalysis in Clinical Laboratory Practice" by Alfred Free, Ph.D. and Helen Free  "Urine Therapy: It May Save Your Life" by Beatrice Bartnett, D.C., N.D.  "Urine Therapy: Nature's Elixir for Good Health" by Dr. Flora Peschek-Bohmer, Ph.D.  "Drink Your Own Water" by Tony Scazzero  "Wonders of Uropathy" by Dr. G.K. Thakkar  "The Water of Life" by John Armstrong    URINE THERAPY WEBSITES…  http://www.urine-therapy.org  http://www.munot.in/  https://www.facebook.com/changingmydna  http://projectavalon.net/forum4/showthread.php?1793-Taking-the-piss-Your-own-best medicine...&s=1d6e3bf50979daa03dc6c8b66b760541  http://www.shirleys-wellness-cafe.com/urine.htm  http://www.urindya.com  http://www.rexresearch.com/articles/urine.htm  http://www.whale.to/a/lara_b.html  http://www.biomedx.com/urine/ 215  http://www.universal-tao.com/article/urine_therapy.html  http://www.lifepositive.com/Body/traditional-therapies/urine-therapy.asp  http://www.heartlandhealing.com/pages/archive/urine_therapy/  http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/science/2013/08/from-gunpowder-to-teeth-whitener-the-science-behind-historic-uses-of-urine/  http://www


a faster feel just terrible, like they had a flu or worse!
    The bowels rarely move while fasting. During fasting only enem as or colonics permit elimination from the large intestine. If
done effectively and frequently, enemas will greatly add to the well being and comfort of the faster. Many times when a faste r
seems to be retracing or experiencing a sudden onset of acute disc omfort or symptoms, these can be almost immediately relieved
by an enema or colonic.
    A person with major liver degeneration inevitably dies, with or without fasting, with or without traditional medicine.
Significantly impaired kidney function can also  bring about this same result. Mercifully, death while fasting is usually
accomplished relatively free of pain, clear of mind and with dignity. That often can not be said of death in a hospital. Ther e are
much worse experiences than death.
    Fasting is not a cure -all. There are some conditions that are beyond the ability of the body to heal. Ultimately, old age gets us
all.
    Dr. Linda Hazzard, one of the greats of natural hygiene, who practiced Osteopathic medicine in the 1920s, had a useful way of
categorizing conditions that respond well to fasting. These she labeled "acute conditions," and "chronic degenerative conditio ns."
A third classification, "chronic conditions with organic damage," does not respond to fasting. Acute conditions, are usually
inflammations or infections with irritated tissue, with swelling, redness, and often copious secretions of mucous and pus, suc h as
colds, flu, a first time case of pneumonia, inflamed joints as in the early stages of arthritis, etc. These acute conditions usually
remedy in one to three weeks of fasting. Acute conditions are excellent candidates for self -doctoring. Chronic degenerative
conditions are more serious and the patient usually requires supervision. These include conditions such as cancer, aids, chro nic
arthritis, chronic pneumonia, emphysema and asthma. Chronic degenerative conditions usually respond within a month to three
months of fasting. The fasting should be broken up into two or three sessions if the condition has not been relieved in one s tint of
supervised fasting. Each successive fast will produce some improvement and if a light, largely raw -food diet is adhered to between
fasts the patient should not worsen and should be fairly comfortable between fastings.
    If there has been major func tional damage to an organ as a result of any of these degenerative conditions, healing will not be
complete, or may be impossible. By organic damage, I mean that a vital part of the body has ceased to function due to some
degenerative process, injury, or s urgery –so badly damaged that the cells that make up the organ can not be replaced.
    I once had a twenty five year old man come to my spa to die in peace because he had been through enough diagnostic
procedures in three hospitals to know that his liver was beyond repair. He had been working on an apple farm in between terms at
university when he was poisoned several times with insecticide from an aerial spray on the whole orchard. He absorbed so much
insecticide that his liver incurred massive organic da mage.
    When he came to me his body had reached the point where it was incapable of digesting, and because of lack of liver function,  it
was incapable of healing while fasting, a condition in which death is a certainty. He was a Buddhist, did not fear de ath and did not
want to be kept alive in agony or in prolonged unconsciousness by any extraordinary means, nor did he want to die with tubes in
every orifice. I was honored to be a supportive participant in his passing. He died fasting, in peace, and witho ut pain, with a clear
mind that allowed him to consciously prepare for the experience. He was not in a state of denial or fear, and made no frantic
attempts to escape the inevitable. He went quietly into that still dark night with a tranquil demeanor and a  slight smile.
    Fortunately, in my many years of practice I had the pleasure of seeing the majority of the people totally regain their health  or at
least greatly improve it by means of the fasting and healing diets. Many cancer patients watched with ama zement as their tumors
disappeared before their eyes, many arthritics regained their function, serious skin conditions such as psoriasis disappeared, mental
conditions improved, addictions vanished, fatigue was replaced by energy, and fat dissolved reveali ng the hidden sculpture
beneath. I will talk more about procedures and the particular reasons bodies develop specific conditions in later chapters.

Social/Cultural/Psychological Obstacles To Fasting
    Numerous attitudes make it difficult to fast or to p rovide moral support to friends or loved ones that are fasting. Many people
harbor fears of losing weight because they think that if times were really tough, if there was a famine or they became ill an d lost a
lot of weight they would have no reserves and would certainly perish. These people have no idea how much fat can be concealed
on an even skinny body, nor of how slowly a skinny body loses weight while fasting. Substantial fat reserves are helpful as h eat-
retaining insulation in those rare accidents wh en someone is dropped into a cold ocean and must survive until the rescue boat
arrives. Being fat might keep a person alive longer who is lost in the wilderness awaiting rescue with no supplies, no means of
procuring food, and no means of keeping warm. On the other hand, fat people would have a far harder time walking out of the
wilderness. And extensive fat deposits are merely fuel and do not contain extensive nutritional reserves. An obese person fas ting
without significant nutritional supplementation wou ld begin starving long before they became really skinny. On the balance,
carrying excess weight is a far greater liability than any potential pro -survival aspects it might have.
    There are other attitudes associated with weight loss that make it difficu lt for people to fast. People hold rather stereotypical
notions about what constitutes an attractive person; usually it involves having some meat on ones bones. Hollywood and Hugh
Hefner have both influenced the masses to think that women should have hourg lass figures with large, upthrust, firm breasts. Since
breasts are almost all useless fatty tissue supporting some milk -producing glands that do not give a breast much volume except
when engorged, most women fasters lose a good percentage of their breast m ass. If the fast is extensive, there should also develop
an impressive showing of ribs and hip bones; these are not soft and cuddly. Husbands, lovers, parents, and friends frequently  point
out that you don’t look good this way and exhort you to put on weig ht. Most people think pleasantly plump is healthy.
    Skinny men, especially those who had lost a lot of weight during an illness, are pressured by associates to put on weight to
prove that they are healthy. I had a client who was formerly a college vars ity football player. Before his illness he had lifted
weights and looked like a hunk. His family and friends liked to see him that way and justifiably so. Then he got seriously il l. On a
long extended healing diet he lost a significant amount of weight and  seemed down right skinny, causing all who knew him well
and cared about him to tempt him with all kinds of scrumptious delicacies from the best of kitchens. But this case was like L uigi
Cornaro, a man who never again could look like a hunk. His "friends" made an absolutely necessary change in life style and
appearance far more difficult than it was already. My client was torn between a desire to please others, and a desire to rega in and
retain his health. This problem a sick person doesn’t need.
    If you  have the independence to consider following an alternative medical program in a culture that highly values conformity
and agreement, you are also going to have to defend your own course of self -determined action based on the best available data
that you h ave. But fasters are usually in fragile emotional condition, so I advise my clients who are subjected to this kind of
pressure to beg their friends and associates to refrain from saying anything if they can’t support the course of action you h ave
chosen. A fter this, if friends or relatives are still incapable of saying nothing (even non -verbally), it is important to exclude them
from your life until you have accomplished your health goals, have regained some weight and have returned to eating a
maintenance diet, rather than getting skinnier on a healing one.
    The very worst aspect of our culture’s eating programming is that people have been wrongfully taught that when ill they must
eat to keep up their strength. Inherent in this recommendation is an unsta ted belief that when the body is weakened by a disease
state, the weakness can somehow be overcome with food, and that the body needs this food to kill the virus, bacteria, or inva ding
yeast, and uses the protein to heal or rebuild tissue. Sadly, the exact  opposite is the case. Disease organisms feed and multiply on
the toxic waste products of misdigestion, and the body is unable to digest well when it is weak or ill.
    There’s an old saying about this: ‘feed a cold, starve a fever." Most people think th is saying means you should eat when you
have a cold. What the saying really means is if you feed a cold then you will soon have to starve


in the hope that its fulfilment will finally relieve us of our suffering and
provide happiness.
     Therefore, the desire for happiness is the highest desire, and as such it is
unique: it is the only thing we seek for its own sake.

I use the word ‘happiness’ as the goal of this search simply because it is the
common word for the absence of suffering or the end of seeking. I refer to it
this way because I believe, rightly or not, that this word most accurately con -
veys for the majority of people that for which they long above all else. It is also
a word to which everyone can relate, and it refers to an experience with which
everyone is familiar. In particular, it is non-denominational and devoid of cul -
tural overtones. It does not have to be believed in and is its own evidence.
6the search for happiness
     However, any word inevitably has its limitations, depending upon our
particular associations with it, especially in relation to that for which we all
long above all else. If the word ‘happiness’ does not evoke in you that which
you love and for which you long above all else, please substitute it with
another: fulfilment, contentment, peace, love, truth, beauty, joy, salvation,
liberation, enlightenment or God.
     Whether we feel a strong yearning in our heart or just the slightest sense of
dissatisfaction – the feeling that something is missing which, when found, will
finally bring about the happiness for which we long – we are on a great search.
However we conceive or name the goal of that search, its source is always the
same, namely, the desire to bring our current dissatisfaction to an end.
     If happiness is what we all love and long for above all else, then the in -
vestigation into its nature and cause must be the greatest endeavour on which
one could embark.

happiness is inherent within us

Happiness is always experienced inside us; it is never put in from the outside.
It may seem to be connected to or triggered by external events, but unlike
the food we eat, the water we drink or the air we breathe, we do not take it
into ourself from outside. It originates within us, it is experienced within us
and, when it disappears, no residue of it is dispersed into the outside world.
Happiness is entirely an interior experience.
     If happiness is always experienced within, albeit triggered by objective
experience, mustn’t it lie in potential in us all the time? And if so, shouldn’t
it be possible to have direct access to it, and to remain constantly in touch
with it, without the need for our external circumstances to be configured in
a particular way?
     If it were possible to be in touch with our inherent peace and happiness
without being dependent on external circumstances, would that not be the
greatest discovery one could make?
     One might argue that unhappiness  is also always experienced inside us
and must, therefore, lie latent within us at all times. According to this view,
our inherent happiness or unhappiness would simply be triggered by cir -
cumstances, depending on the extent to which they conform to our desire
or expectation.
7you are the happiness you seek
     Although most people may not formulate it to themselves in this way,
this is the common view of happiness and suffering. They are considered
equal and opposite emotions, alternating in varying degrees in our lives,
depending upon our circumstances.

In the absence of understanding the nature of happiness and how it may be
found, our culture has conditioned us to believe and even expect that the
constant cycle of happiness and unhappiness is normal and unavoidable.
Why is this? We do not expect to cycle through periods of health and sickness
on an almost daily basis, let alone numerous times within a single day. If we
are sick, we consider it a signal from the body that something is wrong and
needs attention.
     Unhappiness is to the mind as sickness is to the body. It is a state of
disharmony and imbalance. It is a signal that something is amiss and
requires attention. However, in the absence of any understanding as to the
real cause of unhappiness, our culture can only offer consolations and dis -
tractions.
     We all feel that health is the natural state of the body. Why do we not
feel that happiness is the natural state of the mind? In this book, I will suggest
that it is, that happiness is the very nature of our being or self and, as such,
lies in potential within us, accessible by all people and at all times, with the
possible exception of those times when the safety and well-being of the body
are compromised.
     From this point of view, suffering is understood as the veiling or obscur -
ing of our innate happiness. Thus, there is either happiness or the veiling of
it, but never its absence.

All that is necessary to access our inherent happiness is to go directly into
the depths of our being, behind the obscuring layers of thought and feeling.
This is the great understanding that everyone should have from an early age.
What could be more important in life than to know that we are already that
for which we long?
     This understanding is the essence of all the principal religious and spiri -
tual traditions. However, in almost all cases it has been lost, or at least
obscured, by layers of superfluous doctrines and practices that arose around
the simple and direct insight upon which they were originally founded.
8the search for happiness
     All the methods that are given in the various traditions have the ultimate
purpose of facilitating access to the latent peace and joy that lies at the heart
of all beings. The reason for so many different approaches and practices is
not the complexity or inaccessibility of what is being sought. It is due partly
to the differences between the cultures in which this understanding was orig -
inally formulated, and partly to the differing responses required to address
people’s particular difficulties and objections.
     In each of these responses, this single understanding was refracted into
numerous ideas and methods. However, when we distil these various ap -
proaches, they all indicate, in one way or another, that happiness is our na -
ture, or that we are happiness itself.

the end of the search

Everybody knows the experience of happiness. However, not everybody
knows that happiness is the very nature of our self and can be found in the
depths of our being. As a result of this overlooking of the essential nature of
our self, a great search is initiated in the realm of objective experience.
     In the epic poem The Mathnawi, Sufi poet and mystic Jelaluddin Rumi
tells of a man in Cairo who dreams of a treasure buried under a certain house
in Baghdad. The man sets out on an arduous journey and, after numerous
trials and adventures, reaches Baghdad and finds the house that appeared to
him in his dream. He knocks on the door and an elderly man answers. The
traveller relates his dream and the owner of the house replies, ‘That’s strange,
last night I dreamt of a house in Cairo under which a great treasure was bu -
ried’. The man from Cairo recognises the description of the house as his own
and returns home. And sure enough, under his own home he finds a great
treasure. All those years he had been sitting on it without realising it.
     This is the archetypal trajectory of everyone’s life: the great search for
happiness in the realm of objective experience and the return to the treasure
of one’s own being. The out-breath and the in-breath. The adventure of be -
coming and the return to being. The unfolding of one’s life on the horizon -
tal dimension of time and the periodic plunge into the vertical dimension
of being.
     Nature provides numerous such moments: the end of seeking upon the
fulfilment of a desire; a moment of astonishment; the unbearable grief at the
9you are the happiness you seek
loss of a loved one; the rapture of sexual intimacy; a moment of intense
danger; a glance from a friend; the silence of the forest; the peace of deep
sleep. Our lives are punctuated by such moments, hairline cracks in the world
which, although not discernible on the surface of experience, are portals
through which we pass out of time into eternity, only to be eclipsed again
by the content of experience.
     The memory of such times awakens in us a nostalgia, a longing for
something that is not past and forgotten but present and veiled. It lies not
in the annals of the past or the promise of the future but in the depths of
being.
     Impelled by this longing, we embark on a great search – outwardly in
the realms of objects, substances, activities and relationships, and inwardly
in states of mind – frequently sampling its perfume but never finding its
source. It pervades the content of experience but is never graspable as an ex -
perience, like a rainbow whose source can never be found. However, it can -
not be found not because it is so far but because it is so close.
     At the heart of all the world’s great religious, spiritual and philosophical
traditions lies the simple, direct means by which it may be recognised:
becoming must subside in being.
     Most of the time the drama of experience eclipses awareness


 tears when crying
6.

dry skin
7.

mild to severe headache
8.

constipation
9.

fuzziness, dizzy, light-headed
 Severe dehydration will include:



extremely dry skin, no elasticity


extreme thirst


no sweat


no urination or dark yellow urine


accelerated heartbeat


sunken eyes


accelerated breathing


no tears when crying


fever


possible delirium or even unconsciousness.

One of the very first signs of dehydration is fatigue and lack of  energy…
80% of all Americans are dehydrated to some degree.  Our body
’
s cry for
more water is usually mistaken for a hunger for  food; so we end up at the
refrigerator instead of the water tap.  This results in a two-fold problem:
becoming overweight
and being
 dehydrated – thus the cycle continues.
Most disease is a result of our organs being starved of
necessary water
,
so the body is in a constant battle to store up water in
fat cells
, with one
organ robbing water from another. Water is
critical for
 every bodily function
and for the life and health of every
single cell
, from our brain to our little toe.

                          Glacier water is pure clean healthy distilled water
 Water:

1.

provides lubricants for our joints;
2.

provides digestive juices/saliva and stomach acid;
3.

controls body temperature through perspiration;
4.

is used to manufacture blood and lymph;
5.

delivers nutrients to the cells and carries away waste
6.

helps move material through the intestinal tract; and
7.

regulates the body
’
s metabolism.

Pure (distilled) water is nothing but H
2
O, so consequently it is
the most
effective water at meeting the required needs of the body
– especially
 with
cleaning toxins and waste materials from the
cells of
 the body. The Mayo
Clinic has discovered that plenty
of distilled
 water can decrease the risk of
colon cancer by at
least 45
%, bladder cancer by 50%, in addition to other
forms of cancer
, including
 breast cancer. Many medical experts agree that
most disease
 is a result of not drinking enough clean, healthy water
for the
body to function as it needs to, such as flushing the bladder of   toxins and
chemicals. When the body does not receive
enough water
, the result is
dis-ease. Then to complicate the
unhealthy condition
, doctors prescribe
drugs to deal with symptoms
which then
 can
result in
 additional health
problems.

 CHAPTER 3
Why Do I Need to
Drink Distilled Water?

How the EPA Has Failed
T
he consequences of EPA
’
s failure to establish standards
for organic
chemical contaminants in drinking water are very serious.  First, because
the establishment of standards is a
necessary prerequisite
 for monitoring
the quality of drinking water,
water suppliers
 are not presently required to
monitor the water they
sell for
 organic chemical contamination. The only
contaminants
they must
 look for are the relatively small number presently
included in
 the current regulations.
Thus, unless chemical contamination of a supply is so gross as
to cause
taste, odor or public health problems, most water
utilities across
 the
country do not routinely monitor for
unregulated contaminants
 and,
accordingly, do not know the chemical
quality of
 the water they provide.
Second, and equally important,
other regulatory
 programs designed to
prevent contamination
of ground
 water are keyed to the National Primary
Drinking
Water Regulations
.Under the
Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)
leachate
from
hazardous waste landfills is only tested for the presence
of chemicals
included on the agency
’
s short list of primary
drinking water
. Toxic
chemicals at thousands of hazardous waste sites
across the
 country
continue to seep into the nation
’
s underground
, contaminating
 the land, and
poisoning the air. The U.S.
Accounting Office says
that the
 Superfund program will
be required
 to
clean up in excess
of 300,000
 sites, which appears to be, at the present
t
ime, an insurmount
able task. Over 6 billion tons
of solid and
 hazardous
waste are
generated in
 the United States
each year
.
400 million
 pounds of
toxins
are discharged
 each year into
our waterways
 by American
Industry
, according
 to recent data from
the EPA
. In 1997, Americans generated
340 million tons of municipal waste, which
averaged 1.272 tons per person. (15 years later there was 250 million tons
of municipal solid waste generated.) It is estimated that since 1990, more
than 11 billion tons of domestic and foreign waste have been disposed in
the U.S.

This is equal to covering every acre in the nation with 4.7 tons of waste.
Relying on EPA
’
s Franklin Associates, which calculates price per ton of
municipal waste disposal at a conservative $100/ton, the total cost to
consumers of all waste disposed in the U.S. since 1990, is in excess of
$1.1 trillion.

COVER-UP OR WATERED-DOWN FACTS
It is interesting to hear how so many water utilities brag about the superior
quality of their water. San Diego (my city) boasts of its water quality when
at the same time it contains 500 to 600 milligrams per liter of dissolved
solids, which is considered undesirable for drinking by most health
standards. It is rated in the top 10 of the most polluted cities with over 24
hazardous chemicals in its water supply.

Sierra Club director, Carl Pope, is the author of
“
Hazardous Waste in
America.
”
 He recently wrote in
California Magazine:
 “The water that is
rejected at the Sacramento tap flows into the city sewers, where it mixes
with household waste and industrial effluent containing a variety of heavy
metals and solvents. Some of these, but only some, are removed by the
sewage treatment plant.Agricultu
ral Drainage into t
he Aqueducts

The remainder of the water dissolves in the effluent, and pours down
into
the Delta where the Sacramento is joined by the San Joaquin River. Down
the San Joaquin River come toxaphene, mercury, chlordane, PCB
’
s,
arsenic, cadmium, copper, chromium, lead and selenium, all of which are
on the EPA
’
s list of priority pollutants. This mix makes it one of the most
heavily polluted rivers in the state. Most of this pollution comes from
surface and subsurface agricultural drainage into the aqueducts; the
remainder comes from mining, timber and other industrial activities. The
Delta itself adds more pesticides and herbicides from agricultural
operations, heavy metals from energy facilities and organics from gasoline
storage and transfer facilities. EPA officials estimate that of the 2.5 million
storage tanks, as many as 100,000 are leaking 11 million gallons of
gasoline a year. Other sources indicate that as many as 420,000 tanks
may be leaking now; and experts predict that 75% of all tanks will begin
leaking over the next 5 to 10 years. Then, as the water makes its way to
San Jose, Los Angeles and San Diego in the California Aqueduct, it
continues to pick up pesticide residue from spraying operations on farm
lands along the aqueduct itself.
“
As goes California, so goes the rest of
the country.
”

LEGALIZED POISONING

Every year, millions of pounds of chemicals that can cause cancer, birth
defects or sterility – even in trace amounts –are released directly or
indirectly into our drinking water. This takes place with the approval,
sanction and authority of state and federal agencies. In addition to these
contaminants, the water utilities add many other chemicals during
treatment. A mixture of hydrogen and oxygen, water is only truly pure if it
is distilled. In its natural state, water contains a number of chemicals,
among them sodium, calcium, fluoride, carbon dioxide, and a number of
minerals. Most minerals found in water are inorganic which our bodies do
not chelate and assimilate. But nature
’
s contribution is only a start.

As many as 60 chemicals may be added during the collection, treatment
and delivery process; e.g., CHLORINE: a disinfectant to kill bacteria and
other microorganisms. (Science has now discovered that when chlorine
comes in contact with decayed plant and animal matter, trihalomethanes
[THM
’
s] are created, which have been found to cause cancer in humans.)

LIME: added to retard corrosion of pipes, or to neutralize water that is too
acidic. COPPER SULFATE: to kill algae. ALUMINUM SULFATE: to force
solid particles to


 the urine to be diagnosed,
it should not be that from urinating during the time before four or five
in the morning; since urination at such a time is affected strongly by
the food taken the previous meal, it is not good for diagnosis.
One should use the urine that builds up in the hours around four or
five in the morning. If one does not urinate during the night, then do
not collect the first half of the urination when you rise;
use only the later half.
../ 2}. TlM£ FOR VRfNAl VSlS
There are three aspects of urinalysis:
color, vapor arising from the urine,
and the albumin which is a cloud like substance in the urine.
The time for such diagnosis is after dawn.
../ 3}.. TH£ V£SS£l
The vessel in which the urine is to be placed is most often a
white porcelain cup which is such that its color will not affect
the appearance of the color of the urine.
Otherwise, an aluminum pot can be used.
One should not use vessels that color the urine, such as clay,
copper, brass, or any other colored pot; they make the urine
appear to have another color, and it will be difficult to tell what
the natural color of the urine is.
A white cup is best and not one with a pattern in it.
If it is impossible to get one of these three appropriate types,
one can line another type with a piece of white paper.
../ 4}.. COlORATlO}I CHANG£5
With respect to variations in the urine, the fourth topic, the text
speaks first of the digestive process. In the stomach, food is
differentiated or separated into a nutritious or more subtle part
and a less nutritious or unrefined part. The refined or better
part goes into the blood. The more wasteful product goes into
the intestines. In the intestines it is divided in two, that is, into
solid and liquid parts. The liquid portion of this waste goes
from the intestines to the urinary bladder.
59 With regard to the separation in the stomach, the finer or more
nutritious part goes to the liver. Within this, there is another
separation between the more nutritious and the less, with the
more nutritious part becoming blood and the less nutritious
going to the gall bladder. In the gall bladder there is further
separation, the finer substance becoming lymph.
The more wasteful part become albumin, the cloud-like
substance which appears in the urine; the albumin goes
together with the urine and accumulates in the urinary bladder.
It is because of this separation in the process of digestion that
food which has been ingested affects or transforms the color
of the urine.
The albumin, or cloud-like substance, basically appears in
urine due to blood and bile problems. Therefore, the condition
of the body in terms of heat and cold is indicated in the urine.
Just as in the market place when a merchant has something
illegal to sell and does not actually reveal it, holding it under a
garment, describe it and from that you can tell what he has
hidden, so from the urine it is possible to tell the types of
disorder or lack thereof in a person's body.
v' ;}.. TH£ VRTN£ OF H£Al THY PERSONS
If one looks at the urine of a healthy person, one finds that its
color is more or less the bright, cheerful yellow of the butter
on top of the milk from a "dri", the female counterpart of the
yak [yak only being males]. The odor is like that of the cream
that rises to the surface of milk. The vapor is neither terribly
strong or weak, neither big or small, and the duration of the
vapor-before the urine gets cooler and vapor stops-is neither
terribly long or short. The bubbles or froth are nothing
spectacular- neither terribly long or short, big or small, rather
moderate froth on top of the urine.
The albumin, for a healthy person, is simply mixed up together
with the urine, pervading it. Also, for a healthy person there is
not much chyle {the oily substance normally rising to the
surface of the urine}; just a little bit comes to the surface.
As the vapor gradually vanishes, one finds that a little darker
color converges toward the center of the cup of urine, just as
breath on a mirror gradually converges in the center and
disappears. After the urine has cooled off, its color is light,
clear, and yellowish; it is transparent.
60 v" 6}. TH£ VRlN£ Of' DlS£AS£D 1'£RSONS
Concerning the urine of persons with disorders,
there are two aspects to the discussion:
general and specific diseased urine.
7}. DlAGNOSlNG VRlN£
There are three times for diagnosing the urine:
when it is hot, then when it is lukewarm,
and finally when it is completely cooled off.
There are three times for diagnosing the urine:
when it is hot, then when it is lukewarm, and finally when it is
completely cooled off.
There are nine types of diagnosis that are broken down into
three groups relative to the three times. First, when the urine is
hot, one checks the color, the vapor, the odor, and the type of
bubbles or froth. When it is lukewarm, one checks the cloud
like albumin and the oily chyle that rises to the top.
When the urine is cooled off completely, one checks the time
of the variation of the color, then how it changes, and finally
postponed analysis. When patients are not able to come
themselves, their urine is sent, in Tibet by yak,
in India by other means. It is rather old by the time it arrives,
and so the doctor checks anything, but with a different type of
diagnosis, because the urine the older.
This is called "postponed analysis".
We return to the first of the nine, the color,
which is investigated when the urine is still quite hot.
The urine of a person with a wind ailment ailment is like water
from a mountain spring, light blue in color and transparent.
A bile disorder will manifest in the urine as a more yellow,
perhaps even an orangish, color. If the urine is very pale, or
whitish, this indicates a phlegm disorder.
Question: Is there a difference between the blueness of the
urine or wind disorder and the paleness of a phlegm disorder?
Answer: The urine of a person with a phlegm disorder is a bit
milky as if someone took milk and dropped it into the urine;
you cannot see through it. For the wind disorder it is very
clear, like mountain spring water.
61 If the urine is red, it indicates a blood disorder.
If the urine is rust color, this indicates a lymph disorder.
If the urine is brownish, it indicates a complex disorder of all
three humors- wind, bile and phlegm.
If the color is a mixture of red and yellow, it is a disorder of
blood and bile. If it is a mixture of white and yellow, this
indicates a disorder of both phlegm and bile.
If the urine is yellow, like mustard oil, and oily, it indicates
both a bile disorder and contagious disease.
If it is orange, thick, and has a foul color,
this indicates a type of disorder that spreads from organ to organ or
a general disturbance of the body, such as with a heat ailment.
If the color of the urine is generally dark but has a spectrum of color,
like a rainbow, this indicates poisoning; it could be of any variety of
poisoning- mineral, meat, and so on.
. The second of the nine types of diagnosis is vapor,
which is investigated while the urine is very hot. If the urine
has a large vapor, this indicates a developed heat ailment.
If there is little vapor but it lasts a long time, this indicates
either a hidden heat ailment or an old, chronic heat ailment.
If there is little vapor that lasts a short time, it is a cold ailment,
involving phlegm and wind-an excess of cold in the body.
If there is an alternation in the amount of vapor, then in that
case there exists a combination of heat and cold disorders in
the body. The vapor is seen just as, for example,
you see steam rise from a cup of hot tea.
Bubbles, color, and vapor are visual.
The odor of the urine is, of course, to be smelled.
If the urine has a foul odor and there is albumin in the urine,
this indicates a strong heat disorder. If there is either no odor
or a very slight odor, this indicates a cold disorder.
If the urine smells of different foods such as cabbage, meat,
and so forth, this indicates that the digestion is not working
properly; the digestive heat is not up to par.
62 If the froth or bubbles on the urine have a bluish tint and are large,
this indicates a wind disorder. If the bubbles are small and many
and


 R  4  S u m m a r y
This life  is a dr eam. The whole world is nothing but a
dr eam-illusion.
In yo ur night dr eams your mind cr eates an entir e world and
makes everything so r eal that you don’ t question it—until
you wake up.
The waking state is also only an extr emely convincing play
that consciousness is pr oducing.
Because the mind is mechanica l, if we live fr om our mind,
our life is mechanical.
When our mind is running our  life, we’r e pr evented fr om
seeing the world as it r eally is.
When you wake up, you will be  in the world but not  of the
world.
The Mo untain of Consciousness is a metaphor for
consciousness: Y our perspective of life expands as you get
higher. At the to p of the mount ain, you can see the beauty
and perfection of absolutely everything.
Y our mi nd is made up of thoughts, and the thoughts it
pr oduces ar e coming fr om pr ograms formed by your beliefs
and held in your subconscious mind.
The subconscious mind stor es our beliefs, memory,
personality traits, automatic pr ocesses, and habits; its
operation is no differ ent fr om that of a computer.
The firs t step to fr eedom is when we understand that our
thoughts cr eate our life. What you think is what manifests.C h a p t e r  5
Fr eedom fr om the Mind
“It is n’ t necessary for the mind to be quiet. All that matters is tha t you not listen to what
it’ s saying, as if it were true.”
Jan Frazier, fr om  The Great Sweetening: Life After Thought
Y our mind is an amazing tool to create your life exactly as you want it to be. It is not
your psychoanal yst or your ther apist, yet we give it that kind of authority over us when
we listen  to it a nd believe all it s thoughts as though they were true. This one habit of
believing our own thoughts robs us of being able to live in the magnificence and glory
of our true nature, A wareness. W e are prevented from having a life of constant
happiness, and a life where everything we need falls into our hands at the perfect time.
Humanity has suf fered too mu ch for too long, because of our minds. It’ s time to
delegate our mind to its rightfu l place so that it is no longer the dictator of our life.
When w e no longer live from an d through the mind, we will begin to live from our true
self, A w areness, and our life will truly become heaven on earth, free of suf fering and
negativity.
“Every p roblem perceived to be ‘out there’ is really nothing more than a misperception
within your own thinking.”
Byr on Katie, fr om  Loving What Is
“The most powerful way to remove negativity is to recognize that you are not the mind.
Once realized, negativity has nothing to hook to, and it dissolves by itself.”
Hale Dwoskin
Most people believe that negative situations come from outside of them; they believe
that it’ s  either people, circums tances, or events in the world that have caused the
negative situatio ns in their life. But nothing is inherently good or bad, as Shakespeare
told us: “There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.”
It’ s your thoughts about a perso n, circumstance, or event that’ s the source of negative
situations in your life, not the actual person, circumstance, or event. And so
understanding a little of how the mechanics of your mind work will help free you from
its erroneous negative judgments, and then you can use it for what it’ s intended for—to
create the life you want.
“Thinking was made to order what you want, not to indulge in it. The mind is there to
receive the order and make it a ppear to you. Thinking isn’ t ne eded for anything else
because everything else is taken care of by A wareness.”
My teacher“If you would only from this moment on see what you want, that is all that you would
get. But you hold in mind the things you do not want. Y ou struggle to eliminate the
things you don’ t want, thereby  sustaining them. So, it is necessary to let go of the
negative and put in the positive if you want a positive, happy life.”
Lester Levenson, fr om  Happiness Is Free, volumes 1–5
What ex actly is  your mind? First, it’ s important to understand  that your mind is not
your bra in. Y our brain doesn’ t t hink. Scientists have not been able to find a thought in
the brain; they c an only see the electrical activity caused by thoughts. Thinking comes
from the  mind. Y our mind is ma de up entirely of thought. If there’ s no current thought,
there’ s no mind. It’ s as simple as that. Y our mind can’ t even hold two thoughts at one
time. Y o u know that it’ s impossi ble to truly listen to a conversation and read something
on your  phone at the same tim e. Y our mind can’ t multitask, as much as you might
believe it can.
However, a single thought, whe ther positive or negative, becomes a powerhouse when
you believe it.
“If you prefer to suf fer, go on b elieving your stressful thoughts. But if you’d rather be
happy, question them.”
Byr on Katie, fr om  A Mind at Home with Itself
Most people believe their own t houghts as though they were facts, which explains why
life is stressful and challenging for so many. No one pointed out to us that our thoughts
are j ust mental noise, and they are not  reality. However, if we choose to believe our
thoughts, they will  become our reality!
Mind is the gre at manifester of our physical life, and it wil l manifest any and all
thoughts we believe, whether th ey’re positive or negative, whether they’re thoughts of
what we want o r what we don’ t want. Positive thoughts are not harmful to your life
because they are close to your true nature; it’ s negative thoughts that are the cause of
our stres s and suf fering. And s o, we need to become particularly aware of negative
thoughts.
Because our mind is mechanical, negative thinking can easily be come a fixed pattern. If
you then listen to and identify with the negative thoughts, yo u will be drawn in and
become lost in your thoughts as though in a hypnotic tran ce. Y our thoughts will
constantly take you into your head and away from what is actually happening in the
world.
“Y ou believe that you are your mind. This is the delusion. The in strument has taken you
over.”
Eckhart T olle, fr om  The Power of Now
It’ s as though we’re playing a  virtual reality game and we’v e for gotten we have a
headset on. Because of the challenging circumstances in the virt ual reality world, we’re
stressed and suf fering, but if we  would just take the headset of f, we would realize that
the virtual reality world is not real. So it is with our thoughts. When we believe our
thoughts, we’re immediately ca ught in an imaginary mind-made movie that’ s playing
inside our head, and we’re no longer experiencing the world as it really is.
“All thoughts are lies. The only truth is what is aware of them.”
My teacher
“A wareness does the observing; thought does the judging.”
Rupert Spira, fr om  The Ashes of Love
Thoughts are also responsible f or causing our feelings, and then in turn those feelings
will cause more thoughts. When we have a sad thought, it causes a sad feeling, and thesad feeling causes more sad th oughts. W e end up looking at  life through a veil of
sadness, where everything appears sad to us and we canno t see what is actually
happening in the world.
“Mind is consciousness that has put on limitations. Y ou are originally unlimited and
perfect. Later you take on limitations and become the mind.”
Ramana Maharshi
If yo u h aven’ t d eliberately prog rammed your mind to think po sitively, your mind will
constantly throw  up negative t houghts that belittle and limit you. “I shouldn’ t have
done that.” “What was I thinking?” “That was really dumb.” “I’m running out of time.”
“I can’ t do that.”
“The mi nd is all, ‘No!’ ‘T oo late!’ ‘T oo early!’ ‘T oo fast!’ ‘T oo  slow!’ The mind never
stops.”
My teacher
“It’ s not that the mind is bad. The problem is that it tends to run on automatic, a
machine we can’ t figure out how to turn of f. Most of the time, w e don’ t even realize it’ s
running. Its ever -looping conten t is like elevator music, hardly noticed, like background
static that’ s tuned out. Because the mind goes everywhere we go, the temptation to use
it consta nt