ify yourself, there must always be a
threat when it comes to intimacy: that one or both will resort to
using the whip  of loading guilt upon the other. Loving, sharing, and
profound and satisfying closeness to others could be a purely
positive power  without any threat if these snares were looked at,
discovered, and dissolved. It is of utmost importance that you look
for them in yourselves, my friends.
The most challenging, beautiful, spiritually important, and
growth-producing kind of relationship is the one between man and
woman. The power that brings two people together in love and
attraction and the pleasure involved are a small aspect of cosmic
reality. It is as though each created entity knew unconsciously about
the bliss of this state and sought to realize it in the most potent way
open to humanity: in love and sexuality between man and woman.
The power that draws them together is the purest spiritual energy,
leading to an inkling of the purest spiritual state.
However, when a man and a woman stay together in a more
enduring and committed relationship, maintaining and even
increasing bliss depends entirely on how the two relate to each
other. Are they aware of the direct relationship between enduring
pleasure and inner growth? Do they use the inevitable diculties in
the relationship as yardsticks for their own inner diculties? Do
they communicate in the deepest, most truthful, self-revealing way,
sharing their inner problems, helping each other? The answers to
these questions will determine whether the relationship falters,
dissolves, stagnates—or blossoms.When you look at the world around you, you will undoubtedly see
that very few human beings grow and reveal themselves in such an
open way. Equally few realize that growing together and through each
other determines the solidity of feelings, of pleasure, of enduring
love and respect. It is therefore not surprising that long-lasting
relationships are almost invariably more or less dead in feelings.
Diculties that arise in a relationship are always signals for
something unattended to. They are a loud message for those who
can hear it. The sooner it is heeded, the more spiritual energy will
be released, so that the state of bliss can expand along with the
inner being of both partners. There is a mechanism in a relationship
between a man and a woman that can be likened to a very nely
calibrated instrument that shows the nest and most subtle aspects
of the relationship and the individual state of the two people
involved. This is not suciently recognized by even the most aware
and sophisticated people who are otherwise familiar with spiritual
and psychological truth. Every day and every hour one’s inner state
and feelings are a testimony to one’s state of growth, lb the degree
they are heeded, the interaction, the feelings, the freedom of ow
within and toward each other will blossom.
The perfectly mature and spiritually valid relationship must
always be deeply connected with personal growth. The moment a
relationship is experienced as irrelevant to inner growth, left on its
own, as it were, it will falter. Only when both grow to their
ultimate, inherent potential can the relationship become more and
more dynamic and alive. This work has to be done individually and
mutually. When relationship is approached in that way, it will be
built on rock, not sand. No fear will ever nd room under such
circumstances. Feelings will expand, and security about the self and
each other will grow. At any given moment, each partner  will serve
as a mirror to the inner state of the other and therefore to the
relationship.
Whenever there is friction or deadness, it is an indicat ion that
something must be stuck. Some interaction between the two people
remains unclear and it needs to be looked at. If it is understood and
brought out into the open, growth will proceed at maximum speed,and, in the dimension of feeling, happiness, bliss, profound
experience, and ecstasy will become forever deeper and more
beautiful, and life will acquire more meaning.
Conversely, fear of intimacy implies rigidity and the denial of
one’s own share in the relationship’s diculties. Anyone who
ignores these principles, or who pays only lip service to them, is
emotionally not ready to assume the responsibility for his or her
inner suering—either within a relationship or in its absence.
So you see, my friends, it is of the greatest importance to
recognize that bliss and beauty, which are eternal spiritual realities, are
available to all those who seek the key to the problems of human
interaction, as well as to loneliness, within their own hearts. True
growth is as much a spiritual reality as are profound fulllment,
vibrant aliveness, and blissful, joyous relating. When you are
inwardly ready  to relate to another human being in such a fashion,
you will nd the appropriate  partner  with whom this manner of
sharing is possible. It will no longer frighten you, will no longer
beset you with conscious or unconscious fears when you use this all-
important key. You cannot ever feel helpless or victimized when the
signicant transition has taken place in your life and you no longer
render others responsible for what you experience or fail to
experience. Thus growth and fullled, beautiful living become one
and the same.
May you all carry with you this new material and an inner energy
awakened by your goodwill. May these words be the beginning of a
new inner modality to meet life, to nally decide, “I want  to risk my
good feelings. I want to seek the cause in me, rather than in the
other person, so that I become free to love.” This kind of meditation
will indeed bear fruit. If you carry away a germ, a particle, of this
lecture, it has truly been fruitful. Be blessed, all of you, my dearest
friends, so that you become the gods that you potentially are.
OceanofPDF.com8
Emotional Growth and Its Function
“If I didn’t feel anything, I wouldn’t suer.” Most people are
trying very hard not to feel in the mistaken belief that then they
could avoid being unhappy. Haven’t you had such a thought? We
think it is only a thought, but this wish has its consequenc e: the
numbing of our feeling capacity. Yet, the repression of feelings does
not alleviate suering; on the contrary, it increases the pain.
Feelings need room to grow, just as our minds and bodies do, so
that we achieve  a higher emotional state in which we can dare to
love.
Greetings, my dearest friends. God bless each one of you, blessed
is this hour.
In order to know yourself on a deeper level, it becomes
increasingly necessary to allow all emotions to reach surface
awareness, so as to understa nd these emotions and to enable them
to mature. Most of you have a great resistance to letting this
happen. You are unaware of the obstructions you put in the way of
your own growth. Hence it is necessary that I discuss the mechanism
of your resistance.
Let us rst be clear about the unity of the human personality.
Human beings  who function harmoniously have developed the
physical, ment al, and emotional sides of their nature. These three
spheres are supposed to function harmoniously with one another,
each helping the other, rather than one faculty subduing another. Ifone function is underdeveloped, it causes a disharmony in the
human structure, and also cripples the entire personality.
Now let us understand what causes human beings to particularly
neglect, repres s, and cripple the growth of their emotion al nature.
This neglect is universal. Most human beings look mainly after the
physical self. They do more or less what is necessary to make it
grow and remain healthy. A good portion of humanity cultivates the
mental side. In order to do so you learn, you use your brain, your
thinking capacity; you absorb, you train your memory  and your
logical reasoning. All this furthers mental growth.
But why is the emotional nature generally neglected? There are
good reasons for that, my friends. To gain more clarity, let us rst
understand the function of the emotional nature in human beings. It
includes, rst of all, the capacity to feel. The capacity to experience
feeling is synonymous with the capacity to give and receive
happiness. To the degree you shy away from any kind of emotional
experience, to that extent you also close the door to the experience
of happ iness. Moreover, the emotional side of your nature, when
functioning, possesses creative ability. To the degree you close yourself
o from emotional experience, to that very degree the full potential of
your creative ability is hindered in manifesting itself. Contrary to what
many of you may believe, the unfolding of creative ability is not a
mere mental process. In fact, the intellect has much less to do with
it than may appear at rst glance, in spite of the fact that technical
skill also becomes a necessity in order to give the creative outow
full expression. Creative unfoldment is an intuitive process. Needless
to say, intuitio n can function only to the degree that your emotional
life is strong, healthy, and mature.
Therefore, your intuitive powers will be hindered if you have
neglected emotional growth and discouraged yourself from
experiencing the world of


 C.
Fraser Mackenzie,  C.I.E., viz.: "is the medical profession  for the welfare
of the nation, or are the citizens  for the benefit of the doctors?"  The
answer he goes on to say,  "is in favour of the nation, provided  doctors
are generously  treated” Quite so. And I, for one, am the last to wish
that doctors should not be fairly treated, even though I was compelled
to cure  myself with my own methods  in the end.  But as matters stand 120
 at the moment, it none the less  looks  very much as if the patients
existed for the benefit  of the doctors. Indeed, it would  hardly do to ask
how many patients have died  while physicians  have been preoccupied
with medical etiquette?
However,  that need not detain us. The question  is how to deal with the
problem which  confronts  the sufferer who has ceased to believe in
orthodox methods  and  is prepared to try urine‐therapy. Should he
dispense with doctors' services or should he not? From nearly every
point of view I consider it would be better if he did rant dispense with
the services of his medical adviser. There  is no practical reason
whatever  why the discovery,  or rather re‐discovery  of urine‐therapy
should "deprive the doctor of his bread," though that is a matter which
rests entirely with the individual  doctor.  This book  places him in
possession  of the facts, and  should he refuse when requested  by a
patient to supervise  a urine‐fast, then I can hardly be blamed  for what
is not my fault. It will not be the first  time that a patient has suggested
to his physician  the particular  treatment  he wishes to try,  and  if
spectacularly  beneficial  results accrue therefrom,  then all the better for
the doctor's reputation.  Moreover,  a doctor can act as a buffer
between the well‐ intentioned  but  obstructive  and tiresome
interferences  of anxious but  often quite prejudiced  and ignorant
relatives, who not only fear the worst but fear the formalities  and
publicity of an inquest as well.
All the same, I must  sound a note of warning. If a doctor thinks he can
combine drugs with the urine‐fast, despite my affirmations  to the
contrary, the suit will be failure. As we have seen, urine‐therapy  is a
Naturecure  in the  most  literal sense of the  word, and  to employ 121
 measures  which  are contrary to Nature  at the same time, would not
only be quite illogical but even dangerous.  I know  this to my cost‐ not as
the result of this  interfering  with Nature  myself, but as the result of
others doing so when my back was turned.  Therefore,  I give this
warning, and  sincerely  hope it may  be heeded. Provided it's heeded, I
again repeat that the supervision  of a doctor is desirable from many
points of view. Nor need the doctor feel any compunction  in the matter
nor any slight  to his dignity merely because this  form  of therapy was
the outcome of a layman's experiments.  Any  physician  who knows his
medical history also knows that laymen have contributed  much to the
faculty of medicine.  Even the adulated Pasteur, who "did more  to
commercialise  medicine than any other  man, " was not a doctor, but
merely  a chemist. I may  also mention hydropathy,  and  the fact that
doctors do not necessarily  consider it infra dig to be associated  with
hydropathic  establishments.  This being the case,  I, am optimistic
enough to think that in the not too distant  future there  may  be
establishments  where  patients, can be treated with ur netherapy,  and
where  there will be a staff  of nurses to look after them and  do the
urine‐rubbings.  (Why should people be destined  to die of gangrene  and
other  said‐to‐be‐incurable  conditions  when it is possible to save then?)
Although urine‐therapy  can never be unfavourable  to the employment
of labour, any more  than hydropathy  has been in the past. There is also
sanitation,  which as Are  Waerland  points out, was introduced  by
laymen "in the teeth of the passionate  hostility  of the medical
profession  which  thought  its interests threatened”;  yet certainly
sanitation  has not been hostile to labour, and doctors themselves  are
now as much in favour of proper hygiene as at one time they  were
against it. As a matter of fact,  all reforms and  changes threaten some 122
 one's  interests,  but in the end matters adjust themselves.  Yet when all
is said, is it right that vested interests should interfere  with the physical
well‐ being of the people? If I could honestly say that the  various
money‐ making gadgets that are now on the market were really means
to lasting health instead of being just palliatives ‐ often  deceptive  ones
at that ‐I should be the last not to extol them. Nay,  what interest have I
in decrying them, seeing I have nothing to sell? The great advantage  of
urine‐therapy  is the very fact that it costs  nothing and can be used by
poor  and rich alike. A large  number  of impecunious  people, are now
treating themselves  with urine‐therapy  in their own homes, with the
kind assistance  of relatives to do the rubbing,


 pass through. Interestingly, because you focused so much consciousness
on it, you froze the experience of the snake in your mind. There was no way
you were going to let this uncomfortable experience all the way in, and that
is the birth of resistance.
Do you know what that means, “letting it all the way in”? We
discussed this earlier regarding the beautiful sunset and the perfect romantic
experience. You wanted to fully experience these beautiful moments, so you
opened up and let them pass all the way into your being. These are the
special moments in life, when something touches you to the core of your
being. No way this rattlesnake is going all the way in there. You don’t have
to think about it. Resistance is simply a natural response to something that’s
not comfortable. Y ou try to keep it at a distance.
Have you ever kept something at a distance in there? Perhaps
something some one said that hurt you in the past, maybe an awkward stage
you went through when you were young, or even a terrible divorce. Ofcourse you have, but that doesn’ t mean the event didn’ t happen. It wouldn’ t
be in there if it hadn’ t already happened. You can’t stop the event from
having happened, but you don’t have to let it all the way in. Mind is a big
place. There’ s plenty of room between where the experience is first imaged
in your mind and where you actually fully experience it. You can use will to
keep the mental  image at a distance from you. This is a very primal act of
resistance.
Now that you have resisted experiencing the rattlesnake, and let the
rest of the moment pass throug h, here comes a butterfly. It lands on you,
which is such a beautiful experience that you naturally focus on it. When it
starts to fly off, you don’t want it to go away, so you use your will to hold
on to the mental  image. This is what Buddhists call clinging. You can’t hold
on to the butterfly itself because it flew away. So you try to hold on to the
mental thought pattern of the butterfly. You push away what it was like to
experience the rattlesnake and you cling to what it was like to experience
the butterfly. Neither of these mental patterns can finish their natural
journey through  the mind. Not only do you lose out on fully experiencing
them to the depth of your being,  you are also left with these mental patterns
stuck in your mind. Neither rattlesnake nor butterfly remain before you, but
they are left as patterns in the mind’s energy field. Such is the power of like
and dislike.
Both clinging and resisting keep the mental renderings in your mind.
This is very important to understand. Experiential mind was meant to be
like a clear TV screen: it renders the image being sent to it. But now you’ve
held on to imag es that are no longer being generated by the outside world.
They got stuck in your mind as mental patterns, and as a resul t, you’re out
of harmony with reality. You were in there experiencing the gift of reality;
now you are also experiencing the patterns you held on to in your mind.
These patterns in your mind are totally different from the patte rns in other
people’ s minds. Each person’ s trapped mental patterns are unique and very
personal. They come from how we interacted with our past experiences.
Since we’ve all had different past experiences, and interacted with them
differently, the impressions held in our minds are totally different. This is
the birth of the personal mind.
The problem is: reality is not personal. As you’ve already seen, we
didn’ t create this world. We are simply experiencing the miracle  of creation
unfolding aroun d us. Yes, there are rattlesnakes and butterflies in the world,along with lots of other things.  But now there are RATTLESNAKES and
BUTTERFLIES in your mind, even when they are not actually in front of
you. Now that you’ve held these leftover mental impressions in your mind,
reality has to compete with them for your attention. Your ability to fully
focus on the outer world is going to be hindered by the constan t distraction
of these inner impressions.Chapter 13.
Fall from the Garden
Resistance is the beginning  of what can be considered the fall from the
garden. You were just fine being aware of this awesome, everchanging
creation. It presented constant gifts of experiences for you to learn and grow
from. Take the gift of music. When you are deeply absorbed in music, there
are no stray thoughts, only the music effortlessly coming in and feeding the
depth of your being. You can be raised to the state of ecstasy while listening
to music. When the mind is clear, everything comes in that way. You are
either in a heave nly state experiencing what is pouring into you, or you are
deeply absorbed in the inner stillness of your being. You have returned to
the garden—everything is ef fortlessly beautiful.
Once you hold on to rattlesnakes and butterflies in your mind, you are
unable to stay in that pure state of consciousness. These two mental patterns
have become powerfully charged objects that draw your attention toward
them. When the mind was clear, what attracted your consciousness was the
rendering of the outside world as it passed through. This rendering was very
entertaining and fulfilling, but since you had nothing going with it, it just
came and went. In contrast, the powerfully charged objects you have held in
your mind do not come and go. The world in front of you comes and goes,
but these mental objects remain because you are holding them in your mind.
Furthermore, since they are differentiated as more important than the rest,
your consciousness becomes more distracted by these mental objects.
Everything is no longer equal, and this creates a major problem. Next
thing you know, you’re walking down the road, and there’ s a rope. But the
rope no longer feels the same as it would have before you saw the
rattlesnake. The rope reminds you of the rattlesnake. What does “reminds
you of” mean? It’s not a rattlesnake; it’s a rope. Nonetheless, when the rope
comes in, consci ousness now has a choice: pay full attention to the rope thatcame in, or be distracted by the negative rattlesnake image stuck in your
mind. The mind will immediate ly join these two mental objects together as
one, and you will get scared. Scared by a rope? Y es, terrified by a rope.
A similar thing happens with the image of the butterfly stuck in your
mind. After the butterfly flies away, you’re still focusing on the image in
your mind. You’re still feeling good about it and trying to hold on to it, even
though it is no longer part of your here-and-now reality. Then something
new comes in from the outside, like a person walking by. Your mind may be
rendering this new image perfectly, but your consciousness is not fully
seeing it. Your consciousness is still distracted by the butterfly  image that
got left in your mind. It used to be that the moment in front of you was the
experience you were having inside. Now you have a preference— you would
rather experience the mental image of the butterfly than the reality in front
of you. There has become a whole new world for consciousness to focus on
—the world you built in your mind. That world does not match the reality of
creation. That inner world is your own personal creation made out of the
mental objects you didn’ t let pass through. That’ s what those images in your
mind represent: things that happened in the past that you willfully kept in
your mind. As we shall see, these impressions are the initial seeds that
eventually grew into the self-concept or personal self.
To see this more clearly, let’s once again look at the example of a flat-
screen TV. When the first plasm a screens came out, they had “afterimages.”
Manufacturers warned that if you paused an image for too long, it would
actually burn a shadow of the image into the plasma screen. When the show
continued, the old image would  still be there. Would you enjoy watching
TV like that? You’ve finished the news, but when you turn on a movie the
afterimage of the newscaster is still superimposed on top of your movie.
That’ s exactly what is happenin g with the butterfly and the rattlesnake. You
can no longer clearly see what is going on in front of you becau se you have
these other images on the screen of your mind. You’ve messed up your
screen. You didn’ t mean to. It seemed innocent to push exper iences aside
when you didn’ t find them pleasant. Where do you think they went when
you resisted them? They got stored as lasting impressions in your mind.
It is worth looking at the effect of these leftover images in slow
motion. In the beginning, the miracle of creation took place. It created form
that is coming in through your senses so you can experience it. Apparently,
at some point you didn’ t like certain vibrations, so you pushed them awaywhen they rende red inside. That willful resistance caused them to stay in the
mind. This is where personal comes from. We said earlier that nothing is
really personal. But you have chosen to fill


The only way to find out what you know is to call
upon yourself to know it.’
The problem will not be in your not knowing the16Bringers of the Light
purpose of Life, the problem will be in your believing
that you know it.
In other words, it will be easier deciding for your-
self what the purpose of Life is than it will be toagree with yourself that your answer could be cor-
rect!
The reason for this is that you still think that there
is a “correct answer” — and if there is, you couldn’t
possibly have just guessed it!
Yet there is no “correct answer!”The function of your life is to give the question an
answer  — and the answer that you give to the ques-
tion is the “correct answer.”
Yes... God has given you that much authority.
Yes...God has given you that much freedom.
Yes...God has given you that much power to create.
You do not believe this, and so you have spent
years trying to figure out the Purpose of Life.  And
all the while, Life (God) has been waiting for you to
decide  Its purpose.Neale Donald Walsch 17
For now, don’t try to understand this whole
process, or the why’s and wherefore’s of it.  For
now, just follow instructions.  It’ll all become more
clear to you later.  This book is about how to be-come a Bringer of the Light.  It is not about explaining
the metaphysics of the entire universe.  Because of
its limited scope, this book requires that you takesome statements on faith and simply follow instruc-
tions.
The instruction is:
Get clear about the
purpose of your life.
So do that now.  Right now, write out the Pur-
pose of your Life.
Make a Statement of Purpose.As suggested earlier, if you have to start with a
larger statement, do so.  Complete the following sen-
tence:The purpose of  life in general is...
_________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Then complete a second sentence:
The purpose of My Life is...
_________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Have you done that?  Good.  Now you can go on.
What?  Not finished yet?  Stuck?  Can’t seem to
do it?  Re-read Conversations with God.  Take notes
this time.  Then, re-read the first pages of this book.
Take more notes if you have to.  Look deeply at what
you don’t seem to understand.  Or, if you have un-derstanding, but just can’t seem to bring yourself to18Bringers of the Lightdo it, look deeply at what you cannot allow yourself
to do.
This is a process in itself, which will be very valu-
able to you.
When you feel you can clearly state the purpose
of life in general, and the purpose of your life in
particular, move on. Neale Donald Walsch 1920Bringers of the Light
Some of you may have already done this –  or may
have started  with a statement of Beingness. If you
have, go right to Step 3.
For those of you who have not made this transla-
tion, or don’t even know what is being talked about
here, read on.
To be a Bringer of the Light  one must understand
the difference between “doing,” and “being,” and
between “doingness” and “beingness.”
Bringers Step 2
T ranslate your purpose
from Doingness
to Beingness.Neale Donald Walsch 21
Right Livelihood is seldom attained through a
doingness decision... although it may involve  a
doingness function  somewhere along the way.
Right Livelihood is easily attained through a
beingness decision... which leads to a doingness
function somewhere along the way.
To move into Right Livelihood, one must decide
what one wishes to BE, not what one wishes to DO.
Doingness must spring from Beingness, not the otherway around.
To understand the difference between these two
life experiences, explore Principle #2.
“Doingness”
is a function of the body,
“Beingness”
is a function of the soul.22Bringers of the LightNeale Donald Walsch 23
Principle  #2
You are a
Human Being
not a
Human Doing.24Bringers of the Light
It is true that every minute of your life your body
is doing something. Yet it is doing something
for a reason. Everything you have willfully causedyour body to do, you have caused it to do because
there is some state of being you wish to achieve...
and you know no other way to achieve it.
Think about this a minute.
Your body goes through the motions of eating –
you cause it to eat; you make it “do” that – becauseyou want it to be nourished. You are seeking to be
the thing called healthy.
You sleep because you are trying to be the thing
called rested –  which you know leads to the same
thing as above... namely, healthy.
You sit because you are trying to be the thing called
comfortable.  You stand because you are trying to more
of the thing called mobile.  You talk because you are try-
ing to be the thing called understood.  You listen because
you are trying to be the thing called understanding.
The list goes on and on, but it never changes. Al-
ways it points through the thing called Doing, to aNeale Donald Walsch 25
thing called Being.
Everything you willfully cause your body to do, it
does in order to assist you in achieving a state of Be-
ing.
Do the following exercise. In the chart, make a
list of things your body has done recently, then indi-
cate the Beingness  you were seeking to achieve.
We’ve started the list for you, to give you an ex-
ample of how to complete the entries.
This is an excellent exercise to help you define
and clarify the motives behind all of your actions.
Doingness                Beingness I wish to achieve
Reading this Book Wisdom, clarity, understanding
Writing the author Sharing, connecting, expressing
Cleaning the dishesFill this in yourself26Bringers of the Light
Now it is true that there are some things your
body does which you do not willfully cause
it to do.  When your body does one of these things,it is doing it automatically, not willfully.  The body’s
automatic responses are reflections or announce-
ments of a State of Beingness which has already beenattained, rather than attempts to attain one.
Did you follow that?  Are you clear about this?
Let’s look at some examples.
When you laugh, that is an automatic  response to
a State of Beingness which has already been attained,
called happy, joyful — or, in some cases, nervous.
When you cry, that is an automatic response to a
State of Beingness which has already been attained,
called sad, sorrowful —  or, in some cases, happy.
When your heart rate increases wildly, that is an
automatic response to a State of Beingness which
has already been attained, called excited — or, in some
cases, scared.
When your heart rate decreases, producing a  slow
and steady pulse, that is an automatic response to aNeale Donald Walsch 27
In both cases it is the mind which is causing the
body, signaling the body, to “do” what it is “doing”
— and it is the mind which thinks that “doingness”
is the only way to achieve “beingness.”
If you are still unclear about the automatic  vs. will-
ful paradigm, talk to any actor about it.
For an actor, being told to “laugh out loud,” or to
“begin to cry on that line,” can be a nightmare...un-
less the actor has learned to be the thing that creates
the automatic response  the director requires.
Yes, there are so-called “technical” actors who can
produce the bodily action on command... but in
more recent years it has been the “method” actors —actors such as Dustin Hoffman, Al Pacino, MerylState of Beingness which has already been attained,
called peaceful, serene.
So we see that  Automatic Doingness Functions of the
body are used by the mind to reflect  a Beingness State,
while Willful Doingness Functions are used by the mind
to achieve  a Beingness State.28Bringers of the Light
Streep — who have gained the widest respect.  Many
say their acting seems somehow more “real.”  That is
because they are not “acting like.”  They are being.
In “method acting” the actor thinks of a thing, or
remembers a time, which produced the same emotional
response in the past as the one now called for by the
script.  By this device the actor’s mind tricks the body,causing it to cry, or to smile, or even to break into
gales of laughter.  When the mind sends the body a
signal, the body doesn’t know whether what the mindis experiencing is “real,” or only a memory.  To the
body, it is all the same.
That is why the body’s heart rate will increase, and
the body itself may even break out in a cold sweat, at
the memory of a beautiful woman, or a wonderful
man, and a passionately romantic time.  Nothing ishappening in the present moment, but the body
doesn’t know that.   It receives precisely the same sig-
nals from


ancer cells is directly proportional to their loss of oxygen utilization, and with this to the degree of blockage of the respiratory chain.
In 1957 Seeger successfully transformed normal cells into cancer cells within a few days by introducing chemicals that blocked the
respiratory chain.
Further experiments showed that cancer cells of low virulence could easily be overcome by the immune system but those with high
virulence prevailed and continued to spread. Following this, Seeger made his most important discovery: thousands of experiments
revealed that certain nutrients, mainly from the vegetable kingdom, could restore cellular respiration in low-virulence cancer cells and,
with this, transform them back into normal cells.
Seeger's ﬁnding that cancer originates in the cytoplasm and not in the nucleus was conﬁrmed by other researchers. Between 1975
and 1977 they repeated an experim ent 93 times in which they replaced the nucleus of a fertilized mouse egg with the nucleus of a
cancer cell. In each case the egg developed into a healthy, cancer-free mouse and even the offspring remained cancer-free. Similar
results were achieved with frog eggs (2).
The Budwig Therapy
Dr Johanna Budwig (3), a German biochemist and fat researcher, conﬁrmed the work of Seeger on a practical level. In the 1950’ s she
developed a simple paper chromatography test that shows the blocked respiratory chain of cancer patients as a slow yellow-green
spot.
By using liberal amounts of high-quality linseed or ﬂaxseed oil and the sulfur-amino acids cysteine and methionine, the yellow-green
spot disappeared, the respiratory chain was reactivated, tumors commonly disappeared and cancer patients recovered. The main
food providing sulfur amino acids was low-fat quark, a traditional form of cottage cheese made from fermented raw milk, and she
speciﬁed that all foods must be “as natural as possible”.
In the ﬁnal stages of oxidative energy production electrons derived from food are being made to ﬂow along a bridge consisting of an
essential fatty acid (EFA) and a cysteine-containing molecule to form carbon dioxide and water. This bridge becomes blocked at the
cytochrome oxidase stage by metabolic and microbial wastes and toxins. With this the cell reverts to a fungal type of energy
Home About Diseases Healing the Body Healing Foods Healing the Mind Healing the Emotions Energies Science & Spirituality Spirituality Contact10/30/24, 4:54 PM Health-Science-Spirit - The Holistic Cancer Solution
https://health-science-spirit.com/Diseases/Cancer/Holistic-Cancer-Solution.html 1/6production which is the precondition for the growth of a tumor. Repairing this blocked bridge with a clean cysteine-EF A replacement
allows the electrons to ﬂow again and the cell to revert to normality.
The type of metabolic waste that Budwig found to block the respiratory chain were mainly unbiological fats containing trans-fatty
acids as from commercial polyunsaturated oils, chemically hardened fats such as margarine and mayonnaise, and saturated fats
from grain-fed animals, and in addition synthetic anti-oxidant preservatives added to processed food to prevent rancidity.
To replace these faulty parts efﬁciently it is important to provide both ingredients sulfur amino acids and EFA’s, in relatively high
amounts at the same meal without much interference from other fatty acids, but additional lecithin is beneﬁcial. Methionine, another
sulfur amino acid, is also useful in food as it can be converted to cysteine inside the body but it is not suitable as a high-dose
supplement.
Budwig wrote that beneﬁcial results, such as increased energy, can often be observed within days or weeks, while tumors may start
shrinking after several months. Furthermore, also worm-like microbes (Canceroben) that she observed in red blood cells and blood
serum gradually disappeared.
But there are also problems with the Budwig therapy that caused me to hold back in the past. The Budwig diet is very high in milk
products, which cause digestive problems or allergic reactions with many individuals. Also we know now that milk contains the growth
factor IGF-1 which appears to promote tumor growth, especially in hormone-sensitive cancers.
Furthermore, like Budwig I only regard raw or unheated milk products as healthy, and the sale of healthy milk products is illegal in
many highly medicalized countries such as Australia and most of the US.
Budwig supposedly had a 90% success rate with her therapy but that was with a high amount of fermented and raw organic products,
and generally with patients who traditionally used a diet high in milk products. I am not aware of the success rate when using
commercial non-organic and pasteurized cottage cheese but I believe that it will be much lower than Budwig’ s results.
The presence of IGF-1 apparently did not affect Budwig’ s results. This means when the conditions for tumor growth are removed,
then IGF-1 is no longer a problem. It also helps that IGF-1 and lactose remain mainly in the whey, and may be discarded.
Budwig did not seem to pay much attention to the fact that not only quark but also other recommended food items in her diet such as
buttermilk, fresh raw milk, fermented sauerkraut, and soaked grains provide plenty of beneﬁcial bacteria to sanitize the intestines. I
regard this as an essential part of her therapy.
While there are many glowing testimonials, one story in particular highlights a serious problem with the Budwig protocol. A US
prostate cancer patient had a personal consultation with Dr Budwig in 2000 (she died in 2003 aged 95). All was well until he had a
heart attack six years later. This was not supposed to happen on the Budwig program which this patient still tried to follow, although
with American cottage cheese rather than German quark (4).
I believe some ﬂaws in the Budwig approach contributed to this. While it is a plus in cancer therapy that the Budwig diet is low in pro-
inﬂammatory phosphorus, it is rather high in calcium but low in magnesium. This is problematic with many conditions and especially
with arteriosclerosis. Also contributing to this may have been calcifying nanobacteria because Budwig did not have an antimicrobial
therapy available (5).
Furthermore, Budwig discouraged the use of vitamin E as protection of EFA’s from oxidation. Therefore individuals generally had a
high level of unprotected EFA’s in the blood. If they then were exposed to oxidizing inﬂuences, such as car exhaust, active or passive
smoking, and especially chlorinated tap water, then that could cause much internal auto-oxidation. Chlorinated drinking water has
been shown to strongly promote atherosclerosis and heart attacks (6).
To counter these effects I would avoid using milk, buttermilk and whey as additions to quark as all of these are high in calcium;
instead I recommend a high level of additional magnesium. Furthermore, I would also squeeze natural vitamin E oil into newly
opened bottles of ﬂaxseed oil. Contrary to some expressed fears natural vitamin E does not interfere with the respiratory chain.
Budwig also reported a rather unsettling feature of her therapy. She warned that even after tumors and metastases have
disappeared, if someone starts again habitually eating processed meat, restaurant food, or other food with preservatives and
synthetic antioxidants, there tends to be a sudden proliferation of the Canceroben (cancer microbes). These patients may then die
within weeks and no amount of cysteine and ﬂaxseed oil will help anymore. After about 5 years it is less dangerous to gradually
introduce less healthy foods.
This brings us to the role of cancer microbes which I believe is one of the missing parts in the Budwig therapy. Budwig did not regard
the Canceroben as important in the cause and cure of cancer but I do.
The Cancer Microbe
From time to time I found references stating that cancerous tumors can be dissolved by infusion of blood from young and healthy
individuals, but not with blood from older individuals or from anyone with cancer (7). This shows that cancer has much to do with
vitality and the immune system.
Many independent researchers have reported the proliferation of certain pleomorphic (shape-changing) microbes in the blood and
tumors of all cancer patients (8). One of the ﬁrst was the German professor of microbiology Guenther Enderlein who described in
1925 the different stages of a microbe that is normally present as tiny colloidal protein units. In various degenerative diseases,
especially cancer, these protein units grow into cocci and higher bacterial forms and ﬁnally into fungi.
Before him, in the nineteenth century, the French professor Antoine Bechamp had already described similar microbes and called
them microzymas. In 1890 the Scottish pathologist William Russell also discovered the cancer microbe, and a form of it is still10/30/24, 4:54 PM Health-Science-Spirit - The Holistic Cancer Solution
https://health-science-spirit.com/Diseases/Cancer/Holistic-Cancer-Solution.html 2/6presently known as Russell bodies in tumors.
Independently, mostly without knowing of each other's work, several other researchers - Royal Rife, Wilhelm Reich, Virginia
Livingston-Wheeler, Alan Cantwell and Gaston Naessens - have described the same phenomenon. Orthodoxy, however, has a
dogma that says microbes always have the same form and cannot change from viruses into bacteria and


DO
•restasmuchaspossible.
•useheatorcoldtoeasethepain.
DON'T
•furtherstressthebackbyliftingheavybags,etc.
SEEKHELPIF
backpainisaccompaniedbyfever.
theurinesmellsstrongorisbloody(itlookspink
orisfleckedwithredorbrown).
thereistroublewitheitherbowelsorbladder.
itisdifficulttomovethelegsortheyfeelnumb.
NBNEVERATTEMPTTOTREATASERIOUS
BACKINJURYYOURSELF.
Bedwetting
Ihaveincludedafewremediesthatcanhelpincasesof
occasionalbedwettinginchildren.
DO
•cutoutallfruitjuicesfromthedietandgivewater
instead.
•investigatewhetherthebedwetting isrelatedto
emotionalstress,suchasproblemsatschoolorat
home,andtalkaboutitinahelpfuland
sympatheticway.Seekcounsellinghelpif
necessary.
DON'T
•punishachildforwettingthebed.
SEEKHELPIF
•itisaccompaniedbyanincreasedthirst.
•anyofthesymptomsbelowaccompanythe
bedwetting(especiallyinanolderchildwhowas
formerly'dry'atnight):
painonurinating;verycopiousurination;
frequenturination;bloodintheurine(itlooks
pinkorreddish);painintheabdomen;fever;
paininthekidneys(inthebackjustabove
thewaist).
Bites/stings
Homeopathicremediescanbeusedtotreatbitesand
stingsinternallyandexternally,andcanhelppeople
whoseemverysusceptibletobeingbittenbecomeless
attractivetoinsects(largedosesofgarlicinitsnatural
formoraspearlsisalsothoughttobeagoodpreven-
tive).Somepeoplecanhavesevereallergicreactions
tobites,withgreatswelling;theserequireurgent
medicalhelp.
J
206•Blackeye DISEASESYOUCANTREATUSINGTHISBOOK
DO
•useaninsectrepellent(homeopathicor
otherwise).
•usea'bitelotion'(seepage34)assoonaspossible
afterbeingbitten.
•scrapeoutabeeorwaspstingwithasterilised
needle-tiptopreventthepoisonsacfromreleasing
morevenomintothepuncture.Cleanthesiteto
preventinfection,bathingitincoldwater.
•bevigilantaroundchildrenwhoareeatingsweet
thingsoutdoorsinthesummeraswaspsare
attractedbvthesmellandstingveryreadily.
DON'T
•killinsectswithinsectsprays-thesearetoxicto
somedegreewheninhaled.
SEEKHELPIF
•abitebecomesunbearablypainfuloritchy.
•theswellingisverysevereorspreadsrapidly.
•thelips,tongueorjointsbecomeswollen.
•thereisdifficultybreathing,orthestingisinthe
mouthorthroat.
•thepersonhaspreviouslyhadaverysevere
responseafterbeingstungbythesameinsect.
•thereisfaintnessorconfusion.
BlackeyeseeEyeinjuries
Blisters
Blisterscanresultfromburns(seeBurns),including
sunburn,frictionorchemicals,andoccasionallyfrom
insectbites.Theycanalsobecausedbyinfectionssuch
asherpes(coldsoresorshingles),chickenpoxor
impetigo,orbychronicskincomplaintslikeeczema;
theseconditionsrequireprofessionaltreatment.Blood
blisterscausedbyinjuryneedtobetreatedlikea
bruise.
DO
•avoidfurtherfrictionorexposuretosun.
•avoidinfectionbycoveringablisterwithasterile
dressinguntilithasstartedtodryout,thenexpose
totheairtospeedhealing.
DON'T
•bursttheblister.
SEEKHELPIF
•blistersbecomeinfected,andtheareabecomes
inflamedand/orswollen.
•severepaindevelops.
Bloodpoisoning(septicaemia)
Thiscondition,whichischaracterisedbyahighfever
andaslowpulse,isalwaysamedicalemergency. Itis
causedbythespreadofbacteriaintheblood,usually
throughacontaminatedwoundor(rarely)afterchild-
birthwithsomeoftheplacentabeingretained. Ihaveincludedoneremedyforthetreatmentofthiscom-
plaintincaseofanemergencywhereyouareunableto
getimmediatehospitalhelp.
Boils
Ihaveincludedacoupleofremediesforthetreatment
ofminor,occasionalboils.
DO
•restandeatwell.
•usehotcompressestobringtheboiltoa'head',
andthenkeepcoveredwithadrydressinguntil
theboilhasstoppeddischarging,thenleaveopen
totheairtoheal.
DON'T
•'squeeze'boilsuntiltheyareready.
SEEKHELPIF
•boilsareaccompaniedbyasevereheadache,high
feverorastiffneck.
•rednessorswellingspreadsoutsignificantlyfrom
thesiteoftheboil.
•thereisseverepain.
•thereisnoimprovementfromself-prescribing
withinthreedays.
•theboilhasopenedbutisstilldischargingpusand
isn'thealingafteraweek.
•theboilisonthefaceandisaccompaniedby
swollenglandsintheneck.
Breastfeedingproblems
Minorcomplaintsintheearlydaysofbreastfeeding
arecommon.Homeopathy iswonderfulathelpingto
dealwiththesewithoutharmingthebaby.
DO
•useabreastfeedingcounsellorforsupportand
advice(TheNationalChildbirthTrustandLa
LecheLeaguehaveanationwidenetworkof
counsellors.RingtheirLondonofficesforyour
localcontact.)
•rest,drinkplentyoffluidsandeatwellandvery
regularly.
•wearacomfortable,supportivebra(preferably
cotton).
•makesurethewholeareola(especiallythepart
belowthenipple)istakenintothebaby'smouth.
•positionthebaby'sheadproperlybycradlingitin
yourrighthandwhenputtingittotheleftbreast,
andviceversa.
•self-prescribe forthespecificproblemsbelow:
Breastabscesses(Mastitis)
Prompttreatmentcanclearupanacutebreastinfec-
tion(mastitis)andpreventamoreseriousabscess
fromdeveloping.Breastabscessescanalsooccurin
womenwhoarenotbreastfeeding; first-aid
DISEASESYOUCANTREATUSINGTHISBOOK Burnsandscalds•207
prescribingcanhelpthese,butaprofessionalhomeo-
pathshouldalwaysbeconsulted iftheproblemrecurs.
DO
•followthegeneralguidelinesabove.
•applyhotandcoldcompressesalternately.
•breastfeedmoreoftenandinavarietyofpositions
todrainallthemilkfromthebreast.
DON'T
•stopbreastfeeding.
SEEKHELPIF
•self-prescribing hasn'thelpedwithin24-48hours.
•thereisfever.
•theglandsinthearmpitsareswollen.
Crackednipples
DO
•seekadvicefromabreastfeedingcounsellor(see
above)onhowtopositionthebabycorrectly.
•keepthenipplescleananddry.
•exposethenipplestotheairtopromotehealing.
DON'T
•usecreamsotherthanthosesuggestedinthe
ExternalMateriaMedica.
•giveup!
SEEKHELPIF
•thereisbleedingorseverepain.
Engorgedbreasts
Thiscommonconditionoftenoccurswhenthebreast-
milkfirstcomesin.Homeopathicremediescanallevi-
atepainanddiscomfortandhelptostabilisethemilk
supply.
DO
•breastfeedfrequently.
•expresssomemilkifthebabycan't'latchon'until
thenipplehassoftened-useapumpifyouare
unabletohandexpress.
•alternatehotandcoldcompressestoproviderelief.
Breastlumps
Thesemaybetender(mastitis)andcanbeworrying
whilebreastfeeding.Theyareharmlessandrespond
welltohomeopathictreatment. Ihaveincludedafew
remediesforbreastlumpsbutdomakesurethatyou
seekprofessionalhelpiftheydon'tclearwithinashort
time.
Brokenbones
Fracturesaresometimesdifficulttospot,particularly
inthewristofachildwhohasfallenontoanout-
stretchedhand,orinanelderlypersonwhohas
injuredahip.
Arnicawillbeneededinitiallytoreducetheswellingandtopreventbruisingaroundthesiteoftheinjury;
thiswillmaketheplastercastmorecomfortable.
Homeopathicremedieswillhelptoalleviatethepain
andspeedupthehealingofabrokenbone.Youmay
needtogivetheremediesforalongerperiodoftime


 late
autumn. In China, they are steamed before drying to reduce bitterness.Key Actions
■ Increases sweating
■ Antiseptic
■ Lowers blood pressure
■ Cooling
■ Reduces fever
Research
■ Blood pressure A number of
Chinese and Japanese clinical trials
during the 1970s showed that ju hua is most effective at lowering blood pressure and relieving associated symptoms such as headaches, dizziness, and insomnia. In these  trials, ju hua was mixed with jin yin hua (Lonicera spp., p. 229).
■ Other research Ju hua has
proven to be helpful in the treatment of angina, and to have an antibiotic effect against a range of pathogens. In laboratory studies, some of  the flavonoids were found to have anti-HIV activity. Extracts of the flowers reduce inflammation.
Traditional &
Current Uses
■ Long-standing remedy
Ju hua has been taken in China
as a medicine and as a beverage  for thousands of years. It was  first categorized in the Divine Husbandman’s Classic (Shen’nong Bencaojing), written in the  1st century ce.
■ Eye problems In China, the
infused flower heads are popular  as a remedy for red, sore eyes, especially after long periods of close work, such as reading or working at a computer. The warm flower heads are placed on closed eyes and then replaced when cool. Ju hua infusion is taken in China as a remedy to improve eyesight.
■ Cooling & antiseptic Ju hua
infusion is used to reduce fever, to counter infection, and to detoxify
the body. It relieves mild fevers
and tension headaches, soothes
a dry mouth or throat, and treats
bad breath.
■ Skin complaints The fresh
leaves make an antiseptic poultice for acne, pimples, boils, and sores.
■ High blood pressure
Symptoms often associated with high blood pressure, such as dizziness, headaches, and tinnitus,
are treated with ju hua.
Self-help Use
■ Sore & tired eyes, p. 310.
Dried flowerheadsJu hua is known in the West as florists’ chrysanthemum
and is valued for its ornamental qualities. In China, however, it is a popular medicinal herb and it is also commonly drunk as a refreshing tisane. Ju hua is used
to improve vision and soothe sore eyes, to relieve headaches, and to counter infections such as colds
and flu. Furthermore, research has demonstrated
that it is a valuable remedy for high blood pressure.
 QCaution May cause allergic reactions in rare cases.
Powdered leaves For acne, mix 1 tsp
with 2–3 tsp water and apply to pimples.
Poultice of fresh leaves (to make, p. 295). For boils and pimples,  apply directly to the skin.
US_078-079_Chyrsantemum_Cimicifuga.indd   78 26/02/16   3:58 pm79 key medicinal plantsCimi Cifuga ra Cemosa
Tincture  (to make, p. 292). To relieve
period pain, add 40 drops to 1/2 cup
(100 ml) water and take 3 times a day.Root  is unearthed
in autumn. Dried
root is most
commonly used
in herbal medicine.
Decoction  (to make, p. 291).
For rheumatism, take 1/3 cup
(75 ml) twice a day.The active
constituents
are strongest
in mature rootsCimicifuga racemosa syn. actaea racemosa (Ranunculaceae)
Black Cohosh, Squaw Root
Habitat & Cultivation
Black cohosh is native to Canada
and eastern parts of the U.S.,
growing as far south as Florida.
It prefers shady positions in woods
and hedgerows. The herb is now
grown in Europe and can be found
in the wild, having self-seeded from
cultivated plants. It is propagated
from seed and the root is
harvested in autumn.
Related Species
A number of Cimicifuga  species are
used in traditional Chinese medicine,
including sheng ma  (C. dahurica )
and C. foetida. They are thought to
“clear heat” and relieve toxicity,
and are used to treat asthma,
headaches, and measles, among
other conditions.
Key Constituents
■ Triterpene glycosides
 (actein, cimicifugoside)
■ Isoflavones (formononetin)
■ Isoferulic acidKey Actions
■ Anti-inflammatory
■ Sedative
■ Antirheumatic
■ Estrogenic
■ Expectorant
Research
■ Menopause At least 10 clinical
trials have found that black cohosh
helps to relieve menopausal
symptoms. A 1995 German study
using black cohosh and St. John’s wort
found that the combination was 78%
effective in such cases.
■ Estrogenic properties It seems
black cohosh does not
contain estrogen but has an
estrogenic action within the body
due to specific hormonal effects
within the brain. It is suggested that
black cohosh may slow or prevent
the development of osteoporosis,
and it has potential in treating
polycystic ovary syndrome.
■ Safety concerns Research
strongly suggests that black cohosh
is a safe and valuable medicine.
Concerns have been raised that it
might cause liver damage or be
unsuitable for women at risk of
developing breast cancer. No effect
on liver function was found during
the clinical trials, and it is thought
that it has some preventative activity
against breast cancer.
  Traditional &
Current Uses
■ Gynecological uses Black
cohosh has long been used by Native
Americans for women’s problems,
for which reason its folkname is
“squaw root.” It is used today for Black cohosh
An herbaceous
perennial growing to
about 8 ft (2.5 m),
with creamy-white
flower spikes.
Black cohosh  was used by Native
Americans to treat gynecological problems
and complaints such as rheumatism and
headaches.Parts Used
Key Preparations & Their UsesDried rootFresh rootThe root of black cohosh is a Native American remedy.
It has long been used for women’s complaints, especially
painful periods and problems associated with menopause
and was used by the Penobscot peoples for kidney
troubles. It also benefits rheumatic problems, including
rheumatoid arthritis, and nerve conditions such as tinnitus
(ringing in the ears). The root has a bitter, acrid taste and a
disagreeable odor.
 QCautions  Do not take in pregnancy or if breastfeeding. Larger doses can
cause stomach upsets and headache.
period pain, menstrual problems
where estrogen levels are too
low, and for menopausal symptoms,
especially hot flashes.
■ Inflammation  Black cohosh is
useful for inflammatory arthritis,
especially when it is associated
with menopause, and it also finds
use as a remedy for
rheumatic problems, including
rheumatoid arthritis.■ Sedative properties  Black
cohosh's sedative action makes it
valuable for treating many conditions,
including high blood pressure, tinnitus
(ringing in the ears), whooping cough,
and asthma.
Self-help Uses
■ Arthritis , p. 313.
■ Decreased estrogen &
 progesterone levels, p. 316.Tablets  are made from powdered herb. T ake for menopausal symptoms,
such as mood swings and hot flashes.
US_078-079_Chyrsantemum_Cimicifuga.indd   79 26/02/16   3:58 pm
80CinC hona spp.key medicinal plantsBark of the trunk, branches, and root contains
alkaloids, especially quinine. The bark of the trunk is most commonly used medicinally.
Powder  is used to treat malaria.
Decoction is a well-known
remedy for fevers. It is also
used as a gargle for sore throats. Tincture is strongly bitter
and is prescribed to
improve digestion.Cinchona spp. (Rubiaceae)
Cinchona, Peruvian Bark
Habitat & Cultivation
Native to mountainous tropical regions
of South America, especially Peru, cinchona is now also grown in India, Java, and parts of Africa and is cultivated intensively in plantations. The trees are propagated from cuttings in late spring, and the bark of the trunk, branches, and root are removed from 6- to 8-year-old trees, and then dried in the sun. The annual production of cinchona bark has been estimated at about 8,000 tons (8,200 tonnes) a year.
Key Constituents
■ Alkaloids (up to 15%), mainly
 quinoline alkaloids (quinine,   quinidine) and indole alkaloids   (cinchonamine)
■ Bitter triterpenic glycosides
 (quinovin)
■ Tannins
■ Quinic acid
Key Actions
■ Bitter
■ Reduces fever
■ Antimalarial■ Tonic
■ stimulates the appetite
■ Antispasmodic
■ Astringent


 secretion and has been used to  treat such conditions as hepatitis, jaundice, and indigestion. A gentle laxative, polypody makes a  safe treatment for constipation in children. The rhizome is also expectorant, having a supportive and mildly stimulating effect on the respiratory system. It may be taken for the relief of congestion, bronchitis, pleurisy, and dry irritable coughs.
Caution Polypody may cause a skin rash when
applied externally.
Polypody is often seen growing in damp woodland in
Europe and northern Asia.
Balm of GileadPomaderris elliptica (Rhamnaceae)
Kumarhou
Description Branching tree growing to about
10 ft (3 m). Has shiny leaves and clusters of yellow-
white flowers.
Habitat & Cultivation Kumarhou is native
to New Zealand.
Parts Used Aerial parts.
Medicinal Actions & Uses Kumarhou is a
traditional Maori remedy that has been used to treat a wide range of illnesses. Its most common use is as a remedy for problems of the respiratory tract, such as asthma and bronchitis. However, it  has also been used in the treatment of indigestion and heartburn, diabetes, and kidney problems. Polymnia uvedalia (Asteraceae)
Bearsfoot
Description Perennial herb growing to 61⁄2 ft
(2 m) with large 3-lobed leaves and yellow flowers.
Habitat & Cultivation Bearsfoot is native
to the eastern U.S. It grows from New Y ork southward, preferring rich soil. The root is unearthed in autumn.
Part Used Root.
History & Folklore Bearsfoot root was used
by Native Americans as a stimulant and laxative remedy. In the 19th century, it became a widely popular healing herb in North America, having  a specific use as a treatment for mastitis (inflammation of the breast tissue).
Medicinal Actions & Uses Bearsfoot is
perhaps best known for its use as a hair tonic, having traditionally been a popular ingredient in hair lotions. It is still used in this way, but today the root is more often taken internally as a treatment for nonmalignant swollen glands and especially for mastitis. The root is thought to have a beneficial effect on the stomach, liver, and spleen, and may  be taken to relieve indigestion and counteract  liver malfunction.
Polypodium vulgare (Polypodiaceae)
Polypody
Description Delicate perennial fern growing
to a height of 1 ft (30 cm). Has slender knotty rhizomes and curving fronds that are dotted  with brown spores (sori) on their lower surface.
Habitat & Cultivation Native to Europe
and northern Asia, polypody is commonly found growing in damp woodland and hedgerows, and  on walls. The rhizome is unearthed in autumn.
Part Used Rhizome.
Constituents Polypody rhizome contains
saponins (based on polypodosapogenin), ecdysteroids, phloroglucins, volatile oil, fixed  oil, and tannins.
US_246-265_Pergularia_Extensa_Salvia_Sclarea.indd   254 26/02/16   12:47 pm255 other medicinal plantsPotentilla anserina
properties. It is often taken to treat arthritic
and rheumatic aches and pains. It is also used
to lower fever, especially when this condition
is associated with rheumatoid arthritis. Being
stimulant, quaking aspen bark acts as a tonic
remedy in the treatment of anorexia and other
debilitated states. The bark’s significant astringent
and antiseptic qualities make it useful for treating
diarrhea and the symptoms of irritable bowel
syndrome. It is also used to treat urinary
tract infections.
Caution Do not take quaking aspen if allergic
to aspirin.Cautions Best avoided while breastfeeding.
Do not take if allergic to aspirin.
Self-help Use  Coughs, p. 310.
Populus tremuloides (Salicaceae)
Quaking Aspen
Description Deciduous, spreading tree
growing to 65 ft (20 m). Has oval, slightly sticky
buds and round, finely toothed leaves that quiver
in the wind.
Habitat & Cultivation Native to North
America, quaking aspen prefers damp and moist
areas, and grows alongside rivers and in valleys,
hedgerows, and groves. It is also widely cultivated
in temperate regions. The bark is collected in
early spring.
Part Used Bark.
Constituents The bark contains phenolic
glycosides (including salicin and populin) and
tannins. Salicin and populin are salicylates, substances
that have fever-reducing, pain-relieving, and
anti-inflammatory properties that are
similar to those of aspirin.
Quaking aspen bark contains salicin, a substance
with aspirin-like effects.Purslane is a good
source of vitamins and
calcium. It also has
antibiotic properties.
History & Folklore The Ojibwa people used
an oily compound made from quaking aspen and
bear fat to treat earache. Other Native Americans
used the bark for a variety of purposes, including
as an eyewash for sore eyes.
Medicinal Actions & Uses Like willow bark
(Salix alba, p. 129), quaking aspen bark has widely
recognized anti-inflammatory and pain-relieving Research Purslane is being intensively researched.
Extracts of the herb show antioxidant, anti-
inflammatory, analgesic, and antidiabetic activity,
underlining that fact that purslane is valuable as
food and as medicine. The alkaloids have
neuroprotective activity and inhibit
acetylcholinesterase, making the herb
theoretically of use in Alzheimer’s disease.
Caution Do not take purslane as a medicine
during pregnancy.
Potentilla anserina (Rosaceae)
Silverweed
Description Perennial plant growing to
16 in (40 cm). Has toothed compound leaves
that are silvery on the underside, and 5-petaled
yellow flowers.
Habitat & Cultivation Silverweed is found
in Europe, Asia, and North America, where it
flourishes in dry grassy places. The aerial parts are
collected in late summer, the root at the same time
or in autumn.
Parts Used Aerial parts, root.
Constituents Silverweed contains 2–10%
ellagitannins, flavonoids, choline, and bitters.
History & Folklore William Withering, the
18th-century doctor who discovered the
cardiotonic effects of foxglove ( Digitalis purpurea,
p. 202), recommended a teaspoon of dried leaves
to be taken at 3-hour intervals to assuage bouts
of malarial fever.
Medicinal Actions & Uses Silverweed’s
main medicinal value lies in its astringent and anti-
inflammatory activity. It makes an effective gargle  LeavesPortulaca oleracea (Portulacaceae)
Purslane
Description Succulent annual plant growing
to 6 in (15 cm). Has small, thick rounded leaves
and small yellow flowers growing in clusters.
Habitat & Cultivation Native to Europe
and Asia, purslane is now one of the most
widely distributed plants, growing
from Australia and China to the
Americas. Often found growing
near water, it is gathered
throughout the summer. Wild
purslane is the variety chiefly used
as a medicine; the golden variety,
P. oleracea var. sativa, is cultivated
mostly as a kitchen potherb.
Parts Used Aerial parts.
Constituents Purslane contains flavonoids,
alkaloids, fatty acids (significant omega-3 oil
content), terpenoids, polysaccharides, vitamins A,
B1, and C, proteins and minerals (especially calcium).
History & Folklore Purslane’s use as a
medicinal herb in Europe, Iran, and India dates
back at least 2,000 years, and it was probably
eaten as a vegetable well before then. In ancient
Rome, purslane was used to treat headaches,
stomach ache and dysentery, intestinal worms,
and lizard bite.
Medicinal Actions & Uses Purslane has
long been considered valuable in the treatment
of urinary and digestive problems. The diuretic
effect of the juice makes it useful in the alleviation
of bladder ailments, for example difficulty in
passing urine. The plant’s mucilaginous properties
also make it a soothing remedy for gastrointestinal
problems such as dysentery and diarrhea. In
Chinese herbal medicine, purslane is employed for
similar problems and, additionally, for appendicitis.
The Chinese also use the plant as an antidote for
wasp stings and snake bite. Used as an external
wash, the juice or a decoction relieves skin ailments
such as boils and carbuncles, and also helps to
reduce fever.
US_246-265_Pergularia_Extensa_Salvia_Sclarea.indd   255 26/02/16   12:47 pm
256
other medicinal plantsPotentilla erecta
for sore throats, and is a helpful remedy for
diarrhea.


Urinate, infrequently
Veins, varicose
Vincent’s infection
Vision, hard to focus
Typical Characteristics of Sympathetic Metabolizers :
A lot of "get up and go" or drive
Actions are usually explosive
Anger easily
Bowel movements normally light in color
Can’t recall dreams
Crave sweets, fruits
Difficulty in falling asleep
Diminished or lacking appetite
Dislike fatty or oily foods
Dry mouth
Ears are very pale and light
Eating at bedtime interferes with sleep
Enhanced ability to concentrate
Enjoy exercise — are "exercise nuts"
Enjoy vegetables
Extremely active
Eyelids are opened wide
Eyes tend to protrude from sockets
Faces are usually pale
Fingernails have severe cross ridges
Firm muscle tone
Food feels like a rock in the stomach
Gag easily
Gums are very pale or light
Hair is dry
Impatient, irritable
Irregular breathing
Lack of endurance Like to make decisions
Low energy reserve
Pupils of eyes are usually large
Rapid breathing
Seldom depressed
Seldom dream
Sensitive to light
Severe indigestion
Skin easily forms "gooseflesh"
Skin is dry
Skin unusually soft and velvety
Soles of feet are soft and uncallused
Strong emotions
Strong feeling of sexual passion
Thick and ropey saliva
Thick eyebrows
Thin flat chests
Usually suffer from cold
Usually underweight
Very jumpy and nervous
Violent reaction to unexpected noise
Weak dreams if dream at all
General Nutritional Guidelines for Sympathetic Domi nant Vegetarian Types (Group A)
Of this group, Metabolic Type Six’s require the mos t nutritional support, the greatest number and
strength of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and other n utritional factors that help the vegetarian
type. Type One’s require the second greatest nutrit ional support. Type One’s need the support
that slows down the sympathetic nervous system and speeds up the parasympathetic nervous
system. Type Four metabolizers need the least nutri tional support of this vegetarian class — they
are the closest of the three to becoming balanced t ype metabolizers.
For nutritional support, Sympathetic Dominant Metab olizers most often need: Vitamin D;
Vitamin K; Ascorbic Acid; Biotin; Folic Acid; Vitam ins B1, B2 and B6; PABA; Niacin;
Potassium; Magnesium; Manganese; Zinc; Chromium; Hy drochloric Acid; Pancreatic Enzymes
and Amino Acids. Each of the vegetarian Types (One,  Four and Six) need these supplements, but
each type needs different amounts and different rat ios.
Metabolic Type One
Type One metabolizers come the closest of all the t ypes to being purely sympathetic dominant
people. One of the chief characteristics of Type On e metabolizers is that they can burn
carbohydrates slowly. Their bodies utilize the carb ohydrates poorly and they are able to maintain
their blood sugar level with very little fluctuatio n. If anything, their blood sugar level stays a
little elevated. With this condition, they can eat mostly fruits and vegetables, maintaining their
health and feeling well. These people are what are commonly called vegetarians. They very seldom if ever crave meats (except fish) and when t hey eat meat, they usually feel groggy and
have a loss of energy. These people do not do well on lamb, venison, beef, sardines or salmon.
They can do quite well on up to 100% of their diet raw. They should stress the following foods:
whole grains including spaghetti, macaroni, breads,  cereals; raw (unpasteurized) goats’ milk,
eggs; white fish. They may use spices, 2-3 cups of coffee (non-instant), herbal tea, or an
occasional alcoholic beverage or sweet dessert (mad e with unrefined sugar or raw, unheated
honey). They enjoy and do well on nuts and seeds; r ice; fruits and vegetables like apples,
apricots, bananas, berries, grapes, oranges, pears,  plums, grapefruit, asparagus, lima beans, beet
tops, cucumbers, sprouts, lettuce, collards, dandel ion greens, kale, mustard, turnip greens,
spinach, and any leafy green vegetable.
Metabolic Type Four
Type Four metabolizers are people who have strong s ympathetic nervous systems but not nearly
as strong as the Type One’s. Type Four’s are a litt le more balanced or non-strict vegetarians.
These people usually have a genetic background of t heir ancestors coming from around the
Mediterranean Sea — Spanish, Italian, Greek, Israel i, Arabic, etc. Type Four’s burn or
metabolize their carbohydrates and sugars a little faster than the Type One’s. The Type Four’s
that tend toward having diabetes can normally contr ol it with diet alone.
To maintain optimum health, Type Four’s do well on fish, chicken, turkey, other fowl, beef (two
times a week), almost all vegetables, a little frui t, sprouts, some citrus, eggs, and raw,
(unpasteurized) goats’ milk. Most American "vegetar ians" fall into this class. Type Six’s
generally need about 60% of their food raw. They no rmally do not need as much nutritional
support in the form of nutritional supplements as t he Types One and Six.
Metabolic Type Six
Type Six metabolizers are people who are basically sympathetic dominant. They fall into the
vegetarian class of metabolizers. Type Six’s are ve ry poor metabolizers — that is, they take in
their food and nothing much happens. Their bodies d o not utilize their food and they get very
little energy from it and are generally sickly. The ir assimilation or utilization of food is about
20% of normal. They almost always feel bad or not u p to par. Type Six’s need about 60% of
their food cooked. They need a great deal of supple mental nutritional support. They require more
hydrochloric acid, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, etc. than either Types Four or One.
Type Six metabolizers should give care to the intak e of whole and complete natural foods. All
refined, processed, synthetic foods and additives m ust be avoided at all times. Type Six people
do best when they stress the following foods in the ir diets: adequate amounts of fruits and
vegetables including lettuce, green vegetables, oni ons, radishes, potatoes; whole grains including
spaghetti, macaroni, breads; gelatin and other dess erts made with raw sugar or unheated honey;
natural jams, jellies, ice creams, mushrooms, nuts,  seeds, and seafood and fowl, which should be
preferred over other meats.
Group B — Parasympathetic — Carnivore Types  Group B metabolizers are classed as Types Two, Five  and Seven. These types have very strong
or dominant parasympathetic nervous systems. These parasympathetic metabolizers have strong
function of the posterior pituitary, hypothalamus, parotid, sublingual (saliva) and adrenal cortex
glands; stomach, spleen, duodenum, pancreas, liver,  small intestine, colon, lymph and immune
systems. Their digestion is very good. They are not  constipated, but to the contrary, tend toward
loose stools and diarrhea. They have poor muscle to ne. They are in general lethargic, slow, and
fall asleep easily. They usually have a good reserv e of strength.
Parasympathetic Metabolizers Are More Prone To:
Acids, cravings for
Alcoholism (to raise blood sugar)
Alkalosis
Allergies
Appetite, excessive
Arthritis; hypertrophic, osteo
Asthenia
Asthma
Atherosclerosis
Bladder, loss of control
Blackouts
Bloating
Blood pressure, low
Bowel movements, easy to start
Bone breaks
Brucellosis
Colds; flu, gripe
Cold sores
Colitis, mucus
Coughs, chronic
Cough up mucus
Cramps
Dandruff
Dermatitis
Diarrhea
Digestion, fast and strong
Diverticulitis
Drooling
Dropsy
Drowsiness
Eczema
Edema
Emphysema
Energy, gain after eating meat
Energy, loss after eating sweets
Fatigue, chronic Fat metabolism, good
Fever blisters
Gas, foul
Gingivitis
Growling gut
Gums, bleeding
Gums, receding
Hair, oily
Hay fever
Headaches; eyestrain, hypoglycemia
Healing; bones, slow
Healing; tissues, fast
Heart attack, massive
Hepatitis
Hernia
Herpes simplex
Herpes zoster (shingles)
Hiccoughs
Histamine reactions
Hives
Hoarseness
Hydration
Hypoglycemia
Infections, viral
Intermittent claudication
Jittery feeling
Leg ulcers
Leukemia
Leukopenia
Lymphoma
Melanoma
Nausea, from eyestrain
Ob


.
A rock appears to be inert, and would not normally be categorized as a living organism
in the usual use of those words. Yet if you define that which lives as that which moves
according to an impeccable and precise design (which seems to suggest some level of intelligence  at its core) that is clearly part of a larger and elegant system, then rocks are
very much alive —for a close examination of rocks under a powerful magnifier will reveal a
microcosm that is a virtual duplicate of the macrocosm.
It has not been lost on scientists and it should not be lost on you that telescopes and
microscopes see the same thing: a system  of particles or “balls” of energy, whirling at
terrific speed around a core, or nucleu s, the whole configuration of which is held together
by some invisible yet obviously present and pervasive force.
Put another way, peer deeply into the sub -molecular structure of a rock (or anything )
and you will see a small “universe.” You will also see t hat something is driving that universe.
This “something” cannot be seen. Its effects  can be seen, but the energy itself that creates
those effects is not visible to the naked eye.
Does this mean that energy does not exist? It does not.
All that can be seen  is not all that is.
Now I come to tell you that what we have decided to call “the soul” is part of that which
cannot be seen: an energy system that makes all things move and animates life. So, too, is
what we have decided to call “God.” In fact, God is the system itself.
God Is the Largest Manifestation of a System That Replicates Itself in Smaller and Smaller
Versions through a Process That Empowers the System Itself to Exist and to Expand.
This is the System of the Soul, and it is impeccable. Its functio ning is perfect. Its design is
elegant. Its purpose is clear. Its power is immutable.
It can be no other way or the System itself would dis -integrate. That is, it would stop
integrating itself, and thus, cease to be.
This would mean that God is in everythi ng; that life is in everything. And this is true. And
at a soul level, we know this. That is why we personify inanimate objects. We give our boats
names and we fall in love with them. When our car won’t start we pet it and say, “C’mon,
Sweetheart, you can do it.” And the car starts.
Mom makes a decision to redecorate and refurnish the li ving room and Dad says, “Fine,
but my chair stays.” We find our baby blanket in an old trunk up in the attic and we hold it
to our face and a tear comes to our eye and we thank it  for all the comfort and love it gave
us. We thank the blanket.
Do you think the soul is not clear that the Energy of Life is everywhere?
I tell you that nothing  is not alive, and the soul knows it. The soul sees itself in everything.
It knows our unity with all of life. It watches then, sadly, as the mind talks us out of this.
Because the mind, you see, has only Past Data with which to come to its conclusions. Yet the
soul goes beyond Past Data, to a place where time itself does not exist. The soul knows the
Actual Truth, while the mind stops at the Apparent Truth.
Unless it does n ot.
And that is what the soul encourages the mind to do. It encourages the mind to not stop
at the apparency of things. Do not stop there, it gently calls out. Come with me, to a place you
never even dreamed existed.  All very interesting, you might say.. . but what does this have to do with my life, and the
changes that have taken place, and how I am going to deal with them?
Ah, yes, there is that....
(Phew.) Is this a good time for at least a tiny breath? Good. Let’s both  take a little
Breather right here
Let’s take a moment to consider the implications of all that —and to consider that these
implications do have to do with your life, with the changes that have taken place, and with
how you are going to deal with them. Then...
... when, and only if, you’re ready, drop down to...
THE ASTONISHING TRUTH ABOUT CHANGE
I consider that this entire conversation I am having with you will contain, in the end, two
sentences that you will want to remember verbatim. I mean, really remember. As in, never
forge t. As in, tattooed on your left wrist, written in soap on your bathroom mirror, or
magnetized to your refrigerator door.
These two utterances are paradigm -shifting and life changing. I call them...
1. The Life -Altering Question
2. The Answer to Everything
The Life -Altering Question marked the end of our exploration of the Mechanics of the
Mind. Do you remember the question? Here it is again:
IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THE REALITY I AM EXPERIENCING IS NOT REAL?
It is the soul that encourages this questio n.
And now comes The Answer to Everything. What I am about to tell you can make it
possible for you to never have a negative experience of change again. This is the final piece
of the puzzle. This is the lost key, the unknown combination, the secret of sec rets. And
while the Life -Altering Question was the culmination of the first part of this book, the
Answer to Everything will be the launching point for the second.
Here it is...
ALL CHANGE IS FOR THE BETTER.
THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS CHANGE FOR THE WORS E.
And that  is what the energy system I have been describing has to do with you and your
life. That is what your soul  has to do with the changes that have taken place —and that will
take place in the days and times of your future.  Life says for me to tell Y ou This:
nothing needs fixing;
everything desires
a Celebration.
You were made to bend
so that you would find
all of the many miracles at your feet.
You were made to stretch
so that you would discover,
your own beautiful face of Heaven
just above
all that you think you must shoulder.
When I appeal to God to speak to me,
I’m feeling just as small and alone as you might be.
But this is when, for no particular reason at all,
I begin to
shine
—‘Shine’  © 2007 Em Claire  17.
THE FIFTH CHANGE
WHAT I HAVE JUST  told you changes everything. No other piece of information is needed, no
other data is required. The mind is now empowered to come to a whole new set of
conclusions about Life.
Very early in this conversation I said that there were Nine Changes That Can Ch ange
Everything, but the truth is, the only one you need is...
CHANGE #5:
Change your idea about Change Itself
We have been seeing change as a disruption, as a break in the flow, as a shift in direction,
as an alteration in the condition or circumstance  of our lives. Especially with regard to
what we view as unwelcome change, this has been our truth. From this truth has emerged
our thought, which has created our emotion, which has produced our experience, which
has eventuated our reality.
I want you to t hink about what I just said. An event  is what brings about our reality. Our
reality is, in the literal sense, eventuated.
This is true until we are out of our mind. When we leave  the mind and enter the realm of
the soul, then it is no longer events  that br ing about our reality, but pure awareness.
From awareness emerges Actual Truth, while from events emerges, at best, Apparent
Truth and, more usually, Imagined Truth. Thus, from events we travel into a Distorted
Reality, while from awareness we move at last  into the Ultimate Reality.
And what is it of which we become aware, that produces such a quantum shift in our
overall experience? We become aware of the Actual Truth about Change Itself. We see that
change is not a DISruption, but an Eruption. It is life erupting into fuller bloom. We see that
change is not a break in the flow, it IS the flow. We see that change is not a shift in direction,
it IS the direction itself in which all life moves. We see that change is not an alteration in the
condition and circ umstance of our lives, it IS the condition and circumstance of our lives.
In our expanded awareness we observe that without change, life itself would not be, for
life is movement, and movement is change, by definition.
The question is not, therefore, wheth er life will contain change, but what kind of change life
will contain.
And the answer to that  question depends upon how you utilize the Mechanics of the
Mind —and whether you integrate them with the System of the Soul, seeing these as two
handles of the sa me Larger Tool.
Let us, then, examine this System of the Soul, even


emia, with either
an insufficiency of red blood cells or an excess of white cells, are generally nor-
malized by fasting. In some cases fasting has brought about an increase in the
number of erythrocytes from only one million to the normal five million count. The
explanation lies in the improvement in assimilation which the fast affords. The iron   12 and other elements which are stored in the body are taken up by the blood and
used. Prior to fasting, general physiological inefficiency prevented this. Perhaps
this also explains why dental decay is often arrested during the fast. In some cases
teeth that were loose become firmly fixed in their sockets while fasting, and swol-
len, inflamed and bleeding gums are also restored to health. The improvement in
assimilation during the fast actually brings about recovery of certain "deficiency"
diseases.
Assimilation after the fast is at the highest possible level. Kagan observed that
after rabbits were fasted 17 days they gained 56 per cent in weight on a diet
which, under usual conditions, would barely be sufficient to maintain a state of
equilibrium. People who are chronically underweight in spite of eating very heav-
ily, often gain weight to the normal level after a fast, even though large quantities
of food are not taken. The improved assimilation enables the body to utilize more
of its food intake.
It may be mentioned that it is really a normalization of assimilation which occurs
on a fast. Patients who fast to rid themselves of excessive weight may gain weight
to normal after the fast, but that is usually where the gain ends if nutrition is proper.
Thus both people who assimilate too much of food intake, and those who assimi-
late too little, are helped by fasting.
Fasting affords the organs of the body the closest possible approach to a com-
plete physiological rest. Many organs are overworked and overstimulated, and
hence weakened, rough the constant use of defective foods and excessive quanti-
ties of foods. During a fast, the necessary work done by the organs is reduced to
the lowest possible minimum. As there is no further intake of food, assimilation in
the body only involves the redistribution of the elements already stored there. Thus
the organs are given a chance to recuperate and restore their vital powers. Repair   13 of damaged structures may take place. Broken bones, wounds and open sores
heal much more rapidly. If inflammation is present it tends to subside. The body
undergoes a general healing process.
Associated with physiological rest of an organ is increased elimination. This,
according to some observers, is the most important advantage of fasting. Part of
the energy which should normally be devoted to the work of assimilation may, dur-
ing a fast, be used to expel the accumulations of waste and toxins. Decomposing
food in the digestive tract, which is often an important source of toxins, is quickly
eliminated. The entire alimentary canal becomes almost free from bacteria. The
nourishment of cells on a fast is first derived from the less essential tissues and
portions of impaired and diseased tissue. The surplus material on hand is utilized
first. The effusions, dropsical swellings, fat, infiltrations, etc., are absorbed with
great rapidity on a fast. The body thus gradually releases itself from a former bur-
den of superfluous and waste material.
Increased elimination of toxins is noted on the very first days of the fast. The
breath becomes very offensive, and the skin may also emit an offensive odor,
possibly because of greater eliminative effort on the part of both the lungs and
skin. Catarrhal eliminations usually increase during the early days of the fast, until
towards the end of the fast elimination is completed and recovery occurs. The
toxicity of the urine is increased, perhaps due to greater elimination via the kid-
neys. In some cases, considerable waste material is lost through the process of
vomiting. Of course each of these symptoms does not occur in all cases, but there
is always some outward indication of increased elimination. The primary elimina-
tion, however, brought about simply by internal absorption and autolysis, is not
apparent in outward reactions, except perhaps the loss of weight and general
weakness.   14 A marked improvement in nervous and mental function occurs on the fast. Max
Nordau declared that "Pessimism has a physiological basis;' and it may also be
said that even the most severe forms of mental aberration usually have a physio-
logical basis. Under the usual circumstances of civilized life, with its nutritive in-
adequacies and its inclusion of chemical stimulants and depressants, both in the
food supply and as drugs for the treatment of disease, there is a tendency to the
reduction of nerve energy, or enervation as it is called. The capacity of the brain is
also impaired, giving rise to an assortment of nervous and mental diseases. While
fasting, all enervating influences are discontinued and the entire nervous system
and brain undergoes the same physiological rest that the balance of the body ex-
periences. Nerve forces are restored and mental powers are improved. The ability
to reason is increased. The powers of attention and association are quickened
while memory of past events is often recovered. Dr. Tanner and others even testi-
fied to the development of psychic powers during the fast, which Dr. Tanner felt
explained "why the old prophets and seers so often resorted to fasting as a means
of spiritual illumination."
Fasting thus serves many purposes in terms of physiology and chemistry. It pro-
duces rejuvenation of tissues, induces autolysis of abnormal growths, improves
the powers of digestion and assimilation, reestablishes normal chemistry and se-
cretion, affords the organs of the body a physiological rest, increases elimination,
promotes nerve energy recuperation, strengthens the mind, and perhaps im-
proves function in various ways which we do not yet understand. Obviously these
factors are of considerable importance in determining the physical condition of the
body. They may mean the difference between strength and weakness, health and
disease, and perhaps even life and death.
   15 IV Efficiency of Fasting
ON THE BASIS of our knowledge regarding the physiological effects of fasting,
we are justified in assuming that, theoretically at least, fasting should be a very ef-
ficient therapeutic agent. However, important as this is, it is not enough. A meas-
ure may be theoretically correct, and have a logical and reasonable basis in all re-
spects, and yet in the treatment of disease it does not fulfill expectations. Thus it is
necessary that fasting be given thorough consideration from the standpoint of sta-
tistics and available records of its use in the treatment of diseases of all types.
The employment of fasting for therapeutic purposes has been very extensive.
There are a number of prominent physicians who can be referred to, each of
whom has had experience in conducting thousands of fasts. Among these is Dr.
Herbert M. Shelton, who has conducted over 30,000 fasts at his institute ranging
in length from a few days to as many months. This record involves more experi-
ence with fasting than that of any other living physician, and perhaps also exceeds
that of any physician of history. The work of the renowned Dr. William Howard
Hay, while director of the great Pocana Haven sanatorium in Mount Pocana, Pa.,
included the supervision of several thousand fasts. Dr. George S. Weger listed the
number of patients who were treated at his sanatorium at approximately 5,000.
The experience of Dr. Linda Burfield Hazzard covered nearly 2,500 patients. For
decades Dr. John M. Tilden treated patients at his fasting institute in Denver, Colo-
rado, and the large Bergholtz Clinic, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, founded by Dr.
Eugene A. Bergholtz, published the case histories of many of its thousands of
fasting patients. Other physicians have likewise been active in this work, each   16 conducting scores, hundreds or thousands of fasts, and they have reported the
detailed results of their experiences with fasting.
Most of the patients who have been treated at fasting institutes and sanatoriums
had for years suffered from ill health. Many of them tried all other forms of healing
— drugs, surgery, manipulation, massage, artificial fever treatments, electrical
treatments, autosuggestion, etc. — all to no avail. Finally, as a last resort they de-
cided to try fasting. Heart disease, cancer, ulcers, colitis, asthma, sinusitis, arthri-
tis, tumors, gall bladder infection and other ailments, which are seldom completely
and permanently remedied by orthodox means, were common among the afflic-
tions of the patients.
Yet the percentage of recoveries has been amazingly high — exceeding that
resulting from the use of any other therapeutic measure. Many patients, after suf-
fering for years from so-called incurable ailments, have been completely restored
to health. All physicians caring for the fasting patients have pointed out the un-
usual efficiency of the fasting treatment. Dr. Shelton, for instance, has reported
that 95 per cent of the patients at his institute have recovered health or claimed
benefit, and others who have made lengthy observations of his patients under
care do confirm that the treatment is highly effective.
Some of the most important statistics on the subject of fasting come from Dr.
James McEachen, who applied fasting in the treatment of


,	every	request	made	by	your	five-year-old
child?)	On	the	other	hand,	saying	no	puts	you	in	opposition	to	other	people,
creating	clashes
and	disagreements	along	with	missed	opportunities.	(Would
you	have	said	no	twenty	years	ago	if	you	were	offered	shares	in	Apple	at	its
lowest	price	in	the	stock	market?)Deciding	when	to	say	yes	and	when	to	say	no	is,	in	fact,	one	of	the	hardest
challenges	in	everyone’s	life.	Who	you	marry	and	what	kind	of	work	you	do
depend	on	giving	the	right	answer,	as	do	thousands	of	smaller	choices.	But	if
saying	yes	all	the	time	doesn’t	work,	and	neither	does	saying	no	all	the	time,
what’s	the	alternative?	Must	we	muddle	through	trying	to	figure	out	the	right
answer	on	a	case-by-case	basis?
Most	people	are	already	doing	that.	If	there’s	a	better	way,	perhaps	the
world’s	wisdom	traditions	offer	it.	From	their	perspective,	the	soul	knows	best.
So	what	would	the	soul	do?	That’s	an	intimate	matter.	Your	soul	sees	every
situation	through	fresh	eyes,	and	they	aren’t	the	eyes	of	anyone	else.	Even	so,
there’s	a	pattern	of	trust	that	needs	to	develop	inside	each	of	us,	in	which	we
rely	on	the	true	self	to	bring	the	right	solutions	to	everyday	challenges.
You	can’t	trust	and	be	in	total	control	at	the	same	time;	the	two	aren’t
compatible.	Letting	go	is	how	trust	develops.	You	stop	worrying	that	everything
depends	on	you.	There’s	a	parable	from
India	that	begins	to	shed	light	on	why	a
person	can	rest	easy	and	trust	in	their	own	existence.	The	parable	isn’t	couched
in	religious	terms	at	all.	It’s	about	a	coachman	driving	a	team	of	six	horses.	The
horses	are	spirited,	and	the	coachman	whips	them	to	go	faster	and	faster.
Suddenly	from	inside	the	coach	a	quiet	voice	says,	“Stop	the	coach.”	At	first
the	driver	can’t	believe	his	ears,	and	he	cracks	his	whip	even	harder.	But	soon
the	same	voice	inside	the	coach	whispers,	“Stop	the	coach.”	Now	the	driver	feels
nervous,	and	he	says	aloud,	“Why	should	I	stop?	I	know	how	to	drive,	and	I
want	to	go	faster.”	To	which	the	voice	replies,	“But	I	own	this	coach,	and	I	say
stop.”	At	this	point	the	driver	has	no	choice,	and	the	coach	comes	to	a	halt.
The	meaning	of	the	parable	is	only	revealed	when	you	know	that	the
coachman	is	the	ego,	the	six	horses	are	the	five	senses	and	the	mind,	and	the
owner	of	the	coach	is	the	higher	self.	We	spend	our	lives	with	the	ego	acting	as
if	it	is	in	charge,	and	it	takes	control	over	the	five	senses	and	the	mind,	which
obey	the	ego’s	commands	willingly.	Like	horses	in	harness,	our	five	senses	and
the	mind	can	be	directed	this	way	and	that.	We	see	what	the	ego	wants	us	to	see;
we	hear	what	it	wants	us	to	hear.	As	for	the	mind,	it	can	be	conditioned	to
believe	whatever	story	the	ego	tells	it.
We’ve	all	been	told	a	similar	story,	as	it	turns	out,	which	keeps	being	repeated
generation	after	generation.	It’s	the	story	of	life	as	a	constant	struggle	where
humans	are	puny	things	confronted	by	the	inexorable	powers	of	nature.	No
one	is	immune	from	danger	and	looming	catastrophe.	Because	life	isn’t	fair	and
nature	is	blind,	we	have	no	choice	but	to	struggle	if	we	want	to	survive.
The	parable	of	the	coachman	contradicts	this	story	by	saying	that	despite	all
appearances,	the	ego	isn’t	actually	in	charge	of	how	life	unfolds.	The	owner	ofthe	coach	is
Atman
,	the	higher	self,	which	we	have	been	calling	the
true	self.
We’ve	been	describing	the	true	self	as	the	source	of	beauty,	intelligence,	truth,
and	creativity	inside	everyone.	It	has	been	in	control	of	our	lives	from	the
moment	of	birth,	but	the	ego,	with	its	convincing	story	about	life	as	a	constant
struggle,	has	taken	over.	As	long	as	the	ego	dominates	our	awareness,	we	lose
sight	of	how	reality	actually	works,	the	same	way	the	coachman	lost	sight	of	the
fact	that	he	didn’t	own	the	coach.
At	some	point	in	your	personal	growth,	you	will	want	to	test	the	possibility
that	you	could	be	living	a	new	story.	You	don’t	have	to	test	this	new	story	by
fighting	against	the	ego	and	its	constant	demands,	fears,	old	memories,	and
outworn	conditioning.	All	you	have	to	do	is	rest	into	existence.	This	is	really
the	process	of	accepting	your	own	spiritual	beauty.	On	a	daily	basis	you	do	the
following	things.
The	Practical	Side	of	Surrender
How	to	let	your	spiritual	beauty	shine	through:
When	there’s	a	problem,	look	inside	for	the	solution,	knowing	that
it	will	be	there.
Even	when	the	details	aren’t	perfect,	accept	that	the	larger	picture
will	turn	out	alright	in	the	end.
Don’t	act	when	you	feel	upset,	angry,	afraid,	or	uncertain.
Stay	centered,	and	when	you	realize	you	aren’t	centered,	take	a	few
moments	to	restore	your	sense	of	balance	and	calm.
As	much	as	possible,	don’t	put	up	resistance	to	other	people.	Be
open-minded	and	tolerant	toward	their	point	of	view.
Maintain	a	seamless	flow	in	your	activity.
Don’t	exert	yourself	to	the	point	of	exhaustion	but	don’t	slack	off.
Look	for	hints	from	your	higher	self	about	which	way	to	turn.
Learn	to	trust	your	instincts.
Don’t	do	what	you	already	know	to	be	wrong.
Look	upon	outward	situations	as	a	reflection	of	your	inner
situation.
Take	responsibility	for	what	you	say,	think,	and	do,	without
projecting	blame	or	depending	on	someone	else	to	take	care
of	things.
Each	of	these	items	can	be	tested	at	your	own	pace.	For	most	people,changing	their	story	only	begins	when	they	see	hope	that	it	can	be	changed.
Inertia	is	a	powerful	force.	If	you	have	landed	in	a	bad	relationship	or	a	job	you
hate,	if	you	feel	lonely	all	the	time	or	struggle	with	depression,	it’s	unrealistic	to
say,	“I’ll	just	trust	that	everything’s	okay	and	go	with	the	flow.”	We	aren’t
advising	you	to	do	that.	Instead,	you	need	to	be	reasonably	centered	to	begin
with,	which	comes	about	through
meditation.	You	need	to	feel	reasonably	free
of	damaging	stress	and	have	enough	room	to	make	some	new	choices.	If	these
preconditions	aren’t	met,	this	doesn’t	mean	you	are	in	a	hopeless	predicament;
it	only	means	that	you	should	look	to	earlier	stages	of	growth	as	your	starting
point.
Many	people,	however,	are	ready	to	change	the	story	of	life	as	a	struggle