 doctors are like gardeners. The role of the Chinese doctor is to cultivate life. THE MOTIVE FORCE: QI
That which animates life is called Qi (“chee”). The concept of Qi is
absolutely at the heart of Chinese medicine. Life is dened by Qi
even though it is impossible to grasp, measure, quantify, see, or
isolate. Immate rial yet essential, the material world is formed by it. An invisible force known only by its eects, Qi is recognized
indirectly by what it fosters, generates, and protects. Matter is Qi taking shape. Mountains forming, forests growing,
rivers streaming, and creatures proliferating are all manifestations of
Qi. In the human being, all functions of the body and mind are
manifestations of Qi: sensin g, cogitating, feeling,  digesting, stirring,
and propagating. Qi begets movement and heat. It is the
fundamental mystery and miracle. Life cannot be separated from the way it manifests. When the
heart beats and the breath is warm, it is understood that life exists
within the body. When the heart stops beating and the body
becomes cold, the life force, or Qi, is no longer present. Life force
and Qi are one. Like fresh air, healthy Qi moves freely; like stale air,
stagnant Qi is heavy, oppressive, constrictive, and congestive. Like air, Qi has its own movement and also activates the
movement of things other than itself. Just as the wind moves the
trees, grasses, and water, so Qi moves the chest, causing inhalation
and exhalation. People do not inhale Qi. Rather, Qi is the motive
force that establishes respiration. In this way, Qi is the cause and
also the eect. The essence of food is also a form of Qi. This highly rened
essence is the source from which the material form of the body is
constructed. When the Qi of food and the Qi of air enter the body,
they become one entity known as “pure” or “righteous” Qi. Air Qi
represents the immaterial motivating aspect of Qi and Food Qi the
material or constructing aspect. Qi is both the foundation of
structure and the catalyst of transformation and movement. Scholar Nathan Sivin relates that by the year 350 in Chinese
writings about nature, the word Qi meant “basic stu. ” Hecomments that in Chinese thought there was a tendency
to think of stu and its transformations in a unitary way. … [Qi
is] simultaneously “what makes things happen in stu and
(depending on context) “stu that makes things happen” or
“stu in which  things happen. ”  … Qi is often the material basis
of activity, but the activity  itself is often also describ ed as
Qi. …  This is not an easy idea for moderns, with their clear
distinction between substance and function, to grasp. The
ambiguity is impossible to overlook, but discourse was adapted
to it, and the readers for whom it was intended did not
complain that it is confusing. By the time a medical literature
developed, its authors tended to use Qi predominantly in the
functional sense. 3
Medical under standing was generated from ideas about  nature. According to the ancient Chinese art of practical ecology, known as
Feng Shui (“Wind Water”), the earth has veins of energy that cours e
through it, hold it together, and act as a grid from which all life
derives its power. The movement of wind and water reects the
activity of Qi. The forces of Qi can work to our advantage or disadvantage. By
closely observi ng the formation of mountains, growth of trees, ow
of water, move ment of wind, and patterns of light and shadow, the
practitioner of Feng Shui places us in a favorable relationship to
these forces, to derive maximum benet from the environment. The
object is to align human dwellings, objects, and activities with the
current of Qi. The point of focus is the relationship between the
person and the patterns of Qi. This protects and enhances our power
and good fortune. The doctor as gardener practices Feng Shui in
that he seeks to place human beings in a benecial relationship to
Qi. THE MOTIVE  FORCE:  QIQi (pronounced “chee”) can be understood as the creative or
formative principle associated with life and all processes that
characterize living entities. All animate forms in nature are
manifestations of Qi. Qi is an invisible substance, as well as an
immaterial force that has palpable and observable
manifestations. Qi has its own movement and also activates the movement of
things other than itself. Qi begets motion and heat. Within the
context of the human person, Qi is that which enlivens the body
and is dierentiated according to specic functional systems. All physical and mental activities are manifestations of Qi:
sensing, cogitating, feeling, digesting, stirring, propagating. One Chinese ideogram for Qi is comp osed of an upper radical
representing “rising vapor” and a lower radical denoting
“grain. ” The steam that spirals from a pot of cookin g rice
symbolizes distilled essence, hence Qi can be transla ted as the
vapor of the nest matter. The highly rened essence of food
(Food Qi ) and air (Air Qi ) in the body become one entity known
as “pure” or “righteous” Qi. Defensive Qi (wei) is the activity of
adapting to inuences such as weather or mobilizing resistance
to pathogenic microorganism s and noxious substances in the
environment. Qi refers to resources the human organism
consumes, transforms, and transmits. HEALTH IN THE  GARDEN
A garden is a dynamic self-regulating system that transforms
sunlight (Yang) and water (Yin) into the living tissue of vegetation. Within the cycle of seasons, there is a time for sprouting, maturing,
ripening, harvesting, and composting. Through this process of
transformation the garden continuously sustains and re-creates
itself. This interplay of Yin and Yang is what enables life to
mushroom. Maximum growth in the garden derives from the proper balance
between the heat and light of the sun with the cool moisture of
water. The garden is healthy when rich growing conditions prevail
and when plants are resilient enough to tolerate adversity. An
occasional period of drought, a spring storm, an infestation of
insects, or the moldy fungus  that grows during periods of extended
humidity can be overcome by a vigorous ecosystem, adaptable
enough to recover once the hardship has passed. The gardener does not make the garden grow. Nature does. The
gardener is an ally who prepares the soil, sows the seeds, waters,
and removes the weeds, placing plants in the proper relation to each
other and the sun. If the gardener did not tend the garden, it would
lose its unique  identity and grow wild, merging completely with its
surroundings to blend with the larger environment. The gardener
protects the integrity of the garden by promoting growth in some
areas, restrictin g it in others, adding compost to keep the soil fertile. He observes and nurtures the interaction between the garden and
environment. HEALTH IN THE  MICROCOSM OF A  HUMAN BEING
Both the garde n and the human body are microcosms of nature. The
processes, cycles, and conditions that exist in a garden can also be
observed in the life of a human being. Like the earth, the human body is enveloped and permeated by
streams of Qi that link and enliven all its activities. The human body
is subject to similar rhythms and cycles as the garden. A person both
embodies and interacts with cycles—daily, monthly, seasonal, and
lifelong. Over millennia doctors observed cycles in nature and
conceptualized the body in these terms. They saw a human being as
a complete system unto itself with constellations of subsystems
within it. The body is not conceived of as cells, tissues, and other
structural components. Rather it is understood in terms of the
relationships among the constituents of form and process that
generate, regulate, and accumulate Blood, Moisture, and Qi. Just as earth is comprised of land, ocean, and atmospher e, so the
body is organized as Blood, Moisture, and Qi. The Blood  governs
tissue, the material form of the body. The Moisture  governs the
internal environment, the body’s inner ocean. The Qi governs the
shape and activity of the body and its process of forming and
organizing itself. Qi also means the totality of Blood,

QI, MOISTURE, BLOOD
Just as earth is comprised of land, ocean, and atmosphere, so
the body is organized as Blood, Moisture, and Qi. Blood  governs
tissue, the material form of the body. Moisture  governs the
internal enviro nment, the body’s inner ocean. Qi governs the
shape and activity of the body and its process of forming and
organizing itself. Qi also implies the totality of Blood, Moisture,
and Qi, the total summation of the life of the organism. Blood  is a material substance as well as the


 until all air is out of the
lungs. Rememb er that you need  to exhale air through the hole in the lips
with a fair amount of force. This exercise is unusually refre shing for tired and exhausted person. The
first attempt will convince you of this. Practice this exercise until you learn
how to perform it easily and naturally. Weight loss

Starting position : lying, sitting or standing - as you feel comfortable. Before
starting, you slowly, but with force, exhale while pulling in the abdominal
wall. Then you slowly inhale through the nose: first you extend the
abdominal wall, then expand the lower ribs, raise the chest and at the same
time expand the upper ribs. At the end of the inspiration, when the air fills
the lungs, the stomach is slightly pulled inward, creating supp ort with the
lungs filled with air. Holding the breath for 1-2 seconds - and begin to
exhale by furthe r drawing the abdomen into the abdominal cavity, the chest
is kept slightly  raised and straightened. Then you gradually relax the
stomach, squeeze the ribs and lower your shoulders, the air goes out
through the nose. As the lungs are released from the air, the chest and
abdomen lower, and the abdominal wall retracts. Exercise is performed in
the morning and in the middle of the day, first 3 times and gradually
brought up to 20 times. Inhal ation and exhalation should pass quietly,
without the help of muscles. Blood cir culation impr ovement

Fig. 30

Get up straight. Take a full breath, hold your breath. Lean forward slightly,
pick up a stick or cane at the two ends, firmly squeezing and gradually
putting all the power into the hands that gripped the stick. Lower the stick
and straighten, slowly exhaling  air, Fig. 30. Repeat several times. This
exercise can be done without the help of a stick, imagining it to yourself,
but putting all the power into the imaginary squeezing of the stick with your
hands. This exercise is highly apprecia ted by yoga, as it has the ability to direct
arterial blood to the limbs and direct venous blood to the heart and lungs. Prolapse of the stomach, intestines, kidneys and uterus

Fig. 31

Exercise agains t prolapse of the stomach, intestines, kidneys, uterus are
abdominal breathing exercises. Stand straight, with your feet approximately
30-40 cm apart,  with your feet parallel to the feet. Tilt the housing slightly
forward. Keep your arms bent at the elbows with your palms on your hips,
with your thumb s pointing to your groin. After a full breath, exhale slowly,
pulling the abdomen inward strongly, raise the diaphragm as much as
possible so that the abdomen “disappears”. It should be noted that this
exercise can only be performed on an empty stomach. Holding the air at
first for 5 secon ds, gradually increase the duration of the breath -holding. Inorder for the diaphragm to rise, the lungs must be free of air until the end of
the exercise. Exercise is an excellent tool against the prolapse of the stomach, intestines,
kidneys, and uterus. It also stimulates the function of the solar plexus,
restores the balance of the autonomic nervous system, has a beneficial
effect on the functioning of the heart, lungs and diaphragm, restores
diaphragm mobility and maintains lung elasticity. In gener al, abdominal exercises are very effective, especially since they are
not difficult to perform. Exercise is contraindicated in all acute forms of
diseases of the abdominal organs and heart diseases. If you feel pain during
the exercise, you should stop exercising and be examined by a doctor. Conjunctival pallor

“With a pale conjunctiva of the lower eyelid, a series of maximum pauses
between inhalation and exhalation before stopping uncomfortable
conditions shou ld be applied,” Buteyko wrote. “Plug both nostrils with
cotton, mechanically limiting the depth of breathing. And also to avoid a
deep breath after maximum pauses - sniff the grated horseradish alternately
one and the other nostrils to tears. Drink strong infusions, a decoction of
bitter herb leave s and green tea until the lower eyelid conjunctiv a turns red. Massage the subclavian cavities and knead the upper back.”

To impr ove blood cir culation in the eyes

Fig. 32

Step 1 : starting position: standing, legs together, socks apart, arms along the
body. Take a full breath. Hold your breath as you inhale, preventing air from
escaping through your nose or mouth. Close your eyes. Lean forward so that your head  is below the level of the heart. The knees
can be slightly bent. There should be no tension in the body. Blood flows
directly to the head and eyes. It will be oxygenated blood. Oxygen at this
time will wash away the poisons accumulated in the eyes. Eyes remain
closed.Stay in this position, counting to 5. Gradually increase the retention of this
pose in the account to 15. Calmly and slowly straighten up to the starting position. Just as calmly and slowly, exhale through your mouth, (Fig. 32). Repeat the exercise again. Do this eye cleansing by breathing at least 10 times during the day. Fig. 33

Step 2: the starting position is the same. Take a deep breath and hold your
breath as you inhale. Bend in your belt and lean as close to the floor as you can. When the head
is down, close your eyes.When closing your eyes, screw them up as tight as possible. Then open
wide. All the time that you hold your breath as you inhale, counting from 10 to
15, open and close your eyes in the way. Sit up calmly, returning to the starting position. Exhale vigorously through your mouth. Take a breath. Repeat the exercise again. Chapter 13. Maternity exercises

Even br eathing

First of all, you need to pay attention to how the diaphragm works. Sit
comfortably, place both hands on the diaphragm (under the chest) and
inhale, lifting the chest as high as possible. At the same time, holding your
breath, relax your shoulders and keep your head straight. When you lower
your hands to your knees, the diaphragm is released and your breathing
becomes deeper. Note that the chest expands when you inhale, and contracts
when you exhal e. This movement is the main one with all phys ical efforts. You need to train your ability to breathe evenly, regardless of whether you
exercise or give birth, and this ability will increase when you improve your
sensation of muscles that help your diaphragm during breathing. Now put one hand on the stomach and the other on the chest, inhale and
expand both the chest and the abdominal cavity. Then exhale. Toward the
end of the exha lation, slowly pull the stomach up and in. Inhale again,
slowly expanding the abdome n first, and then the chest, then exhale,
slightly pulling  the abdomen towards the back. Repeat several times. Balance the breath at the expense of 1-2-3-4 - inhale, 1-2-3-4 - exhale. Inhale through the nose; exhale the way as you feel comfortable. It is possible that your head will feel slightly dizzy or your child will stir,
having received an unexpectedl y large portion of oxygen. Breathe a little
slower and everything will pass. If not, stop training for full breath and
breathe as you used to. You need to breathe at a speed of 4-6 breaths per
minute. Abdominal br eathing

First take 6 full breaths, and then change your breathing a bit: when you
exhale, relax your abdominal muscles. When the abdominal cavity is not
involved in the breathing process, the breath will be less deep, and the
relaxed abdominal muscles will not respond to exhalation. Place both hands
on the lower abdomen to check how relaxed these muscles are. When the
uterus contracts during childbir th, the ability to relax the muscles of the
abdominal cavit y is very usefu l to you (the uterus will be able to move
freely). T rain to breathe at a speed of 6-10 times per minute. Chest br eathing

Fig. 34

Now try to train chest breathing  using only the muscles of the chest. Place
both hands on the ribs under the chest so that the fingers touch the ribs and
the thum b is pointing to the back. Inhale and separate the finger s so that the
ribs expand, exhale - and the fingers join. Repeat several times. Watch the
abdominal cavit y. It moves slightly, but does not participate in the process
of breath ing. Now your breathing is more superficial and faster, 12-20 times
per minute. The count for inhalation and exhalation should be the same. It’s
difficult to regulate the breathing process, but these exercises will help you
to consciously prepare for the birth process, as they are extremely important
for their relief, Fig. 34. Shallow br eathing

Try breathing while tensing your chest muscles even less. Open your mouth
so that the tongu


	form. God	is	silence,	still,	serene,	peaceful,	unmoving,	all-inclusive,
everywhere	present,	all-knowing	by	virtue	of	being	All	That	Is. God	is	total,
complete,	quiescent,	loving,	beyond	time	and	space,	without	parts	or
partitions,	nondualistic,	and	equally	present	in	All	That	Is,	not	different	from
the	Self. Only	existence	is	possible. Despite	translation	errors	and
misunderstanding,	God	is	not	nothingness	or	void. Nonexistence,	as	one	can
see	by	its	own	self-definition,	is	not	a	possibility. The	Presence	is	beyond	all	thought,	mentation,	or	even	observation. The
awareness	is	Self-awareness	that	stems	from	the	knowingness	of	actually
being	All	That	Is;	therefore,	there	is	nothing	to	know	‘about’. There	is	no
knower	or	known;	they	are	one	and	the	same. In	the	state	of	Oneness,	the
objective	and	subjective	disappear	into	each	other. The	Presence	is	incredibly	soft,	gentle,	loving,	melting,	and	paradoxically,
simultaneously	rock-like,	immutable,	all-powerful,	and	an	infinite	cohesion
that	holds	together	‘all	reality’	as	a	universe	that	is	perpetual	Creation. In	the
presence	of	God,	the	illusions	of	cause	and	effect	disappear. The	Presence
does	not	cause	anything	to	happen;	instead,	it	is	all	that	appears	to	be
happening. In	the	Presence,	all	sense	of	time	disappears,	which	is	a	crucial	aspect	of
peace. Once	the	pressure	of	time	ceases,	it	is	recognized	to	have	been	perhaps
one	of	the	primary	sources	of	distress	that	accompanies	the	human	condition. The	sense	of	time	creates	stress,	pressure,	anxiety,	fear,	and	endless
disgruntlement	in	a	myriad	of	ways. The	‘time	stress’	accompanies	all
activities	and	pursuits,	creating	the	illusion	of	sequence	and	cause. Every
human	action	is	couched	in	an	unspoken	pressure	cooker	of	time	and	the	mind
constantly	calculates	how	much	‘time’	can	be	‘spent’	at	every	activity. This
results	in	panic,	fear,	or	worry,	as	well	as	guilt,	shame	and	anger. “Too	much
time	spent	on	this. Not	enough	time	spent	on	that. There	are	many	things	we
would	like	to	do	but	we	do	not	have	enough	time. Time	will	run	out. ”	Until
the	sensation	of	time	stops,	one	does	not	have	any	possibility	of	knowingwhat	real	freedom	or	peace	feels	like. God	Is	Freedom,	Joy,	Home,	and	Source
In	the	presence	of	God,	all	suffering	ceases. One	has	returned	to	one’s
Source,	which	is	not	different	from	one’s	own	Self. It	is	as	though	one	had
forgotten	and	now	awakened	from	a	dream. All	fears	are	revealed	to	be
groundless;	all	worries	are	foolish	imaginings. There	is	no	future	to	fear	or
past	to	regret. There	is	no	errant	ego/self	to	admonish	or	correct. There	is
nothing	that	needs	changing	or	bettering. There	is	nothing	about	which	to	feel
ashamed	or	guilty. There	is	no	‘other’	from	which	one	can	be	separated. No
loss	is	possible. Nothing	needs	to	be	done,	no	effort	is	required,	and	one	is
free	from	the	endless	tug	of	desire	and	want. God	Is	All-Merciful
That	which	itself	is	absolute	perfection	sees	nothing	to	forgive. All
‘happenings’	were	the	ego’s	perception	and	had	no	real	existence. There	are
no	‘events’	to	explain,	account	for,	or	that	require	retribution. Mercy	is	the
quality	of	unconditional	love. Perfection	does	not	see	imperfection	or	lack. God	May	Be	Revealed	as	a	Sudden	or	Unexpected	Presence
The	difference	between	the	ordinary	state	of	consciousness	and	sudden
awakening	is	very	extreme,	and	there	is	really	no	way	to	prepare	for	it. It
quickly	reveals	itself	with	no	advance	warning. The	remaining	shell	of	the
outworn	ego	is	felt	to	‘die’. One	is	now	in	a	new	and	splendorous	realm,	and
there	is	a	different	dimension,	the	presence	of	a	different	state	or	condition. No	spirit	guides,	saintly	figures,	or	angelic	forms	appear. There	are	no	higher
beings	to	meet	or	greet	one. All	considerations,	expectations,	and	mental	or
emotional	activity	cease	and	are	replaced	by	a	silent	knowingness	that	is
without	form	or	content. To	be	All	That	Is	leaves	nothing	unanswered	or
unknown. That	which	formerly	thought	itself	to	be	an	‘I’	or	a	‘me’	has
vanished. One	is	now	invisible. It	is	like	one	has	been	trudging	along	to	reach	a	mountain	and	suddenly
finds	oneself	alone	at	the	top	of	Mt. Kilimanjaro,	with	only	the	infinite	sweep
of	snowy	mountains	to	be	seen. On	the	peak,	one	notes	that	in	some
mysterious	way,	one	is	also	the	mountain	as	well	as	the	sky	and	far-reaching
fields	of	snow. No	one	is	there;	even	the	body	stands	there	as	though	it	were
something	unimportant,	like	a	sled. It	appears	to	be	a	curiosity	of	the
landscape	and	nonessential. One	looks	down	at	the	sled	and	marvels	at	the
insanity	that	one	once	thought	that	one	was	a	sled. The	Self	is	self-aware	beyond	the	senses. Divinity	shines	forth	as	a
massive	revelation. Its	obviousness	is	stark	and	forceful	as	a	radiance. Its
essence	is	certainty	and	finality,	totality	and	completeness. All	searches	have
ended. An	aspect	of	awareness	is	the	quality	of	being	everything	that	is,	in
contrast	to	ordinary	consciousness,	which	seems	to	live	and	perceive	the
surface	of	things. The	vision	of	the	Presence	is	the	inner	knowing	of
everything. The	Self	is	equally	the	sled,	the	snow,	the	mountain,	the	sky,	the
clouds,	and	the	wind. It	is	All	simultaneously,	and	yet	none	of	them. The
world	seems	to	have	turned	from	the	equivalent	of	a	black-and-white	movie
to	one	in	three-dimensional	Technicolor. Everything	now	has	great	depth	and
texture. All	things	are	equally	aware	and	conscious	of	the	Presence	and	share	in
the	joy	and	realization	of	timelessness. If	it	is	so	destined,	the	ongoingness	of
life	is	autonomous	and	continues	on	its	own. The	physical	body	moves	itself
and	goes	about	its	remaining	business. It	even,	if	prompted,	takes	care	of
itself;	however,	without	prompting,	it	would	be	unlikely	to	do	so. One	no
longer	needs	a	sled	or	is	a	sled,	so	it	just	does	whatever	it	does,	which	can
sometimes	be	amusing. The	body	is	like	a	pet	that	has	been	discovered—	it	is
a	lovable	animal. Section	Four
Discussions	and	Lectures
Transcripts	of	talks	and	meetings	in	numerous	countries	with	groups	of
spiritual	students	having	a	variety	of	spiritual	backgrounds. CHAPTER	11
Along	the	Pathway
Visitors	have	questions	that	are	not	specifically	about	the	Self	or	Reality	but
are	concerns	that	arise	earlier	in	the	course	of	spiritual	exploration. Q:	I	saw	a	program	on	television	about	out-of-body	and	near-death
experiences. They	seemed	to	equate	the	two. Aren’t


 at war
within ourselves. BEFRIENDING OUR SHADOW
To begin to grasp how essential the shadow is, try to
imagine a story without any conﬂict or a her o whose virtue
is never put to the test by a worthy adversary. The her o of
any story could not e xist if it wer e not for the villains that
challenge the her o along the way. If what the Easter n
wisdom traditions say is indeed true, that “the sinner and
the saint ar e mer ely e xchanging notes,” then the conﬂict
between our higher and lower natur es cr eates the tension
necessary to pr opel our evolution as human beings. The
same concept that guides good literatur e applies equally in
real life: heroes ar e only as str ong as their villains. In the drama of our evolution, the shadow is the character
of greatest inter est. The shadow is only danger ous when we
keep it lock ed away in the dark cellar of r epression. That’s
when we run the risk that it will blow up in our face,
derailing our diets, sabotaging our r elationships, and killing
our dr eams. But if we allow our shadow characters to serve
as integrated parts of our whole self—as colorful, powerful
forces for the good—they will lead us to richer e xperiences,
more genuine connections, mor e laughter, mor e
authenticity, and honest self -expression. The battle with our
dark side will never be won thr ough hatr ed and r epression;
we can’t ﬁght darkness with darkness. W e have to ﬁnd
compassion and embrace the darkness inside us in or der to
understand it and, ultimately, to transcend it. In his inﬂuential book The Art of W ar, Sun Tzu suggests
that “to know your enemy, you must become your enemy.”
In this case, the enemy is usually an impulse insideourselves that we don’t understand or don’t know how to
deal with. As long as we’r e denying, r epressing, or
minimizing the importance of this and other hidden ur ges,
as long as we believe that our own dark impulses will never
catch up with us or be e xposed, their wisdom will continue
to elude us. By actively ﬁnding the gif ts and r eceiving the
contribution our shadow is trying to mak e, we r edirect its
once destructive power into a for ce that can beneﬁt our life. More than that, we become a r ole model for others to ﬁnd
healthy outlets for the parts of themselves that don’t
confor m to society’s script or to their ego ideal. We can be saints by pr oviding the sinners that r eside
within us the fr eedom of self -expression—not by indulging
bad behavior, but by seeing how this impulse or quality
could serve us or society as a whole. The mor e acceptance
and safe e xpression we ﬁnd for our dark er impulses, the less
we will have to wor ry about being blindsided by them. I
know you might be wondering how a part of you that you
fear and loathe could actually serve you, but I pr omise you
as you go thr ough the pr ocess, you will see that ther e are
gifts to be mined in every quality, feeling, and e xperience. Reclaiming the parts of ourselves that we have r elegated
to the shadow is the most r eliable path to actualizing all of
our human potential. Once befriended, our shadow becomes
a divine map that—when pr operly r ead and followed—
reconnects us to the life we wer e meant to live, the people
we wer e meant to be, and the contributions we wer e meant
to give. Embracing our inner beast is the tick et to fr eedom. It is the conduit for tapping into all our gr eatness. It mak es
our inner life rich and meaningful and our outer life mor e
enjoyable. It allows us to bask in wholeness rather than be
constrained by the limitations of a self that was cr eated by
smok e and mir rors. Why smok e and mir rors? Because if we
have cr eated our public image or persona out of only those
qualities we have deemed acceptable, we will have lef t outsome of the most important, potent, and ﬂavorful parts of
ourselves. OUR SHADOW MASK
Uncovering the parts of ourselves that we lear ned to r epress
is the k ey to understanding why we enjoy fr eedom in some
areas of our life and behave lik e a robot in others. It is fear
that convinces us to wear one of an inﬁnite number of
masks to hide behind and to construct a persona—a
costume, so to speak—to conceal all of who we r eally ar e.
We work tir elessly to cr eate an outer façade, so that no one
will ﬁnd out about our dark thoughts, desir es, impulses, and
history. It is the shadow of our past that dr ove us to cr eate
the face—the mask—that we show the world. W ill we be a
people pleaser, or will we seek r elief from the world by
being isolated, distant, and alone? W ill we work tir elessly to
be per ceived as an overachiever, or will we be content to lie
in front of the TV or spend hours sear ching Inter net gossip
sites? Our persona was not cr eated by accident; it was
created in or der to camouﬂage the parts of ourselves we
deemed the most undesirable and to over compensate for
what we believe to be our deepest ﬂaws. This false self is char ged with one mission only : to hide all
of the unwanted and unacceptable parts of ourselves. If we
were wounded fr om having been raised by emotionally
unpredictable par ents, we may work very har d to portray an
image that we ar e calm and in contr ol. If we had a lear ning
disability gr owing up, we might cr eate a war m, overly loving
personality, so others won’t notice what we per ceive to be
our handicap. If we ar e ashamed of the fact that we wer e
raised by a welfar e mom, we might become a highly
motivated work er who is always impeccably dr essed and
well-spok en. The public image we cr eate is contrived by the
parts of us that wer e hurt, confused, or full of pain. Althoughit may fool others and even us for a while, eventually we will
be faced with the wounds that this mask was constructed to
hide. As a way to ensur e that our ﬂawed and imperfect self
would not be discover ed or e xposed, we cleverly began to
develop qualities opposite fr om those we wer e trying to
hide. W e work ed har d to over compensate for the parts of
ourselves we believed wer e unacceptable, hoping to thr ow
others oﬀ the scent or to rid ourselves of the bad feelings
that wer e associated with them. If we wer e riddled with
insecurities, we may have developed an ar rogant, know-it-
all persona to convince others that we have enor mous
conﬁdence. If we felt lik e a failur e, we may have sur rounded
ourselves with people who have achieved gr eat things or
exaggerated the scope of our own endeavors to appear
more successful than we actually ar e. If we felt powerless
over our life, we might have chosen a car eer or partner that
would have allowed us to appear mor e powerful. Our personas convince us that ther e is nothing that we
don’t know about ourselves—that we ar e in fact the person
we see in the mir ror and believe ourselves to be. But the
issue with this is that once we have bought into the story of
“this is who I am,” we shut the door on any other possibility
and deny ourselves access to all of who we can be. W e lose
our ability to choose, because we can’t do anything outside
the conﬁnes of the character we’r e playing. The pr edictable
persona we’ve constructed is now in contr ol. W e become
blind to the immense possibilities for our life. Only when we
stop pr etending to be something we ar e not—when we no
longer feel the need to hide or over compensate for either
our weaknesses or our gif ts—will we know the fr eedom of
expressing our authentic self and have the ability to mak e
choices that ar e based on the life we truly desir e to live. When we br eak out of this trance and ar e no longer
preoccupied with ﬁtting in, with what other people think of
us or what we think about ourselves, we can open up andtake advantage of opportunities that might just pass us by
when we ar e trapped inside our story line or behind the
mask we wear. We are driven to the point of e xhaustion by our ego ideal
to be diﬀer ent than we ar e. We ﬁght to be bigger, str onger,
tougher, and mor e secur


	rate. Still,	such	“recoveries”	may	cause	side	effects	that	are	often
serious. The	infection	by	the
H. pylori
	bug	is	only	possible	because	factors	other	than	a
normally	harmless	germ	have	already	weakened	and	damaged	the	stomach	cells. In	a
healthy	stomach,	the	same	bug	turns	out	to	be	completely	innocuous. Most	of	us	have
lived	with	this	bug	without	ever	being	troubled	by	it. This	brings	up	an	important
question:	Why	does	the	same	bug	cause	an	ulcer	in	some	people	and	not	in	others. As
mentioned	before,	gallstones	in	the	liver	and	gallbladder	can	cause	intestinal	congestion
and	thereby	lead	to	frequent	back-flushing	of	bile	and	toxins	into	the	stomach,	which	may
injure	an	ever-increasing	number	of	stomach	cells. Antibiotics	destroy	the	natural	stomach
flora,	including	those	bacteria	that	normally	help	to	break	down	damaged	cells. Although
the	antibiotic	approach	results	in	a	quick	relief	of	symptoms,	it	also	lowers	stomach
performance	permanently,	which	sets	up	the	body	for	more	severe	challenges	than	just
dealing	with	an	ulcer. 1
	Shortcuts	to	healing	rarely	pay	off. On	the	other	hand,	most
stomach	disorders	disappear	spontaneously	when	all	existing	gallstones	are	removed	and	a
healthy	diet	and	balanced	lifestyle	are	followed	regularly. Diseases	of	the	Pancreas

The	pancreas	is	a	small	gland	with	its	head	lying	in	the	curve	of	the	duodenum. Its	main
duct	joins	the	common	bile	duct	to	form	what	is	known	as	the
ampulla
	of	the	bile	duct. The	ampulla	enters	the	duodenum	at	its	midpoint. Apart	from	secreting	the	hormones
insulin
	and
glucagon,
	the	pancreas	produces
pancreatic	juice,
	which	contains	enzymes
that	digest	carbohydrates,	proteins,	and	fats. When	the	acidic	contents	from	the	stomach
enter	the	duodenum,	they	combine	with	alkaline	pancreatic	juice	and	bile. This	creates	the
proper	acid-alkaline	balance	(pH-value)	at	which	the	pancreatic	enzymes	are	most
effective. Gallstones	in	the	liver	or	gallbladder	cut	bile	secretions	from	the	normal	amount	of	one
quart	or	more	per	day,	to	as	little	as	one	cup	or	less	per	day. This	severely	disrupts	the
digestive	process,	particularly	when	fats	or	fat-containing	foods	are	consumed. Subsequently,	the	duodenal	pH	remains	too	low,	which	inhibits	the	action	of	pancreatic
enzymes,	as	well	as	those	secreted	by	the	small	intestine. The	net	result	is	that	food	is	only
partially	digested. Improperly	digested	food	that	is	saturated	with	the	stomach’s
hydrochloric	acid	can	have	a	very	irritating,	caustic	effect	on	the	entire	intestinal	tract. If	a	gallstone	has	moved	from	the	gallbladder	into	the	ampulla,	where	the	common	bile
duct	and	the	pancreatic	ducts	combine	(see
Figure	3
),	the	release	of	pancreatic	juice
becomes	obstructed	and	bile	moves	into	the	pancreas. This	causes	a	number	of	protein-
splitting	pancreatic	enzymes,	which	are	normally	activated	only	in	the	duodenum,	to	be
activated	while	still	in	the	pancreas. This	makes	these	enzymes	highly	destructive. They
begin	to	digest	parts	of	the	pancreatic	tissue,	which	can	lead	to	infection,	suppuration,	and
local	thrombosis. This	condition	is	known	as
pancreatitis. Gallstones	obstructing	the	ampulla	release	bacteria,	viruses,	and	toxins	into	the
pancreas,	which	can	cause	further	damage	to	pancreatic	cells,	and	eventually	lead	to
malignant	tumors. The	tumors	occur	mostly	in	the	head	of	the	pancreas,	where	they
inhibit	the	flow	of	bile	and	pancreatic	juice. This	condition	is	often	accompanied	by
jaundice
	(for	more	details	see
Diseases	of	the	Liver
	below). Gallstones	in	the	liver,	gallbladder,	and	ampulla	may	also	be	partly	responsible	for	both
types	of
diabetes:
	insulin-dependent	and	non-insulin-dependent. All	patients	of	mine	with
diagnosed	diabetes,	including	children,	have	had	large	quantities	of	stones	in	their	liver. Each	liver	cleanse	further	improved	their	condition,	provided	that	they	followed	a	healthy
daily	regimen	and	diet	devoid	of	animal	products. 2
	Figure	3
:	Gallstones	in	the	liver	and	gallbladder
	Diseases	of	the	Liver

The	liver	is	the	largest	gland	in	the	body. It	weighs	up	to	three	pounds,	is	suspended
behind	the	ribs	on	the	upper	right	side	of	the	abdomen,	and	spans	almost	the	entire	width
of	the	body. Being	responsible	for	hundreds	of	different	functions,	it	is	also	the	most
complex	and	active	organ	in	the	body. Since	the	liver	is	in	charge	of	processing,	converting,	distributing,	and	maintaining	the
body’s	vital	“fuel”	supply	(for	example,	nutrients	and	energy),	anything	that	interferes
with	these	functions	must	have	a	serious,	detrimental	impact	on	the	health	of	the	liver	and
the	body	as	a	whole. The	strongest	interference	stems	from	the	presence	of	gallstones. Besides	manufacturing	cholesterol—an	essential	building	material	of	organ	cells,
hormones,	and	bile—the	liver	also	produces	hormones	and	proteins	that	affect	the	way	the
body	functions,	grows,	and	heals. Furthermore,	it	makes	new	amino	acids
3
	and	converts
existing	ones	into	proteins. These	proteins	are	the	main	building	blocks	of	the	cells,
hormones,	neurotransmitters,	genes,	and	so	forth. Other	essential	functions	of	the	liver
include	breaking	down	old,	worn-out	cells;	recycling	proteins	and	iron;	and	storing
vitamins	and	nutrients. Gallstones	are	a	hazard	to	all	these	vital	tasks. In	addition	to	breaking	down	alcohol	in	the	blood,	the	liver	also	detoxifies	noxious
substances,	bacteria,	parasites,	and	certain	components	of	pharmaceutical	drugs. It	uses
specific	enzymes	to	convert	waste	or	poisons	into	substances	that	can	be	safely	removed
from	the	body. In	addition,	the	liver	filters	more	than	one	quart	of	blood	each	minute. Most	of	the	filtered	waste	products	leave	the	liver	via	the	bile	stream. Gallstones
obstructing	the	bile	ducts	lead	to	high	levels	of	toxicity	in	the	liver	and,	ultimately,	to
liver
diseases. This	development	is	further	exacerbated	by	one’s	intake	of	pharmaceutical
drugs,	normally	broken	down	by	the	liver. The	presence	of	gallstones	prevents	their
detoxification,	which	can	cause	“overdosing”	and	devastating	side	effects,	even	at	normal
doses. It	also	means	that	the	liver	is	at	risk	for	damage	from	the	breakdown	products	of	the
drugs	on	which	it	acts. Also,	alcohol	that	is	not	detoxified	properly	by	the	liver	can
seriously	injure	or	destroy	liver	cells. All	liver	diseases	are	preceded	by	extensive	b


popular in certain cir cles, and for good r eason. Getting the
energy up and out is of ten a good way to shed the physical
tension that mak es it so diﬃcult to pray when you need it
most. Our anger stands in fr ont of our love. L etting it out is
part of the pr ocess of r elinquishing it. The last thing you
want to do—ever—is to buy into the insidious delusion that
spiritual lives and spiritual r elationships ar e always quiet, or
always blissful. 10. WORKING ON OURSEL VES
“Only what you have not given can be lacking in
any situation.”
Relationships ar e meaningful because they ar e opportunities
to expand our hearts and become mor e deeply loving. The
Holy Spirit is the medium of miracles, a guide to a diﬀer ent
way of viewing ourselves in r elation to other people. I watch
my baby as she e xtends her love to everyone she meets.She hasn’t lear ned yet that anyone is unsafe. Nothing
stands between her natural impulse to love and her
expression of that love. She smiles with the tender ness of
her true feelings. One day I will have to teach her that not
every e xpression of love is appr opriate. But locking your
door is vastly diﬀer ent fr om locking your heart. The gr eatest
challenge of par enthood will be to support her in k eeping an
open heart while living in such a fearful world. We can’t r eally give to our childr en what we don’t have
ourselves. In that sense, my gr eatest gif t to my daughter is
that I continue to work on myself. Childr en lear n mor e
through imitation than thr ough any other for m of
instruction. Our gr eatest opportunity to positively aﬀect
another person’s life is to accept God’s love into our own. That is one of the primary principles of miracles in
relationships: W e are to look to ourselves—our own lessons,
thoughts and behavior—in or der to ﬁnd peace with another
person. “The sole r esponsibility of the miraclework er is to
accept the A tonement for himself.” The ego will always
tempt us to think that the br eakdown of a r elationship has
to do with what they did wr ong, or what they’r e not seeing,
or what they need to lear n. The focus must r emain on
ourselves. W e’re aﬀected by other peoples’ lovelessness
only to the e xtent to which we judge them for it. Otherwise
we ar e invulnerable to the ego, as the Son of God is meant
to be. Sometimes people will say to me, “ But Marianne, I think
ninety per cent of this is their stuﬀ.” “ Fine,” I say. “Then we
have ten per cent to investigate and lear n from.” That ten
percent that is “ your” part is what you need to look at and
learn from. It is what you will car ry with you into the ne xt
scenario. The ego knows this, which is why it tries to put the
focus on the other person. The ego’s purpose is to mak e uscontinually self -destruct without knowing that we’r e doing it. It’s har d enough cleaning up your own act. T rying to clean
up someone else’s is just an ego trick to k eep you fr om
applying yourself to your own lessons. In or der to lear n the
most fr om relationships, you have to focus on your own
issues. These days it’s very common to hear people complain
that their issue is that they choose the “ wrong” people. The
ego is very sly her e. It’s trying to convince us that we’r e
taking r esponsibility for the pr oblem, when in fact we’r e only
doing that to a very small degr ee. Because our description
of the pr oblem still mak es someone guilty, it can only lead
into further darkness, not light. “I continue to choose people
who can’t commit” is not a miracle-minded per ception. A
more enlightened question might be, “ How committable am
I, really? How pr epared am I in the deepest r ecesses of my
being to give and r eceive love in an intimate, committed
way?” Or, “ How can I for give those who could not go past a
certain wall of fear when dealing with me? How can I for give
myself for the ways in which I contributed to or participated
in their fear?”
Sometimes it seems as though you’r e hook ed: You feel
obsessed or compulsive about another person. When this is
the case, it’s a pr etty good bet that on some level you’r e not
letting them oﬀ the hook. In spite of the temptation to look
outside yourself for the sour ce as well as the answer to a
problem, you hold to miracle-minded thought by looking
inside yourself for both. The price you pay for not taking
responsibility for your own pain is the failur e to r ealize that
you can change your conditions by changing your thoughts. Regardless of who initiated a painful interaction, or how
much of the er ror still lies in someone else’s thinking, the
Holy Spirit always pr ovides you with complete escape fr om
pain thr ough for giveness on your part. The other persondoesn’t have to consciously join you in the change. ‘Whoever is saner at the time,’ says A Course in Miracles, ‘is
to invite the Holy Spirit into a situation.’ It doesn’t matter
whether or not another person shar es our willingness to let
God enter. Everything you need in life alr eady e xists inside
your head. I once had a crush on a gay man. It might have been
unreasonable, but I couldn’t get him out of my mind. I ask ed
for a miracle, and the following thoughts occur red to me:
“You know, Marianne, you’r e obsessed, you’r e so unr eleased
about this because you’r e not r eleasing him. Accept him as
he is. R elease him to be wher e he wants to be, doing
whatever he wants to do with whomever he wants to do it. It’s what you’r e not giving that is lacking her e. It’s what
you’r e doing to him that’s causing you pain. Emotionally,
your ego is trying to contr ol him, which is why you’r e feeling
contr olled by your emotions.” I got it. I r eleased him in my
mind, and then I felt r eleased. 11. CL OSED HEAR TS
“No one can doubt the ego’s skill in building up
false cases.”
I once knew a man who came on very str ong at the
beginning of r elationships, but couldn’t seem to help closing
his heart as soon as a woman had opened hers. I have
heard that kind of behavior r eferred to as an “addiction to
the attraction phase” in r elationships. This man did not
maliciously go ar ound hurting women. He sincer ely wanted
to be in a genuine, committed r elationship. What he lack ed
were the spiritual skills that would enable him to settle
down in one place long enough to build anything solid with
an equal partner. As soon as he saw human faults andweaknesses in a woman, he would run. The nar cissistic
personality is looking for perfection, which is a way of
making sur e that love never has a chance to blossom. The
initial high can be so heady, so tantalizing, that the r eal
work of gr owth which needs to follow the initial attraction
phase can seem too dull, too har d to commit to. As soon as
the other person is seen to be a r eal human being, the ego
is repelled and wants to ﬁnd somewher e else to play. At the end of a r elationship with someone lik e this, we
feel as though we’ve tak en cocaine. W e had a fast and very
exciting ride, and it felt at the time lik e something
meaningful was happening. Then we crashed and r ealized
that nothing meaningful had happened at all. It was all
made up. Now all we have is a headache, and we can see
that this kind of thing isn’t good, isn’t healthy, and we don’t
want to do it again. But ther e’s a r eason why we’r e attracted to r elationships
such as this. W e wer e drawn to the illusion of meaning. Sometimes someone who has nothing to oﬀer in a r eal
relationship can come on lik e they’r e oﬀering the world. They ar e so dissociated fr om their own feelings that they
have become highly skilled perfor mers, unconsciously
playing whatever part our fantasies pr escribe. But the
responsibility for our pain still r emains our own. If we hadn’t
been looking for a cheap thrill, we wouldn’t have been
vulnerable to the lie. How could we have been so stupid? That’s


 it isn’ t. The Unmanifested  is the sour ce  of chi. Chi is the inner
ener gy f ield of your body. It is t he bridge between the outer yo u and the
Source. It lies halfway between the manifested, the world of form, and
the Unm anifested. Chi can be likened to a river or an ener gy stream. If
you take the focus of your consciousness deeply into the inner body, you
are tracing the course of this river back to its Source. Chi is m ovement;the Unm anifested is stillness. When you reach a point of absolute
stillness, which is nevertheless vibrant with life, you have gone beyond
the inne r body and beyond chi to the Source itself: the Unma nifested. Chi is the link between the Unmanifested and the physical universe. So i f yo u take your attention deeply into the inner body, you may reach
this po int, this singularity, where the world dissolves into the
Unmanifested an d the Unmanifested takes on form as the ener g y stream
of chi, which then becomes th e world. This is the point of birth and
death. When your consciousnes s is directed outward, mind and world
arise. W hen it is directed inward, it realizes its own Source an d returns
home into the Unmanifested. Then, when your consciousness comes
back to the manifested world, you reassume the form identity that you
temporarily relinquished. Y ou have a name, a past, a life situation, a
future. But in o ne essential respect, you are not the same person you
were before: Y ou will have glimpsed a reality within yourself that is not
“of this world,” although it isn’ t separate from it, just as it isn’ t separate
from you. Now let  your spiritual practice be this: As you go about your life, don’ t
give 100 percent of your attention to the external world and to your
mind. K eep som e within. I have  spoken about this already. Feel the inner
body even when engaged in everyday activities, especially when
engaged in relationships or when you are relating with nature. Feel the
stillness deep inside it. Keep the portal open. It is quite possible to be
conscious of the Unmanifested t hroughout your life. Y ou feel it as a deep
sense of peace somewhere in the background, a stillness that never
leaves you, no matter what happens out here. Y ou become a bridge
between the Unmanifested and the manifested, between God and the
world. This is the state of connectedness with the Source that we call
enlightenment. Don’ t get the impression that the Unmanifested is separate from the
manifested. How could it be? It is the life within every form, the inner
essence of all that exists. It pervades this world. Let me explain. DREAMLESS SLEEPY ou take a journey into the Unmanifested every night when you enter the
phase of deep d reamless sleep. Y ou mer ge with the Source. Y ou draw
from it the vital  ener gy that sus tains you for a while when you return to
the manifested, the world of separate forms. This ener gy is much more
vital tha n food: “Man does not live by bread alone.” But in dreamless
sleep, you don’ t go into it consc iously. Although the bodily functions are
still ope rating, “ you” no longer exist in that state. Can you imag ine what
it would be like to go into dreamless sleep with full consciousness? It is
impossible to imagine it, because that state has no content. The Unmanifest ed does not liberate you until you enter it consciously. That’ s why Jesus did not say: t he truth will make you free, but rather:
“Y ou wi ll know the truth, and th e truth will make you free.” This is not a
conceptual truth. It is the truth of eternal life beyond form, which is
known directly or not at all. But don’ t attempt to stay conscious in
dreamless sleep. It is highly unlikely that you will succeed. At most, you
may remain conscious during the dream phase, but not beyond that. This
is ca lled lucid dreaming, which may be interesting and fascinati ng, but it
is not liberating. So use your inner body as a portal through which you enter the
Unmanifested, and keep that portal open so that you stay connected with
the S ource at all  times. It makes no dif ference, as far as the inner body is
concerned, whe ther your outer physical body is old or young, frail or
strong. The inner body is timeless. If you are not yet able to feel the
inner body, use one of the other portals, although ultimately they are all
one. Som e I have spoken about at length already, but I’ll ment ion them
again briefly here. OTHER POR T ALS
The Now  can be seen as the mai n portal. It is an essential aspect of every
other portal, including the inn er body. Y ou cannot be in your body
without being intensely present in the Now. T ime an d the manifested are as inextricably linked as are the timeless
Now and the Unmanifested. When you dissolve psychological time
through intense present-moment awareness, you become conscious of
the Unmanifeste d both directly and indirectly. Directly, you feel  it as theradiance and power of your c onscious presence — no content, just
presence. Indire ctly, you are aware of the Unmanifested in and  through
the sensory realm. In other wo rds, you feel the God-essence in every
creature, every flower, every stone, and you realize: “All that is, is holy.”
This is why Jesus, speaking ent irely from his essence or Christ  identity,
says in the Gospel of Thomas: “ Split a piece of wood; I am there. Lift up
a stone, and you will find me there.”
Another portal into the Unmanifested is created through the cessation of
thinking. This can start with a very simple thing, such as ta king one
conscious breath or looking, in a  state of intense alertness, at a flower, so
that ther e is no mental commentary running at the same time. T here are
many ways to c reate a gap in the incessant stream of thought. This is
what meditation  is all about. Thought is part of the realm of the
manifested. Continuous mind ac tivity keeps you imprisoned in the world
of fo rm and becomes an opaque  screen that prevents you from becoming
conscious of the Unmanifested,  conscious of the formless and timeless
God-essence in yourself and in all things and all creatures. When you are
intensely pr esent, you  don’ t need  to be concerned about the cessation of
thinking, of course, because th e mind then stops automatically. That’ s
why I said the Now is an essential aspect of every other portal. Surrender — the letting go of mental-emotional resistance to w hat is  —
also becomes a portal into the  Unmanifested. The reason for this is
simple: inner resistance cuts yo u of f from other people, from yourself,
from the world around you. It strengthens the feeling of separateness on
which the ego depends for its  survival. The stronger the fe eling of
separateness, the  more you are bound to the manifested, to the world of
separate forms. The more you are bound to the world of form, the harder
and more impenetrable your form  identity becomes. The portal is closed,
and you  are cut of f from the inner dimension, the dimension of depth. In
the s tate of surre nder, your form identity softens and becomes s omewhat
“transparent,” as it were, so the Unmanifested can shine through you. It’ s up to you to open a portal in your life that gives you conscious access
to the Unmanifested. Get in touch with the ener gy field of the inner body,
be intensely present, disidentify from the mind, surrender to what is ;
these are all portals you can use — but you only need to use one. Sur ely love must also be one of those portals? No, it isn’ t. As soon as one of the portals is open, love is present in you
as th e “feeling-realization” of oneness. Love isn’ t a portal; it’ s what
comes thr ough  th e portal into t his world. As long as you are completely
trapped in your form identity, t here can be no love. Y our task is not to
search for love but to find a portal through which love can enter. SILENCE
Ar e ther e any other portals apart fr om those you just mentioned? Y es, there are. T he Unmanifested is not separate from the mani fested. It
pervades this world, but it is s o well disguised that almost everybody
misses it completely. If you know where to look, you’ll  find it
everywhere. A portal opens up every moment. Do y ou hear tha t dog barking i n the distance? Or that car passing by? Listen carefully. Can you feel the presence of the Unmanifested in that? Y ou can’ t? Look for it


 cell anemia, hyperviscosi ty, and low
plasma protein.Note: ESR is frequently raised during and after reactions and fevers
induced by the Gerson Therapy. THE PLATELET  COUNT
Platelets, or thrombocytes, are tiny formed elements in the blood which
create the hemostatic plug in vascular injury. They promote coagulation by
supplying phospholipids to the intrinsic thromboplastin pathway. The
platelet count is vital for moni toring chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or
severe thrombocytosis and thrombocytopenia. A platelet count that falls
below 50,000 brings on sponta neous bleeding; below 5,000, fatal central
nervous system bleeding or massive gastrointestinal hemorrhage is possible. The platelet count evaluates platelet production, assesses effects of
cytotoxic therapy, aids the diagnosing of thrombocytopenia and
thrombocytosis, and confirms visual estimate of platelet number and
morphology from  a stained blood film. Normal platelet counts range from
130,000 to 370,000/mm (130 to 370 x 1011/L). A decreased count comes from aplastic or hypoplastic bone marrow; in-
filtrative bone marrow diseases like carcinoma, leukemia, or disseminated
infection; megak aryocytic hypop lasia; ineffective thrombopoiesis caused by
folic acid or vitamin B1 deficiency; pooling of platelets in an enlar ged
spleen; increased platelet destru ction from drug use or immune disorders;
disseminated intravascular coagulation; Bernard-Soulier syndrome; or
mechanical injury to platelets. Medications decreasing the count include acetazolamid, acetohexam-ide,
antimony, antineoplastics, brompheniramine maleate, carbamazepine,
chloramphenicol, ethacrynic acid, furosemide, gold salts,
hydroxychloroquine, indomethacin, isoniazid, mephenytoin, mefenamic
acid, metha-zolamide, methimazole, methyidopa, oral diaoxide,
oxyphenbetazone, penicillamine, penicillin, phenylbutazone, phenytoin,
pyrimethamine, quinidine sulfate, quinine, salicylates, streptomycin,
sulfonamides, thiazide, thiazidelike diuretics, and tricyclic antidepressants. Heparin causes transient reversible thrombocytopenia. An increased platelet count results from such diseases as hemorrhage;
infectious disord ers; malignanc ies; iron deficiency anemia; myelofibrosis;
primary thrombo cytosis; polycy themia vera; myelogenous leuke mia; recentsurgery, pregnancy, or splenectomy; and inflammatory disorders, such as
collagen vascular disease. THE LEUKOCYTE  (W HITE BLOOD  CELL, WBC) C OUNT
Reporting on the number of white blood cells (WBCs) found in a
microliter (cubic  millimeter) of whole blood by use of a hemacytometer or
Coulter counter, the leukocyte count varies with strenuous exercise, stress,
or digestion. It’s used to detec t infection or inflammation, the need for
further tests such as the WBC differential or bone marrow biopsy, and the
response to chemotherapy or radiation therapy. The WBC count  ranges from 4.1 to 10.9 x 10”. An elevated count signals
infection such as an abscess, meningitis, appendicitis, or tonsillitis, and it
may indicate leukemia, tissue necrosis from burns, myocardial infarction, or
gangrene. A low count shows bone marrow depression from viral infections
or from toxic reactions such as those following treatment with
antineoplastics, mercury or other heavy metal toxicity, benzene or arsenic
exposure, and invasion by the organisms of influenza, typhoid fever,
measles, infectious hepatitis, mononucleosis, and rubella. THE WHITE BLOOD  CELL DIFFERENTIAL
Being a relative number of each type of white blood cell, the white blood
cell differential test is determined by multiplying the percentage value of
each WBC type to give an absol ute number of each kind of the 100 or more
WBCs. There are granulocy tes, agranulocytes, juvenile neutrophils,
segmented neutrophils, basophils, eosinophils, large lymphocytes, small
lymphoctyes, phagocytes, histiocytes, and so on. The WBC differential evalua tes the body’ s capacity to resist and
overcome infection, various types of leukemia, the stage and severity of
infection, allergic reactions, severity of allergic reactions, and parasitic
infections. There is a long list of reference values in the WBC differential
test, divided into adult and child. For example some of them are:For Adults— Relative V alue (%) Absolute V alue (mcL)
Neutr ophils 47.6–76.8 1950–8,400
Lymphocytes 16.2-43 660-4,600
Monocytes 0.6-9.6 24-960
Eosinophils 0.3-7 12-760
Basophils 0.3-2 12-200

To make an accurate diagnosis, the test examiner must consider both
relative and absolute values of the differential counts. For the vast number
of variables and illnesses which are diagnosed by them, please see
Appendix I of the Gerson Therapy  Handbook: Companion Workbook to A
Cancer Therapy: Results of Fifty Cases: Practical Guidance, Resour ces
and Recipes for Gerson Ther apy Patients. To acquire a copy of this
handbook /workbook, contact the Gerson Institute, in Bonita, California. THE ROUTINE  URINAL YSIS
Elements of routine urinalysis include the measurement evaluations of
physical characteristics, specific gravity and pH, protein, glucose, and
ketone bodies, plus examination of urine sediment, casts, and blood cell
crystals. The analysis of urine is an exceedingly important test that tells a
lot about the internal workings of a person. Routine urine test results have a
great number of implications for how the physiology is functioning or how
it is responding to the diet, nonpathologic conditions, specimen collection
time, and other factors. For the vast number of variables and illnesses which are evaluated by
urinalysis, please see Appendix I of the Gerson Therapy Handbook:
Companion Workbook to A Cancer Therapy: Results of Fifty Cases:
Practical Guidance, Resour ces and Recipes for Gerson
  Therapy
Patients. To acqu ire a copy of this handbook/workbook, contact the Gers on
Institute in San Diego, California.OceanofPDF.comChapter Twenty-One
SUCCESS ST ORIES BY P ATIENTS
Writing in the Townsend Lette r for Doctors  & Patients,  medical
anthropologist Tim Batchelder advises that people do not arrive at health
care systems for diagnosis and treatments; rather, they come to find
wellness and wholeness.1
People often feel symptoms and even exhibit signs of illness when they
seek the services of a doctor or clinic but return home labeled with a
disease. Other medical anthropologists call such a result the “veterinary
practice of medicine” since the patient’ s experience of illness becomes
irrelevant except as it reveals an underlying presence of disease. A patient’ s
opinions, beliefs and other aspects of sociocultural identity only cloud the
doctor ’s mind-set.2 Preferable for some technically oriented and
conventionally practicing health  professionals is that the patien t be passive
like a sedated animal in a veterinarian’ s clinic. Not so the situa tions for Gerson patients whose case histories of chronic
illness you’re about to read. They have been far from passive  or sedated;
instead these people actively sought out the Gerson Therapy and practiced it
—this despite knowing their selected approach to wellness offers a difficult,
highly restrictive, and isolating  lifestyle. The goal for each of these folks
has been  to live as close as possible to the full complement of mankind’ s
allotted years. The Gerson Therapy has been allowing them to reach that
goal. REVERSING  LATE-STAGE LUNG CANCER
To his shock and dismay, in November 1989, sixty-year -old John Peters
of Pittsbur gh was diagnosed with lung cancer—an adeno carcinoma. Although he had eaten a good diet, swam a thousand yards in his swimmingpool five days each week, never smoked, and had been given an excellent
health report by his doctor just three months before, Mr. Peters still had
come down with non-small-cell  carcinoma of the lung, staged at level IIIA
by his consulting oncologist. Lung Cancer is the second most common cancer and the number -one
cause of death from malignancy  in both men and women. Although there
has always been a higher incidence in men, lung cancer in women has risen
rapidly in recent years. While lung cancer has long been the top cancer
killer of men, it has now surpa ssed breast cancer as the main malignancy
killer of women. In 1997,  178,100 Americans developed lung cancer


 may not mean anything to them,
but everyone is on a spiritual path, whether they know it or not. Anyone
who is serving love is serving the God of the universe. Not only individualsbut relationships are imbued with the potential to become more expansive
than the mortal mind can imagine. Just as the cells of the body are led through a natural intellig ence to
collaborate with other cells to serve the healthy function of the organ or
organism of which they are part, we ourselves are imbued with a natural
intelligence leading us to collabo rate with others for a greater good. Love is
the greater good. As the oak tree is contained within the acorn, your enlightened self is
contained within  you. As every bud is programmed to become a blossom,
you and I are programmed to become the highest actualization of our
potential. Free will, however, means that we can say no to the process. We can
obstruct the process of our highest becoming, closing our hearts to God and
to each other. The ego is unbelie vably sly in its efforts to make sure we do. We are constant ly tempted to close our hearts, and by so doing to sabotage
our lives. The Holy Spirit is like spiritual radar, which will always override the
dictates of the ego. Yet in the absence of a spiritual practice, we fail to
develop the mental habit of listening to and following its guidance. Its
signals are always there, but we often don’t attend to them. The world is
very loud, and the Voice for God is very soft. The ego speaks first, and the
ego speaks loudest* (T-100). We learn to quiet the mind so we can hear
what God is saying. Every circumsta nce, every encounter, every relationship is programmed
with divine potential. Every circumstance provides us with the opportunity
to be the best that we can be, as well as the challenge not to retreat into ego
patterns brought over from the past. The ego’s opposition to following that programming is intense. Since
soul connection  dissolves the ego, its defenses are ever on guard. The
primary weapon s in its arsenal are attack thoughts, subtle or overt, toward
others or even toward ourselves. We judge more easily than we forgive. The
ego doesn’ t love other people; it exploits other people. As long as our minds
do the ego’s bidding, we will continue to destroy our relationships, we will
continue to suf fer, and the world will continue to decline. God loves all of us as one. Our task is to align our thinking so we can
think as God thinks and love as God loves. God’ s Will means Loving
Thought. Every attack thought toward ourselves or others is like a nail inthe body of Christ. They are the primary tools by which the ego keeps us
stuck within the prison of limited awareness. From global poverty to war among empires to nuclear bombs, the
collective state of humanity is a feast of lovelessness. Our behavioral
patterns reflect a deadly state of consciousness, from which we have
manifested a dangerous world. Jesus is a name on the door that delivers us
to a world beyond that one. It is the same world we see now, transformed by
love. It is miracu lously saved through a change in our sense of purpose and
a change in our sense of ourselves. The question is how to open the door, how to allow for our escape and
seek refuge from the madness that plagues us. The answer is not a broad
stroke; it is a willingness on all our parts to see every moment as an
opportunity to love. In every such instant, a holy instant, our spiritual birth
canal expands by even just a bit as the holy child is brought forth into the
world. Upon the birth of Jesus in the manger, as well as upon his rebirth in
your heart, the angels sing. The thoughts of Love flow forth to all the world. This child is tiny, innocent, and vulnerable. It might seem like just a tiny
thing, a softer and more authentic moment. Yet that child is not your
weakness; it’s your power—in fact, more powerful than all the powers of
the world. OceanofPDF.comThe Small Still Voice Within
Imagine the universe as the pluperfect creation of a divine architect. That
creation is a hologram, with each piece of it carrying within it the same
perfect architectural plans. Those plans exist for each of us and are
available, should we care to download them. Most of us, however, don’t
even know that they exist. Our consciousness is like a computer, and these plans exist in an
undeletable file. We go about our lives thinking our job is to bring up a
blank document and create our own architectural plans. We think we need
to create a life for ourselves, when in fact God has already created a path to
an ever-greater life for us. He carries in His Mind the image of our perfect
life. God’ s plan for the salvation of the world involves divine knowing of all
beings past, present, and future. Each of us has an equally important part to
play in bringing it forth, but the plan itself is beyond the scope of what our
mortal minds can yet comprehend. We discover our part by devoting our
lives to Him, praying to be the people He would have us be so we can do
what He would have us do. We do much better in life when  instead of revealing our plans to God,
we ask Him to reveal His plans for us. This is not the abdication  of personal
responsibility but the assumption  of spiritual power. When we stop trying to
tell life what it means, life then tells us what it means. Self-will is not self-
love, but rather a way of compe nsating for what we fear is a void in which
there is no love or plan for us. In fact, all good emer ges from that void, the
holy emptiness that only God can fill. God’ s plan for our salvation will
work; ours, so often rooted in fear, will not. The plan for the healing of the world is much bigger than we are, and as
individuals we can’t know what part we would best play in carrying it out. The Holy Spirit is like a cosmic  central intelligence, knowing exactly howour efforts would be most helpful, where, and in relationship with whom. Learning to listen to the Voice for God, opening our minds and hearts to
guidance and illumination that lie beyond the power of logic alone, we
become mystics. The mystical  path is the path to sustainability in the
twenty-first century. It is the partnership of brain and heart, reason and
intuition, that is the essence of the enlightened mind. Jesus is a path to
achieving it. Surrender to God means surrend er to love, not as a broad stroke but to
the best of our ability in any given instant. God’ s creation is not only
perfect; it also responds fully, automatically, and immediately to any mis-
creation, or disruption in the field. Like a GPS, it recalculates our path
when we have deviated from love. Not only is the universe primed to
follow every moment of harmo ny with another moment of harmony, it is
also prim ed to follow any mom ent of disharmony with divine correction. The universe is both self-or ganiz ing and self-correcting. Perfect  love knows
how to perfectly repair whatever deviates from perfection. The world is in a state of deviation from love right now, like a body that
is sick. Our purpose on earth is to help heal the world, and every encounter,
every ef fort, either lar ge or small, can be part of that healing. We are all called to be healers, and God’ s call goes out to us constantly. It’s the call to be better, do bette r, stop thinking only about ourselves, show
up to contribute, forgive, and love. We’re assigned by the Holy Spirit to any
situation providing maximal opportunity for the healing of the world. It’s up to us, however, whether we choose to take the assignm ent. The
problem is that we often turn down the assignment without realizing it. At
no time when I’ve closed my heart did I wake up that morning intending to
be a jerk that day. The ego’s kingdom is the low road of negativity and anger, limitation
and fear. It sends us twisting and turning through bad relatio nships and
failed hopes and dreams. But there is a high road, already constructed by
the Holy Spirit, which is the path to greater peace and creativity. We don’t
need to create the high road; we need merely to follow it. One way or the other, we will be following a path in life. We will either
be direc ted by the cacophonous, angry, fear-based voice of the ego, or by
the small still voice within. The ego is like a malignant cell that has lost connection with its natural
intelligence and its collaborativ e function. The Holy Spirit is our immunesystem, the medicine, the heali ng. It is there to direct us, to heal us, but
without our conscious coopera tion we are often seduced into the ego’s
madness. In both Judaism and Christianity  there is reference to a “small still voice
for God.” There is within us a quiet voice that can and will direct us every
moment of each day. It is a universal theme that we need to quiet our minds
if we wish to hear it. That voice, one expression


 of the vital forces of your subconscious mind throug hout
your system. This can be done by eliminating thoughts of fear, worry,
anxiety, jealousy, hatred, and every other destructive thought w hich
tends to tear down and destroy your nerves and glands—body tissue
which controls the elimina-tion of all waste material. • Pott’s disease cured
In the Nautilus magazine of March, 1917, there appears an article
about a boy suffering from Pott’s disease, or tuber-culosis of the
spine, who had a remarkable healing. His name was Frederick El ias
Andrews of Indianapolis, now minister of Unity School of
Christianity, Kansas City, Missouri. His physician pronounced h im
 92  incurable. He began to pray, and from a crooked, twisted cripple going
about on hands and knees, he be-came a strong, straight, well-forme d
man. He created his own affirmation, mentally absorbing the quali ties
he needed. He affirmed over and over again many times a day, “I am whole,
perfect, strong, powerful, loving, harmonious, and happy.” He
persevered and said that this prayer was the last utterance on his li ps at
night and the first in the morning. He prayed for others also by
sending out thoughts of love and health. This attitude of mind and way
of prayer returned to him multiplied many times. His faith a nd
perseverance paid off with big dividends. When thoughts of fea r,
anger, jealousy, or envy drew his attention, he would immediately
start his counteracting force of affirmation going in his mi nd. His
subconscious mind responded according to the nature of his habitual
thinking. This is the meaning of the statement in the Bible, Go thy
way, thy faith hath made thee whole. MARK 10:52. • How faith in your subconscious powers makes you whole
A young man, who came to my lectures on the healing power of the
subconscious mind, had severe eye trouble, which his doctor said
necessitated an operation. He said to himself, “My subconscious  made
my eyes, and it can heal me.”
Each night, as he went to sleep, he entered into a drowsy, meditati ve
state, the condition akin to sleep. His attention was immobili zed and
focused on the eye doctor. He imagined the doctor was in front of
him, and he plainly heard, or imagined he heard, the doctor saying to
him, “A miracle has happened!” He heard this over and over agai n
every night for perhaps five minutes or so before going to sle ep. At
the end of three weeks he again went to the ophthalmologist who had
previously examined his eyes, and the physician said to this man,
“This is a miracle!”
What happened? This man impressed his subconscious mind using
the doctor as an instrument or a means of convincing it or conveying
the idea. 93  Through repetition, faith, and expect-ancy he impregnated his
subconscious mind. His subconscious mind made his eye; within it
was the perfect pattern, and imme-diately it proceeded to heal the eye. This is another example of how faith in the healing power of your
subconscious can make you whole. • Pointers to review
1. Your subconscious is the builder of your body and is on the job
24 hours a day. You interfere with its life-giving patterns by negative
thinking. 2. Charge your subconscious with the task of evolving an an-swer t o
any problem, prior to sleep and it will answer you. 3. Watch your thoughts. Every thought accepted as true is sent by
your brain to your solar plexus—your abdominal brain—and is
brought into your world as a reality. 4. Know that you can remake yourself by giving a new blue-print  to
your subconscious mind. 5. The tendency of your subconscious is always lifeward. Your job
is with your conscious mind. Feed your subconscious mind with
premises, which are true. Your subconscious is always repr oducing
according to your habitual mental pat-terns. 6. You build a new body every eleven months. Change your body
by changing your thoughts and keeping them changed. 7. It is normal to be healthy. It is abnormal to be ill. There is within
the innate principle of harmony. 8. Thoughts of jealousy, fear, worry, and anxiety tear down and
destroy your nerves and glands bringing about mental and physical
diseases of all kinds. 9. What you affirm consciously and feel as true will be made
manifest in your mind, body and affairs. Affirm the good and enter
into the joy of living. 94  8
How to Get the Results You Want
The principle reasons for failure are: Lack of confidence and too
much effort. Many people block answers to their pray-ers by  failing to
fully comprehend the workings of their subcon-scious mind. When
you know how your mind functions, you gain a measure of
confidence. You must remember whenever your subconscious mind
accepts an idea; it immediately begins to execute it. It uses all its
mighty resources to that end and mobilizes all the mental and s piritual
laws of your deeper mind. This law is true for good or bad idea s.
Consequently, if you use it negatively, it brings trouble, failure, and
confusion. When you use it constructively, it brings guidance,
freedom, and peace of mind. The right answer is inevitable when your thoughts are posi-ti ve,
constructive, and loving. From this it is perfectly obvious that  the only
thing you have to do in order to overcome failure is to get your
subconscious to accept your idea or request by feeling it s reality now,
and the law of your mind will do the rest. Turn over your request w ith
faith and confidence, and your subconscious will take over and answer
for you. You will always fail to get results by trying to use ment al
coercion— your subconscious mind does not respond to coer-cion, it
responds to your faith or conscious mind acceptance. Your failure to get results may also arise from such state-m ents as:
“Things are getting worse.” “I will never get an an-swe r.” “I see no
way out.” “It is hopeless.” “I don’t know what to do.” “I’m all mi xed
up.” When you use such statements, you get no response or co-
operation from your subconscious mind. Like a soldier marking tim e,
you neither go forward nor back-ward; in other words, you don’t get
anywhere. 95  If you get into a taxi and give half dozen different direc-t ions to the
driver in five minutes, he would become hopelessly confused and
probably would refuse to take you anywhere. It is the same whe n
working with your subconscious mind. There must be a clear-cut idea
in your mind. You must arrive at the definite decision that ther e is a
way out, a solution to the vexing problem in sickness. Only the
infinite intelligence within your subconscious knows the answer. When you come to that clear-cut conclusion in your conscious mind,
your mind is then made up, and according to your belief is it done
unto you. • Easy does it
A house owner once remonstrated with a furnace repairman for
charging two hundred dollars for fixing the boiler. The me-chanic
said, “I charged five cents for the missing bolt and one hund red
ninety-nine dollars and ninety-five cents for knowing what was
wrong.”
Similarly, your subconscious mind is the master mechanic, the al l-
wise one, who knows ways and means of healing any or-gan of your
body, as well as your affairs. Decree health, and your subconsciou s
will establish it, but relaxation is the key. “Easy does it.” Do not be
concerned with details and means, but know the end result. Get th e
feel of the happy solution to your problem whether it is health,
finances, or employment. Remember how you felt after you had
recovered from a severe state of illness. Bear in mind that your  feeling
is the touchstone of all subconscious demonstration. Your new idea
must be felt subjectively in a finished state, not the futur e, but as
coming about now. • Infer no opponent, use imagination and not will power
In using your subconscious mind you infer no opponent, you use no
will power. You imagine the end and the freedom state. You will fin d
your intellect trying to get in the way, but persist in maint aining a
simple, childlike, miracle-making faith. Picture yourself without the
ailment or problem. Imagine the emotional accompaniment of the
 96  freedom state you crave. Cut out all red tape from the process. The
simple way is the best. • How disciplined imagination works wonders
A wonderful way to get a response from your subconscious mind is
through disciplined or scientific imagination. As previ-ously p ointed
out, your subconscious mind is the builder of the body and control s all
its vital functions. The Bible says, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believ-ing, ye
shall receive. To believe is to accept something as true, or to live in
the state of being it. As you sustain this mood, you shall experienc e
the joy of the answered prayer


 as good or better available in the various localities. For instance,
we usually like the ½ pound foil package of Armour's Cloverbloom, and we have
friends in the Northeast who prefer Keller's fine butter. Doubtless there are many
others we would like to mention if we had tried them and if space were available. In view of our most recent findings for the sixth edition, we have removed the ration
limit on butter. As long as you don't cook with it, there is no adverse effect so far as
choked arteries are concerned. However, ther e is a lot of low-grade rancid butter in
the stores that simply isn't good food. If butter doesn't taste good, don't eat it. Buy one
stick and taste it before you buy the pound. It is important to realize that a grea t advertising battle has been in progress for
years, the margarine, salad oil, and artificial egg & meat makers on one side, and the
butter and egg people on the other, each saying their product is what you should eat. Each side has their staff of paid scientists to speak for them. This is the way the free
enterprise system works, each maker having a right to push his own products until the best wins out, especially in a situation where the experts themselves don't agree. Coconut oil forms more severe arterioscl erosis than any other known oil, apparently
because it is made from coconut meat which is sun-dried overseas and also subjected to microbic fermentation in shipment. Experiments have shown repeatedly that it
produces severe arteriosclerosis. Virgin  olive oil is more readily utilized than other vegetable oils because it is not
refined, however fresh animal fat or butter is  far superior since it is more similar to
our own body fat. If oil or shortening is desired for cooking, some good fat from pork,
beef, or chicken can be rendered out as needed and used fresh. When livestock are
butchered, the internal fat can be wrapped in small parcels, plastic bagged and frozen. One parcel at a time can be taken out and rendered in a few minutes as needed, to
obtain fresh oil. If such fat is cut into strips it can be laid over roasts, etc., to make a
delicious basting gravy. Left-over melted fat should be discarded, for it deteriorates
rapidly. 24. CHOCOLATE AND COCOA
   These delicious treats are wolves in sheep's clothing, for they contain a toxic
alkaloid called theobromine which Nature provided to protect the cacao tree. Few
people seem to know that chocolate and cocoa are the primary and almost the only
cause of the one-sided migraine headach es with their shimmering temporary
disturbance of vision, of the painful hot spots which form on the tongue, of the
exceedingly painful yellow pinhead ulcers which come on the side of the tongue,
gum, lip or cheek. They may start similar ulcers in the stomach. They cause much
nausea in both children and grown-ups. Surplus cocoa is sometimes mixed into commercial animal feeds, and the
handbooks stringently warn against using more than a few per cent, otherwise the animals thus fed are seriously injured or killed. Perhaps some clever person will one day make a fortune by finding out how to
make non-toxic chocolate. 25. SUGAR
   When a large amount of sugar is eaten at one time, within an hour or so any sores,
half healed abrasions, etc., anywhere on the body are likely to begin bleeding. The
open sores and ulcers in the arteries may be thus caused to bleed and form blood clots
which can block small arteries and cause heart attacks and strokes. For this reason over-indulgence in sugar is a hazard to persons already having advanced
arteriosclerosis. The danger lies in a large quantity all at once, like putting five or six
spoons of sugar in a glass of iced tea, or a big helping of thickly iced cake. Small quantities, like a spoonful in a cup of coffee, would likely not cause much problem,
provided there is no diabetes. The bleeding action of sugar seems to be due to the high osmotic pressure it
generates. Osmotic pressure is the source of  the tremendous force exerted by the roots
of trees which can burst strong brickwork. Sugar is so soluble and concentrated that it
quickly races throughout the body, forcing its way under high osmotic pressure into
every nook and cranny between the cells, and in this way it can rupture the fine
network of newly growing blood capillaries in  a sore or ulcer, causing them to bleed. A good nutritional condition makes such bleeding less likely. From the diabetic standpoint, there is something strange about sugar, for if a
diabetic eats food containing manufactured sugar he will suffer an achy fatigued feeling in the arms and legs, but if he eats even greater quantities of the sugar
contained in raw fruit or sugar cane there is no ill effect. The sugar chemists claim
sugar is pure sucrose, the same as in any sweet  fruit or plant, but in some secret subtle
way manufactured sugar is different, in some way changed so that it behaves
differently in the body. Fame and fortune await the man who can make a non-diabetic true sugar. 26. DRUGS, VITAMINS, AND FOOD CONCENTRATES
   Most drugs have side effects which tend to reduce health and strength if taken over
long periods of time. No drugs should be  taken except those prescribed for the
individual case by a licensed medical doctor or dentist for a specified length of time. If habitual drug use is reduced, it should be done gradually over a period of a week or so to avoid any possible upset. On the fresh food diet the body will gradually become
stronger and the arteriosclerotic deposits reduced, so need for drugs will be decreased. Antibiotic drugs should not be taken by mouth as they kill the beneficial microbes
in the intestines and harmful kinds can th en take over, often resulting in serious
prolonged weakness, colitis, and an itchy burning rectum. 27. YEAST AS A VITAMIN FOOD
IMPORTANT! READ THIS
   It is very possible that a person avoiding all bread, cereals, and grain products to
cleanse their arteries might not get enough B vitamins to keep up their energy. We strongly suggest that the minimum daily requirements of B vitamins be taken in capsule form, or better still by far, yeast can be taken. This booklet has always
suggested yeast, and recently we have developed a wonderful new way to take it. Dried yeast powder & tablets cause aftertaste and indigestion, and are expensive. You can buy fresh compressed block yeast at bakery shops for a few cents a pound. Tell them that you are going to eat it, and you want the freshest they have. You
mustn't eat it raw. It has to be cooked to kill the fermentation, otherwise you will have
gas, and will not properly digest it. To cook a pound of yeast, bring 1 cup of water to the boil in a pot on low heat, put
in the yeast about 1/4 pound at a time and stir constantly, adding more yeast as it melts. After it is all melted, keep stirring a little longer until it puffs up and begins to
boil. Put it in a little Pyrex measuring pitcher, cover with foil and put it in the
refrigerator, where it will keep fine for a month or more if you don't foul it by
drinking out of it or dipping into it with a spoon. You can flavor it with honey, molasses, vanilla, or whatever you like. Pour yourself
a few spoonsful each day, so one person would use up the pound in three to four
weeks. You can take it straight from a spoon, or mix it into a beverage or food. Yeast contains the B vitamins, proteins, and various energy-giving factors still only
partially known to science. There is nothing else we have found which will pep you
up as fast as yeast, make you feel better, and keep you going strong. It reduces the
body's demand for blood flow, thereby reducing the work the heart has to do, letting it
tick along in an easy regular way. Many people think they have a bad heart, with an irregular skipping pulse and a fluttery full feeling in the upper chest, when all they
need is a little help from yeast. It seems to help people sleep better also. 28. THE USE OF LOCALIZED HEAT
   It is possible to speed up the atherosclerosis cleaning and healing process in certain
localized spots  by the use of heat. The value of hot water bottles, heating pads and
hot water soaking has been known for ages, but few know why it works or how to use
it properly: Nature has designed our bodies to use heat as a kind of alarm signal which calls upon our reserve forces to concentrate at whatever spot becomes warmer than
the rest of the body, so as to fight off infection, clean up foreign materials, and speed
the healing process. This is why the skin feels hot around a severe infection like a
boil. But we must remember that the secret of success is to put the heat on one spot at a
time,  and concentrate on that spot daily for weeks until the desired relief is obtained
there. For instance, most people fail when the doctor tells them to soak their knee by
saying "I'll just get in a hot bath and soak all over." Sorry, it won't work, because the
effect


ofPDF.comOceanofPDF.comSeveral times in my medic al career I have been privileged
to witness miraculous cures. The most recent began last
year when a 32-year-old Indian woman came to see me in
my oﬀice outside Boston. She sat quietly facing me in a
blue silk sari. To keep her composure, she clasped her
hands tightly in her lap. Her name was Chitra, she said,
and together with her husband, Raman, she ran a
neighborhood import store in New Y ork City. A few months earlier, Chitra had noticed a small lump in
her left breast that was sensitive to the touch. She
underwent surgery to remove it, but unfortunately the
surgeon found that the lump was malignant. When he
explored further, he detected that the cancer had spread to
her lungs. After removing the diseas ed breast and a large portion of
tissue around it, Chitra’s doctor gave her initial  doses of
radiation and then place d her on intensive chemotherapy. This is standard procedure for treating breast cancer and
saves many lives. But the lung cancer was going to bemuch harder to treat; it was obvious to everyone that
Chitra was in a very precarious position. Examining her, I noticed that she was very anxious. When
I tried to reassure her, she surprised me with a touching
statement: “I don’t mind for myself if I have to die, but my
husband will be so lonely without me. Sometimes I pretend
to be asleep and then sit up all night, just thinking about
him. I know  Raman loves me, but after I’m gone, he will
start seeing American girls. I can’t bear to lose him to an
American girl.” She stopped and looked at me with
suﬀering in her eyes. “I know I shouldn’t say that, but I
think you understand.”
You do not get used to the sorrow that cancer creates,
but I felt a deeper sorrow from knowing that time was
Chitra’s enemy. For the moment, she still looked healthy. She had even managed to hide her disease from her
relatives, dreading having to be watched as she wasted
away. We both knew it was going to be very bad for her. No one can say that he knows a cure for advanced breast
cancer. Conventional therapy had provided all that it could
for Chitra. Given that her cancer had already spread to
another organ, the statistics said that her chance of
surviving for ﬁve years was less than 10 percent, even with
the most intensive routine of chemotherapy that could be
safely administered. I asked her to start a new course of treatme nts, as
prescribed by A yurveda. Like me, Chitra had grown up in India, but she had little
idea of Ayurveda. Her grandparents’ generation was the
last to “believe” in it, I would imagine; today, every
progressive Indian living in a big city would prefer  Western
medicine if he could aﬀord it. To explain to Chitra why I
wanted her seemingly to turn her back on progress, I told
her that her cancer was not just a physical disease but a
holistic one. Her whole body knew she had cancer and wassuﬀering from it; a tissue sample taken from her lungs
would show that malignant cells had migrated there, while
a sample from her liver would be negative. Yet, her liver
had the same blood coursing through it, and therefore it
picked up the signals of disease that were coming  from the
lungs. This in turn aﬀected its own functions. Similarly, when she felt pain in her chest or had to sit
down owing to shortness of breath, signals were racing
throughout her body, going to and from her brain. Sensing
the pain, her brain had to respond to it. The fatigue she
was feeling, along with her depression and anxie ty, was a
brain response that had physical consequences. So it was
wrong to think of her cancer as just an isolated tumor that
needed to be destroyed. She had a holistic diseas e and for
that she needed holistic medicine. The word holistic, which tends to oﬀend orthodox
doctors, simply means an approach that includes the mind
and body together. I believe Ayurveda does this better than
any alternative, although it may not be very apparent on
the surface. In fact, many well-publicized mind-body
techniques such as hypnosis and biofeedback are far more
ﬂashy than Ayurveda. If Chitra had gotten sick at home in
Bombay, her grandmother might have ﬁxed her some
special meals, brought home medicinal herbs in a brown
paper sack from the Ayurvedic pharmacy, and insisted that
she stay in bed. Various purgatives and oil massages might
be prescribe d to clean the body of toxins generated by the
cancer. If there was a spiritual tradition in the family, she
would have begun to meditate. In essence, I was going to
have her do these same things, with a few additions. There
is as yet no scientiﬁc reason why any of this should work,
except that it does. Ayurveda has hit on something deep in
nature. Its knowledge is rooted not in technology but in
wisdom, which I would deﬁne as a reliable understanding
of the human organism gathered over many centuries.“I want you to go to a special clinic outside Bosto n for a
week or two,” I told Chitra. “Some things that will happen
to you there will seem highly unusual. You are used to the
idea of a hospital as a place with respirators, IV tubes,
transfusions, and chemotherapy. By that standard, what we
will do for you at this clinic will seem like nothing. Basically, I want to get your body into a deep, deep state of
rest.”
Chitra was a trusting person; she agreed to go. In part, of
course, she had no altern ative. Modern medicine had done
all it could, using the strategy of physical assau lt on her
cancer. The initial advantage of assaulting a disease is that
you hope to wipe it out physically as soon as possible. The
tremendous disadvantag e is that the whole body is
damaged in the assault on one of its parts. In the case of
chemotherapy, there is the very real danger that the
immune system will become so weakened that the door is
opened for other cancers to develop in the future. However,
untreated breast cancer is considered deadly, and today’s
medicine is good at wiping it out over the short run. In a
climate of opinion ruled by fear, people prefer to run the
risks of the cure rather than the disease. I referred Chitra to the clinic where I work, in Lancaster,
Massachusetts. She stayed for a week and received
treatments; she also learned an outpatient program to use
at home that included a change of diet, some Ayurvedic
herbs, a speciﬁc daily routine including simple yoga
exercises, and instruction in meditation. These measures
look diﬀeren t on the surface, but underneath they all aimed
at bringing her day-to-day existence to a settled, restful
state, buildin g a foundation for healing. In Ayurveda, a
level of total, deep relaxation is the most important
precondition for curing any disorder. The underlying
concept is that the body  knows how to maintain balance
unless throw n oﬀ by disease; therefore, if one wants torestore the body’s own healing ability, everything should be
done to bring it back into balance. It is a very simple notion
that has profound consequences. Chitra was also given two
special mental techniques that went directly to the root of
her cancer. (I will say more about these later.) —
Chitra followed her program faithfully and came back to
see me every six weeks. She also continued the course of
chemotherapy set up by her doctor at home in New York. When we talked about that I said, “If I could conﬁdently put
you on nothing but Ayurveda, I would—the deterioration in
your physical state would then be much less. But you came
to me a very sick woman, and we know that the
chemotherapy works as an outside approach. Let’s combine
the outer and the inner and hope that they add up to a real
cure.”
For almost a year I followed Chitra’s progress. She
always listen ed with a trusting attitude, yet as she returned
for each visit, it was clear that she was not improving. Her
lung X rays were still bad, her shortness of breath grew
worse, and she began to look weaker and more dejected as
the disease advanced. Her voice took on a note of panic. Finally the day came when Chitra did not show up for her
appointment. I waited out the week and then called her
home. The news was not good. Chitra’s husband, Raman, told
me that she had suddenl y developed a high fever and had
to be hospitalized over the weekend. For some time her
lungs had been seeping ﬂuid into the pleural cavity that
surrounds them, and her doctor suspected that an infection
had set in. Given her grim progno sis, there was no
guarantee that Chitra would ever leave the