Dampness  when the air is dry or Heat in the dead of a ercely cold
winter. Whenever specic “weather” starts to dominate the body milieu,
it can become a pathogenic stress. This may be both the source and
the outcome the root and the fruit, of imbalance. Usually a
multiplicity of factors contrib ute to the disease pattern in which oneexcess conditio n combines with another. There is not necessarily a
causal chain of events, but a circle o invariable associations. WIND
The nature of Wind  is movement that rises and falls unpredictably,
rustling and disturbing the location and direction of things. Because
spring is a time of sudden and rapid change, it is considered the
season of Wind. Both this season and climate correspond to the
Wood Phase. Of all the climatic forces that can engender disharmony, Wind  is
deemed the most virulent, as in “an ill wind that blows. ” The
concept of Wind  refers not only to the movement of air, but to the
capricious, foreboding nature or shifting conditions; hence the
expressions “winds of war” and “blown away. ” Being perched in a
tree as it’s shaken by gusts of gale-force wind conjures up an image
of instability, disequilibrium, and fright. Wind  can steal into the
body, just as it nds its way through the cracks and crevices of
doors and windows. It creates an intense draft, the nature of which
is to unsettle and disrupt surface and interior circulation. In the body, Wind  can manifest as jerky movement, dizziness,
uncoordination, or symptoms that migrate from one region of the
body to another, suddenly appearing and disappearin g without
apparent pattern. Wind  invading the surface of the body manifests
as soreness, itching, and sensitivity of the skin and muscles. The
latter occurs when circulation is obstructed by external attack. Disorders of external Wind  are the common cold and u,
characterized by dizziness and migratory pains in the joints,
muscles, and head. Diseases of internal Wind  are characterized by
labile emotion s, vertigo, tremors, headaches, seizures, strokes, and
the agitation of the Liver Qi by fever, deciency of Blood, or
emotional instability. Because of the ability of Wind  to penetrate the
body’s defensive perimeter, Wind  can create a portal through which
the other adverse climates— Dampness, Dryness, Cold, and Heat—
enter the body. HEAT
The nature of Heat is to accelera te metabolic activity, dilate blood
vessels, and activate circulation. Heat tends to rise and move out
toward the surface. Summ er is dominated by Heat, and both
correspond to the Fire Phase. When Heat becomes excessive, it generates conditions such as
inammation, rapid pulse, and fever. Inammation is characterized
by redness, swelling, and pain. Among other types of swelling and
pain, Heat is distinguish ed by the appearance of redness and the
feeling of increased warmth. In Chinese medicine it is not necessary
to have a fever recorded on a thermometer to establish the presence
of excess Heat somewhere in the body. Hot conditions are often
associated with thirst, dryness, constipation, dicult urination,
agitation, a desire for cold, and an aversion to warm foods, drinks,
and climate. The tendency for Heat to move toward the surface is illustrated by
perspiration, the manifestation of Yang Heat released or discharged
through the skin. This may be due to increased metabolic activity
from exercise, feverish disea ses, or the ingestion of warm or spicy
foods. When Heat invades the surface, it may also show up as skin
eruptions such as red rashes, welts, sores, ulcers, boils, and acne. A redde ned appearance of the face, neck, and eyes reects the
rising tendency of Heat, often occurring in association with intense
emotional states such as anger, happiness, or embarrassment. A
person “red-fa ced” with embarrassment, “livid [or purple] with
rage,” “hot under the collar,” and so on manifests the ascension of
internal Heat. Certain B vitamins, thyroid hormone, sugar, coee, adrenaline,
spicy food, alcohol, and amphetamines all produce Heat. If someone
already has excess Heat, these substances may exacerbate the
condition and encourage the accompanying symptoms. DAMPNESSThe nature of Dampness  is to sink and accumulate, like a stagnant
swamp. Dampness  is characterized by an abnormal buildup of uids
or excess secretions. It appears as swelling and a sense of fullness
and heaviness, locally or throughout the body. Because of its
tendency to collect and coagulate, Dampness  easily causes stagnation
and obstruction of circulation. Late summer is dominated by
humidity or Dampness  and corresponds to the languid and sultry
Earth Phase. During this period of relative inactivity, the air is
motionless, the water is still, the atmosphere is heavy. Whether
there is signicant humidity  in the air or not, feelings that are
sluggish, apath etic, dull, or torpid provide evidence of the inuence
of Dampness. Dampness on the surface of the body shows up as oily skin, sticky
perspiration, subcutaneous edema, and swelling around the joints. Internally, Dampness  is indicated by the appea rance of phlegm,
abundant discharge of mucus, water retention, and edema of the
abdomen and extremities. Heaviness of the head and limbs, dull
pains, and lethargy characterize Dampness. Dairy produc ts, starchy
and glutinous foods, steroids, birth control pills, and watery fruits
and vegetables generate Dampness. Dampness  rarely appears by itself. It is usually accompanied by
Cold, Heat, or Wind. When Dampness  combines with Cold there is
constricted circulation, aversion to Cold, stiness and soreness of the
muscles and joints, and fatigue. When Dampness  combines with Heat there may be red, painful
swellings, thick purulent discharge, blisters as in herpes or shingles,
and inammations such as cystitis, jaundice, and bronchitis. Any
sore, abscess, or ulcer with pus or uid indicates Dampness  or Damp
Heat Sugar, alcohol, and fatty or fried foods create Damp Heat. Dampness  combined with Wind  produces swellings that appear,
disappear, and migrate (such as hives, swollen lymph nodes,
accumulation of air and uid in the stomach or intestines), bubbly
phlegm, and itching, oozing sores and ulcers. In severe cases Wind
and Dampness  can together obstruct the brain and sense organs,
producing seizures, strokes, and other neurologic disorderscharacterized by clumsiness, uncoordination, disequilibr ium as in
vertigo, and muddled, fuzzy thinking. DRYNESS
The nature of Dryness  is to wither and shrivel. Dryness  damages
uids and is manifested by symptoms of dehydration. Brittle hair
and nails, cracked and wrinkled skin and mucous membranes,
irritated eyes, dry stool and constipation, lack of perspiration, and
scanty urine occur with Dryness. Dryness  dominates autumn, the
season associated with the Metal Phase. External Dryness  usually occurs in hot or windy weather. However,
internal Dryness  occurs when body uids are damaged or lost due to
other factors. Heat, profu se perspiration, prolonged diarrhea,
excessive urina tion, and loss of blood may all lead to Dryness. Hot,
spicy foods, stimulants, diuretics, antihistamines, and other
astringent medications that dry secretions and arrest discharges can
result in Dryness. Dryness  in turn can generate irritation,
inammation, and Heat due to a lack of lubrication and moisture. In
conditions of weakness and deciency, loss of blood and uids will
lead to internal Dryness. Another consequence of Dryness  due to
decient Blood  or Moisture  is the appearance of internal Wind
experienced as dizziness and disturbances of vision and hearing. This may arise in conditions like anemia. COLD
The nature of Cold is to slow things down by chilling them. Cold
depresses metabolism and retards circulation. Winter is dominated
by Cold, and both correspond to the Water Phase. When Cold attacks the surface, the skin and muscles contract with
shivering and goose bumps. This is accompanied by fever if the
body’s defensive Yang energy is mobilized to repel the invader. This
protective response may accompany any of the Adverse Climates  that
frequently appear in combination with each other. Cold can also arise internally from either a deciency of metab olic
heat (Yang) or the ingesti on of an exces s of food, liquid, or medicine
that is considered to be Cold. The concept of Cold includes that
which has been refrigerated and is thermally cold as well as foods
that are


 New York could be operated from
an ice box and a pantry, were they to abolish the cooking
habit. This in all probability w ill be done a thousand or more
years from now, when people learn the true relations between
food, energy and health. In order to gain some conception of the number of
articles used in the preparation of a Thanksgiving dinner, the
authors took a very careful inventory during its preparation,
from the kitchen of a New York hotel to which they had
entrée. The total was 192, while dozens of articles counted as
one, such as catsups, sauces, mayonnaise dressings, chow-
chows. Such things were composed of from two to half a
dozen different ingredients, which, if they could have been
ascertained, would have run the grand total up, in all
probability, to 250 different articles. Is this not a hint from which an y one at all gifted with the
power of analysis might draw a few deductions that would
explain why it is that nearly all diseases common to civilized
man have their origin in the stomach and intestinal organs? All these food items must be carried in stock by
somebody. They are first collected from the place of their
growth, and brought to storehouses, factories, packing
houses, mills, and cookeries, and put into casks, hogsheads,
barrels, kegs, jugs, bottles, tin cans, bags, intestines of
animals, and every conceivable thing that will hold liquid,
powder, grain and piece matter, and are carted to some place
of storage, sold by commission men, resold to jobbers, again
carried in stock for a time, sold  to dealers, where they are
again held up and finally sold to the consumer, who has no
conception of their age or where they are from, and but little
knowledge of their value as food. All this is extremely complicated and expensive. It costs
money every time this vast number of things are stopped and
stored, and more every time they are moved. Every day added
to their age renders them more valueless as food and more
expensive as commodities. Not content with this aged,
unnatural pickled and preserved condition, the housewife lays
hold of them and proceeds to give them their finishing touch
by fire. On the checkered highway of man's curious doings, there
is indeed nothing stranger than th is. We have in this country
hundreds of different articles of food which can be most
advantageously used without cooking; yet the cook intrudes
his art, bakes, boils, stews, broils and heats these things, until their original elements are wholly changed, until many of
them are rendered almost totally valueless. Thus robbed of their elementary and delicious flavors,
the cook endeavors to make them appeal to the sense of taste
by mixing, jumbling together, spicing, and using decoctions
called extracts, the properties of which he knows absolutely
nothing, until the original substance Is so disguised that it
cannot be recognized in taste, color or flavor. Those who
enjoy their eating most and who have reached the highest
standard of health and physi cal development, have succeeded
in reducing their diet to less than a dozen articles. It seems that everything in connection with the affairs of
people unites to recommend this simple method of living. We
all know that taste, in the selection of his food, is the supreme
power that dominates man, and if he will not pervert it, but
will give it a chance, it will lead him into perfect obedience of
nature's great dietetic laws. AS A REMEDY. UNDER  the auspices of the Technology Club there was a
meeting of about 100 of New York's most eminent doctors
held a few evenings ago at the offices of Dr.——— to listen
to a lecture on the subject of radium, and to consider and
demonstrate as far as possible the application of this strange
metal to the curing of disease. The opening remarks of the
noted physician who was entertaining the assembly were as
follows:
"There is nothing dawnin g upon the profession with
more certainty than that medicine as a curative agent is
passing. The most learned men are depending less and less
each year upon drugs as a means of combating disease. The
best men in the profession are changing both their views and
their practice. For many hundred years consumption has been
treated with drugs, and nobody has ever been cured by them. To-day we send patients into the open air, where they are kept
winter and summer, sleeping in tents, and they get well." We are perfectly willing to accept this statement as true. We are willing also to believe that all disease is a mere result
of violating natural law, and that the only true remedy is
found in obedience. We believe that foods occupy the same
place in building a man that br icks, iron, stone and timber do
in building a house. We believe that the kind of material
(foods) used will determine to a very large extent the kind of
man you will have when you get him done. We believe further that the kind of material with which
you keep him repaired and fed will determine wholly whether
he will be sick or well. If "more than 90 per cent. of all
human ills have their origin in the stomach and intestinal
organs, and are caused by incorrect habits of eating and
drinking," then those human ills certainly can be cured by
removing the cause and selecting such foods as will
counteract these abnormal conditions. In combating this tremendous per cent. of disease, we
must depend upon foods in their natural or elemental state,
because their food and chemical properties have not been
changed. We know—or should know what they are. We
cannot rely upon foods whose chemical properties and
nutritive values have been changed and dissipated by heat. The change that has taken place in them is measured
entirely by the amount of heat to which they have been
subjected. Certain protoplasmic or plant life is destroyed at
145 degrees F. This destruction continues on up to 212, the
boiling point. If the article is re moved then, and put into an
oven or a dry heat, it can be carried on up to 300 or 400
degrees, where it becomes a mere bit of ashes or charcoal,—
totally destroyed. At every step on the way from 145 degrees to 400
degrees the article becomes of less and less value as food, and
less and less reliable as a remedy or an element of
construction of tissue and builder of life. We know that indigestion, our national ill, can be cured
by the proper selection of uncooked foods. We know that
constipation, its consequence, can also be cured by their use. We know that irritation of the mucous membrane or lining of
the stomach, that hyperpeptia, or  fermentation, and the desire
for over-eating can all be cured by the use of uncooked foods. We know that where there is no indigestion, fermentation and
constipation in the motive machinery of the body, the blood is
pure and rich, and that pure blood builds every organ and inch
of the body to its highest capacity. We know that, as compared with cooked foods, it only
takes about half the quantity of uncooked food to sustain life. We believe that with these evils eliminated from the
human system the ninety per cent. of ills referred to would
nearly all disappear. In treating abnormal conditions which we are pleased to
call disease, by proper feeding, it requires the knowledge of a
food expert—one who is acqua inted with the chemical
properties and the process of the conversion of food into
energy in the human body. For instance, a great majority of stomach troubles are
caused by the eating of too many starchy foods. This causes
hyperpeptia, or fermentation. The consumption of too much
starch also causes calcareous or limy deposits to collect in the
2,000 miles of tubing in the body called veins, capillaries and
arteries. These deposits create stiffness and rigidity in the
joints and muscles. This condition is specially manifest in the morning, after
the body has lain in a horizontal position for six or eight
hours. This condition marks the real difference between youth
and age. It can be remedied by the elimination of cereal starch
from the dietary and the substitu tion of such foods as will be
remedial and counter-active. In foods can be found nearly every chemical and
medicinal element that is contained in medicines, and in this
form they can be taken as nature intended them, instead of
being extracted, concentrated, and rendered artificial and
unnatural, as nearly all medicines are. In none of the varied forms of matter on this globe is the
warfare of construction and dest ruction more seriously waged
than in the human body. What we call health is but a
condition where the powers of c onstruction are made to excel
the powers of destruction. By correct eating and the pursuit of
natural habits, this condition can be maintained for a great
number of years; but when we aid the forces of destruction by
taking into the body such things as tea, coffee, tobacco,
distilled and ardent spirits, and the host of table condiments
that are in daily use; all of which possess only the elements of
destruction, we must not be disappointed when we find
ourselves devoid of energy and vitality and landed well over
into the


	which	make	functioning	in	the
ordinary	world	quite	difficult. In	that	state,	the	option	to	leave	the	world	at	any	time	persists	and	is	a
permanent,	open	option	as	though	it	was	part	of	a	silent	agreement	or
knowingness. There	is	no	obligation	to	persist	or	continue. Q:	How	then	does	earthly	life	resume? A:	After	a	period	of	years,	adjustment	is	made	with	the	relearning	of
communication	styles	and	a	reacquaintance	with	human	affairs	sufficient
to	function. Recent	history	had	to	be	caught	up	on. This	can	be
accomplished	by	getting	a	television,	watching	the	news	reports,	and
reading	newspaper	headlines. There	is	an	ongoing	dialog	within	the
overall	field	of	human	consciousness	that	is	as	though	transparent	by	its
essence;	and	by	recognition,	it	offers	aspects	with	which	one	has	an	option
to	respond. Q:	What	persists? A:	The	Presence	and	the	awareness	of	the	Self	are	ever	present. The	residual
personality	interacts	with	the	expectations	of	the	world	in	order	to	remain
appropriate	and	not	elicit	comment	or	notice	of	anything	other	than	the
ordinary. Although	this	ordinariness	is	learned	and	voluntary,	it	requires
the	expenditure	of	energy	and	attention	to	form. Interaction	with	the	form
of	human	life	can	only	be	done	for	periods	of	time	and	can	seem	quite
exhausting	as	it	is	not	one’s	natural	state. Not	all	the	world’s	requests	or
wishes	can	be	complied	with,	so	there	is	a	tendency	to	conserve	energy	in
order	to	meet	‘needs’	rather	than	wants. The	sage	persists	only	as	a	vehicle	whose	purpose	is	delineated	by
Divine	Will	as	expressed	through	the	Self. One	is	merely	a	witness	to	the
action,	which	is	spontaneous. The	body	continues	to	perform	like	a	live
puppet	and	behave	in	human	fashion. Its	needs	are	fulfilled	automatically
by	its	interaction	with	the	universe. Q:	Is	there	any	‘regret’? A:	Not	regret,	but	there	is	an	awareness	that	the	expectations	and	wishes	of
the	world	often	cannot	be	met. Q:	What	would	you	specify	as	‘your’	function? A:	To	be	that	which	I	am	to	the	world	and	explain	it	as	clearly	as	possible	in
order	to	facilitate	spiritual	awareness	and	thus	contribute	to	the	relief	of
the	suffering	of	mankind. The	energy	field	with	which	that	function	isaccompanied	does	by	itself	silently	contribute	to	the	well-being	of	human
life	and	diminish	human	suffering,	which	itself	is	a	satisfaction	and	a
completion. Q:	What	prayers	are	useful? A:	Ask	to	be	the	servant	of	the	Lord,	a	vehicle	of	Divine	Love,	a	channel	of
God’s	Will. Ask	for	direction	and	divine	assistance	and	surrender	all
personal	will	through	devotion. Dedicate	one’s	life	to	the	service	of	God. Choose	love	and	peace	above	all	other	options. Commit	to	the	goal	of
unconditional	love	and	compassion	for	all	life	in	all	its	expressions	and
surrender	all	judgment	to	God. Q:	How	can	we	forgive	those	who	do	not	seem	to	deserve	it? It	seems	like
an	impossibility. A:	By	understanding	others’	frames	of	reference,	human	limitations	and
conditioning,	and	genetic	and	social	programming,	much	rancor	as	well	as
harm	can	be	avoided	by	acknowledging	and	accepting	the	human
limitation. Unrealistic	expectations	of	human	nature	prevail	and	are
propagated	by	denial	and	the	use	of	hypothetical	arguments. Political/sociological	hypotheses	are	usually	proven	over	time	to	be
incorrect	and	based	on	false	assumptions	about	human	desires,	conditions,
and	limitations. They	are	also	naïve	in	that	such	formulas	almost	always
ignore	context	altogether	and	naïvely	make	false	presumptions	about
human	behaviors	without	attention	to	circumstance. For	instance,	honesty	is	possible,	but	only	if	certain	conditions	are
present. If	needs,	desires,	or	hunger	reach	a	certain	intensity,	then	the
‘luxury’	of	honesty	has	to	be	sacrificed. Poverty	has	its	own	rules	of
survival. Unsatisfied	biological	drives	may	overrule	hypothetical	ideals	of
behavior,	e.g.,	the	rationality	of	the	prefrontal	cortex	may	be	overwhelmed
by	the	arousal	of	the	old,	deep-seated	animal	brain. It	is	an	artificial
situation	that	defies	millions	of	years	of	biology	and	the	rules	of	racial
survival,	including	the	effects	of	pheromones. Another	factor	overlooked	in	human	expectation	is	individual
variability	and	aberrant	individual	defects	of	control	as	well	as	deviant
training,	conditions,	and	defects	in	brain	chemistry. These	individuals	are
often	pushed	beyond	their	limits	by	circumstances	or	even	by	intoxication. All	these	realizations	tend	to	temper	our	expectations	of	perfection	in	a
world	of	limitation. People	in	our	society	are	not	educated	as	to	human	limitation	and
variability. Our	puritanical	society	tends	to	pontificate	and	putconsiderable	emphasis	on	such	imaginary,	nonexistent	faculties	as	‘will
power’,	which	is	used	as	an	excuse	by	moralists	primarily	to	justify
vindictiveness. That	there	is	no	such	faculty	as	will	power	which	can	be
relied	upon	becomes	obvious	to	any	student	of	human	activity	who	would
observe	that	it	is	entirely	lacking	in	most	people	most	of	the	time	and	only
marginally	operative	in	a	few	under	favorable	circumstances. The	fallacy
of	will	power	underlies	many	of	mankind’s	unsolvable	social	problems. If	we	view	average	people	as	flawed,	limited,	and	unable	to	be	other
than	what	they	are	at	any	given	moment	or	in	any	given	circumstance,	then
most	negative	feelings	and	judgments	can	be	avoided. People	are	then	seen
more	as	being	limited	rather	than	as	‘bad’,	‘selfish’,	or	‘wrong’. Life	is
then	considerably	easier	and	more	peaceful. Individual	experiences	of	life	are	tempered,	tailored,	and	considerably
determined	by	one’s	personal	level	of	consciousness	as	well	as	that	of
prevailing	society. As	science	advances,	it	is	discovering	that	more	and
more	of	human	behavior,	especially	deviant	or	abnormal	behavior,	as	well
as	character	traits,	is	inherited. Many	predominant	characteristics	are
already	set	and	in	operation	during	early	infancy. There	is,	for	instance,	a
depressive	disorder	called	“dysthymia,”	which	begins	in	childhood	and
persists	for	a	lifetime. It	is	accompanied	by	the	deficiency	of	an	essential
brain	neurotransmitter. Many	mood	and	behavioral	improvements	cannot
be	made	by	the	individual	unaided,	and	often	the	situation	cannot	be
resolved	even	with	expert	help. Q:	Resolution	of	most	conflict,	then,	is	possible	by	education? A:	That	is	true. Compassion	and	wisdom	go	hand	in	hand. To	complain	about
the	limitations	and	defects	of	others	is	futile	and	unrealistic. Q:	What	about	ideals? A:	They	can	be	hoped	for	but	not	expected. Goals	are	hypothetical	intellectual
constructs	and	can	be	sources	of	inspiration,	but	idealizations	often	refer	to
prideful	conceits. Conventionally,	ideals	are


bad habit. She could see that to Emilio all these clippings
were useless junk. She had saved some of these clippings
for a long time, even coupons fr om when she was in college
over twenty years earlier! Suddenly, when she br ought her mind back into the r oom
wher e her husband was still ar guing that she didn’t need
half of what was in the drawers, she began laughing outloud. In just a few moments, she went fr om feeling
nauseous when her own shadow was e xposed to being set
free when she br oke the trance of her pr ojection. She saw
how she displayed the same quality as her father, even if
hers was hidden in closed cabinet drawers. She embraced
the fact that she was a hoar der and ask ed her husband to
please help her clean out and thr ow away some of her
clippings, because she knew it would be diﬃcult to do on
her own. She loved all her pieces of paper just as her father
loved his. Days later when Emilio got not only one drawer but thr ee,
Pilar decided to shar e her story with her father and ask that
he for give her for being so judgmental. Both father and
daughter had a good laugh together and hugged, which is
something they did as a r outine gr eeting, but never as an
authentic e xpression of love and r espect. Her own
admission of guilt opened up a new loving and r espectful
relationship between P ilar and her father that allowed him
little by little to let go of his past. He even allowed her to
help him ﬁll a few garbage bags each Sunday. Here’s what’s so e xciting. When you understand
projection, you will never see the world the same way again. In this holographic world, everyone and everything is a
mirror, and you ar e always seeing yourself and talking to
yourself. If you choose, you can now look at what
emotionally aﬀects you as an alar m, a clue to uncover your
shadow, a catalyst for gr owth that gives you an opportunity
to reclaim a hidden aspect of yourself. Every shadow aspect
you embrace will allow you to e xperience mor e love, mor e
compassion, mor e peace, and a gr eater sense of fr eedom. And ther e is even mor e great news about owning our
projections. When we do, the people in our life e xperience
increased fr eedom and have an opportunity to shif t their
behavior. When we disown qualities, behaviors, and feelings
and attribute them to other people, those traits appear to
actually e xist in other people and not ourselves. But timeand time again I’ve seen that when people wak e up fr om
the trance of pr ojection, the people they have been
projecting onto change—they become fr ee to show up
diﬀer ently. When we can see them as they ar e, release them
from our own judgments and clouded per ceptions, a new
reality will emer ge. Ultimately, we must come to a place
wher e we can uncover, own, and embrace every quality that
exists, so that we no longer have to pr oject our disowned
aspects on others, so we can be fr ee to see people thr ough
the wide lens of compassion rather than the illusional lens of
projection. It is then that we will be fr ee to love not only
ourselves, but all those we see in the world. It is then that
we will e xperience true fr eedom. UNMASKING OUR SHADOW
Another eﬀective way of ﬁnding unclaimed parts of
ourselves is to e xplor e the r epetitive behavior patter ns we
have struggled with for years. These patter ns of behavior,
which stem fr om unclaimed and r ejected parts of ourselves,
become our nemesis. Of ten we trick ourselves into believing
that our less than acceptable behavior is the pr oblem rather
than sear ching for the r oot cause of the behavior. We may
spend years ﬁghting with the same ten pounds, or
cigar ettes, womanizing, or overspending, only to ﬁnd
ourselves right back wher e we started or in an even worse
position. But if we understand that our patter ns of behavior
were formed fr om repressed feelings or a disowned or
shamed aspect of our shadow, we can go to the sour ce of
our behavior and dismantle the patter n.
All of our habitual behavior stems fr om an e xperience or
experiences in the past that led us to cr eate particular
interpr etations about ourselves. F rom those interpr etations
certain thoughts wer e bor n, and these thoughts made us
feel a particular way about ourselves, of ten a negative one.Our desir e to distance ourselves fr om these unwanted
feelings drives us to ﬁnd ways to mak e ourselves feel
better; thus the birth of our self -sabotaging behaviors. Annette was six or seven the ﬁrst time her mom told her
she was going out and leaving her alone for the evening. As
the sk y dark ened, she wander ed ar ound the empty
apartment and decided that her mom didn’t love her. She
was plagued by the thought that something bad would
happen to her mom and she would be lef t alone for ever. This caused her to feel alone, afraid, panick y, and, above all,
diﬀer ent fr om the other kids whose moms stayed home and
cooked dinner. To douse these feelings, Annette found
herself taking multiple trips to the kitchen, wher e her mom
had lef t a big pink bo x of donuts. She lear ned that, at least
for a short time, the tr eats made her painful feelings not so
bad. If we e xplor e our behavior patter ns—especially those we
don’t wish to r epeat—we always uncover a shadow aspect
of ourselves that we ar e trying to hide or cover up. The
repetitive patter ns we ﬁnd ourselves trapped in always echo
back to us feelings that accompanied the original wound. Then, in a gr eat cover -up, we cr eate patter ns of behavior
that ultimately r einfor ce the wound rather than giving us
the relief that we seek. Helena was constantly overwhelmed and anxious,
because she found herself pr ocrastinating on work pr ojects,
tasks at home, and things lik e getting the oil changed in her
car or making an appointment to go to the dentist. Every
time she came face-to -face with the consequences of her
procrastination, she made a str ong pr omise to herself that
she would change. Helena was clear that this patter n of
behavior was emotionally depleting and debilitating. F illed
with r egret, Helena called me pr oclaiming that she just
couldn’t tak e it one mor e day. After listening to her rant, I
asked her if she was r eady to ﬁnd the r oot cause of this
patter n, the portion of the shadow that was r obbing her of apeaceful and joyous life. W ith tr epidation and a bit of
resignation, she agr eed. So I ask ed my ﬁrst question: What kind of person would
procrastinate? Suddenly she saw an image of her stepfather
lying on the couch with the television blasting; he was not
getting his work done ar ound the house, and her mother
was enraged. As she located the r oot of the wound, she felt
the embar rassment and shame of r ealizing that she car ried
that same undesirable quality her stepfather had. When I
asked her what interpr etation she made about her
stepfather, she told me that she deemed him a lazy bum,
even though he was very successful in his car eer. Helena,
who was at that time just shy of her thirteenth birthday,
decided that fr om that day forwar d she would never be lazy
like her stepdad. In fact, those ar ound her would say that
just the opposite was true—that she was a doer, highly
eﬀective, pr oductive, driven, and ener getic. But Helena
always knew what was lef t undone, waiting for her to deal
with in her own life. She r ecalled the names she hear d being
shouted at her stepdad—“Y ou’re a good-for -nothing lazy
bum!”—and easily identiﬁed the inter nal dialogue that
plagued her on an ongoing basis; the demoralizing truth
was that she was r epeating these same wor ds to herself
more and mor e each year. But now as an adult, she saw that even though she was
extremely busy doing tons of things each day, she wasn’t
able to do what was truly important to the success of her
own life. Even though she sat appalled for a few minutes at
the thought that she might be lazy just lik e her stepdad, she
could see that this shadow quality, which she had so
masterfully hidden, had tak en root in her own life and now
had to be weeded out if she was


aking	hormones	or	calcium
supplements	is	a	shot	in	the	dark;	it	in	no	way	addresses	the	imbalance	in	the	liver	and
gallbladder	caused	by	reduced	bile	output	due	to	gallstones. Rickets
	and
osteomalacia
	are	diseases	that	affect	the	calcification	process	of	bones. In
either	case,	the	bones	become	soft,	especially	those	of	the	lower	limbs,	which	are
bowed
by	the	weight	of	the	body. The	fat-soluble	vitamin	D,
calciferol,
	is	essential	for	balanced
calcium	and	phosphorus	metabolism	and,	therefore,	healthy	bone	structures. Insufficient
bile	secretion	and	disturbance	of	the	cholesterol	metabolism,	both	of	which	are	caused	by
gallstones	in	the	liver,	lead	to	vitamin	D	deficiency. Lack	of	sufficient	exposure	to	natural
sunlight	further	aggravates	these	conditions. Infection	of	bones,	or
osteomyelitis,
	may	result	when	there	has	been	a	prolonged
lymphatic	obstruction	in	the	body,	especially	in	or	around	bone	tissues. Consequently,
blood-borne	microbes	gain	unhindered	access	to	bones. As	mentioned	before,	infectious
microbes	only	attack	tissues	that	are	acidified,	weak,	unstable,	or	damaged. The	microbes
may	originate	from	gallstones,	a	tooth	abscess,	or	a	boil. Malignant	tumors
	of	the	bone	can	occur	when	lymphatic	congestion	in	the	body	and
the	bones,	especially,	has	reached	extreme	proportions. The	immune	system	is	depressed,
and	malignant	tumor	particles	from	the	breasts,	lungs,	or	prostate	gland	can	spread	to	or
develop	in	those	parts	of	the	bones	that	have	the	softest	tissue	and	are	more	prone	to
congestion	and	acidification,	that	is,	the	cancellous	bone. Bone	cancer	and	all	other
diseases	of	the	bone	indicate	lack	of	nourishment	of	bone	tissue. Such	diseases	usually
defy	treatment	unless	all	gallstones	in	the	liver	are	removed	and	all	other	organs	and
systems	of	elimination	are	cleared	of	any	existing	congestion	as	well. Disorders	of	the	Joints

Our	body	contains	three	types	of	joints:
fibrous
	or	fixed	joints,
cartilaginous
	or	slightly
movable	joints,	and
synovial
	or	freely	movable	joints. The	most	susceptible	to	disease	are
the	joints	of	the	hands,	feet,	knees,	shoulders,	elbows,	and	hips. Rheumatoid	arthritis,
osteoarthritis,
	and
gout
	are	among	the	most	commonly	found	joint	disorders. Most	people	stricken	with	rheumatoid	arthritis	have	a	long	history	of	intestinal
complaints:
bloating,	flatulence,	heartburn,	belching,	constipation,	diarrhea,	coldness
and	swelling	of	hands	and	feet,	increased	perspiration,	general	fatigue,	loss	of
appetite,	weight	reduction,
	and	more
. It	is	reasonable,	therefore,	to	conclude	that
rheumatoid	arthritis	is	linked	with	any	of	these,	or	similar,	symptoms	of	major	intestinal
and	metabolic	disturbances. I	have	personally	experienced	all	the	symptoms	mentioned
above	when	I	suffered	painful	bouts	of	juvenile	rheumatoid	arthritis	during	my	childhood
years. The	GI	tract	is	constantly	exposed	to	a	large	number	of	viruses,	bacteria,	and	parasites. In	addition	to	the	many
antigens
	(foreign	materials)	contained	in	foods,	the	digestive
system	may	also	have	to	deal	with	insecticides,	pesticides,	hormones,	antibiotic	residues,
preservatives,	and	colorings	contained	in	so	many	foodstuffs	today,	as	well	as	some	large-
molecule	drugs	such	as	penicillin. Possible	antigens	include	pollen	from	flowers,	plants,
plant	antibodies,	fungi,	bacteria,	and	the	like. It	is	the	task	of	the	immune	system,	most	of
which	is	located	in	the	intestinal	wall,	to	protect	us	against	all	these	potentially	harmful
invaders	and	substances. To	be	able	to	accomplish	this	task	every	day,	both	the	digestive
and	lymphatic	systems	must	remain	unobstructed	and	efficient. Gallstones	in	the	liver
seriously	disturb	the	digestive	process,	which	leads	to	an	overload	of	toxic	substances	in
the	blood	and	lymph,	as	mentioned	above	(see	“
Disorders	of	the	Circulatory	System
”). Doctors	consider
arthritis
	an
autoimmune	disease
	affecting	the	synovial	membrane. Autoimmunity,	a	condition	in	which	the	immune	system	develops	immunity	to	its	own
cells,	results	when	antigen/antibody	complexes	(
rheumatoid	factors
)	are	formed	in	the
blood. Naturally,	the	B-lymphocytes	(immune	cells)	in	the	intestinal	wall	become
stimulated	and	produce	antibodies	(
immunoglobulins
)	when	coming	into	contact	with
these	antigens. The	immune	cells	circulate	in	the	blood,	and	some	settle	in	the	lymph
nodes,	spleen,	mucus	membranes	of	the	salivary	glands,	lymphatic	system	of	the	bronchial
tubes,	vagina	or	uterus,	milk-producing	mammary	glands	of	the	breasts,	and	capsular
tissues	of	the	joints. If	there	is	repeated	exposure	to	the	same	types	of	toxic	antigens,	antibody	production
will	increase	dramatically,	particularly	in	areas	where	immune	cells	have	settled	becauseof	a	previous	encounter	with	the	invaders. These	harmful	antigens	may	consist	of	protein
particles	from	putrefying	animal	foods,	for	example. In	such	a	case,	intense	microbial
activity	can	occur. The	new	encounter	with	the	antigens	raises	the	level	of
antigen/antibody	complexes	in	the	blood	and	upsets	the	fine	balance	that	exists	between
the	immune	reaction	and	its	suppression. Autoimmune	diseases,	which	indicate	an
extremely	high	level	of	toxicity	in	the	body,	directly	result	from	a	disturbance	of	this
balance. If	antibody	production	is	continually	high	in	synovial	joints,	inflammation
becomes	chronic,	leading	to	gradually	increasing	deformity,	pain,	and	loss	of	function. The	overuse	of	the	immune	system	leads	to
self-destruction
	in	the	body. If	this	form	of
self-destruction	occurs	in	nerve	tissue,	it	is	called	MS,	and	if	it	occurs	in	organ	tissue,	it	is
called	cancer. Yet,	seen	from	a	deeper	perspective,	the	self-destruction	is	but	a	final
attempt	at	self-preservation. The	body	only	“attacks”	itself	if	the	toxicity	has	increased	to
such	a	degree	that	it	could	cause	more	damage	than	an	autoimmune	response	would. It
certainly	has	no	intention	of	committing	suicide,	which	is	what	the	meaning	of
“autoimmune	disease”	suggests. When	the	body’s	cell	membranes	are	clogged	with
foreign,	harmful	chemicals	and	toxic	particles	like	trans	fatty	acids	(as	found	in	fast	foods,
such	as	hamburgers	and	french	fries),	it	is	an	absolutely	normal	response	by	the	immune
system	to	attack	these	contaminants. To	call	this	survival	response	a	disease	is	unscientific
and	reflects	a	lack	of	knowledge	of	the	true	nature	of	the	body. Gallstones	inhibit	the	body’s	ability	to	keep	itself	nourished	and	clean,	which	makes
them	a	leading	cause	of	toxicity. They	prevent	the	liver	from	adequately	taking


, not fear. Pain in
relationships can be a perversely comfortable pain, in that it
is one we know. We’re used to it. I once hear d a tape by
Ram Dass, an American spiritual teacher, in which he told of
seeing a newspaper article about an abused baby being
taken away fr om his mother. As a police matr on tried to tak e
the baby, he k ept struggling to r emain in his mother’s ar ms. Although his mother was the one who beat him, she was the
one he knew. He was used to her. He wanted to r emain in
familiar ter ritory. This story illustrates our r elationship to our own egos. The ego is our pain, but it is what we know, and we r esist
moving out of it. The eﬀort it tak es to gr ow out of painful
patter ns of ten feels mor e uncomfortable than r emaining
within them. P ersonal gr owth can be painful, because it can
make us feel ashamed and humiliated to face our own
darkness. But the goal of personal gr owth is the jour ney out
of dark emotional patter ns that cause us pain, to those that
create peace. Psychotherapy : Purpose, P rocess and P racticesays that at their peak, r eligion and psychotherapy become
one. They both r epresent the r elationship between thought
and e xperience, and ar e used by the Holy Spirit to celebrate
one of the most glorious human potentials: our capacity to
change. There is a tendency these days to analyze our neur oses
ad inﬁnitum, yet use the analysis itself to justif y rather than
heal the wound. A fter a certain point, having seen why a
patter n developed (“My father was emotionally
unavailable,” or “My mother abused me”) and the eﬀect it
has had on our personalities (“I don’t know how to let a man
get close to me,” or “I now have a har d time trusting any
authority ﬁgur e”), actual change occurs because of a
decision on our part: the decision to heal, the decision to
change. It ultimately doesn’t matter so much why I become
angry or defensive. What matters is that I decide I want to
be healed, and I ask God to help me. Like an actor r eading lines fr om a script, I can choose a
new r esponse to life, a new r eading. Some people at this
point would yell, “ Denial!” But what we ar e denying is the
impostor within us. Just because we have an honest feeling,
that doesn’t mean it’s who we honestly ar e. My angry self is
not the r eal me. Does it have to be acknowledged? Y es, but
only in or der to go beyond it. Once I’ve seen my anger, I’m
ready, as they say in A A, to “act as if” I can do it diﬀer ently. Because I can. Our ego has made up a ﬁctional character
that we now think of as our personality. But we ar e
constantly cr eating that personality, and if we choose, we
are constantly r ecreating it. I was once talking to a friend and he made some
comment about how he was afraid that, if we got closely
involved, one of us might get hurt. “Which one of us ar e you
concer ned for?” I ask ed. He answer ed, “Y ou.”I felt an anticipatory r ejection. I was angry and I told him
so. “That’s what I mean,” he said. “Y ou obviously tak e things
so personally that I don’t think I could stand it for long.”
I knew that this was a moment I had r epeated in various
ways with various people, and I had ask ed for healing many
times. I was open. I ask ed him, “T ell me honestly : How could
I have done it diﬀer ently? What else could I have said?”
“You could have just smiled and said, ‘Don’t ﬂatter
yourself.’”
I was so e xcited. I was lik e an eager actr ess working with
a great dir ector. “Oh that’s so gr eat,” I said. “ Let’s go back
and do that scene one mor e time. Say what you said again.”
“You know, Marianne, I just have this awful feeling that if
we really got together, one of us would get hurt.”
“Which one of us ar e you afraid for?” I ask ed. “You.”
I look ed at him and smiled. “ Don’t ﬂatter yourself.”
He laughed and I howled with e xcitement. This had been
no small awak ening. It was a genuine empower ment, a
reprogramming of my emotional computer in an ar ea wher e
I had unconsciously gone for an unwork able r esponse
patter n every time. I now established a new gr oove, a new
set of possibilities. Initially I had chosen the way of anger. Now I chose the way of love. I did not have to be the
wounded animal. I could choose to identif y with my own
strength, which was in fact the mor e natural r ole for me to
play. I could choose to see others thr ough a gener ous,trusting natur e. My br other was not her e to attack me. He
was her e to love me. It was completely up to me whether to
trust that, and love him back. In accepting the A tonement, the cor rection of our
perceptions, we ar e returned to who we r eally ar e. Our true,
purely loving self can never be uncr eated. All illusions will
be undone. Although e xperiences such as childhood trauma
can lead us to deviate fr om our true natur e, the truth itself
is held in trust for us by the Holy Spirit until we choose to
return. 14. PRACTICING FORGIVENES S
“Forgiveness is the only sane r esponse.”
To the ego, love is a crime. It seeks to convince us that
forgiveness is a danger ous position that entails an unfair
sacriﬁce on our part. The ego claims that for giveness can
lead us into situations wher e we become someone’s
doormat. ‘T o the ego, love is weakness. T o the Holy Spirit,
love is str ength.’
I was dating someone several years ago when the
Olympic games wer e playing in L os Angeles. The opening
ceremonies wer e a marvelous theatrical pr esentation and it
was very diﬃcult to get tick ets. Because he was involved in
the media, Mik e was given, at the last minute, one pass that
would enable him to go. I was very e xcited for him. Everyone in town knew it was
going to be a wonderful event. W e decided that I would
watch the cer emonies on T.V. and we would meet
afterwar ds. A t the conclusion of the br oadcast, I started
getting dr essed and ﬁgur ed that it might be an hour or sobefor e I hear d from him, since the traﬃc ar ound the stadium
was bound to be hor rendous. An hour passed and then another. Well, he’s in T.V., I
thought, so maybe something came up. Another hour and
then another. Midnight came and went. I took oﬀ my clothes
and mak e-up. It was 2 A.M., then 3. A t times I fell asleep, at
times I lay in the dark and star ed at the ceiling, at times I
was livid, and at other times I was scar ed he was lying in a
ditch somewher e. I started calling his house. No answer. I’d
call again. No answer. Finally, har dly having slept at all, I
called at ar ound 6 A.M. and he answer ed the phone. “Hello,” he said. “Mike?” I said. “This is Marianne.”
“Oh, hi.”
“Are you all right?”
“Yeah, why?”
“We had a date yester day. Did you for get?”
“Oh, right,” he said. “I had a kind of late night.”
I don’t know what I said to get oﬀ the phone, but I know
how I felt and it wasn’t wonderful. I had been stood up and I
felt the kind of blow to my self -esteem that starts in your
gut and shoots emotional black ink thr ough all your veins. Dazed, I somehow fell asleep. When I wok e up, I had a
whole new tak e on the situation. I just knew that he was
going to wak e up feeling sor ry for how he had acted. He was
going to show up at my door any minute, car rying a dozen
roses and saying, “ Hi, babe, can I tak e you to brunch?” The
scenario in my head called for my being oh-so -gracious: “ Ofcourse you can, darling” would come out of my mouth in a
girlish melody


 or
wish that things were dif ferent, the window of opportunity does not open
up, and you rem ain trapped inside that situation, which will remain the
same or deteriorate further. W ith the acknowledgment and  acceptance of the facts also comes a
degree o f freedom from them. For example, when you know  there is
disharmony and you hold that “knowing,” through your knowing a new
factor has come in, and the dish armony cannot remain unchange d. When
you know  you are n ot at peace, your knowing creates a still space that
surrounds your nonpeace in a  loving and tender embrace and then
transmutes your  nonpeace into peace. As far as inner transform ation is
concerned, there is nothing you can do  a bout it. Y ou c annot transform
yourself, and you certainly can not transform your partner or anybody
else. All  you can  do is create a space for transformation to happen, for
grace and love to enter. So whenever your relationship i s not working, whenever it bring s out the
“madness” in you and in your p artner, be glad. What was uncon scious is
being brought up to the light. It is an opportunity for salvation. Every
moment, hold the knowing of that moment, particularly of your inner
state. If  there is anger, know  that there is anger. If there is jealousy,
defensiveness, the ur ge to ar gue, the need to be right, an inner child
demanding love and attention, or emotional pain of any kind — whatever
it is, know  the  reality of that moment and hold the knowing. The
relationship then becomes your sadhana, y our spiritual practice. If you
observe unconscious behavior in your partner, hold it in the loving
embrace of your knowing so tha t you won’ t react. Unconsciousness and
knowing cannot coexist for long — even if the knowing is only in the
other pe rson and  not in the one who is acting out the unconsc iousness. The ener gy form that lies behind hostility and attack finds the presence
of love absolutely intolerable. If you react at all to your partner ’ s
unconsciousness, you become unconscious yourself. But if you then
remember to know  your reaction, nothing is lost. Humanity is under great pressur e to evolve because it is our onl y chance
of surviv al as a race. This will a f fect every aspect of your life and close
relationships in particular. Never before have relationships been as
problematic and  conflict ridden as they are now. As you may have
noticed, they are not here to make you happy or fulfilled. If you  continue
to pursu e the goal of salvation through a relationship, you  will be
disillusioned ag ain and again. B ut if you accept that the relationship is
here to make you conscious  instead of happy, then the relationship will
of fer you salvation, and you w ill be aligning yourself with the higher
consciousness th at wants to be born into this world. For those w ho hold
on to the old pa tterns, there will be increasing pain, violence, c onfusion,
and madness. I su ppose that it takes two to  make a r elationship into a spiritual
practice, as you suggest. For example, my partner is still acting out his
old patterns of jealousy and contr ol. I have pointed this out many times,
but he is unable to see it. How ma ny people does it take to make your life into a spiritual practice? Never m ind if your partner will  not cooperate. Sanity — consciousness
— can only come into this world through you. Y ou do not need to wait
for the world to become sane, or for somebody else to become conscious,
before y ou can be enlightened. Y ou may wait forever. Do not accuse
each oth er of being unconscious. The moment you start to ar gue, you
have ide ntified with a mental p osition and are now defending not only
that position but also your sense of self. The ego is in char ge. Y ou have
become unconscious. At times, it may be appropriate to point out certain
aspects of your partner ’ s behavior. If you are very alert, very present,
you can do so without ego involvement — without blaming, accusing, or
making the other wrong. When y our partner behaves unconsciously, relinquish all j udgment. Judgment is either to confuse so meone’ s unconscious behavior with who
they are or to project your own u nconsciousness onto another pe rson and
mistake that  for who they are. T o relinquish judgment does not mean that
you do not reco gnize dysfunctio n and unconsciousness when you see it. It m eans “being the knowing” rather than “being the reaction”  and the
judge. Y ou will then either be totally free of reaction or you m ay react
and still  be the knowing, the space in which the reaction is wat ched and
allowed to be. Instead of fighting the darkness, you bring in the light. Instead of reacting to delusion, you see the delusion yet at the same time
look through it. Being the kn owing creates a clear space o f loving
presence that allows all things and all people to be as they  are. No
greater catalyst for transformation exists. If you practice th is, your
partner cannot stay with you and  remain unconscious. If you both agree that the relationship will be your spiritual practice, so
much th e better. Y ou can then express your thoughts and feeling s to each
other as soon as they occur, or as soon as a reaction comes up, so that
you do not create a time gap in which an unexpressed or
unacknowledged emotion or gr ievance can fester and grow. Learn to
give expression to what you feel without blaming. Learn to listen to your
partner in an o pen, nondefensive way. Give your partner space for
expressing himself or herself. Be present. Accusing, defending, attacking
— all those patterns that are des igned to strengthen or protect the ego or
to ge t its  needs met will then be come redundant. Giving space to others
— and to yourself — is vital. Love  cannot flourish without it. Whe n youhave removed the two factors that are destructive to relationships —
when the pain-body has been  transmuted and you are n o longer
identified with mind and ment al positions — and if your partner has
done th e same, you will experience the bliss of the flowering of
relationship. Instead of mirror ing to each other your pain and your
unconsciousness, instead of satisfying your mutual addictive ego needs,
you will reflect back to each other the love that you feel deep within, the
love that comes with the realization of your oneness with all that is. This
is the love that has no opposite. If your partner is still identified with the mind and the pain-body while
you are already free, this will re present a major challenge — not to you
but to your part ner. It is not easy to live with an enlightened p erson, or
rather it is so  easy that the ego finds it extrem ely threatening. Remember
that the ego nee ds problems, conflict, and “enemies” to strengthen the
sense of separateness on which its identity depends. The unenlightened
partner ’ s mind will be deeply f rustrated because its fixed positions are
not resisted, which means they will become shaky and weak, and there is
even the “danger” that they may  collapse altogether, resulting in loss of
self. The pain-body is demanding feedback and not getting it. The need
for a r gument, drama, and conflict is not being met. But beware: Some
people w ho are unresponsive, withdrawn, insensitive, or cut of f from
their feelings may think and try to convince others that they are
enlightened, or at least that th ere is “nothing wrong” with them and
everything wrong with their partner. Men tend to do that more than
women. They may see their female partners as irrational or emotional. But if you can feel your emotions, you are not far from the radiant inner
body just underneath. If you are mainly in your head, the distance is
much greater, and you need to bring consciousness into the emotional
body before you can reach the inner body. If th ere isn’ t an emanation of  love and joy, complete prese nce and
openness toward all beings, then it is not enlightenment. Another
indicator is how a person behaves in dif ficult or challenging situations or
when things “go wrong.” If your “enlightenment” is egoic self-delusion,
then life will s oon give you a challenge that will bring out your
unconsciousness in whatever form — as fear, anger, defensiveness,
judgment, depre ssion, and so o n. If you are in a relationship, many of
your challenges will come throu gh your partner. For example, a womanmay be challeng ed by an unres ponsive male partner who lives almost
entirely in his head. She will be challenged by his inability to hear  her, to
give her attention and space to be, which is due to his lack of presence. The abse nce of love in the relati onship, which is usually more ke enly felt
by a woman than a man, will trigger the


develop rapidly and is quite common, because there is no efficient method
for conserving potassium. The laboratory test for serum potassium is used to evaluate clinical signs
of either potassium excess (hyperkalemia)  or potassium depletion
(hypokalemia). It also monitors kidney function, acid-base balance, and
glucose metabo lism, and evaluates arrhythmias, neuromuscular disorders,
and endocrine disorders. Hyperkalemia is common in patients with
excessive cellular K+ entering the blood as in cases of burns, crushing
injuries, diabetic ketoacidosis, and myocardial infarction. It will also be
present where there is reduced sodium excretion from renal failure that
causes an abnor mal Na+-K+ exchange and in Addison’ s disease caused by
the absence of aldosterone, with consequent K+ buildup and Na+ depletion. Note: Although elevated serum potassium is uncommon in Gerson
Therapy patients, if it does occur, supplemental potassium should be
reduced or temporarily discontinued. Then the consulting Gerson-trained
physician should immediately be consulted. The signs and symptoms of hyperkalemia are weakness, malaise, nausea,
diarrhea, colicky pain, muscle irritability progressing to flaccid paralysis,
oliguria, and bradycardia. An electrocardiogram (EKG) reveals a prolonged
PR interval; wide QRS; tall, tented T wave; and ST depression. Indications
of hypokalemia are decreased reflexes; rapid, weak, irregular pulse; mentalconfusion; hypo tension; anorexia; muscle weakness; and paresthesia. The
EKG shows a flattened T wave, ST depression, and U wave elevation. In
severe cases of hypokalemia, ventricular fibrillation, respiratory paralysis,
and cardiac arrest could occur. THE SERUM  CHLORIDE  LABORA TORY TEST
The laboratory test for serum chloride, another quantitative analysis, is a
measurement of blood levels of the chloride ion (Cl-), the major
extracellular fluid anion. Interacting with Na+, Cl- helps maintain the
osmotic pressure, blood volume, arterial pressure, and acid-base balance. Chloride is absorbed from the intestines and is excreted prim arily by the
kidneys. By evaluating the body’ s fluid status, the serum chloride laboratory test
detects two types of fluid imbala nces, acid-base (acidosis and alkalosis) and
extracellular cation-anion. Normally serum chloride levels range from 100
to 108 mEq/liter (mmol/L). Maintaining a normal amount of chloride in the
blood reflects acid-base balance by its inverse relationship to bicarbonate. Excessive loss of gastric juices or other secretions containing chloride may
cause hypochloremic metabolic alkalosis or excessive chloride retention. Ingesting it may lead to hyperchloremic metabolic acidosis. Elevated serum chloride levels (hyper chlor emia ) can come on from
severe dehydration, complete renal shutdown, head injury (which produces
neurogenic hyperventilation), and primary aldosteroism. Manifestations
consist of stupor, rapid and deep breathing, and weakness that leads to
coma. A situation of low chloride levels in the blood (hypochlor emia)  is
associated with reduced blood sodium and potassium levels coming from
prolonged vomiting, gastric suctioning, intestinal fistula, chronic renal
failure, or Addison’ s disease. Congestive heart failure, or edema resulting in
excess extracel lular fluid, can cause dilutional hypochlo remia. The
indications are hypertonicity of muscles, tetany, and depressed respirations. THE LACTIC  DEHYDROGENASE  (LDH) L ABORA TORY TESTThe laboratory test for lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) is a measurement of
five specific isoenzymes which catalyze the reversible conversion of
pyruvic acid present in all muscles of the body into lactic acid. Many
common diseases—myocardial infarction (MI), pulmonary infarction,
anemias, liver disease, kidney disease, erythrocytic damage, and others—
cause elevations  in total lactic dehydrogenase, and the LDH laboratory test
is useful for dif ferentiating between them. The five identified isoenzymes in lactic dehydrogenase are LDH1 and
LDH2 appeari ng in the heart, red blood cells, and kidneys; LDH3 in the
lungs; and LDH4 and LDH5 in the liver and the skeletal muscles. Testing
for these  enzymes is especially appropriate for the delayed measurement of
creatine phosphokinase (CPK) associated with MI and for monitoring
patient respons e to some forms of chemotherapy. Total LDH levels
normally range from 48 to 115 U/L. Normal distribution of the five
isoenzymes is as follows:

LDH1: 17. 5% to 28. 3% of total
LDH2: 30. 4% to 36. 4% of total
LDH3: 19. 2% to 24. 8% of total
LDH4: 9. 6% to 15. 6% of total
LDH5: 5. 5% to 12. 7% of total

Since a vast number of illnesses involve the enzymes of LDH, this
laboratory test for lactic dehydrogenase is broadly employed for
establishing diagnoses. THE ASPARTATE TRANSAMINASE /SERUM  GLUT AMIC -OXALOACETIC
TRANSAMINASE  (AST/SGOT) L ABORA TORY TEST
The laboratory blood examination for aspartate transaminase and serum
glutamic-oxaloacetic (AST/SGOT) is a measurement of specific amino acid
residues left behind by nitrogenous portions of the metabolized aminoacids. Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) is found in the cytoplasm and
mitochondria of many tissue cells, primarily in the liver, heart, skeletal
muscles, kidneys, pancreas, and red blood cells. AST is released  into blood serum in proportion to cellular damage, and
its detection (together with creatine phosphokinase and lactate
dehydrogenase) indicates myocardial infarction. The test also helps in the
diagnosis of acute liver diseas e. It monitors patient progress in healing. AST adult serum  levels range from 8 to 20 U/L. Normal values for infants
are four times higher. Maximum eleva tions of AST are associated with viral hepatitis, severe
skeletal muscle trauma, extensive surgery, drug-induced liver injury, and
passive liver congestion. Levels ranging from 10 to 20 times normal may
indicate severe MI, severe infectious mononucleosis, and alcoholic
cirrhosis. Moderate-to-high levels ranging from 5 to 10 times normal
indicate Duche nne muscular dystrophy, dermatomyositis, and chronic
hepatitis, along with prodromal and resolving stages of diseas es. Low-to-
moderate levels  of 2 to 5 times normal may show hemolytic anemia,
metastatic liver tumors, acute pancreatitis, pulmonary emboli, alcohol
withdrawal syndrome, fatty liver, and the first stages of biliary duct
obstruction. THE SERUM  BILIRUBIN  LABORA TORY TEST
The laboratory test for serum bilirubin, the main product of hemoglobin
catabolism, is a measurement of bile pigment which indicates the state of
health of the liver and gallbladder. After being formed in the retic-
uloendothelial cells, bilirubin is bound to albumin and then transported to
the liver, where it’s conjugate d with glucuronic acid to form bilirubin
glucuronide and bilirubin diglucuronide. These two compounds are then
excreted in bile. Measurement of indirect or prehepatic (unconjugated)
bilirubin helps to evaluate hepatobiliary and erythropoietic functions. The serum bilirubin laboratory test showing elevated levels often
indicates liver damage in which the parenchymal cells can no longer
conjugate bilirubin with glucuronide. Then indirect bilirubin reenters the
bloodstream. Also, an elevated reading alerts the health professional to the
possibility of severe hemolytic  anemia. This test aids in the differentialdiagnosis of jaundice, biliary obstruction, and dangerous levels of
unconjugated bilirubin. Normally in an adult, indirect serum bilirubin measures 11 mg/d L or less;
direct serum bilirubin of less than 0. 5 mg/dL). Neonates have total serum
bilirubin ranging from 1 to 12 mg/dL; if elevated to 20 mg/dL (for them, it
indicates neonatal hepatic immaturity or congenital enzyme deficiencies. An exchange blood transfusion may then be required. If readings of bilirubin are elevated for adults, the test advises about the
possibility of autoimmunity or transfusion reaction, hemolytic or pernicious
anemia or hemorrhage, and hepatocellular dysfunction perhaps from viral
hepatitis. Needl ess to say, elevated levels of direct conjugated bilirubin
usually show biliary obstruction with over


 that I was trying to write a book
and I needed support here, dammit?!? There was a time in my life when I would have seen the situation that
way—as simply  about me not attracting the support I neede d. But this
wasn’ t some random event ironically at odds with the book  that I was
writing. It was an exact reflection  of the book I was writing. The fact that
I’m writing abou t these things brought up all the ways in which  I’m not yet
living them. That is how perfectly the cosmic computer works. If my only response to an assistant who doesn’ t do as I wish is simply to
get angry, then I’m limiting my ability to find the words or behavior thatcan help her do better. It also keeps me from having larger clarity about the
relationship as a whole. This isn’ t about her. It’s about me. But what about healthy boundaries? When is it okay to hold someone
else accountable? I threw such questions at Jesus as I made a cup of coffee
and slammed shut a cabinet door. “Yeah, I’m sorry you’re going through
this” was all I could imagine him saying at the time. I know it’s okay to set healthy boundaries, disagree when necess ary, and
hold someone else accountable. But all those things can and must be done
with respect and love. When we attack another person, we’re wrong even if
we’re right. The issues we’re here to monitor are our own. My ego would argue that the problem was her behavior; the Spirit
points out that the problem is my anger. Situations such as that will
continue as long as I consistently push up against the same wall. But the
wall isn’t going to give; I have to. That wall is the place—and most of us
have one—at which point we can’t see how to act with love and still get our
needs met. But we’re going to have to learn. The situation is going to repeat
itself until we do. So what do we do in such situat ions? Pray for a miracle. Pray for a shift
in perception. Say you’re willing to see the situation dif ferently. Sit down, breathe, pray, and your perceptions will begin to shift. As
your mind begins to calm down, one of two things will happen:
1. Your guidanc e will be to say nothing, to absorb the moment and just
let it pass. OR
2. Your guidance will be that something does need to be said, but you’ll
be given the wisdom to say what you need to say at just the right time and
in just the right way. You’ll be guided not only in what you should say but
in who to be while you’re saying it. The Holy Spirit doesn’t handle
situations for you, but turns you into a person who knows how to handle
them yourself. The main point is to see that the problem is within yourself; therefore so
is the solution. If you think the only solution is to find someone else to
fulfill whatever function you had assigned to that person, you’ll simply
attract someone else who acts the same way, or whom you subconsciously
set up to act the same way, until your eyes are opened to the real issue: you! The universe is intentional. It is always nudging us to be better, and if
that means putting people in our lives who make us have to confront ourown barriers to love, then it will. “This is my commandment, that ye love one another, even as I have
loved you” (John 15:12, ASV). To say this is easy; to live it is hard. That’ s why the mystic Jesus is so
relevant and important. Whether through religion or psychotherapy, the
world is in desperate need today of lessons in how to love. Both are the healing of the mind. Religion is limited when it lacks
psychological astuteness, and psychotherapy is limited when it lacks
spiritual understanding. There are voices within both these days
transforming them into genuinely spiritual pursuits. Whether in
psychotherapy or at a religious service, the greatest gift we can receive is a
reminder to give more love. The ego loves to use both religion and psychotherapy for its purposes,
and clearly that includes the Christian religion as much as any other. But
there’ s no legitimate conversation about Jesus that’s not a conversation
about love. Reclaiming the radic alism of love is the only way of claiming a
radical relationship with Jesus, and the radical love of Jesus is the true
nature of the self. OceanofPDF.comRelationship to God
Every circumstance involves a relationship: our relationship to God, our
relationship to ourselves, our relationship to other people, or our
relationship to the world. Some would say we have no relationship to God because there is no
God. There are just atoms and particles that make up an amazing but
ultimately mean ingless goop. That means we’re floating in a random
universe where whatever meaning life has for us is the meaning  we bring to
it. That’s a respe ctable existenti al argument, but it’s a lonely one. It leaves
us very much on our own. It posits no “cosmic companionship,” as Martin
Luther King Jr. referred to the Holy Spirit’ s presence in our lives. If you
believe you’re on your own, in your experience then you will be. This gives
no sense of comfort, denying ourselves our inheritance of either power or
love. Then there are those who do believe in God but see Him as a
judgmental long-bearded man in the sky, just waiting for us to screw up and
not do what He told us to do so He can send us to the depths of hell. Such a
God is a God made in man’ s image rather than the other way around. The
notion of an angry God is a projection creat ed by angry people. Feeling
guilty, they assumed they deserved punishment. They therefore concocted
the image of a God who would mete out all the punishment they felt they
deserved. I can’t imagine that any of those people have made it to chapter 3
of this book. Then there are those who believe in a loving God yet don’t understand
how such a God would tolerate hungry children, global poverty, and endless
wars. Interesting, that, because it’s the question He has for us. Hungry
children, global poverty, and endless wars are a product of man’ s misuse of
power, not God’ s.Created with free will, we can think and do whatever we wish to think
and do. God Himself will not save us from the consequences. The Law of
Cause and Effect was created for our protection, and He does not violate
His own law. What He will do, and has done, is create the help we need in order that
we might choose more wisely. Asking Him to heal the world means asking
Him to turn us into the people who will do it for ourselves. Our relationship to God is, if we allow it to be, our most intimate
relationship. His is a voice that is always there to whisper in our ear. He is
closer than our breath to us. Our communion with him, our melding into
him, is the repair of our person alities and the restoration of our souls. For
many, the mystic Jesus is part of that repair. As far as the hungry children are concerned, this isn’t about our waiting
for God to work a miracle. God is waiting for us to do that. He has a very
simple answer to our prayers about this. His answer is “Feed them.”
And we should do so now. OceanofPDF.comRelationship to Self
Your holine ss is the salvation of the world. It lets you teach the world that it is one with you, not
by preaching to it, not by telling it anything, but merely by your quiet recognition that in your
holiness ar e all things blessed along with you. * (WB-37)
One of our most difficult relati onships is our relationship to self. We
tend to do to ourselves what we do to others: we withhold approval, judge
harshly, punish severely. And we’re never too sure why. The ego doesn’ t tell
us we did something wrong; it just tells us that we are wrong. I used to wonder, in my young er, self-hating days, if maybe I’d done
something so terrible I’d suppressed it and didn’ t remember. I couldn’ t
figure out why I felt such disgust toward pretty much everything about
myself. There is a lesson repeated a few times in the Course —“I am as God
created me”* (T-667)—that says all of us are perfect, unalterable creations
in the mind of God. When I first read it, I cried. It formed a crack in what
felt like a stone wall in front of my heart. It had never occurred to me that
I’m innocent because God created me that way, and my mistakes have not
eradicated the divine perfection in which we were all created. God created
us perfe ct becau se He is perfect, and everything created is created in His
image. It’ s such an enormous concept, so infinitely merciful. There was once a law in various places around the country stating that if
a criminal was on the run from police but made their way into a church then
they couldn’t be arrested. The state was acknowledging that in the


Whatever your field of action may be, you should learn the laws of
your subconscious mind. When you know how to apply the powers of
your mind, and when you are expressing yourself fully and giving of
your talents to others, you are on the sure path to true success. If you
are about God’s business, or any part of it, God, by His ve ry nature, is
for you, so who can be against you? With this understanding there is
no power in heaven or on earth to withhold success from you. • How he made his dream come true
A movie actor told me that he had very little education, but he had a
dream as a boy of becoming a successful movie actor. Out in the  field
mowing hay, driving the cows home, or even when milking them he
said, “I would constantly imagine I saw my name in big lights at a
large theatre. I kept this up for years until finally I  ran away from
home. I got extra jobs in the motion-picture field, and the day f inally
came when I saw my name in great, big lights as I did when I was a
boy!” Then he added, “I know the power of sustained imagination to
bring success.”
• His dream pharmacy became a reality
Thirty years ago I knew a young pharmacist who was re-ceiving
forty dollars a week plus commission on sales. “After twenty- five
years,” he said to me, “I will get a pension and re-tire.”
I said to this young man, “Why don’t you own your own store? Get
out of this place. Raise your sights! Have a dream for your children. Maybe your son wants to be a doctor; perhaps your daughter desires to
be a great musician.”
His answer was that he had no money! He began to awaken to t he
fact that whatever he could conceive as true, he could give conception. 121  The first step toward his goal was his awakening to the pow ers of
his subconscious mind, which I briefly elaborated on for his be nefit. His second step was his realization that if he could succeed i n
conveying an idea to his subconscious mind, the latter would
somehow bring it to pass. He began to imagine that he was in his own store. He mentally
arranged the bottles, dispensed prescriptions, and imagined sev eral
clerks in the store waiting on customers. He also visual ized a big bank
balance. Mentally he worked in that imaginary store. Like a good
actor he lived the role. Act as though I am, and I will be. This
pharmacist put himself whole-heartedly into the act, living, mov ing,
and acting on the assump-tion that he owned the store. The sequel was interesting. He was discharged from his position. He
found new employment with a large chain store, became manager, and
later on, district manager. He saved enough money in four years to
provide a down payment on a drugstore of his own. He called it his
“Dream Pharmacy.”
“It was,” he said, “exactly the store I saw in my imagina-ti on.” He
became a recognized success in his chosen field, and was happy doing
what he loved to do. • Using the subconscious mind in business
Some years ago I gave a lecture to a group of businessmen on the
powers of imagination and the subconscious mind. In this lecture I
pointed out how Goethe used his imagination wisely when confronted
with difficulties and predicaments. His biographers point out that he was accustomed to fill ma ny hours
quietly holding imaginary conversations. It is well known that hi s
custom was to imagine one of his friends before him in a chair
answering him in the right way. In other words, if he were concerne d
over any problems, he imagined his friend giving him the right  or
appropriate answer, accompanied with the usual gestures and tonal
qualities of the voice, and he made the entire imaginary scene as real
and as vivid as possible. 122  One of the men present at this lecture was a young stock-broker. He
proceeded to adopt the technique of Goethe. He began to have menta l,
imaginary conversations with a multi-millionaire banker fri end of his
who used to congratulate him on his wise and sound judgment, and
compliment him on his purchase of the right stocks. He used to
dramatize this imaginary conversation until he had psychologica lly
fixed it as a form of belief in his mind. This broker’s inner talking and controlled imagination certain ly
agreed with his aim, which was to make sound invest-ments for hi s
clients. His main purpose in life was to make money for his  clients
and to see them prosper financially by his wise counsel. He i s still
using his subconscious mind in his busi-ness, and he is a brill iant
success in his field of endeavor. • Boy of sixteen years turns failure into success
A young boy who was attending high school said to me, “I am
getting very poor grades. My memory is failing. I do not know what i s
the matter.” I discovered that the only thing wrong with this boy was
his attitude, which was one of indifference (sự lãnh đạm, thờ ơ)  and
resentment (sự oán giận)  toward some of his teachers and fellow
students. I taught him how to use his subconscious mind, and how to
succeed in his studies. He began to affirm certain truths several times a day particularly at
night prior to sleep, and also in the morning after awakening. The se
are the best times to impregnate (làm thấm nhuần)  the subconscious
mind. He affirmed as follows: “I realize that my subconscious mi nd is a
storehouse of memory. It retains (giữ lại)  everything I read and hear
from my teachers. I have a perfect memory, and the infinite (vô tận, vô
hạn) intelligence in my subconscious mind constantly reveals to me
everything I need to know at all my examinations, whether writt en or
oral. I radiate love and good will to all my teachers and fellow
students. I sincerely wish for them success and all good things.”
 123  This young man is now enjoying a greater freedom than he has eve r
known. He is now receiving all “A’s.” He constantly imagines t he
teachers and his mother congratulating him on his success in his
studies. • How to become successful in buying and selling
In buying and selling, remember that your conscious mind is the
starter and your subconscious mind is the motor. You must start the
motor to enable it to perform its work. Your conscious mind is th e
dynamo that awakens the power of your subconscious mind. The first step in conveying your clarified desire, idea, or ima ge to
the deeper mind is to relax, immobilize the attention, get sti ll, and be
quiet. This quiet, relaxed, and peaceful attitude of mind pre vents
extraneous matter and false ideas from inter-fering with your mental
absorption of your ideal. Furthermore, in the quiet, passive, and receptive attitude of mi nd,
effort is reduced to a minimum. The second step is to begin to imagine the reality of that w hich you
desire. For example, you may wish to buy a home, and in your relaxed
state of mind affirm as follows: “The infinite intelligenc e of my
subconscious mind is all-wise. It reveals to me now the ideal  home,
which is central, ideal, is in a lovely environ-ment, meets with all my
requirements, and is commensurate with my income. I am now turning
this request over to my sub-conscious mind, and I know it responds
according to the nature of my request. I release this reques t with
absolute faith and confidence in the same way that a farmer deposits a
seed in the ground, trusting implicitly in the laws of growth.”
The answer to your prayer may come through an advertise-ment in
the paper, through a friend, or you may be guided directly to a
particular home, which is exactly what you are seeking. There are
many ways by which your prayer may be answered. The princip al
knowledge, in which you may place your confidence, is that the
answer always comes, provided you trust the working of your deeper
mind. 124  You may wish to sell a home, land, or any kind of prop-erty. In
private consultation with real estate brokers I have told t hem of the
way I sold my own home on Orlando Avenue in Los Angeles. Many
of them have applied the technique I used with remarkable and sp eedy
results. I placed a sign which read, “For sale by owner” in t he garden
in front of my home. The day after I said to myself as I was going to
sleep, “Supposing you sold your house, what would you do?”
I answered my own question and I said, “I would take that sign
down and throw it into the garage.” In my imagination I took hold of
the sign, pulled it up from the ground, placed it on my shoulder, went
to the garage, threw it on the floor, and said jokingly to the sig n, “I
don’t need you any more!” I felt the inner satisfaction of it a ll,
realizing it was finished. The next day a man gave me a deposit of $1,000


 better known. This is the effect on the organs of
generation. This was worked out some years ago by Evans, Bishop, and Barnett Sure. This work has shown that in the female who does not get enough vitamin E there is an inability to carry pregnancy through to full term. Abortions occur in animals or humans
who do not get enough vitamin E. The effect of the vitamin is also well worked out in
the male. Here it produces a lack of sperm. In the male the damage done is permanent. No amount of feeding vitamin E will restore the deficient male to fertility. In the case of
the female, the ovary may lose its function so that it is practically useless, but this may
be built up again by administering a sufficient amount of vitamin E.
   When we consider the many-sided functions of vitamin E on ovaries, testes, spinal
centers, and red muscle, we must conclude that  this is one of the most important needs
for good health and proper functioning of the human organism. One of the reasons why this need has not been more universally recognized is that
vitamin E is an element that is present in practically every kind of food. It exists in
small quantities in vegetables and fruits, being in the greatest concentration in leaf
lettuce and wheat germ oil. It exists also in meats, sea food, and dairy products. It stands
the ordinary heat incident to cooking without destruction. The lack of vitamin E that occurs in human diets occurs because the amount present in the natural foods taken is
diluted by the amount of non-vitaminized and nonmineralized carbohydrates which are
consumed as sugar and white flour products. If 75 per cent of the food intake is
composed of these sugar and white flour pro ducts, it will readily be seen that the
amount of foods containing vitamin E is reduced 75 per cent. This same principle of course applies to  other vitamins. It also applies to minerals
such as calcium, iodine, and iron. Nature having distributed this vitamin in many different kinds of foods, no ordinary food combination would ever produce a
deficiency. It is only by the use of factory foods that vitamin E deficiencies are produced. CHAPTER III
WHY WE MUST HAVE MINERALS
   The ordinary student of nutrition has paid a good deal of attention to individual
vitamins, but has paid little attention to minerals. There is no doubt but that mineral deficiencies exist as commonly as vitamin deficiencies, and that the mineral deficiencies stem from the same source--factory-made food s. In an article by Dr. Alice Bernheim in
the journal of the American Medical Association of April 1, 1933, it was shown that the
average diet of the average civilized person does not contain enough calcium. The
calcium needs of a person of 150 pounds was shown to be from 71/2 to 10 grains a day
(a grain = 60 mg). The ordinary diet, composed largely of white flour and sugar, does
not contain this much calcium. The conclusion reached by Dr. Bernheim is that calcium deficiency is universal in all civilized countries. Another important point brought out by
Dr. Bernheim is that different forms of calci um have different degrees of absorbability. Some calcium salts are readily absorbable and are used in the body. Others are not
absorbable and pass through the gastrointestinal tract unchanged. It is well understood at the present time that the best forms of calcium are those which
have gone through some kind of animal metabolism. Ground bone is more easily
absorbed than other forms, and is properly used a good deal in baby foods. The forms of calcium that exist in milk and,cheese have been through the metabolism of the cow,
and therefore have been metabolized and are easily absorbed by the human animal. Milk
and milk products, then, furnish the best source of calcium. With a sufficient source of calcium, nerves are less irritable. Without a sufficient amount, pains may exist which completely disappear after a sufficient amount of calcium is taken. Some of the pains of advanced cancer may be completely relieved by giving calcium. This does not mean
that the nerves of the cancer patient have been obtunded as they would be by some drug, but that the pain has been simply a cry of the diseased nerves for calcium. Calcium is excreted from the body in the discharges which comes from wounds and
open sores, and ulcers. Cancer usually exists as an ulcerated area. Much calcium is lost in the fluid that seeps from the ulcerated cancer surface. The small bodily supply is
further depleted, therefore the giving of calcium by mouth or by intravenous use quiets the cancer pains. As calcium deficiency is one of our most widespread deficiencies, it shows up also in
the lack of resistance in our teeth. The mention of tooth destruction in pregnancy calls
to mind the direct robbing of calcium-bearing areas to furnish calcium to the child. But
old infections may also rob teeth and bones, as calcium may be needed to erect barriers against invading microorganisms. This takes place in the lungs in tuberculosis. A
tuburcular body being examined at postmortem will show many areas in the lungs
which resemble small marbles. These densely calcified areas are simply Nature's
method of trying to wall in the poisonous germs which are lodged in the lung. Calcification may take place in other parts of the body. It is not uncommon to find
calcified areas in fibroid tumors of the uterus, and in any old chronically infected area. In all such conditions Nature's first call is on the normal body calcium, in the hope that it may be used as a defensive mechanism in the area where disease is going on. Ordinary whole wheat bread, meat, fruit and vegetables contain some calcium; but the
amounts in ordinary diets are not sufficient to give the optimum needed by the body. There is no question but that calcium is one of our greatest body needs, as the bony
structures of the body are perhaps the greatest in bulk and weight next to the voluntary muscles. The optimum calcium supply is a surplus and a surplus does no harm. In order that physiological processes may be carried on in a normal, proper way,
oxygen must be carried to each individual cell. The oxygen is carried to the cells of the body by a compound which is made up partly of iron. Oxygen enters the lungs,
penetrates the wall of the air cells, and enters the blood. The iron containing
hemoglobin exists in the red blood corpuscl es and having combined with the oxygen,
carries it to the cells, where oxidation takes place. Without iron, no metabolism and no
oxidation would occur. The need for iron is constant, as much of the hemoglobin is being destroyed and excreted every day. As new supplies of calcium must be provided,
so new supplies of iron must come in by way of the gastrointestinal tract in order to provide for new hemoglobin daily. In the life processes of the ordinary individual, around 3 percent of the red cells are
being destroyed every day. This means that a certain definite amount of iron must be provided to make up for what is lost. Iron must be supplied and absorbed in the amount
of 10 to 25 milligrams every day. The diluti on of iron-containing foods be devitalized
carbohydrates makes this optimum impossible. We may measure the amount of iron in the blood by the amount of hemoglobin present (red coloring matter). * (* Much of the iron in the body is used over and over again but there is a steady loss of a few millgrams
a day.) In making blood examinations on large groups of individuals, it is very rare to find a
100 percent hemoglobin reading. This means readings on persons ordinarily considered
normal--life insurance examinations, soldiers, and examinations for entrance into
industrial positions, and of women entering hospitals for obstetrical work--all are found
to be more or less deficient in iron. Our best food source of iron is lean meat. The richest sources of iron among the
various kinds of meat are liver, heart, and kidney. The muscle meats which are
ordinarily eaten--steaks, chops, and cutlets--are also rich sources of iron and furnish this
element in a greater degree than any form of vegetable or fruit. One of the most important of the mineral needs is the need for iodine. Without iodine
the thyroid gland does not properly develop. In diets which contain quantities of iodine
below the normal amount, all the life processes are operating below par. The thyroid
gland contains the largest amount of iodine of any of the organs of the body, and as all
the blood in the body goes through this gland every 17 minutes, it evidently serves as a
trap for the filtering out of toxic material, the iodine acting as an antitoxin. A good deal of the toxic material in the blood stream is living material--that is, low-grade
microorganisms that gain access to the circulating fluids of the body. The iodine-
containing thyroid undoubtedly inhibits the growth of these invading germs. In cases where the amount of iodine in the diet is definitely small, the thyroid undergoes a
compensatory growth. It becomes many times larger than normal. This is evidently an
attempt to furnish more thyroid cells to more effectively to filter out and use what little
iodine there is in the blood stream. This function carried to excess produces the more poisonous types of goiter. We may consider iodine, then, as a necessary part of the dietary intake for its
beneficial effect in cleansing the blood stream. Dr. Plummer and other workers in this
field have established the needs of the human body at around 10 milligrams a day. Iodine is to be found in grains, fruits, and garden vegetables. It is


 intelligence is so changeable, so quick
on the move—in other  words, so alive —that medical
textbooks devote almost no space to it at all. To get an idea of how limited our current knowle dge is,
consider the structure of a neuron. The neurons that
compose the brain and central nervous system “talk” to one
another across gaps called synapses. These gaps separate
the tiny branchlike ﬁlaments, the dendrites, that grow at
the ends of each nerve cell. Everyone possesses billions of
these cells, divided between the brain and the central
nervous system, and as we saw, each one is capable of
growing dozens or even hundreds of dendrites (the total
estimated at 100 million million), meaning that at any one
time, the possible combi nations of signals jumpin g across
the synapses  of the brain exceed the number of atoms in
the known universe. The signals also communicate with
one another at lightning speed. To read this sentence, your
brain takes a few milliseconds to arrange a precise pattern
of millions of signals, only to dissolve them instantly, never
to be repeated again in exactly the same way. In medical school, we were taught a simple model of how
neurons communicate: an electrical charge forms on one
side of the synapse, and when the charge is large enough,
it jump s like a spark across the gap to deliver a signal to
another nerve cell. Assuming that this is the correct
mechanism (in reality it isn’t), the description we learned in
our neurology textbook in 1966 told us next to nothing
about how neurons act in real life; the book model makes
sense only for a single nerve cell, isolated, stopped in time,
and stripped of context. In truth, the action taking  place at
the gaps in the nervous system is like that of a cosmic
computer reduced to a microcosmic scale. This awesome
computer operates continuously, handles hundreds of
programs at a time, deals in multiple billions of “bytes” ofinformation every second, and, most miraculous ly of all,
knows how to run itself. It is not really our medical training that was at fault here. How can any textbook possibly describe this whole
process. To think is to form patterns inside ourselves that
are just as complex, ﬂeeting, and rich in their diversity as is
reality itself. Thinking is the mirror of the world, and
nothing less. Science simply does not have the tools to look
at such a phenomenon, which is at once inﬁnite and alive. The living body will not stop to be studied, certain ly not as
a whole. So when it delivers a shock to science, as in a
spontaneous cure of cancer, medicine all but halts in its
tracks, bewildered to ﬁnd that life does not behave as
neatly as the laboratory model. In 1986, a shock was delivered that could turn the whole
ﬁeld of brain research on its head: a Mexican neuro-
surgeon, Dr. Ignacio Madrazo, successfully implanted
healthy new cells into the brain of a patient with
Parkinson’s disease. Not only did the transplant take, which previously was
considered impossible, but the patient showed an amazing
85 percent return to normal functioning. Before the
surgery, the patient, a Mexican farmer in his late thirties,
had been rendered virtually helpless by his disease. Parkinson’s strikes about 1 percent of people over age 50. It begins with muscle tremors, rigidity of the limbs, or a
tendency to move very slowly. The immedia te cause of
these symptoms is a deﬁciency of dopamine, the same
brain chemic al that leads to schizophrenia when it is in
oversupply. For reasons not yet known, the nerve cells that
produce dopamine, located in a part of the brain stem
called the substantia nigra, begin to die, creating the
deﬁciency. Without enou gh dopamin e, the brain’s ability to
regulate muscle movement is impaired and ﬁnally lost. Any or all three of Parkinson’s symptoms grows worse
over time, until the patient is totally incapacitated. The
playwright Eugene O’Neill contracted Parkinson’s in his
ﬁfties. It became increasingly diﬀicult for him to write as
his shaking became more  severe. He had planned a cycle of
four plays that were to be his masterpiece, but his disease
destroyed everything: one glance at the surviving
manuscripts reveals that O’Neill could barely form the
cramped, spidery, pathetically illegible letters. Through
heroic endurance, he managed to commit his words to
paper, but no one has ever been able to decipher what they
say. In Mexico, Madrazo’s patient, though considerably
younger than most Parkinson’s victims, had been  conﬁned
to his bed, suﬀering from constant, rhythmic tremors that
made him unable to walk without assistance. After the
surgery, he could walk, run, feed himself, work in his
garden, and, as a moving ﬁlm of him shows, once again
take his young children in his arms.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>
Q: Why did the patient's state of mind contribute to his death?,
A: Within a month, he started to cough up blood; within three months, he was dead.
Q: What is the author's argument about the role of the mind in healing?,
A: The author argues that the mind plays a crucial role in the healing process, and that it is not just a physical organ.
Q: What is the difference between the way the body heals and the way a diuretic works?,
A: The body heals by itself, whereas a diuretic only gives a crude, artificial solution that may have negative side effects.
Q: What is the main issue with the idea that the body can be treated through diet and lifestyle changes?,
A: The author argues that the body's intelligence is more complex and powerful than can be replicated by external factors like diet and lifestyle.
Q: What is the author's view on the relationship between the mind and the body?,
A: The author believes that the mind and body are interconnected and that the mind plays a crucial role in the body's functioning, contradicting the idea that the body is just a machine.<|eot_id|><|begin_of_text|>In truth, no other recent event in biomedicine
has been as revolutionary as these discoveries. The arrival
of neurotransmitters on the scene makes the interaction of
mind and matter far more mobile and ﬂowing than ever
before—far closer to the model of the river. They also help
ﬁll the gap that apparently separates mind and body, one of
the deepest mysteries that man has faced since he began to
consider what he is. —
At ﬁrst, around 1973, it seemed that only two
neurotransmitters were needed, one to activate a distant
cell, such as a muscle, and the other to slow down the
activity. Two brain chemicals, acetylcholine and
norepinephrine, do just that; they are the “go” and “slow
down” signal s of the nervous system. They were considered
revolutionary at the time, because they proved that the
impulse sent from one nerve cell to the next was not
electrical but chemical in nature. All at once, the accepted
notion of tiny sparks jumping from neuron to neuron was
rendered obsolete. But the new chemical model at ﬁrst
continued to preserve the basic theory that only two signals
were necessary. Man-made computers operate using just
this kind of binary switch, and apparently so did the brain. Then, as molecular biologists around the world began to
investigate more deeply, numerous new neurotra nsmitters
cropped up, each with a diﬀerent molecular structure and
apparently a diﬀerent message to deliver. Structurally,
many of them were related, being built up as peptides,
complex chains of amino acids of the same kind as those
which appea r in the proteins that make up every cell,
including brain cells.A great many riddles began to be solved, directly or
indirectly, as these discoveries emerged. If you take a
sleeping cat, remove a tiny portion of its spinal ﬂuid, and
inject it into a cat that is awake, the second  cat will
immediately fall asleep. This is becau se a cat’s brain puts
its body to sleep chemically, with its own internal sleeping
potion. In order for the animal to wake up again, the
opposite chemical, a wake-up signal, must be injected into
the spinal column. In humans, where the same chemical mech anisms
operate, the body is awakened in the morning not by a rude
internal alarm but by a series of timed signals, at ﬁrst mild,
then progressively stronger, that lift us from deep  sleep by
stages. The whole process involves a gradual transition, in
four or ﬁve waves, from the biochemistry of sleep to the
biochemistry of wakefulness. If this process is interrupted,
you do not come as fully awake as you should—the
biochemistry of two distinct phases has been mixed. That is
why parents  of newborns, having to get up several times
during the night, feel that they are never quite normal
during the day. Alarm clocks also jolt us out of our natural
wake-up patterns, giving rise to grogginess that may