Euthanasia, Chronic & Terminal Illnesses

by Shree Narayan Singh

But it is these empty spaces that make the room livable.

Thus, while the tangible has advantages,

It is the intangible that makes it useful."

Tao Te Ching

The inherent beauty and strength of the scientific temperament lies in its willingness to accept change. Thus learning and growing continues as an unending process. Science continually discovers new features about life, adding to its vast repository of understanding. Variegated perspectives have developed over the millennia, each relevant in its own sphere. They mutually complement the others to create that vast experience termed human knowledge. Individuals are blessed with limitations! These are essential for one’s foundations which then provide a sound basis and impetus for searching the unknowable in order to make finite elements of the infinite known to others. Clearly it is not possible for a single person to know everything -- an attribute ascribed only to divinity!

In India, the ancient system of healing is known as Ayurveda, the science of good health and longevity. Similarly in China has evolved over many thousands of years, that which is now known as Traditional Chinese Medicine. It has also been the progenitor of acupuncture and acupressure with its current variant known as Su-Jok created by Dr. Park Jae Woo of South Korea. The Unani system derives from the wisdom of the Middle East. Tibetan Ayurveda is an amalgam of various influences, particularly suited to high altitudes. Europe too has its ancient lore of herbs and minerals which has formed the basis for modern medicine. Two centuries ago, Dr. Hanneman evolved a revolutionary system of treatment he termed homeopathy. In India naturopathy is also accepted widely. The phenomenon of Baba Ramdev is recent to healing. Countless are apparently regaining good health at nominal cost, following his instructions on yoga.

Tao-Somatics is a new age system of healing using body work, created through a synthesis of the wisdom of the east and the west, now being promoted in India by Dr. Paula Horan, renowned Reiki Master from the US and her German husband Narayan. This derives from seminal works such as Body Mind written by Ken Dychtwald, Your Inner Physician & You: CranioSacral Therapy, SomatoEmotional Release by John E. Upledger amongst various others. The inextricable link between life experiences, bearing and health has been a topic of study in the US for over three decades now. Various institutions successfully offer healing utilising these principles. The release of trauma automatically brings about a recovery in health.

Spiritual Healing too is gaining currency. This is a genera which incorporates techniques widely at variance with each other, but each equally efficacious. Some of the systems are termed Usui Reiki, Karuna Reiki, Rainbow Reiki, Pranic Healing, Rebirthing, Family Constellation. Some, like the first three deal with the flow of energies through the human or animal body. The latter two deal with releasing emotional blockages which lie at the root of any dis-ease. This is also the thrust of the Louise Hay Method which works with positive affirmations.

The previous century has seen the blossoming of allopathy or modern medicine based on modern science. More recently nutrition and immunology have come increasingly into focus. Each of the disciplines mentioned above continue to contribute immensely to the welfare of humanity. This would be one of the principal reasons for the prestigious Harvard School of Medicine in the USA to have established a chair for the study of alternative therapies about a decade ago. It is clearly an acknowledgment by science of the validity of systems it may not yet necessarily understand.

Given this vast variance of knowledge, it is clearly not possible for any one person or system of medicine to know all that is to be known of the complex phenomena termed life! At best one is a mere infant in the lap of the universe, learning day after day from nature! This is how Sir Isaac Newton wrote Principles of Mathematics which became the foundation of classical physics. This is how modern science has developed -- out of empiricism. Theories were later evolved in an attempt to replicate nature through mathematical models. Noticing variations between existing theories and empirical observations, Einstein propounded the Theory of Relativity. Similarly Particle Physics has attempted to solve the mysterious behaviour of sub atomic particles.

It would therefore be fallacious to promote the concepts of any particular system as being the ultimate to govern human life. Any attempt to do so must be considered suspect and motivated by concerns other than the welfare of humanity. It is common knowledge that modern medicine has now become incorporated into what is termed as the medical industry where the aim of MNCs is to earn profits even though it may be at the expense of sick people. It is true that the gadgetry modern medicine has is simply awesome and its surgery beyond compare.

The manner in which modern medicine has captured the social imagination throughout the world and the inordinate influence it exerts on the world polity makes it appear that it is the ultimate in terms of medical knowledge. This certainly is not so! Unfortunately however, it must be asserted that the understanding it has of the mind body complex is at an infantile stage. It is said that the methodology they employ in research and to maintain their grip on human consciousness is highly questionable.

Evidently modern medicine is vulnerable to patronage, exploitation and subversion by various govts such as those of the US which is perhaps one reason why it has become ensconced in the modern world to such an extent. No other system of medicine known to humanity has the capacity to be so subverted against humanity, as an instrument of policy, violating the very rationale of its existence. But then power dictates, whether it is money, whether it is political, or whether it is simply brute force. The real problem lies in the inordinate amount of clout, financial and political, which has been vested in this system. Thus, the American Medical Association, the American Dental Association and their counterparts throughout the world, are able to persecute any they wish who threatens their livelihood. the Hippocratic Oath notwithstanding.

The History Channel has shown a presentation on the mind control experiments codenamed MKULTRA carried out by the infamous CIA in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. It has shown the case history of a 25 yr old mother of four, Linda Macdonald who was diagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia when she was merely suffering from a post partum depression. Dr. Connor, a noted psychiatrist of Montreal in Canada was at the forefront of these experiments. Over a period of five weeks Linda had been injected various drugs such as LSD in high doses and she was repeatedly given electric shocks 600 times stronger than normal for depatterning.

She had emerged from this treatment like a vegetable -- alive but without any memory. This 25 yr old was reduced mentally to being a child who had to learn all her skills over again. Characteristically documentation of this project has been destroyed and it is estimated that a mere 30% of what actually had taken place can ever be known. This is just one instance. There is no way an ordinary person can ascertain the extent to which research is being carried out in what is euphemistically termed non lethal weapons in the US.

Dr. Paul Horan, or Lakshmi as she likes to be called, had told this writer, much to his disbelief that he was fortunate to be living in India. She said that people have no idea as to what all goes on in the US which is actually contrary to the welfare of its own nationals. The scene there is exceptionally sinister. Admittedly, we in India are certainly far more human in spite of all the sleaze, corruption, casteism and so on!

The Indian psyche unfortunately has an extreme reluctance to accept the validity of its own indigenous traditions. This has manifest in various all aspects of human life. Classical Indian Music suddenly began to be appreciated when the Beatle George Harrison accepted Pt. Ravi Shankar, the sitar maestro, as his Guru. The same has happened with yoga and meditation, Bharat Natyam, more recently ayurveda, our value systems and so on. Whether it is Aurobindo Ashram which derives its validity through the Mother, a French lady; or the Bihar School of Yoga which maintains relevance and pertinence due to its high expatriate composition, the inspiration necessarily comes from the west.

Indians suddenly become aware of the inherent worth of their heritage only when reflected off the white world. In spite of Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, and his attempts to promote cottage industries and khadi or hand spun and hand woven cloth in India, it was not until the westernised fashion industry was able to make it contemporaneous that khadi now has found its legitimate place in India and naturally abroad as well.

It is no wonder therefore that we in this country are content to amuse ourselves with the strengths and weaknesses of the modern medical industry imported from abroad, rather than actually seek cures to our dis-ease from more comprehensive philosophies of life and health which are indigenous to our country. Genuine healers such as Baba Ramdeo, who is spreading the message of freedom from dis-ease through the use of simple yoga techniques, quite naturally, receive death threats from various vested interests.

The biggest weakness of the modern medical tradition lies in the fact that it is unable to look at the mind body complex as a holistic system. It is content to fragment it into parts, with doctors specialising in different organs, an approach which is certainly valid, but definitely not the ultimate as the body is a complex organism in which the function of each organ is inter-related with those of others.

Any holistic system of medicine knows that the cause of a particular set of symptoms localised in one organ or spread through various amongst them, lies deep down elsewhere. Human experience in the west is consistently proving that whether it is cancer, asthma, glaucoma or infertility, the patient is holding on to certain traumas deep within oneself which manifest as unserving thoughts and misqualified energies.

Unfortunately no where in medical schools is anything taught about the inter-relatedness of organs and the emotional content of illness; hence modern medicine is not equipped to go the root of a dis-ease, it remains content to attempt to alleviate symptoms. Neither do these schools impart instructions on good health and the science of good health. As a result, modern doctors can more accurately be termed ‘doctors of disease’ rather than ‘doctors of good health’. It is the world’s misfortune that it is being held hostage to such partial philosophies on health.

If an attempt is made to classify understanding of phenomena into three levels, viz. outer, inner and secret, as is done in Mahayana Buddhism, it will be found that the ambit of modern medicine is circumscribed almost completely to the outer level.

It is within the context of modern medicine that the terms chronic diseases, terminal illness and euthanasia have gained currency. From the perspective of the other holistic traditions of medicine, these terms are fairly meaningless and may even be an object of ridicule. This is repeatedly demonstrated in the lives of individuals who are willing to step out of the strait jacket imposed on them by modern medicine and seek healing elsewhere.

It is commonly known that a large number of medical doctors who are supposed to treat using modern medicine, actually take alternative therapies for their ownselves and their families! Clearly they are not convinced of the inherent worth of the discipline in which they have been trained and utilise it not to help others but simply to earn a living!

This may also be attested to by this writer and his family which has direct experience of both modern medicine and alternative therapies. In many instances, it is in alternatives that the solution to dis-ease have been found by them. In fact, Apollo Hospital in New Delhi has recently incorporated Pranic Healing, a system originated by Master Chao Kok Sui as an acceptable therapy. It seems that the Chairman had been cured of a prolonged illness through this method of spiritual healing.

Doctors with nauseating regularity declare that the pancreas cannot be regenerated, or the kidneys cannot be regenerated. This is true only to the extent that it is the understanding of modern medicine. It cannot preclude the fact that in other systems, such regeneration is a definitive experience. Extensive research carried out with the mushroom reishi or ganoderma lucidum has verified that through its use, the regeneration of the pancreas, kidneys, liver and so on, have been achieved by an extremely large number of patients as also recovery from the pernicious hepatitis A, B & C virus. Similarly this writer is receiving a continual stream of reports of the efficacy of Su-Jok Acupressure in the containment and possible cure of such supposedly incurable conditions!

The internationally renowned father and son duo, Drs. Prashant and Pratip Bannerjee of Kolkata, have a board placed in front of their clinic in Elgin Rd stating that cancer and kidney failure is treated by them using homeopathy. In fact, last Jan, they had been invited to present their protocol on cancer at a conference on the island of Corfu in the Mediterranean. Clearly cancer treatment on an international level is willing to recognise the validity of homeopathy. At a more modest level, in Munger, there is at least one homeopath, Dr. J. C. Pal, who confidently states that he can treat cancer.

Similarly a nine month treatment of supposedly infertile couples taking reishi regularly, whilst staying in the comfort of their own homes, living ordinary lives, not having to visit clinics and pay for expensive treatments which have dubious value in any case as admitted by doctors themselves, has resulted in pregnancies and deliveries of healthy babies without the use of hormones, IVF and other dazzling modern techniques.

Doctors are trained to be highly focussed in their own discipline; it is highly exclusive. As a result they are loathe to admit that other systems are equally if not more valid than their own. This certainly is the greatest disease of the modern medical community -- its aggressive myopia! A notable example is the mother of a friend of this writer, married to the daughter of a renown physician of Munger. As per last reports received she has been in coma since fall 2003. Yet doctors treating her are not open to even suggest that since they are unable to do much, doctors and healers from other traditions should be consulted. This would be in accordance with the Hippocratic Oath they take when they graduate from medical school! Yet, it is not visible in practice.

The greatest misfortune of the modern person is that one’s life is under the tight control of the whims and fancies of the medical industry. Last year saw the culmination of a movement in Europe sponsored by it to legally ban the use of vitamins and health food supplements by individuals so that it could have sole control over the world and profit from selling chemical drugs much to the detriment of humanity. Fortunately the judge who heard this matter saw through the gimmickry of the medical industry and the far reaching consequences of such a ban. He therefore ruled in favour of humanity!

It is within this context that the term Lifestyle Management has evolved. It seeks to encompass within its folds the variegatedness of human knowledge, acknowledging the validity of each element of this complex matrix and their individual limitations, knowing fully well that that which may be applicable to the one may not necessarily be applicable to the other or to all. Each individual is physically, emotionally and mentally unique. Moreover every person has one’s own religious and spiritual perspective fully valid for that person.

The concept of Lifestyle of Holistic Health management is not really new. It was integral to ancient cultures. It is new to modern civilisation as it has strayed away from nature. It includes a healthy lifestyle as generally understood but goes far beyond. Its fundamental concept is the empowerment of an individual to take care of one’s own self on a regular basis with the least disruption to one’s life and in a relatively inexpensive manner. It is an awareness of wellness aimed at managing mental and physical health by an individual without recourse to the medical industry. As an industry, ‘wellness’ is tipped to be the next big boom after IT by financial gurus in the west.

The first person to package the term in the modern context was the American physician Dr. Halbert Dunn with his book High Level Wellness in the 1950s. Even though it took nearly half a century for his ideas to gain acceptance. The mushrooming growth of various network marketing systems concentrating on health products within the preceding decade is in itself testimony to it.

It is now commonly accepted that one can remain healthy through proper nutrition -- an intelligent use of nature’s own products which gently nudge the human body to normal functioning. Grandma’s herbal and home recipes are legendary to each and every civilisation. Nutrition moreover, has been dealt with extensively in every single medical science with varying degrees of emphasis. However, it is only now that it is emerging as a discipline in its own right. It is now also linked with immunology, the term Nutritional Immunology already patented in the US.

The fundamental concept is that each form of life has inherent within it, the capacity to care for itself. This is the auto immune system -- one’s best internal physician. A properly functioning auto immune system serves as a strong defense against dis-ease. When a person enjoys good health, wholesome nutrition can assist in the prevention of sickness. Similarly an ill person may be assisted in recovery through proper nutrition and care. The focus here shifts to a trust in and stimulating the natural processes to care for oneself. These in themselves are highly intelligent, complex and not properly understood. However they may be induced to function properly. This is perhaps one of the reasons as to why people a hundred years ago, who lived more in harmony with nature, led healthy lives!

The medical industry has unfortunately created an atmosphere in which the patient is made to distrust one’s own capacity to heal and hands over the locus of control to doctors and the elaborate industry. In this way, the patient loses not only economically. The process involves a loss of valuable time as also the involvement of the entire family. Simultaneously one’s body functions can become seriously impaired through the use of chemical drugs. It is known that these drugs are rarely fully expelled by the body’s natural processes and their continued retention merely harms it in various ways modern medicine itself is unable to assess! Amongst the most pernicious is the relatively free manner in which steroids and cortisones are used both internally and externally!

Medical drugs are known to provide symptomatic relief. In many cases their use is imperative. During their use, various considerations come into play: ‘Is the desired effect occurring?’ ‘Are there any side effects?’ ‘What is the precise dosage required?’ ‘Does this drug react negatively with others?’ ‘What are the contra-indications?’ And so on!

The statement by Dr. Allen Roses, Vice-President of Genetics, GlaxoSmithKline, has recently stated at a conference in London that drugs prescribed by a doctor have merely a 30-50% chance of working. This needs to be seriously considered. ‘Addressing a scientific audience recently in London,’ the editorial continues, ‘he claimed that most prescription medicines do not work on most people who take them ... An important consideration drug-therapy is the risk-to-benefit ratio of the drug, that is measuring its benefits against risks of proven side-effects....’ HT, Patna, Editorial titled Hit-and-miss Drugs, Friday Dec 12, 2003.]

The choice of wholesome food, proper nutrition, positive thinking and so on, allow the ‘internal doctor’ to function properly -- nature to continue its work unimpeded. Utilising the finest treasures harvested from the earth, it is possible to achieve a fairly healthy life style without detrimental side effects. Lifestyle Management encourages the processes through which illness may be avoided as far as possible. It urges the individual to live proactively through proper nutrition including the use of appropriate seasoning, which will enhance the auto immune system and the enjoyment of a healthy body. The lack of proper essential nutrition is now associated with a weak auto immune system -- the inability of the body to fend for itself. When functioning properly, the auto immune system has the ability to combat dis-ease and overcome the constant attacks of environmental pollutants and toxins.

Body functions, from this perspective, are subsumed under the six parameters of detoxification, regeneration, balancing internal energies, enhancing the metabolism, regulating the endocrine system and boosting the auto immune system. These result in the change of one’s biochemistry in which free radicals are constantly being neutralised. The blood is made alkaline, creating an environment which germs, virus and disease, simply do not find amenable to their presence and growth.

Medical science has discovered that the human body as a living organism, is continuously in flux. Cells destroyed and recreated regularly. It has been found that the cells of various parts of the body are replaced in differing periods from a few days to a few months -- all the trillions of cells in the human body are replaced over a period of two and a half years. Given this scenario, it is evident that healthy cells can be persuaded to grow under proper conditions in the body.

It is thus that the regeneration of the pancreas and kidneys is a distinct possibility, the stimulating and balancing of the endocrine system and so on have repeatedly been proven through the use of reishi. Currently stem cell research is being highlighted. However, the process is still in a trial stage and no one is quite sure of its ethical connotations. It is also extremely expensive and available only to few throughout the world. Supplements such as reishi are within the reach of the many.

These select herbs may be used in one’s food as also independently, to maintain good health and eradicate the root physical cause of any disease, be it a transient stomach disorder or one as severe as cancer or HIV. Tibetan Herbal Medicine has an exceptional track record in the treatment of cancer. The herb known as reishi or ganoderma lucidum too has the amazing ability of effectively enabling terminal cancer patients to return to good health. Many such have been widely documented through research.

In Japan, it is reportedly legally binding for cancer treatment to incorporate reishi as a supplement. The Tata Memorial Research Institute in Mumbai and the Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre, Kochi, Kerala have both also started using reishi in cancer treatment on an experimental basis. The faculty at AIIMS too is reportedly becoming aware of its miraculous properties.

It has now been scientifically established that a regular intake of natural and organic supplements of phytochemcials, vitamins, minerals, trace elements, herbs such as goji, reishi, chlorophyll, ginseng, cactus extracts and spirulina amongst countless others, are also prophylactic. They act as powerful anti oxidants, neutralising free radicals to which are ascribed the cause for many a disease. They also exert a powerful therapeutic effect, resulting in the cure of many considered as chronic or incurable.

Dental hygiene is a crucial aspect of daily life. Unfortunately the medical industry has created toothpastes firstly which use pulverised animal bones. Secondly there exists an inordinate amount of conflicting views concerning the use of various chemicals incorporated in it. One such is fluoride. Another group of chemicals used act as powerful disinfectants which kill both harmful and friendly bacteria in the mouth. Should a person accidentally swallow even a small portion of it, intestinal flora is thrown out of balance. These toothpastes overlook the significant fact that the mouth is full of lymph ducts which instantly absorb chemicals into the bloodstream.

Given the aggressive publicity which promotes toothpastes, it is difficult to isolate the better chemical toothpastes from the worse ones. Dentists’ recommendations are hardly any help as they too form an integral part of the medical industry which claims to exist for the benefit of humanity but intrinsically exploits its greatest weakness -- health! It is therefore that people conscious of dental health are selecting herbal toothpastes for regular use.

Amongst the many available in India, this writer has found the toothpaste made from reishi as amongst the most suitable for general use. The goodness of reishi is directly absorbed into the blood stream through countless lymph ducts in the mouth. Moreover, this writer has been using it for over two years now and has had no reason to visit his dentist since he started using it. Lingzhi Paste, manufactured and marketed by DXN, www.dxnindia.com, is actually a multi purpose cream as well which can be applied externally as a cream, to treat acne, on cuts, wounds, burns and scalds. It may also be safely applied on sore gums as a paste or dissolved in water and drunk to relieve abdominal pains.

Unfortunately modern dentistry too, as an integral branch of modern medicine, seeks to preclude the validity of alternative systems for dental treatment. Recently this writer had an abcess in his gums healed through homeopathy treatment after his dentist incised an abscess in his gums.

It is therefore that a strong back to nature movement has emerged in the west -- organic farming, organic foods, organic supplements -- the list is endless. In India small pockets of people are becoming aware of this but the process is painfully slow. A full thirty five years after the introduction of the organic movement in the west by hippies, a movement little understood in India, it has finally been acknowledged as a reality in India by Outlook magazine in its May 16, 05 issue.

It is not possible in this short article to delve in detail in the merits and demerits of various products. The intent is to make the reader aware of the pitfalls of modern science and urge him or her to embark on one’s own investigation of these systems to assess their appropriateness, strengths and weaknesses. This writer, over the years has collected sufficient information to confirm the validity of natural herbs and alternative therapies vis a vis modern medicine to which he reverts to merely as a last resort.

Even his wife who was recently suffering from depression, high blood pressure and suspected heart problem due to emotional stress, has been able to emerge from it within twenty four hours, through the benign homeopathic system. Modern medicines were simply inducing sleep without controlling any of the symptoms except temporarily, making her into a living vegetable!

Vitamins are defined as organic substances essential for the normal functioning of the body. Apart from a few exceptions, vitamins cannot be sythesised by our bodies. They are necessary for our growth, vitality and well-being. Our body obtains vitamins, minerals and trace elements from organic foods and/or dietary supplements. Moreover the capacity to assimilate them from food reduces considerably with age. Such supplements are now the more necessary as it is not humanly possible for any person to maintain a balanced diet except in a very broad sense of the term.

People are now becoming aware that the food and drinks available in the market are laced with tiny amounts of toxicity. These derive from the widespread use of chemicals in agriculture which have also resulted in the poisoning of our aquifers, ponds, lakes, streams and rivers. Even the rapid disappearance of vultures, essential to ecology, has been traced to the use of chemical medicines in cattle particularly paracetamol.

Similarly industrial wastes and raw sewage are being mindlessly allowed to flow directly into rivers destroying entire eco-systems. Solid waste is indiscriminately dumped wherever possible destroying the environment while becoming potential sources of disease. It is only recently that a company known as K. K. Plastics in Bangalore has patented a process through which waste plastic may be reused in the construction of roads!

The food processing industry too continues to introduce trace toxicity through processing. A glaring example of this is the process of refining sugar using sulphur. Trace amounts of sulphur remains behind, contaminating the sugar making it both acidic and toxic -- a principal cause for the emergence of various diseases. Sulphur-less sugar is now available in India. Another cause are the soft drinks fondly drunk by young and old alike. Analyses have revealed the deleterious effects their various components exert on the human constitution!

The entire genera of paan masala is banned in the USA as being carcinogenic. Similarly various other chemicals such as monsodium glutamate, MSG, is known for its cancer causing effects. Unfortunately the inordinate hype created through advertising by the food industry is hardly intended to improve the health of our peoples.

The sole aim of the food industry is to make money, be it at the expense an individual’s health. It can be stated with certitude that most fast foods available in the Indian market are low in nutrition but high in dis-ease causing substances. Invariably they use white flour or maida rather than whole wheat flour only contributing to the malnutrition particularly of children who are their principal targets in advertising. If it is averred that modern medicine knows thoroughly concerning diet, then the evolution of its own knowledge over the decades proves that it knows precious little with contradicting theories and systems extant. In spite of this modern medicine is equated with omniscience.

The human body has a limited capacity to process toxins which decreases with age as the pituitary slows down. Clearly it is in need of assistance to continuously protect itself from these onslaughts. This is possible through the regular use of food supplements, a number of which have been the focus of exhaustive scientific research for decades.

The widespread use of plastics in the food industry, particularly bottled water, too is replete with its own problems. Not only does it burdens the customer with expense and health problems, it contributes drastically to the degradation of the environment. One series of research in the 1980s in western Europe, reported by the BBC World Service, found that pseudo estrogen compounds leach into food through synthetic packaging with disastrous consequences for males! The intelligent use of herbs has been found to be highly efficacious in the treatment of infertility of both sexes!

In India, it has been found that PVC containers used for storing blood for transfusion, contains a highly toxic chemical DEHP, which leaches into the blood to up to 0.15 gms per litre of blood from the plastic. The list of such mishaps is endless! Resultantly an ordinary person is left exceptionally vulnerable to technology as the concept of food grade plastic is still foreign to the Indian psyche!

It has now become commonplace for individuals to spend extended hours in controlled environments during most of the day and are thus unable to draw nurture from the sun. This is seriously compounded by irregular lifestyles, eating habits, enhanced levels of stress, anxiety and so on. Recent studies reveal that those working in call centres soon develop stress and insomnia due to working graveyard shifts for extended periods. Similarly, the stress resulting from high ambitions, performance and extended work hours are hardly conducive to a balanced life.

NASA has reportedly found that far infrared rays of the bandwidth of 4 - 16 microns are essential for human life. Thus has emerged through research, a composition known as bioceramics. This is a composition of thirty six minerals and oxides which, when warmed by the human body, radiates far infrared rays of the requisite bandwidth. Currently garments impregnated with bioceramics are readily available in India. Similarly research has succeeded in infusing energy from ‘the first layer of the sun’, termed bioactive energy, into solids and liquids which have tremendous applications in daily life.

A sedentary lifestyle coupled with undue exposure to electromagnetic frequencies or fields, emfs, or electrosmog, radiated by electronic and electric appliances, wiring and so on, merely compounds problems. Research is showing that the greatest offender is the ubiquitous mobile phone which continuously radiates emfs or electromagnetic frequencies or fields, affecting the human body directly where it is placed. The frequency of its emissions have been found to be similar to the natural frequencies of the cerebrum where it sets up resonance and imbalances nature’s processes.

Yet other offenders are computers, TVs, video games and so on. Research has now found that prolonged and excessive exposure to them is particularly unhealthy. It is also unhealthy to keep them on standby. Besides consuming and wasting a trickle current of about 8% they continue to radiate emfs when not in use. It is however possible to counteract them through the use of bioactive energy. Products are available in the international market which are highly efficacious in neutralising the harmful effects of electrosmog or emfs merely by carrying them on one’s person or attaching them on gadgets. They are also used to enhance the performance of car engines.

The use of metal furniture particularly beds is also not salubrious to health and certainly not recommended. Metal acts as a conductor for and disturbs the dynamic electromagnetic equilibrium of the body resulting in various forms of dis-ease. Similarly synthetic fabrics are not healthy in that they create and radiate positive ions.

An excess of negative ions in one’s environment induces a sense of relaxation and well being, besides removing suspended air particles responsible for pollution. Professional climate control therefore incorporates negative ion generators which release them in the trillions. This is why one feels a sense of undue elation and relaxation as one enters a five star hotel.

Simply stated, alternative, complementary therapies are far less expensive. Neither do they require a disruption of one’s lifestyle as necessitated during hospitalisation. They can be conveniently implemented in the comfort of one’s own home! Many such therapies are known to affect the human body deeply producing long term benefits. It is also possible to effect cures of many diseases which may be designated as incurably by one system or another.

The psychological aspect of dis-ease has come under increasing focus during the previous century. In her path breaking work "You Can Heal Your Life", Louise L. Hay has charted a simple programme by which a person may heal oneself through love, forgiveness, change of attitude and positive affirmations. She had cured herself of cancer through this process when modern medicine had given up hope.

This is also the core message of any spiritual tradition which if practised properly too can lead to healing. Similarly ancient wisdom recast into the concept of ‘enneagram’ provides fascinating insights into human personality and health and may be used for healing.

The science of healing is thus moving towards the intangible and unquantifiable aspects of human life, making it far more flexible. Hypnotherapy and past life regression therapy are both gaining acceptance for ameliorating the root causes of dis-ease. Other disciplines such as Neuro Linguistic Programming have gained acceptance in the Dept of Human Resource Development in MNCs for handling stress, dis-ease etc. Many such are actively conducting programmes for their executives to nurture and enhance their sense of wellness which includes stress relief, prevention of attacks of anxiety and other imbalances.

The healing quality of music is being studied both in India and abroad. Research on ice crystals formed of water dervied from different sources, the manner in which they are affected by music of different types, have been studied extensively in Japan. Since the human body is more than 70% water, it needs little imagination to understand the effect music may have on the mind body complex. The spiritual and healing content of Indian Classical Music is also being studied.

In India ragas have variously been designated for the amelioration of specific conditions of dis-ease. The maestro Pt. Jasraj maintains for example, that there are ragas which can bring back people from the brink of a nervous breakdown. Raag Gorakh Kalyan controls blood pressure. Raag Darbari cures insomnia. Yaman is good for the digestive system. Similarly select classical works by western composers are known for their healing effects. Another lady musician Dr. P. Bharathi has created a series of seven CDs for various dis-ease-s.

An entire genre of music known as ‘hemi-synch’ has been extant in the west for a few decades. This seeks to synchronise the two cerebral hemispheres and thus establish balance in an individual. Technology dealing with alpha and theta wave brain frequencies, linked to feelings of serenity and well-being, are now being used successfully to promote wellness. Spiritually inspired new age music too can work wonders.

Systems of spiritual healing such as reiki, pranic healing, shamanic healing, the Melchizedek Method and so on, are gradually gaining wide acceptance. In Europe licenses are issued to certify skills in spiritual healing. Healers are then permitted to legally practise and charge for their services. The Philippines, a catholic country, has an ancient and varied tradition of healing accepted by the general populace. The psychic surgery healers such as Rev Orbito carry out in full view of all, needs to be seen to be believed.

The spiritual component of life too is being proactively addressed by medical research. An improper motivation makes one unable to differentiate that which is wholesome for one and that which is not! The basis of ethics in any society is not only to regulate it but to care for the welfare of the individual as well. The current emphasis on the generation and accumulation of wealth irrespective of the means, has been proven over the millennia to be counter productive. This is sadly the legacy of Hindutva which has been handed down by Adi Shanakaracharya. Ilija Trojanow sums it up succinctly in his new book Along the Ganga: "Deeply rooted injustice and incessantly invented differences lead ethics into an absurd impasse, driving it out of the areas of practised morality into the spheres of abstract thinking -- as beautiful and yet as unreachable as a celestial body."

Is it any wonder then that the wealth creating machines known as Marwaris, Gujaratis, Sindhis, lawyers, doctors, chartered accountants amongst others, suffer from the largest range of physical ailments?

It is therefore necessary that an individual seeks to adopt viable perspectives on one self, one’s life, family and society for the welfare of the one and that of all. It is in this context that disciplines such as Vipassana, Art of Living, Yoga, specifically Baba Ramdev’s methods and Falun Gong amongst many others, are proving to be useful.

The combined result of the adverse circumstances stated above is the exponential growth of various diseases previously unknown, spreading throughout the country like wildfire, including a drop in male fertility. This is simply mind boggling. It has also been found that those engaged in ancient disciplines such as yoga, meditation, Falun Gong, spiritual healing and so on, tend to emerge as more balanced individuals.

The situation today is in direct contrast with the level of good health enjoyed by our predecessors barely a half century ago whose lifestyle was less complex, used fewer petrochemicals, lacked TV and was more in consonance with nature!

The logical answer to this predicament is the dictum ‘prevention is better than cure’.

Lifestyle management is thus, an increasing awareness of wellness and methods enhancing it! It is accomplished through urging nature to heal its own self through simple techniques which are both prophylactic and also curative with the least disruption to one’s life. Regular and intelligent use of select products together with positive thinking, a proper mental orientation, yoga, meditation and spiritual healing, can ensure to a large extent that imbalances in the body are corrected, potential dis-eases pre-empted and their users enjoy a regular and healthy life automatically.

It has been found that many diseases are actually effectively thrown out of the human body by an activated auto immune system, through the eradication of their root causes possible through lifestyle management. Tautotlogically the methodology used to treat cancer through chemotherapy etc. are directed to suppressing the auto immune system rather than boosting it.

Integral to it is the diktat that an individual must keep one self warm in cold weather or climates. Ladies in the plains wear sarees in a way in which their midriff remains exposed to the weather. This is exceptionally deleterious for their health and a consciousness needs to be developed to deal with this. Both ladies and gents in the himalayas for example, invariably keep this portion warm, pre-empting dis-ease arising out of exposure.

The human body inherently possess the resources to rejuvenate, regenerate and protect itself. It is constantly in flux with millions of cell dying every minute and millions being simultaneously regenerated. The process of regeneration however, diminishes not only with age as the endocrine system slow down, but also due to the gradual build up of toxins within the body, undue stress and so on, resulting in internal imbalances and dysfunction. We need to trust in our capacity to heal ourselves! For the vast majority of us, it is sufficient to urge nature to act as it should, through the use of simple and efficacious methods which are cost effective and do not entail a disruption in one’s lifestyle.

Of particular importance are the problems faced by teenagers. During puberty hormonal flushes bring about mood swings and emotional upheavals in girls. Moreover, they also suffer from eruptions on their facial skin as also do adolescent boys in whom unbalanced levels of testosterone can induce abnormal aggression. Regular use of select herbs will ensure that the process of maturity takes place smoothly.

Ladies need to take special care during pregnancies to ensure the proper growth of the foetus and the delivery of a healthy baby without intervention. An extremely pertinent system of ‘water birthing’ is also being used world wide for over three decades, developed extensively particularly in the erstwhile Soviet Union. This process substantially reduces the trauma of a natural birth for both mother and child. The mother to be is made to sit in a semi-squat position partly submerged in water at body temperature, facilitating the expulsion of the baby from its water surroundings in the womb to similar surroundings in the external world. It is fascinating that this process was actually shown in the Hindi educational film ‘Main aur Tum’ in 1986. It is the more intriguing that this has not been taken seriously by the scientific modern medical community since. Clearly other considerations are at work.

It is common knowledge that where a foetus is in a breach position, massage, homeopathy, ayurveda, spiritual healing and so on does enable it to turn around in the womb for a normal delivery to take place. It is not necessary to opt for a caesarian operation which in any case is extremely damaging to the newborn infant as the anesthesia affects it adversely. Modern medicine is blissfully unaware of these highly pertinent issues with doctors more concerned on making money.

Lactating mothers also need to ensure that infants receive the required nourishment through suckling. It is also important that muscles revert to normalcy after labour. Some experience scant menstrual flows while others experience excessive bleeding and uterine prolapse. The intelligent use of some of the herbs mentioned above particularly reishi, have been found to be exceptionally nurturing as they automatically remove ingested and accumulated toxins from the system!

It is also known that secretions of the pituitary gland decrease with age after 30 dropping to as low as 20% or even less. This is one of the primary reasons for the symptom known as aging. It is common for people in the middle stage of their life to feel lethargic and experience as if their faculties are failing. This has been ascribed to the lack of required hormone levels in the body. Moreover, Dr. Deepak Chopra in his path breaking work, Ageless Body Timeless Mind, provides fascinating insights into the psychosomatic aspects of this process. Whereas Hormone Replacement Therapy is now an established reality, it essentially entails the induction of the required hormones into the body. HRT does not induce the body to produce its own hormones as has been proven possible through herbs. Moreover the long term effect of HRT is still being studied!

The necessity of drinking good water in large quantities every day hardly needs to be emphasised -- it is crucial to life! Yet this is amongst the most neglected aspects of modern life! The best method extant of obtaining pure drinking water is through reverse osmosis. Units for domestic use are now freely available in India. Besides being more economical than purchasing mineral water it obviates the need to use plastic containers.

Ozone Therapy is a new entrant in medical sciences. Its progenitor, a medical doctor in Canada, was hounded out of North America by the American Medical Association, not because the methodology was incorrect, but that it challenged the foundations of modern medicine threatening a collapse of the mammoth medical industry. He has since, as per the latest info on him, moved to Kenya, where he is continuing research on it particularly on AIDS patients. This treatment is non-invasive, efficacious and highly cost effective.

Medical ozone therapy is currently recognised in Bulgaria, Cuba, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Mexico, Romania and Russia. Moreover eleven States in the US have already passed access-type bills to ensure that alternative therapies are available to consumers. Physicians there can legally use this and other safe, effective and non-conventional treatment in their practice without being persecuted.

This therapy is unique. Pure ozone, generated in an ozone generator is inserted directly into the body through a vein, through a regulator for 20 mins with astounding efficacy. It is termed epheresis in this context. Another process known as insufflation delivers ozone directly to various organs -- ears, rectum and vagina. A more drastic method termed RHP, Recirculatory Haemo Perfusion, within this context, is similar to dialysis in which the blood is taken out from a vein in one hand, purified, ozonated and returned through a vein in the other. The ozone stimulates the dissolution and removal of accumulated toxins in the body, enabling it to become rejuvenated. It is said that cancer can be cured within 21 days of intensive treatment. It also provides a viable alternative for the treatment of HIV AIDS. Further details are available on the internet. Within this context, euthanasia is utterly meaningless!

The auto immune system is boosted and pernicious diseases such as cancer and HIV expelled from the body. The patient experiences a thorough rejuvenation! This writer and his family has been through a three day therapy in Bangalore last Oct and they can each vouch for its high efficacy and comparatively low cost. During the first epheresis itself this writer had experienced the amelioration of a back pain he had for more than thirty years. His wife experienced cholesterol clusters being expelled during RCM. These had been performed under the skilled guidance of Dr. Jai Prakash Alva who may be contacted at 093412 10119, prashant_alva@yahoo.com.

Bubbling ozone through water kill all the germs it may contain and also oxidises toxins which may be present in it. Such ozone generators are also available in India. Bioactive energy, BAE, too may be use to purify water through the use of a ceramic infused with BAE. Ceramic filters conforming to international specifications are also highly efficacious, particularly those impregnated with silver. The availability of silver ions in drinking water is said to be extremely good for one’s health.

Detoxification of fresh fruit and vegetables can pose a challenge. The more commonly known methods are to soak them in a weak solution of potassium permanganate or hydrogen peroxide for a half to one hour. This may also be accomplished by bubbling ozone into a water in which they are being soaked for a half hour. This process oxidises toxins. Bioactive energy has also been found to be efficacious in this context!

All these products have been researched extensively. Chlorophyll has been studied for nearly a century now with three scientists having been awarded the Nobel Prize for their research. The search engine www.google.com lists nearly 200,000 sites each on reishi and chlorophyll. Spirulina has grown into prominence over the preceding 3 decades having emerged reportedly as the ‘space food’ discovered by NASA, USA. Reishi has nearly 200,000 sites. Bioactive energy has also been studied and researched for two decades now.

Any article on this subject would be incomplete were it not to include the ancient systems of geomancy known as Vaastu in India and Feng Shui in China. In the State of California, USA, a legislation has recently been introduced for consideration which, when passed, would require the state govt to adopt standards that would aid Feng Shui, the ancient Chinese art of promoting health, harmony and prosperity through properly structuring the environment. This is an attempt to harness nature’s energies to deal with the massive $15 billion deficit in the state. This writer has personally experienced the beneficial effects of Vaastu and Feng Shui at his own home.

In conclusion it needs to be emphatically stated that the current debate on euthanasia would need to have an extremely broad perspective involving all the systems of medicine extant in India. Given that one medicine has failed to deliver, then it should be made binding on the doctor to direct one’s patient to another system for that patient’s own good. The focus will then shift from a lucrative medical industry which seeks to profit from the disease of humanity to medicine which seeks the welfare of humanity as its first and foremost concern. It will then be found that so-called chronic diseases are curable and the term terminal illness obsolete. But for this tremendous far sightedness beyond partisanship, is required on the part of the authorities in India!

‘The art of medicine consists of amusing the patient,

while nature cures the disease.’

Voltaire.

The writer may be contacted at :

'Uddiyana'
Dalip Mahal,
Munger 811 201, Bihar
India
Tel. : # 06344 222291, 221157
Cell : 094312 36073
email :lamashree@indiya.com