Natural Medicine

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About the Book The patient's mind also energizes nature's healing powers. So the author wrote in another book, "If a doctor in whom the patient has complete faith prescribes water instead of medicine the patient will be quickly cured, but if the patient regards the doctor as a quack, the disease will not be cured, even if the purest of medicines known to medical science are prescribed and properly administered." Taking an overview of all aspects of the natural healing process, the author also wrote: "When, as a result of prolonged suffering from disease, old age or some other reason, someone's vitality decreases, diseases come one after another: a headache today, a pain in the waist tomorrow and a stomach upset the day after. The person may get a headache again the day after that. Such a state of the body will persist for a long period of time. However, through proper treatment, rest, hygiene, diet, sleep, sunbaths, fomentation and massage, a person's vitality slowly increases. When vitality is restored, diseases disappear."

The present book takes the reader on a fascinating journey, which we have endeavored to present as a pictorial journey as well, through the world of medicines available in nature to cure common diseases which afflict modern human beings - from simple dyspepsia, acidic belching, piles, liver and kidney diseases, rheumatism, skin diseases, female diseases, to life-threatening illnesses such as heart diseases, cerebral stroke, diabetes, cancer, and various nervous-system and mental diseases. The causes, cures and preventive measures are explained lucidly, in simple language, and will come as a breath of fresh air to all those who are burdened with the high costs and side effects of modern medicines and are desperately looking for easier alternatives.

One optimistic quote of the author for the future is as follows: "Until now, even with much research, the culminating point of animal evolution and the starting point of human evolution have not been discovered. Through more research, one day human beings will certainly discover this missing link. When this unknown link is discovered, enormous changes will occur in the field of genetics, and revolutionary changes will take place in the world of medicine."

About the Author Starting in his early thirties, Shrii Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar continued publishing one priceless book after another. He did not actually pen the books himself, but gave discourses or dictations that were noted down by his disciples, or taped, and later compiled as books. The books ranged across numerous fields, from spiritual and social philosophy to health, education, philology, economics, geography, agriculture and history, and encompassed a wide spectrum of subjects touching on many important aspects of human life. These books included the simple yet brilliant exposition called Yogic Treatments and Natural Remedies, published in Bengali in 1958 (and translated into English in 1983). In the preface to that book, he wrote, "The object of the art of healing is to cure a patient, both physically and mentally. So the main question is not to uphold any particular school of medical science; rather, the key task is the welfare of the patient." The author explains herein that since the advent of living beings on this earth, medicines have been used. All animals, in fact all beings, need some form of medicine. Certain types of medicine were known to people before the advent of Lord Shiva approximately 7500 years earlier, but before him they had never been incorporated into a systematic school of medicine.

Naturopaths do not believe in using medicine and believe it is possible to cure patients through the gifts of nature alone. While the author does not deny that this is possible, he maintains that specific herbal and natural medicines along with other useful healing methods have their due place, as it is often difficult to completely attune the body with nature. He adds that people should remember that medicines do not cure diseases; nature cures with the help of the body's own healing powers.

Medicines only hasten the healing process.

Some of the herbal remedies mentioned by the author in this or other books are available in Ananda Marga Headquarters in Kolkata.

Introduction Human Beings, Nature and Medicine

Not only humans but many other creatures as well are more or less familiar with medicines.

However, since ancient times many non-human creatures have considered fasting or deliberate abstinence from food as their most natural medicine.

You will notice those dogs and certain other animals abstain from eating if they feel a little ill. You also often do not feel like eating when you feel somewhat physically out of sorts.

Some contemporary physicians advise their patients, and even pressure them, to eat even when they do not have any appetite. This, however, goes against the laws of nature. It is natural for sick creatures to feel an aversion for food, unless they suffer from the disease of overeating. By not eating, certain organs of the body enjoy a temporary rest. As a result, after the fast the organs are rejuvenated and re- energized, and a feeling of well-being returns to the physical body. So not only in the case of prehistoric humans, in the case of prehistoric animals as well, the ancient, natural and chief medicine was upavasa [fasting] or sveccha-anas hana.

There is a basic distinction between sveccha-anashana and upavasa.

Sveccha-anashana means voluntary abstention from food in order to keep the body healthy. (An+ashana = anashana). Ashana means "eating", so anashana means "not eating". This abstention from food certainly helps to heal disease. However, imposed abstention from food does not have the same effect, because forced abstention creates in the mind a distressing sense of being pressured, which upsets the mental balance and at the same time also upsets the physical balance.

Upavasa is undoubtedly a kind of voluntary abstention. However, at the same time there is to some extent a withdrawal of physical activity and a gradual directing of one's mental propensities towards closer proximity with Parama Purusa. Upadesa means "near" and vasa mean "to stay". Thus the etymological meaning of the word upavasa is "to remain near the Lord".

So as I was saying, upavasa not only has the benefits of voluntary abstention from food; in addition, this practice is especially helpful for maintaining mental balance. That is, upavasa is a medicine for both physical as well as mental maladies. There is no doubt whatsoever that a person's mental strength is reinforced if he or she observes fasting in a systematic fashion. This is a truth that has stood the test of time.

Sunlight, air and soil: There are many healing elements in sunlight. The rays or pencils of rays of different colors in sunlight are medicines for different kinds of diseases - preventive medicines and antidotal medicines.

Sunlight has different benefits during different hours of the day. Sun-warmed water also has different kinds of benefits. Thus sunlight has been regarded since ancient times as a medicine for different bodily ailments.

It is also said in the Vedas: Surya yatha sarvalokasya cakra ["as the sun is the eye of the entire universe"]' The medicine, that is, sunlight, should be taken in through the dorsal spine, not through the chest or the abdomen.

The pure air (0,) of a secluded place is also an excellent medicine for the physical body. This medicine in the form of air should be taken through the back of the head and the upper part of the forehead.

The earth from a riverside area near a forest, in which there is a small amount of sand and a large amount of soil, is also an excellent medicine for the physical body. This medicine should be taken bare-bodied on a bed of earth.

Water: Odorless, tepid water, especially if it is sun-warmed, is an excellent medicine for the physical body. It has great healing qualities. Since ancient times, knowingly or unknowingly, human beings and different animals have also accepted water also as one of their medicines. It is also said in the Vedas: Apasha vishvabhesaji ["and water is a universal medicine"].

The discovery of different medicines However, the quest for medicines on the part of human beings and animals has not been limited to fasting, sunlight, water, air and earth. Initially the medicines that human beings discovered were different trees and plants and the external use of their bark and roots. The human beings of those times used to chew them [as a means of preparation] and smear or rub the diseased part with them. These ointments were the first medicines discovered by human beings.

When these ointments did not work externally, it became necessary to ingest them. Humans would use them as medicine by chewing or swallowing them. This was the second step in the use of medicines in human history.

There were many such medicines that were only available in particular seasons, not all year round. People used to gather them in their specific season and dry them so as to preserve them. In certain places they would preserve them in the form of tablets with the help of water; in other places they would just dry them normally, This preservation of medicine in the fun of tablets or pills belonged to a later stage in the use of medicines in human life.

Where medicines were not effective as external ointments, it became necessary to rub them on the skin or on the nerves, where they could be absorbed through the pores. People discovered these rubbing medicines somewhat later. These massage or rubbing ointments were discovered at a later stage.

Where there was any poisonous effect of the rubbing ointment, there was no recourse but to use it externally.

Book's Contents and Sample Pages