Taken from the book of Dr, Rajan sankaran the other song.
In 1790 a German physician, Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, (Allopathic doctor M.D.) made a very significant discovery. At that time cinchona bark (from
which quinine is derived) was very well known and used for its curative effects on malaria. Eager to discover what gave the bark
its curative power, Hahnemann tested this substance on himself while he was in a healthy state. He saw that it produced within
him symptoms similar to those of malaria: chill, fever, and sweat. This led him to suspect that certain substances can not only produce certain
symptoms and signs in a healthy individual but also cure someone with the same symptoms. This was the beginning of
homeopathy, which is based on the principle of “like cures like.” Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, the father of homeopathy After this,
Hahnemann started testing various substances on himself and
some volunteers to ascertain what effects they could produce in healthy people so that he
could use them when he found similar symptoms in sick people. He started meticulously recording the elicited signs and
symptoms of each substance tested on healthy volunteers in a book called the homeopathic materia medica (literally,
medical matter). What Hahnemann also ascertained is that disease is not localized but affects the whole being. Therefore, when a
person is sick, it is not merely a part but the whole of him that is sick. Likewise,a substance affects the whole being, including
the mind. The homeopath thus keeps these factors in mind when treating a patient. During the initial consultation a homeopath
records all symptoms as well as the patient’s state of mind. This is then correlated to symptoms of the various remedies in the
materia medica, and then the single remedy that is the closest match is given to the patient. Hahnemann also recognized the need
to sometimes use certain substances that would be poisonous in their natural natural state, for he foresaw their utility as great
remedies. Recognizing there was no way he could use them in their pristine form, he decided to dilute them. To his surprise he saw
that the more he diluted the substances (with vigorous shaking), the more their medicinal effects increased. This process of serial
dilution of a drug substance is termed “potentization.” The serial dilution was carried to such an extent that hardly any of
the original substance remained in these dilutions, yet their effects were powerful. This led
Hahnemann to conclude that diseases are not material states but dynamic conditions. Thus, healing also happens dynamically.
He postulated that there is a dynamic life force within each of us, and it is at this level that both disease and healing occur.
Disease is the disturbance of this force unique to each individual and manifested as a state of mind and through different physical
symptoms. Sickness can be compared to a sitar (an Indian musical instrument with many strings) that is out of tune. Naturally
there will be discord. However, it is the faulty tuning itself and not the individual notes that need to be addressed. Similarly, homeopathic
treatment is at the same time holistic and individualistic. The inner disturbance needs to be corrected and restored to bring health
and balance to the whole being. A person’s state of being, his perception of and response to the world, is an essential part of his
individuality and as integral to his disease as the pain in his limbs or the ulcer in his stomach.
The inner disurbance of disease causes discord in a human being that can be compared to the discordant music produced
by a sitar that is out of tune. In homeopathy everything that a patient says, however strange, rare, or peculiar, is a symptom. For example,
if you feel hot in a cold room, it is a symptom. In other words, a symptom is an inappropriate response to the existing
situation. It is as if the person is perceiving and reacting to a reality different from what actually exists. In a cold room he responds as
if it were a hot room. Disease is thus an affliction of the whole person, a posture adopted as a survival mechanism to suit a
particular situation that is perceived rather than real. This posture causes us to react to reality in an unsuitable and disproportionate
disproportionate manner due to our false perception of it. Naturally, this in turn produces constant stress in us. For example,
when a man is being chased by a lion, the posture of running fast, being afraid, and so on is appropriate, because his survival
depends upon it. However, if he is in such a state with no lion to justify it, or he adopts such a posture even when chased by a little
dog, or if he is in such a panic that he cannot think (a reaction that is in excess of what is needed in the situation), then this is disease. It is as if he were functioning on
a false perception of reality, a delusion that makes him react in an inappropriate manner. This is the root of his stress. This delusion is
further reflected in a person’s fears, dreams, and hobbies and colors all aspects of his life as if he were wearing tinted glasses at all
times. The patient, a boy of ten years, was referred to me for treatment of a very severe and chronic skin problem. He had boils on
his extremities, which were very painful and itchy. For the previous month he had been unable to sit or stand. He was carried into my consulting room, crying, his boils full of pus.
Describing the itching, the mother said it was so bad that the boy wanted to tear away his skin.
With his hands clenched, he would shriek from the severity of the itching, almost like an insane person. He would say, “Kill me, I
can’t take it, I don’t want to live.” Whenever the itching became too much he would say, “Give me a knife, I want to stab my arms.” In
earlier years the boy had been very dependent on a particular goddess, and he composed and sang songs in her praise.
When the itching started, the boy became angry at the goddess and said, “I have done so much for her and this is what she has done
to me!” Once having said this, he tore up the picture he had of the goddess. He was very sensitive in both mind and skin. He could not
tolerate even a drop of water; he did not like bathing and was thirstless. The itching with its accompanying violence was not
continuous but spasmodic. There was cruel behavior, both toward
himself and toward others. He often said, “I will go mad.” In this case we can see the following symptoms on the mental and
general level: • Violence • Abusive • Striking • Cruelty • Impulse to tear • Desire to cut, mutilate • Impulse to stab himself The main
feelings connected with this state are: • Forsaken (by goddess) • Tormented (by goddess)
Feels he has suffered wrong From these feelings come the violent reactions. He has skin eruptions and reacts as if he were in a
situation where he is tormented and forsaken by the person he is serving and on whom he is dependent (the goddess). From this we can
see that the boy’s fixed perception (delusion) was that he was being tortured and tormented by the goddess to whom he was so devoted.
This reaction was one of violence with the impulse to destroy. (The homeopathic remedy HYDROPHOBINUM—which is made from
the saliva of a rabid dog—has this exact perception and reaction, and this remedy healed the boy.)
Incidentally, an examination of the history of the mother during her pregnancy revealed the following story. This was the mother’s second
pregnancy; her first child had been stillborn. She had a severe toothache throughout the second pregnancy and felt that something
terrible would happen. She prayed all the time, and when the baby was ten days overdue, she became panicky and extremely
tense. She stood before the picture of the same goddess and with her hands clenched, cried: “Why are you doing this to me?” The
feeling is the same: troubled by someone she is dependent on, a sense of injustice, forsaken feeling. I started noticing this phenomenon in
several cases. One of my earliest observations was that if a mother experiences a very intense state during the
pregnancy, the child almost always has the same state. HUMAN REACTION PATTERNS When afflicted by disease a
human being is not comfortable in all situations, and each individual needs a specific set of conditions to feel okay. Due to
these required conditions (compulsions) and fixed feelings (obsessions), which arise in response to the disease, our ability to react to
the situation becomes restricted. This restriction is the measure of our disease.
When such a restriction is present, we are no longer open to what is in front of us. Good health allows us to be in the moment and to
react appropriately and proportionately to the situations we face. If the situation calls for achievement, we achieve. If it demands that
we remain passive, so be it. Neither achievement nor passivity is a condition of good health. Health signifies freedom,
spontaneity, and being in the present, so that the spirit within is free to fulfill the requirements of the situation.
Once I understood that disease is a false perception of reality, I recognized that a perceived situation can be classified in terms
of depth and desperation. I categorized ten such possible types. A situation can be perceived as one of the following: It is
perceived as sudden and acute, and there is a desire to flee from the situation because one’s very life depends on it. It is perceived as
suddenly critical, but if one made an immediate
intense effort he could regain his security.
It is perceived as a situation that can be worrying for him but never hopeless. The feeling here is that life is a steady, ongoing
struggle. It is perceived as a situation that he sometimes tries to overcome and at other
times just accepts. It is perceived as a difficult situation by which he feels trapped and occasionally threatened.
It is perceived as a difficult situation, ensnaring but not life threatening, and so he just accepts it and hides his problem, because
it is a perceived weakness. It is perceived as a situation in which time is short and there is a sense of being hemmed in and therefore a
desire to break free before it is too late. It is perceived as a situation that feels chaotic and out of control, and one has to stretch beyond
one’s capacity to control it or restore order. It is perceived as a sense of obvious disgust with oneself and the situation, in which the person
chooses to preemptively distance himself from society, which makes him feel isolated.
It is perceived as a situation that seems impossible and hopeless, giving rise to a sense of impending destruction.
Let us take the example that your car breaks down while driving on a highway. There are ten typical ways of viewing this demanding
situation, and each individual’s reaction will fall into one of them. The situation calls for panic. I need to escape as soon as possible.
I will abandon my car if necessary in order to get to a safer, less precarious area. The situation is a crisis. I need to make an intense effort to solve it quickly. I will examine the
car forcefully and determinedly, all the while rapidly pushing the buttons of my cell phone to immediately summon a towing company.
The situation presents a problem that is solvable. I will make an optimistic effort to solve it. I will carefully look for the cause of
the breakdown, summon what I know about the workings of cars, and attempt to get the car going. The possibility of my solving the situation is doubtful. I will likely
attempt to solve it, give up, but then try again (alternating state). I will move around the car carefully, looking for the problem, while
thinking, “Gosh, I really don’t know much about cars.” I’ll return to the driver’s seat feeling defeated, then rouse myself to get out
of the car and take another look in case I missed something. This is a situation for which I can do nothing. I will find another
way (of getting home). I will make little or no attempt to examine the car,
because after all, only mechanics know how to fix cars. I will immediately reach for my cell phone to call a towing company.
This situation is harassing or persecuting. I feel unfortunate and am sure that such situations always happen to me. As I circle
the car I am more occupied with such thoughts as, “If I weren’t so poor I could afford a better car,” or “If my husband loved
me more he would see to it that things like this didn’t happen to me,” and so on, than Ioram with taking practical steps to get help
for me and my car. The situation just has to be solved, whatever it takes. I will apply superhuman effort to solve it, as if my life
depended on it. I will pop the hood, get tools from the trunk, and work determinedly, even doing things that I am not strong enough or
knowledgeable enough to undertake, regardless of such surrounding hazards as cars speeding by at close range or the pouring rain.
impossible to get a towing company to come all the way out here and fear that I will be forced to remain here, stranded and at the
mercy of criminals, wild animals, or bad weather. This type of situation is always totally hopeless and always makes me feel
angry and frustrated. I am certain that when a car breaks down this badly it is beyond
repair. The good feelings I had about this car are ruined, because it is now just another unreliable car. I will
feel like taking a hammer to the car, certain that I’ll just have to junk it.
In 1790 a German physician, Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, (Allopathic doctor M.D.) made a very significant discovery. At that time cinchona bark (from
which quinine is derived) was very well known and used for its curative effects on malaria. Eager to discover what gave the bark
its curative power, Hahnemann tested this substance on himself while he was in a healthy state. He saw that it produced within
him symptoms similar to those of malaria: chill, fever, and sweat. This led him to suspect that certain substances can not only produce certain
symptoms and signs in a healthy individual but also cure someone with the same symptoms. This was the beginning of
homeopathy, which is based on the principle of “like cures like.” Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, the father of homeopathy After this,
Hahnemann started testing various substances on himself and
some volunteers to ascertain what effects they could produce in healthy people so that he
could use them when he found similar symptoms in sick people. He started meticulously recording the elicited signs and
symptoms of each substance tested on healthy volunteers in a book called the homeopathic materia medica (literally,
medical matter). What Hahnemann also ascertained is that disease is not localized but affects the whole being. Therefore, when a
person is sick, it is not merely a part but the whole of him that is sick. Likewise,a substance affects the whole being, including
the mind. The homeopath thus keeps these factors in mind when treating a patient. During the initial consultation a homeopath
records all symptoms as well as the patient’s state of mind. This is then correlated to symptoms of the various remedies in the
materia medica, and then the single remedy that is the closest match is given to the patient. Hahnemann also recognized the need
to sometimes use certain substances that would be poisonous in their natural natural state, for he foresaw their utility as great
remedies. Recognizing there was no way he could use them in their pristine form, he decided to dilute them. To his surprise he saw
that the more he diluted the substances (with vigorous shaking), the more their medicinal effects increased. This process of serial
dilution of a drug substance is termed “potentization.” The serial dilution was carried to such an extent that hardly any of
the original substance remained in these dilutions, yet their effects were powerful. This led
Hahnemann to conclude that diseases are not material states but dynamic conditions. Thus, healing also happens dynamically.
He postulated that there is a dynamic life force within each of us, and it is at this level that both disease and healing occur.
Disease is the disturbance of this force unique to each individual and manifested as a state of mind and through different physical
symptoms. Sickness can be compared to a sitar (an Indian musical instrument with many strings) that is out of tune. Naturally
there will be discord. However, it is the faulty tuning itself and not the individual notes that need to be addressed. Similarly, homeopathic
treatment is at the same time holistic and individualistic. The inner disturbance needs to be corrected and restored to bring health
and balance to the whole being. A person’s state of being, his perception of and response to the world, is an essential part of his
individuality and as integral to his disease as the pain in his limbs or the ulcer in his stomach.
The inner disurbance of disease causes discord in a human being that can be compared to the discordant music produced
by a sitar that is out of tune. In homeopathy everything that a patient says, however strange, rare, or peculiar, is a symptom. For example,
if you feel hot in a cold room, it is a symptom. In other words, a symptom is an inappropriate response to the existing
situation. It is as if the person is perceiving and reacting to a reality different from what actually exists. In a cold room he responds as
if it were a hot room. Disease is thus an affliction of the whole person, a posture adopted as a survival mechanism to suit a
particular situation that is perceived rather than real. This posture causes us to react to reality in an unsuitable and disproportionate
disproportionate manner due to our false perception of it. Naturally, this in turn produces constant stress in us. For example,
when a man is being chased by a lion, the posture of running fast, being afraid, and so on is appropriate, because his survival
depends upon it. However, if he is in such a state with no lion to justify it, or he adopts such a posture even when chased by a little
dog, or if he is in such a panic that he cannot think (a reaction that is in excess of what is needed in the situation), then this is disease. It is as if he were functioning on
a false perception of reality, a delusion that makes him react in an inappropriate manner. This is the root of his stress. This delusion is
further reflected in a person’s fears, dreams, and hobbies and colors all aspects of his life as if he were wearing tinted glasses at all
times. The patient, a boy of ten years, was referred to me for treatment of a very severe and chronic skin problem. He had boils on
his extremities, which were very painful and itchy. For the previous month he had been unable to sit or stand. He was carried into my consulting room, crying, his boils full of pus.
Describing the itching, the mother said it was so bad that the boy wanted to tear away his skin.
With his hands clenched, he would shriek from the severity of the itching, almost like an insane person. He would say, “Kill me, I
can’t take it, I don’t want to live.” Whenever the itching became too much he would say, “Give me a knife, I want to stab my arms.” In
earlier years the boy had been very dependent on a particular goddess, and he composed and sang songs in her praise.
When the itching started, the boy became angry at the goddess and said, “I have done so much for her and this is what she has done
to me!” Once having said this, he tore up the picture he had of the goddess. He was very sensitive in both mind and skin. He could not
tolerate even a drop of water; he did not like bathing and was thirstless. The itching with its accompanying violence was not
continuous but spasmodic. There was cruel behavior, both toward
himself and toward others. He often said, “I will go mad.” In this case we can see the following symptoms on the mental and
general level: • Violence • Abusive • Striking • Cruelty • Impulse to tear • Desire to cut, mutilate • Impulse to stab himself The main
feelings connected with this state are: • Forsaken (by goddess) • Tormented (by goddess)
Feels he has suffered wrong From these feelings come the violent reactions. He has skin eruptions and reacts as if he were in a
situation where he is tormented and forsaken by the person he is serving and on whom he is dependent (the goddess). From this we can
see that the boy’s fixed perception (delusion) was that he was being tortured and tormented by the goddess to whom he was so devoted.
This reaction was one of violence with the impulse to destroy. (The homeopathic remedy HYDROPHOBINUM—which is made from
the saliva of a rabid dog—has this exact perception and reaction, and this remedy healed the boy.)
Incidentally, an examination of the history of the mother during her pregnancy revealed the following story. This was the mother’s second
pregnancy; her first child had been stillborn. She had a severe toothache throughout the second pregnancy and felt that something
terrible would happen. She prayed all the time, and when the baby was ten days overdue, she became panicky and extremely
tense. She stood before the picture of the same goddess and with her hands clenched, cried: “Why are you doing this to me?” The
feeling is the same: troubled by someone she is dependent on, a sense of injustice, forsaken feeling. I started noticing this phenomenon in
several cases. One of my earliest observations was that if a mother experiences a very intense state during the
pregnancy, the child almost always has the same state. HUMAN REACTION PATTERNS When afflicted by disease a
human being is not comfortable in all situations, and each individual needs a specific set of conditions to feel okay. Due to
these required conditions (compulsions) and fixed feelings (obsessions), which arise in response to the disease, our ability to react to
the situation becomes restricted. This restriction is the measure of our disease.
When such a restriction is present, we are no longer open to what is in front of us. Good health allows us to be in the moment and to
react appropriately and proportionately to the situations we face. If the situation calls for achievement, we achieve. If it demands that
we remain passive, so be it. Neither achievement nor passivity is a condition of good health. Health signifies freedom,
spontaneity, and being in the present, so that the spirit within is free to fulfill the requirements of the situation.
Once I understood that disease is a false perception of reality, I recognized that a perceived situation can be classified in terms
of depth and desperation. I categorized ten such possible types. A situation can be perceived as one of the following: It is
perceived as sudden and acute, and there is a desire to flee from the situation because one’s very life depends on it. It is perceived as
suddenly critical, but if one made an immediate
intense effort he could regain his security.
It is perceived as a situation that can be worrying for him but never hopeless. The feeling here is that life is a steady, ongoing
struggle. It is perceived as a situation that he sometimes tries to overcome and at other
times just accepts. It is perceived as a difficult situation by which he feels trapped and occasionally threatened.
It is perceived as a difficult situation, ensnaring but not life threatening, and so he just accepts it and hides his problem, because
it is a perceived weakness. It is perceived as a situation in which time is short and there is a sense of being hemmed in and therefore a
desire to break free before it is too late. It is perceived as a situation that feels chaotic and out of control, and one has to stretch beyond
one’s capacity to control it or restore order. It is perceived as a sense of obvious disgust with oneself and the situation, in which the person
chooses to preemptively distance himself from society, which makes him feel isolated.
It is perceived as a situation that seems impossible and hopeless, giving rise to a sense of impending destruction.
Let us take the example that your car breaks down while driving on a highway. There are ten typical ways of viewing this demanding
situation, and each individual’s reaction will fall into one of them. The situation calls for panic. I need to escape as soon as possible.
I will abandon my car if necessary in order to get to a safer, less precarious area. The situation is a crisis. I need to make an intense effort to solve it quickly. I will examine the
car forcefully and determinedly, all the while rapidly pushing the buttons of my cell phone to immediately summon a towing company.
The situation presents a problem that is solvable. I will make an optimistic effort to solve it. I will carefully look for the cause of
the breakdown, summon what I know about the workings of cars, and attempt to get the car going. The possibility of my solving the situation is doubtful. I will likely
attempt to solve it, give up, but then try again (alternating state). I will move around the car carefully, looking for the problem, while
thinking, “Gosh, I really don’t know much about cars.” I’ll return to the driver’s seat feeling defeated, then rouse myself to get out
of the car and take another look in case I missed something. This is a situation for which I can do nothing. I will find another
way (of getting home). I will make little or no attempt to examine the car,
because after all, only mechanics know how to fix cars. I will immediately reach for my cell phone to call a towing company.
This situation is harassing or persecuting. I feel unfortunate and am sure that such situations always happen to me. As I circle
the car I am more occupied with such thoughts as, “If I weren’t so poor I could afford a better car,” or “If my husband loved
me more he would see to it that things like this didn’t happen to me,” and so on, than Ioram with taking practical steps to get help
for me and my car. The situation just has to be solved, whatever it takes. I will apply superhuman effort to solve it, as if my life
depended on it. I will pop the hood, get tools from the trunk, and work determinedly, even doing things that I am not strong enough or
knowledgeable enough to undertake, regardless of such surrounding hazards as cars speeding by at close range or the pouring rain.
impossible to get a towing company to come all the way out here and fear that I will be forced to remain here, stranded and at the
mercy of criminals, wild animals, or bad weather. This type of situation is always totally hopeless and always makes me feel
angry and frustrated. I am certain that when a car breaks down this badly it is beyond
repair. The good feelings I had about this car are ruined, because it is now just another unreliable car. I will
feel like taking a hammer to the car, certain that I’ll just have to junk it.