{"id":1670,"date":"2013-07-13T01:36:25","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:36:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/?p=1670"},"modified":"2013-07-13T01:36:25","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T01:36:25","slug":"40-therapeutic-force-and-healing-vol-35-letters-on-himself-and-the-ashram","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/01-works-of-sri-aurobindo\/03-cwsa\/35-letters-on-himself-and-the-ashram\/40-therapeutic-force-and-healing-vol-35-letters-on-himself-and-the-ashram","title":{"rendered":"-40_Therapeutic Force and Healing.htm"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\n\n
\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\tTherapeutic Force and Healing <\/font><\/b> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t 
\n<\/b>
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nSpiritual Force and the Body
\n<\/b>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt is a pity that X <\/i>could not write all this time. Formerly when she wrote often she used to get better after writing. It is also a pity
\nthat she has been told by the doctors that she is not going to live; even if it is true, such a thing should not be told unless in case
\nof necessity (which does not exist in her case), for it takes away much of the power of resistance and diminishes what chances
\nof cure and survival there were. X<\/i>‘s physical destiny has always been against her but this is a thing that
\ncan <\/i>be cancelled if one
\ncan have sufficient faith and inner strength and openness and receive the spiritual force.1<\/font><\/sup>
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n27 June 1935 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tPerhaps I might say a word about Ramakrishna’s attitude with regard to the body. He seems always to have regarded it as a misuse of spiritual force to utilise it for preserving the body or curing its ailments or taking care for it. Other Yogis
\n\u2014  I do not speak
\nof those who think it justifiable to develop Yogic siddhis, but of those who think that that should be avoided
\n\u2014  have not had this
\ncomplete disregard of the body: they have taken care to maintain it in good health and condition as an instrument or a physical
\nbasis for their development in Yoga. I have always been in agreement with this view: moreover, I have never had any hesitation in
\nthe use of a spiritual force for all legitimate purposes including the maintenance of health and physical life in myself and in
\nothers \u2014  that is indeed why the Mother has given flowers, not only as a blessing but as a help in illness. I put a value on the body first as an instrument,
\n\tdharmasādhana<\/i>, or, more fully, as a centre
\nof manifested personality in action, a basis of spiritual life and
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n1 The woman referred to here as X lived until 1993.
\n\u2014  Ed.<\/i>
\n  
\n<\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>497<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

activity as of all life and activity upon the earth, but also because for me the body as well as the mind and life is a part of the divine
\nwhole, a form of the Spirit and therefore not to be disregarded or despised as something incurably gross and incapable of spiritual
\nrealisation or of spiritual use. Matter itself is secretly a form of the Spirit and has to reveal itself as that, can be made to wake to
\nconsciousness and evolve and realise the Spirit, the Divine within it. In my view the body as well as the mind and life has to be spiritualised or, one may say, divinised so as to be a fit instrument and receptacle for the realisation and manifestation of the Divine. It
\nhas its part in the divine Lila, even, according to the Vaishnava sadhana, in the joy and beauty of Divine Love. That does not
\nmean that the body has to be valued for its own separate sake or that the creation of a divine body in a future evolution of the
\nwhole being has to be contemplated as an end and not a means \u2014 that would be a serious error which would not be admissible. In
\nany case, my speculations about an extreme form of divinisation are something in a far distance and are no part of the preoccupations of the spiritual life in the near future.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n7 December 1949
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nGrace and Therapeutic Force
\n<\/b>
\n\t\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThe Divine Grace has certainly done something. I [the Ashram<\/i>
\ndoctor<\/i>] acted according to your advice, and X <\/i>felt better the whole day.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt was not the Divine Grace but the Divine Force. If it had been
\n\tthe Grace, it would simply have said तथास्तु <\/i> [tathāstu<\/i>] and the thing would be done. As it is, last night I had to work a damned lot for this result
\n\u2014  I only hope it will last and complete itself.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n30 January 1935 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tBut may I ask you why you are wasting such a lot of Force when a word could do the job? Why not cut short our labour
\nand the patients’ discomfort by saying तथास्तु <\/i> ? Is it as easily
\ndone as it is said? If working “a damned lot” reduces the temperature only by one degree and that too for 12 hours or
\nless, what am I to think?  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>498<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n\tI did not expect you to take my
\n तथास्तु <\/i> with such grim seriousness. Speaking semi-seriously, I am not here to do miracles to order, but to try to get in a new consciousness somewhere in the
\nworld \u2014  which is itself however to attempt a miracle. If physical miracles happen to tumble in in the process, well and good, but
\nyou can’t present your medical pistol in my face and call on me to stand and deliver. As for the Force, application of my force,
\nshort of the supramental, means always a struggle of forces and the success depends on (1) the strength and persistency of the
\nforce put out, (2) the receptivity of the subject, (3) the sanction of the Unmentionable
\n\u2014  I beg your pardon, I meant the Un
\nnameable, Ineffable, Unknowable. X<\/i>‘s physical consciousness is rather obstinate, as you have noticed, and therefore not too
\nreceptive. It may feel the Mother inside it, but to obey her will or force is less habitual for it.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n31 January 1935 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI still can’t understand why you should bother to follow us doctors. The Divine can very easily act from the supramental
\nconsciousness directly; you don’t really need a diagnosis given by ordinary men!
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIf things were like that, why the deuce should we have Doctors or a dispensary at all? And what would have been the use of
\nyour 20,000?2<\/font><\/sup> We don’t propose to do the whole business of the inside and outside off our own bat. You are as necessary for this
\nas X <\/i>for the building or others for their work.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tAnother thing \u2014  why should a mental formation obstruct the
\nsupramental? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tWho told you we are acting from supramental consciousness?
\nWe are not and cannot until the confounded quarrel with Matter is settled.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n1 February 1935 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

\n
\n2 The amount (in rupees) paid by the correspondent for his medical education.
\n\u2014  Ed.<\/i>  
\n<\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>499<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nWhat is this “confounded quarrel with Matter” you mention? Does this refer to the lower vital and physical movements of
\nthe sadhaks? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI am not speaking of the sadhaks, but the resistance of the Earth
\nnature itself in its material parts. But these are things you people cannot understand unless you have less childlike notions about
\nthings.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI am still wondering why there should be doctors and a dispensary at all! Isn’t it a paradox \u2014  the Divine sending his disciples to the human physician?
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tRubbish! This is a world of the play of forces, sir, and the Doctor is a force. So why should not the Divine use him? Have you
\nrealised that if the Divine did everything, there would be no world, only a show of marionettes?
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n2 February 1935 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThe Force Works under Conditions
\n<\/b>
\n\t\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tCan’t you send me some force? I am willing to try to believe or `<\/i>
\na la X <\/i>remain passive \u2014  but I am not so foolish and irrational not to avail myself of any kindly force because of my mental
\nreservations. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tAs for the Force, I shall write some other time. I have told you
\nthat it is not always efficacious, but works under conditions like all forces; it is only the supramental Force that works absolutely,
\nbecause it creates its own conditions. But the Force I am using is a Force that has to work under the present world conditions. It
\nis not the less a Force for that. I have cured myself of all illnesses except three by it and those too when they come I have kept in
\ncheck; the fact that I have not succeeded yet in eliminating the fact or probability of those three does not cancel the fact of my
\nsuccess with the others. As for the Mother, she used formerly to cure everything at once by the same Power
\n\u2014  now she has no
\ntime to think about her body or to concentrate on it. Even so when she makes a certain inner concentration she can see, read
\netc. perfectly well without glasses, but she has no time to work  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>500<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nout the possibility which that shows. The prevalence of illness just now is a fact; it is part of the struggle that is going on in the
\ndomain of Matter. But even so there are plenty of people in the Asram who get rid of their ills by reliance on the Mother. If all
\ncannot do it, what does that prove or disprove? It only proves that the Power does not work absolutely, miraculously, impossibly, but it works by certain given means and under conditions. I have always said that, so what is there in that that is new or
\nthat annihilates the truth of the Yoga? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n6 February 1935
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t    <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI shall see also whether I can explain what I mean by Force (the
\none which I refer to being neither supramental nor omnipotent nor guaranteed to work like Beecham’s pills in every case) and
\nhow it acts and in what conditions. I have tried it in hundreds of cases besides
\nX<\/i>‘s (on my own body first and always) and I
\nhave no doubt of its reality or efficacy under these conditions. However, of that on some later date.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\nFebruary 1935 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tA successful cure of X<\/i>‘s mother would be certainly a considerable achievement, and though difficult owing to the tenacity
\nand malignance and extreme intractability of the disease, it is not impossible. What you say is true, the Force was acting before,
\nbut it acted with immediate rapidity and completeness only with those who had sufficient faith and receptivity (mainly sadhaks)
\nor in other good conditions.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThese cases seem to indicate a new power of the Force
\nand a new technique. Your idea that it may spread and happen elsewhere is not without foundation; for, when once something
\nis there in the earth-atmosphere that was not there before, it begins to work on many sides in an unforeseen way. Thus since
\nthe Yoga has been in action, its particular opening movements have come to a number of people who were at a distance and
\nnot connected with us and who understood nothing of what was happening to them. These things are to be expected for Nature is
\nstill in evolution and new Lights and Powers have to be brought   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>501<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

down in her and made part of the conscious earth-existence.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n29 January 1936
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t    <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThere has been no negligence on our part in putting the force
\nfor X<\/i>‘s change \u2014  the Mother has been doing that daily; nor is the trouble she has contracted one for which we are in any way
\nresponsible \u2014  it is not imposed as an ordeal or anything else. If there is so obstinate a persistence of her attachment and the demands it makes, it is because there is in her own vital a resistance to the Force that would remove it. If there were the complete
\nconsent in the being for giving it up (not only mental wish or prayer, however strong), it could not possibly last
\n\u2014  at any rate
\nin this form, \u2014  only at most for a time in fragments of the old habit. There is in her vital a certain violence of temperament
\n\u2014  I
\ndo not mean merely a tendency to violence of speech or act, but an exaggerated intensity in the feelings and vital reactions, and
\nthis is the source of the trouble. For it is this that when asked to give up the claim and attachment, has reacted vehemently
\ncalling in an outside Force to support its resistance. When this rises, her mind also begins to justify the claim and demand,
\nher vital feels very hurt and angry with the Mother because she does not support it. All that is proof of a very familiar kind of
\nresistance which refuses to yield to the mind’s will or the soul’s aspiration. It is like that in
\nX<\/i>; it is so in many others here.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThe Divine Force does not act now in an omnipotent ease regardless of conditions
\n\u2014  it might do that if it were the pure
\nsupramental Force in its native action; but that is not yet. Here conditions have been created and it acts under those conditions.
\nYou speak of the Force acting in the case of the illnesses you have treated.
\nNo doubt, but here too it is under conditions \u2014
\nonly, favourable conditions. For you believe and are conscious of the Force, your whole will is to cure, the patient’s will is
\nto get well \u2014  the more he assents to the treatment, the more quickly the Force acts
\n\u2014  the one obstacle is the force of the
\nillness itself and the patient’s habitual subjection to it. But with everything else against it, that does not succeed in remaining. It
\n  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>502<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nis quite otherwise in these things where the consent of the being is far from being complete, where the mind often consents to
\nand justifies the illness when it comes, even takes strongly sides with it, where the vital is there with its revolt and clamour and
\ntempest. It is only if the sadhak’s resolution is firm and one-minded, not to assent to the attack when it comes, to refuse
\nall mental justification of it, to detach himself from the vital movement in the very time of its action that the liberation can
\nbe done with the clarity and ease which you desire. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\nOtherwise, the only thing to be done is to keep up the pres
\nsure of the force quiet and strong and persistent until it gets into the vital itself and makes it reject its own movement. For that
\nyou must help by getting rid of the violence and impatience in your own nature and being yourself patient, firm and persistent.
\nYou are here to change your nature and the difficulty is no reason for throwing up the spiritual endeavour. All this talk of going
\naway cannot help \u2014  it would be of no advantage to yourself or to X <\/i>in any way
\n\u2014  any more than her talk of going has any sense
\nor is in any way reasonable. Keep firmly to your object, develop that calm and force in the vital as well as the mind which are
\nthe basis of the spiritual life. That will help more in getting X<\/i>‘s morbid rushes of excitement to subside and the control to come
\nin her also. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n9 August 1936
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t    <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tNo need to give up your faith, for it is faith that gets things done
\nand even makes the impossible possible. But it has to be kept when even there is no immediate result. In the physical care of
\na patient also there are adverse periods when the resistance is great and obstinate and there seems to be more swinging back
\nthan going forwards or a persistent recurrence of the trouble. Faith persisting and the call bring down after a time sufficient
\nForce to overcome the obstacle. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n11 August 1936
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nThe Force Acts on a Complex Nexus of Forces
\n<\/b> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI have not yet written about the Force because it is too complex
\n   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>503<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

to be adequately stated in a short space and I had no time these days for anything long. Anyhow, the clue is that the Force does
\nnot act in a void and in an absolute way, like a writing on a blank paper or in the air, the “Let there be light and there was
\nlight” formula. It comes as a Force intervening and acting on a very complex nexus of forces that were in action and displacing
\ntheir disposition and interrelated movement and natural result by a new disposition, movement and result. It meets in so doing
\na certain opposition, very often a strong opposition from many of the forces already in possession and operation. To overcome
\nit three factors are needed, the power of the Force itself, i.e. its own sheer pressure and direct action on the field of action
\n(here the man, his condition, his body), the instrument (yourself) and the instrumentation (treatment, medicine). I have often
\nused the Force alone without any human instrument or outer means, but here all depends on the recipient and his receptivity
\n\u2014  unless as in the case of many healers there are unseen beings or powers that assist. If there is an instrument in direct touch
\nwith the patient, whether the doctor or one who can canalise the force, then the action is immensely assisted,
\n\u2014  how much
\ndepends on the instrument, his faith, his energy, his conveying power. Where there is a violent opposition, this is frequently
\nnot enough or at least not enough for a rapid or total effect, the instrumentation (treatment or medicine) is needed. It is especially where the resistance of the body or the forces acting on the body-consciousness is strong that the medicine comes
\nin as an aid. But if the doctor is non-psychic or the medicine the wrong one or the treatment unplastic, then they become an
\nadded resistance which the Force has to overcome. This is a very summary and inadequate statement, but it gives the main points,
\nI believe. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\nP.S. I forgot to say that the surroundings, especially the people around the patient, the atmosphere, the suggestions it carries or they give to him, are often of a considerable importance.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n24 January 1936  
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>504<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nTherapeutic Force and Medical Diagnosis
\n<\/b>
\n\t\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI was under the impression that it is quite possible for the in
\ntuition to know the exact condition of a patient without going through any mental processes like deduction from evidence
\nand so arrive at a diagnosis like a shot. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIt can if you can train it to act in that field and if you can make it
\nthe real Intuition which sees the things without ranging among potentialities.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tBut I find that it is not so. In several recent cases you have insisted on knowing this or that about the patient’s condition.
\nBut what is the need of your knowing these things? Is not Yogic vision more powerful and accurate than our external
\noptical capacities? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tAs for me, I have no medico in me, not even a latent medico. If
\nI had, I would not need an external one but diagnose, prescribe and cure all by my solitary self. My role in a medical case is to
\nuse the force either with or without medicines. There are three ways of doing that
\n\u2014  one by putting the Force without knowing
\nor caring what the illness is or following the symptoms \u2014  that however needs either the mental collaboration or quiescence of
\nthe victim. The second is symptomatic, to follow the symptoms and act on them even if one is not sure of the disease. There an
\naccurate report is very useful. The third needs a diagnosis \u2014  that is usually where the anti-forces are very strong and conscious or
\nwhere the patient himself answers strongly to the suggestions of the illness and unwittingly resists the action of the Force. This
\nlast is usually indicated by the fact that the thing gets cured and comes back again or improves and swings back again to
\nworse. It is especially the great difficulty in cases of insanity and the like. Also in things where the nerves have a say
\n\u2014  but in
\nordinary illnesses too. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n1 April 1935
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIn the case of an illness, how do you decide whether it is the
\nrecrudescence of an old illness or the action of a dark force or   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>505<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\neven some experience? From the description supplied to you by the doctor?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tYes, certainly \u2014  just as you go by the symptoms of a case as seen by you and as related by the patient.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI thought that it is not possible to have spiritual experiences, especially major ones, without your previously having knowledge about it.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tPreviously? My God, we would have to spend all our time
\nprevising the sadhaks’ experiences. Do you think Mother has nothing else to do? As for myself, I never previse anything, I
\nonly vise and revise. All that Mother prevised was that there was something not right in
\nX<\/i>, some part of him at odds with
\nhis aspiration. That might lead to trouble. That is why, <\/span> entre<\/i> nous<\/i><\/span>, I want him to find out what part of him didn’t want the
\ndescent. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n19 October 1936
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nTherapeutic Force and Medicines
\n<\/b> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tWe do not believe in taking too many medicines. One or two
\neffective ones and the Force are better than disturbing the system by 101.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n13 August 1934 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t1) How can the use of medicines be consistent with faith?
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t2) When are medicines really necessary?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n3) What is excessive use of medicines and what is sparing use?
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe use of medicines is permissible, if it is necessitated by an
\ninsufficient responsiveness in the body or if the faith itself is of a mixed and insufficient character
\n\u2014  i.e. if the mind or vital
\nas well as the body feel uneasy in the presence of illness. It is consistent with faith when it is used only as a physical support
\nto the action of the Force, not as a substitute.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nTo dose oneself with many medicines or to use strong
\nmedicines in ordinary cases or to use them when an opening to the Force or an exercise of the inner Will is sufficient, is
\n  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>506<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nexcessive. For a system not accustomed to curing itself the use of mild medicines in just sufficient quantity can be quite effective
\nand that is all that is needed. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n19 April 1935
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThe enclosed report shows how, without any [homeopathic<\/i>]
\nmedicaments, a call to the Mother by me last night was sufficient to relieve what medicaments could hardly have been
\nexpected to do overnight. Hence it is better to make a note of the far-reaching possibilities of the action of the Force.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIt so happens very often, but there is still an element of uncertainty in the relation of the amount of force put out and the
\nreaction of the patient that allows a considerable <\/span> flottement<\/span>
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/i>in the results as the French puts it.
\n\t\t\t<\/span><\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n17 April 1936 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIn homeopathic treatment there is a slight primary aggravation if the drug is correctly chosen. Does some such primary
\naggravation happen when you use your Force to heal? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tNot necessarily, but if there is a strong force of resistance behind
\nthe illness or if there is something hiding there it may come out under the pressure. This is not however the invariable rule. Often
\nthe result of the force is immediate and without reactions or there is an oscillation, but no aggravation or increase.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n30 May 1936 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThe patient is feeling miles better on the whole. Have you been FORCE-ing at last?
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI have of course been forcing furiously for the last 3 days. But is it not the medicine that deserves the credit?
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n28 September 1938 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIt is only through your Divine help and the Mother’s blessings that it is possible to diagnose correctly and give the right
\ntreatment. Kindly therefore press the action of the Force home without considering for a moment that the happy change in
\nthe patient is owing to medicinal action.   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>507<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

I see. The previous unreceptivity had led me to think that it was the medicine which made the difference. I will go on with
\nthe pressure of the Force. But it needs an unwavering, strong pressure to produce appreciable results in this respect and it is
\nnot easy to keep it up. If I had nothing else to do, it would be easy, but my day is full with all kinds of things. However I will
\ntry to keep up the continuity \u2014  don’t want this fellow to peter out on our hands.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n29 September 1938 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tShould I ever run into a malaria case, I will give you a loud shout and rest assured that I will come out scot free. I intend
\nto scrap all malaria medicines. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tMm! Cromwell said “Trust in God and keep your powder dry!”
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n10 November 1938 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nTherapeutic Force and Homeopathy
\n<\/b>
\n\t\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI felt some improvement in the leg but the pain has not gone completely. Generally the medicines of
\nX <\/i>[a homeopath<\/i>] are
\neffective, but not in my case. Why is it so? I have heard that he is a wonderful medium. You have worked through him in the
\ncase of outside people, why not in me? Does that mean that they were more open to your force than I was? Kindly explain.
\n\t\t\t<\/span>
\n<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tX is <\/span> <\/i>a remarkable medium, but he is more successful with people outside than with the sadhaks
\n\u2014  (not that he has not succeeded
\nwith many of them also). For this there are two reasons. People outside are impressed by his apparently miraculous cure and
\nbelieve implicitly and follow his treatment \u2014  the sadhaks question and dispute it; this mental opposition has a reaction upon
\nthe result of the treatment (e.g. X <\/i>told me there had been a great improvement in
\nY<\/i>‘s illness, Y <\/i>denied that there had been
\nany visible or undoubted improvement, yet today Dr. Z <\/i>told the Mother that he was amazed by the improvement, he had not
\nthought such a thing possible, but now he knew because he had seen it.) The other reason is that sadhaks ought not to need an
\nintermediary between themselves and the Mother \u2014  their bodies  
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>508<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nas well as their minds ought by this time to have become sufficiently receptive for that
\n\u2014  outside people do need a medium,
\nfor they cannot be expected to have the same receptivity. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tToday’s case has again convinced me that X <\/i>doesn’t know much about physiology, pathology, dieting, diagnosis, etc. You
\nmay say, “Homeopaths are concerned with symptoms.” But I shall be the last to believe that he cured this man by relying
\non symptoms alone. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tBecause you are tied in your own system and do not understand
\nthat Nature is not so rigid as your mental ideas.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tAll big homeopaths, I have heard, were originally allopaths
\nwho knew anatomy, physiology, pathology etc. X <\/i>is unique and his cures also unique. I am puzzled about the real mystery
\nbehind. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tIs it not the very principle of homeopathy that it cures the
\ndisease by curing the symptoms? I have always heard so. Do you deny that homeopaths acting on their own system, not on
\nyours, have cured illnesses? If they have, is it not more logical to suppose that there is something in their system than to proclaim
\nthe sacrosanct infallibility of the sole allopathic system and its principle? For that matter I myself cure more often by attacking
\nthe symptoms than by any other way, because medical diagnosis is uncertain and fallible while the symptoms are there for
\neverybody to see. Of course if a correct indisputable diagnosis is there, so much the better
\n\u2014  the view can be more complete, the
\naction easier, the result more sure. But even without infallible diagnosis one can act and get a cure.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n23 December 1935 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThere were evidently three factors at work in this case: Mother’s Force, the mediumship of
\nX<\/i>, which was constituted of faith, confidence, vital power, intuition, etc., and his drug treatment. Now what I am puzzled about is the exact
\ncontribution of X<\/i>‘s medicines in this case.   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>509<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

Exact? How can one measure exactly where vital and mental and spiritual factors come in? In dealing with a star and atom
\nyou may (though it appears you can’t with an electron), but not with a man and his living mind, soul and body.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n24 December 1935 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tA symptomatic treatment can’t be applied in cases where the same symptom is produced by two or three different diseases.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tWhy can’t it? There is a possibility that you can strike at the cause, whatever it be, through the symptoms and you can kill
\nthe root through the stalk and leaves and not start by searching for the roots and digging them out. That at any rate is what I
\ndo. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n24 December 1935
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI wonder whether our mode of looking at things is altogether
\nwrong. If there really are such drugs in homeopathy that can give results in cases where we [allopaths<\/i>] have almost none,
\nit would be worthwhile trying to study it and combine both systems.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tCertainly there are \u2014  the universe is not shut up in the four walls of allopathic medicine. There are plenty of cases of illnesses
\nbeing cured by other systems (not homeopathy alone) when they had defied the allopaths. My experience is not wide but I have
\ncome across a good number of such cases. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n24 December 1935
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tX <\/span> <\/i>gives a high-blood-pressure patient on the verge of heart
\nfailure “moderate” licence in eating, drinking etc. He calls it “leaving to Nature”!
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tWell, I have followed that system with myself and others and gone on the basis that Nature is very largely what you make of
\nher \u2014  or can make of her. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n28 December 1935
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>510<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nI believe that an allopath would have been as successful as X<\/i> if he had the backing of your Force.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tThe Force needs an instrument and an instrumentation also sometimes. The instrument was
\nX<\/i>, the instrumentation partly
\nat least his drugs. I don’t believe in the story of the inefficiency of homeopathic drugs only because they are homeopathic. Also,
\nI don’t believe that X <\/i>knows nothing about them and can’t properly apply them. I have noted almost constantly that they
\nhave a surprising effect, sometimes instantaneous, sometimes rapid, and this not on
\nX<\/i>‘s evidence alone, but in the statement
\nof his patients and the visible results. Not being an allopathic doctor, I can’t ignore a fact like that.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tSome symptoms like headache, vomiting etc. may be caused by many diseases, such as brain-tumour, syphilis, high blood
\npressure, etc. If you tell me that a homeopathic medicine for headache, vomiting etc. will be a panacea for all these diseases,
\nit will be difficult for me to accept it. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tTumour, syphilis etc. are specialities, but what I have found
\nin my psycho-physical experience is that most disorders of the body are connected, though they go by families,
\n\u2014  but there
\nis also connection between the families. If one can strike at their psycho-physical root, one can cure even without knowing
\nthe pathological whole of the matter and working through the symptoms as a possibility. Some medicines invented by demi
\nmystics have the power. What I am now considering is whether homeopathy has any psycho-physical basis. Was the founder a
\ndemi-mystic? I don’t understand otherwise certain peculiarities of the way X<\/i>‘s medicines act.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tAllopaths after all are not yogis and have no third eyes! Still I should say that mistaken diagnoses of appendicitis, for
\nexample, are very rare. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tGood heavens! It happened in scores and scores of cases when
\nthere was the appendicitis mania among doctors in France \u2014 and they have other manias also.
\n   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>511<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

\nWhy ignore the wonderful things due to thousands of right diagnoses and let sporadic cases of error loom large in your
\neyes? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tSporadic cases! I have heard of any number of them, they are
\nas plentiful as blackberries in Europe. And as for difference of diagnosis it is almost the rule except when doctors consult
\ntogether and give concessions to each other. Don’t try to throw allopathic dust in my eyes, sir! I have lived a fairly long time and
\nseen something of the world before my retirement and much more after it.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n28 December 1935 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tIs there not some occult healing power in homeopathic medicine which effects miraculous cures? Or is it the doctor
\nwho has it? <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tI suppose it is as much the man and the force working through
\nhim as the medicine that makes the difference. I doubt if the medicine by itself could do so much.
\n\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n11 January 1936 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tThe Mother and I have no preference for allopathy; the Mother thinks doctors very usually make things worse instead of better, spoiling Nature’s resistance to illness by excessive and
\n\t\t\till-directed use of their medicines. We have been able to work
\nthrough X<\/i>‘s homeopathy far better than through anything else \u2014  though it is likely that the Force working through homeopaths
\nwho were not conscious instruments might not have succeeded better than with the allopaths.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\nSeptember 1936 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI am taking X<\/i>‘s medicine, but there is no marked result as yet in regard to the nervous weakness. The only effect is in the
\nrelief of pain. Pray free me from this nervous trouble. <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tHow then was X <\/i>left for days under the impression that there
\nwas nothing the matter in this respect? If you want his treatment to succeed you must inform him from day to day accurately,
\n  
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>512<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\nwithout suppression or exaggeration of all the symptoms happening. This treatment is a system which deals with the symptoms as they come from day to day and shapes itself accordingly. In every case in which
\nX <\/i>succeeded “markedly” daily reports
\nof the utmost fullness were given. Apart from that, in a case like yours of long duration immediate miraculous results cannot
\nbe expected. I told you that you must stick patiently to the treatment for a long time, if you wanted a radical cure.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n13 September 1936 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tI must say that X<\/i>‘s theories about disease are absurd, however successful he may be as a homeopath-physician.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\tYou may say what you like about the homeopathic theories, but I have seen X
\n<\/i>work them out detail by detail in cases where he had
\nfree and unhampered action and the confidence of the patients and their strict obedience and have seen the results correspond
\nto his statements and his predictions based on them fulfilled not only to the very letter but according to the exact times fixed, not
\naccording to X<\/i>‘s reports but according to the daily long detailed and precise reports of the allopathic doctor in attendance. After
\nthat I refuse to believe, even if all the allopaths in the world shout it in unison, that homeopathic theory or
\nX<\/i>‘s interpretation and
\napplication of it are mere rubbish and nonsense. As to mistakes all doctors make mistakes and very bad ones and kill as well
\nas cure \u2014  my grandfather and one of my cousins were patently killed by one of the biggest doctors in Bengal. One theory is as
\ngood as another and as bad according to the application made of it in any particular case. But it is something else behind that
\ndecides the issue.
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tJust hear what grave errors he has committed. He said to me
\nthat he used his drug to bring about the profuse menstruation in Y<\/i>‘s case. Then he asked me whether this profuse flow should
\nbe stopped. Yes, I said, it must be stopped.   <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>513<\/font><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

To bring out the latent illness and counteract it is a recognised principle in homeopathy and is a principle in Nature itself. He
\nmisapplied it here because he was in ignorance of the full facts about the menstrual trouble.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n3 October 1936 <\/font> <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t*<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t  <\/span> <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWhy didn’t your Force prove decisive in this case? About the Supermind and its failure over hostile forces, I give you a
\nchance to bombard me or else I will!
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n\t\t\tWhat has the Supermind to do here? Who told you that I was
\nusing the supramental Force? I have said all along that it was not the supramental Force that was acting. If you want the supra
\nmental Force, you had better go to Jogesh Mama of Chittagong. I hear from Chittagong that the supramental Force is descending
\nin him.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\nI have put down a few comments to throw cold water on all
\nthis blazing hot allopathism. But all these furious disputes seem to me now of little use. I have seen the working of both systems
\nand of others and I cannot believe in the sole truth of any. The ones damnable in the orthodox view, entirely contradicting
\nit, have their own truth and succeed \u2014  also both the orthodox and heterodox fail. A theory is only a constructed idea-script
\nwhich represents an imperfect human observation of a line of processes that Nature follows or can follow; another theory is
\na different idea-script of other processes that also she follows or can follow. Allopathy, homeopathy, naturopathy, osteopathy,
\nKaviraji, hakimi have all caught hold of Nature and subjected her to certain processes; each has its successes and failures. Let
\neach do its own work in its own way. I do not see any need for fights and recriminations. For me all are only outward means
\nand what really works are unseen forces behind; as they act, the outer means succeed or fail
\n\u2014  if one can make the process
\na right channel for the right force, then the process gets its full utility \u2014  that is all.
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\n3 October 1936  
\n<\/font>
\n<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n 
\n\t\t\t<\/span> <\/p>\n

\n
\nPage \u2013 <\/font>514<\/font><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Therapeutic Force and Healing   Spiritual Force and the Body   It is a pity that X could not write all this time. Formerly when…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-35-letters-on-himself-and-the-ashram","wpcat-37-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1670","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1670"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1670\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1670"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1670"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/worksofthemotherandsriaurobindo.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1670"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}