Expert - Mahatma Gandhi's health message

Introduction

I have been thinking about health issues for over twenty years. My unique situation in England has forced me to take special care of my diet. For these reasons, some of the health experiences I have had should be considered as true. Based on these experiences, I have developed certain strong beliefs. These beliefs I will write about for the benefit of my readers.

There is an English proverb that says, “Prevention is better than cure.” It is easier and more beneficial to prevent diseases than to treat them. This is because diseases are generally caused by our ignorance and carelessness. Therefore, it is the duty of every thoughtful person to have a good knowledge of the rules and regulations regarding health. The main purpose of writing this book is to explain these rules and regulations. It is also to tell you how to treat some common diseases.

The English scholar Milton said that we can make heaven into hell and hell into heaven if we wish. Heaven and hell are the palms of our hands. Heaven is not in some celestial body, nor is hell somewhere inside the earth. This is also stated in a Sanskrit verse, “Manvam manussanam karanam bandha mokkhaya.” Therefore, the occurrence of disease or the freedom from disease is a matter of the palms of a person’s hands. Disease is not only the result of the actions we take. It is also the result of the thoughts we think. As a doctor once said, people die more from fear than from smallpox, dysentery, or polio. It is very true that cowards die many times before their time comes.

Ignorance is generally the root cause of disease. Often, even when ordinary diseases arise, we do not know how to treat them, and when we do not know how to cure them, we resort to improper methods of treatment, which often produce terrible results. Ignorant of the ordinary rules of health, we use the wrong medicines. Or we resort to quacks. It is a very strange thing that we know less about things near us than about things far away.

We are often ignorant of our own country or our own neighborhood, but we can tell you well about the mountains and rivers of England. We strive to know the constellations in the sky, but we do not try to understand the things in our own house. We are not aware of the unparalleled drama of nature. But we cannot sit still to watch the drama of man. We do not know how bones grow. How the blood circulates. How it can be polluted. How our limbs or senses are aroused by evil desires. How our brains can be at peace. There is no other object that is more connected with us than the body. But the strange thing is that we are ignorant of the body, while we are wise in other things.

It is our duty to remove these difficulties. It is the duty of every person to have a reasonable knowledge of his body. Such education should be made compulsory in our schools. Nowadays, we do not even know how to treat a simple wound. We are always on our toes even when we get a thorn in our foot. But when we get bitten by a snake, we are speechless. If we say that an ordinary person cannot understand these facts, it would be only our foolishness. This book is written with the aim of making these facts easily understood by those who want to know them.

I do not mean to imply that the points I have made in this book have not been made known to anyone before. The reader will see that this book was written after reading many books and gaining experience. It is also intended to help those who are new to the subject to avoid confusion. One doctor advises that hot water should be used for a single ailment. Another doctor advises that cold water should be used. When it comes to such philosophies, I have made a definite personal decision after full consideration. This decision is explained in this book so that the reader can trust it.

Even when we have a common illness, we are accustomed to going to the doctor. Where there is no doctor, we seek medical treatment from our neighbors. We believe that without medicine, the illness cannot be cured. We suffer more from this than from any other cause. Our illnesses can certainly be cured. However, diseases cannot be cured by using medicine. Because sometimes medicine is not only useless, but also useless. Suppressing a disease with medicine is no different from covering up the garbage in the house. Because the more you try to cover up the garbage, the faster it rots and spreads a bad smell. Suppressing a disease is the same way. Therefore, only those who clear away the garbage or the illness by natural means can be wise. Nature tells us through disease that “inside our bodies there are accumulated impurities which are the habitat of diseases. These impurities should be removed by natural action.” We should not suppress these impurities within the body with medicines. Those who want to remove diseases with medicines are actually making natural action more difficult. By abstaining from food we can make natural action more powerful. By doing so, impurities will not accumulate in our bodies. We can purify our bodies by being in the open air or by sweating. Moreover, it is very necessary to control our minds.

If a bottle of medicine is brought into a house, we generally see that the number of bottles increases gradually. We see many people who are constantly on medication, but who are still suffering from diseases. Usually, these people use this doctor's medicine today and that doctor's medicine tomorrow. They spend their whole lives looking for a doctor who can remove their diseases forever. The late Stephenson once said that it is very surprising that herbs, which are unknown to the doctors, enter the body in the form of medicines. The old doctors also said the same. Although there are many medicines, diseases can usually be cured only by the laws of nature, says Sir John Havertz. Many patients die not from the disease but from the medicine, as Dr. Freed and Dr. Baker believed. Dr. May Sang-gu said that those who died because of the use of medicine were killed by war and famine.

It has even been said that the number of deaths is greater than the number of people who die. One thing we know from experience is that where there are many doctors, there are more diseases. Medicines are so widely used that even in the ordinary press we find advertisements for medicines.

By considering the above, readers can understand that there is no need for a doctor when a disease occurs. For those who cannot resist doctors and medicines, we would like to advise them to trust themselves, not to bother doctors, and if they need a doctor's help, to call a suitable doctor and follow his instructions. However, it must be remembered that it is not in the hands of doctors to eradicate diseases at their root.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi