Poemander

We only have whatever is ours. We can only have whatever is us. It is from the desire to have whatever is not us, or from the unwillingness to accept whatever is us that the suffering originates. Nature means birth, literally, it dictates what is us and what is not. Disconnect from nature causes disease on biological, psychic and spiritual levels. Nature flows and any stagnation results in this disconnect. Producing the cause and not accepting the outcomes makes us suffer because cause and effect are woven into the fabric of our nature. Majority of the diseases are the resultant of our departure from nature; physical departure, like moving to the cities, but to a greater extent, a psychological departure, especially the opposition of the self. We may continue to finding cures from diseases, but there will always be more to it as our solutions do not look in the core. We may eventually succeed in curing “physical” illnesses by the means of stem cells, cloning, but there will be mental illnesses reign supreme because we still won't have the wholesome approach. Wholesome approach is the integration of the fragments through the understanding of causation and linkages. Diseases are the outcomes and cannot be looked at in isolation, they are the reflection of our detachment from nature.

Cancer is the rebellion of cells, they rebel micro forces as we rebel the macro forces. Why would anyone expect it to be any different? Humankind break linkages with the nature, cells break linkages with the organs they belong to. Humans want independence and proliferation so do our cells. Nature just “returns the favour” to whoever it may lay its hand on; in the same fashion as the enraged farmer would catch and beat just anyone from the bunch of kids stealing of his orchard, even if they were only the bystanders, even if they were the dearest and brightest to their loved ones.

Depression will overtake cancer and viral diseases in the overall scope: it will be massive and commonplace. Depression is the illness of a life-deprived being longing for wholesomeness. To be life-deprived means missing on life-experiences. People will continue to create surrogate experiences in order to fill the gap: drugs, virtual reality, entertainment. But life-essence cannot be enhanced by the surrogates, it needs 'real' experiences, it gravitates like everything else in the universe – towards self-discovery. You cannot inhibit this process, and like water trapped by the dam, this will only exacerbate the aftermath when the stream eventually overflows. Brutality, suicide, schizophrenia are just the examples of such outcomes. Nature always find its way, if not in the one, than in the other form.

Talking about the 'real life' experiences, it is necessary to note that these are not merely 'real' experiences – the reality is subjective until it's known. Therefore, 'real life' experiences are those that bring the entity closer to meeting with own self. Feeling joy can be such experience, feeling the presence of death can be such experience, pain, loneliness, lucid dreaming, deep inquiry, meditating, even walking barefoot can be such experience.

So, fo the health, coming from the word whole, would it be also defined as the absence from illnesses? Disease, meaning without ease, would it also mean that to be at ease one needs to be free from illness? These are huge assumptions made by the contemporary doctrines which led people into this 'holy' fight against all sort of “sicknesses”, like fighting the devil who has only been 'created' for the purpose of this fight. Therefore, sicknesses will multiply as we continue to eradicate the 'devils' of our time. Until the wholesomeness is sought through inclusion and acceptance, the suffering will only increase. Give devils a break, accept them as they are a due part of our equation – this is called balance, literally 'having the two'. Only balance brings 'ease' which in turn means 'close by', without the balance you 'wander' away from centre; to be at ease is to be in the centre, but for this you need to accept the left and the right.

Fasting and a regular long walk on the nature side can prevent and cure most illnesses in human beings.