Nature Cure Written by : M. K. Gandhi Edited by : Bharatan Kumarappa Foreword by : Morarji Desai Printed & Published by : Jitendra T Desai Navajivan Mudranalaya 380 014 Ahmedabad (INDIA) Nature Cure FOREWORD Gandhiji had a passion to tend the sick and serve the poor. He valued life close to nature for its simplicity and evolved and practised simple rule's of health. He had almost a religious faith in vegetarianism which led him to carry out dietetic reform based on pragmatic results obtained from personal experiments. He was tremendously influenced by the writings of Dr. Kuhne on Nature Cure. He believed that human body, mind and spirit could be maintained in a state of perfect health by observance of simple rules. He attempted to discover causes of ordinary ill health and improvised simple remedies of Nature Cure. He established a Nature Cure Centre at Uruli in pursuance of his belief that the poor could not afford costly medicines and remedies and that he owed it to them to let them have the benefit of his lifelong experiments in Health and Hygiene. The human body is a wonderful and perfect machine. If it gets out of order, it can set itself right without medicine, provided it is given a chance to adjust itself. If we are not abstemious in our habits of food etc. or if our mind is agitated by passion, emotion or anxiety, the body cannot eliminate all the refuse and that part which remains uneliminated turns into toxins whose presence gives rise to symptoms which we call disease. Disease is an attempt of the body to get rid of toxins. If the body is helped in the process of elimination by fasting, cleansing of the bowels by enemas, baths and massages, the body could be restored to its normal health. This is in brief what Gandhiji meant by Nature Cure. This book contains a valuable collection of Gandhiji's thoughts on Nature Cure etc. and is indeed as rich in its information as it is constructive in its outlook. I commend this book for serious study by all those who are interested in cure of ailments through natural remedies. 30th November, 1954 Morarji Desai www.mkgandhi.org Page 2 Nature Cure EDITOR'S NOTE Gandhiji had very early in life lost faith in modern medicine. He was convinced that for good health all that was necessary was to live according to the laws of Nature in regard to diet, fresh air, exercise, clean surroundings and a pure heart. Instead of this, man was tempted by modern medical knowledge to indulge himself to his heart's content, break every law of health and morality and then seek a cure through commercialized drugs. In revolt from this Gandhiji sought to discover for himself a sane way of overcoming disease with- out the use of medicines. Besides, medicine tends to treat disease as merely a matter concerning the body. But Gandhiji viewing man as a whole finds that disease of the body is chiefly due to mental or spiritual causes and can be permanently cured only when man's entire attitude to life is changed. The cure of bodily disease must therefore, according to him, be sought primarily in the realm of the spirit, in self-discipline and self-mastery through brahmacharya, in a thoughtful observance of the laws of Nature in regard to health, and in bringing about a physical and social environment conducive to the development of a sound body and a sound mind. Gandhiji's conception of Nature Cure is therefore much wider than what is generally understood by that term. It is not merely a cure of disease after it has occurred but an attempt to prevent disease altogether by living according to the laws of Nature which, according to him, are the same as the laws of God. Accordingly it involves not only the use of earth, water, air, sunlight, fasts and such like to cure disease, but even more a transformation of one's entire life —physical, mental, moral and social — through Ramanama or faith in God, alias His Law. Rama- nama is not, therefore, for him mere magic which when uttered through the lips will work wonders of itself. It signifies, as already said, a complete change in the heart and mode of life of the individual, whereby the individual comes to be in tune with the infinite and so obtains never-failing disease- conquering life and strength from the Source of all life. www.mkgandhi.org Page 3 Nature Cure In arranging Gandhiji's writings under chapters, it seemed well not to interrupt the thought by giving the titles of articles. Not all the articles or speeches are given in full, as repetitions had to be omitted. Extracts from Gandhiji's weeklies —the Young India and the Harijan have dates affixed to them. So far as the other extracts go, they are from Hind Swaraj, written in 1908, Autobiography, written in 1925 and on, and Key to Health, written in jail during 1942 to 1944. Extracts from his letters to workers at the Uruli Kanchan Nature Cure Clinic and information about that Centre have been given in the form of Appendices. The letters were translated by Shri A.L.Mazumdar from the original Gujarati. Those desirous of pursuing further Gandhiji's ideas in regard to health should supplement this book by reading his Key to Health and Diet and Diet Reform. Bombay, August, 1954 Bharatan Kumarappa TO THE READER I would like to say to the diligent reader of my writings and to others who are interested in them that I am not at all concerned with appearing to be consistent. In my search after Truth I have discarded many ideas and learnt many new things. Old as I am in age, I have no feeling that I have ceased to grow inwardly or that my growth will stop at the dissolution of the flesh. What I am concerned with is my readiness to obey the call of Truth, my God, from moment to moment, and, therefore, when anybody finds any inconsistency between any two writings of mine, if he has still faith in my sanity, he would do well to choose the later of the two on the same subject. M. K. Gandhi Harijan., 29-4-1933 p. 2 www.mkgandhi.org Page 4 Nature Cure I INTRODUCTORY Doctors have almost unhinged us. Sometimes I think that quacks are better than highly qualified doctors. Let us consider: The business of a doctor is to take care of the body, or, properly speaking, not even that. Their business is really to rid the body of diseases that may afflict it. How do these diseases arise? Surely by our negligence or indulgence. I overeat, I have indigestion, I go to a doctor, he gives me medicine, I am cured. I overeat again, I take his pills again. Had I not taken the pills in the first instance, I would have suffered the punishment deserved by me and I would not have overeaten again. The doctor intervened and helped me to indulge myself. My body thereby certainly felt more at ease; but my mind became weakened. A continuance of a course of medicine must, therefore, result in loss of control over the mind. I have indulged in vice, I contract a disease, a doctor cures me, the odds are that I shall repeat the vice. Had the doctor not intervened, Nature would have done its work, and I would have acquired mastery over myself, would have been freed from vice and would have become happy. Hospitals are institutions for propagating sin. Men take less care of their bodies and immorality increases. European doctors are the worst of all. For the sake of a mistaken care of the human body, they kill annually thousands of animals. They practise vivisection. No religion sanctions this. All say that it is not necessary to take so many lives for the sake of our bodies. These doctors violate our religious instinct. Most of their medical preparations contain either animal fat or spirituous liquors; both of these are tabooed by Hindus and Mahomedans. We may pretend to be civilized, call religious prohi- bitions a superstition and wantonly indulge in what we like. The fact remains that doctors induce us to indulge, and the result is that we have become deprived of self-control and have become effeminate. In these circumstances, www.mkgandhi.org Page 5 Nature Cure we are unfit to serve the country. To study European medicine is to deepen our slavery. It is worth considering why we take up the profession of medicine. It is certainly not for the purpose of serving humanity. We become doctors so that we may obtain honours and riches. I have endeavoured to show that there is no real service of humanity in the profession, and that it is injurious to mankind. Doctors make a show of their knowledge, and charge exorbitant fees. Their preparations, which are intrinsically worth a few pence, cost shillings. The populace, in its credulity and in the hope of ridding itself of some disease, allows itself to be cheated. Are not quacks then, whom we know, better than the doctors who put on an air of humaneness? Hind Swaraj, 1946, pp. 42 & 43 If I had acquired perfect mastery over my thoughts, I should not have suffered from pleurisy, dysentery and appendicitis as I have during the last ten years.* I believe that when the soul is sinless, the body which she inhabits is healthy too. That is to say, as the soul progresses towards freedom from sin, the body also tends to become immune from disease. But a healthy body, in this case, does not mean a strong body. A powerful soul lives only in a weak body. As the soul advances in strength, the body languishes. A perfectly healthy body might yet be quite emaciated. A strong body is often diseased. Even if there be no disease, such a body catches infection soon, while a perfectly healthy body enjoys complete immunity from it. Pure blood has the power of expelling all obnoxious germs. Navajivan, 25-5-'24 Maintenance of perfect health should be considered almost an utter impossibility without brahmacharya leading to the conservation of the sexual secretions. To countenance wastage of a secretion which has the power of creating another human being is, to say the least, an indication of gross ignor- ance. A firm grasp of the fact that semen is meant to be used only for www.mkgandhi.org Page 6 Nature Cure procreation and not for self-indulgence, leaves no room whatsoever for indulging in animal passion. Assimilation of the knowledge that the vital fluid is never meant for waste should restrain men and women from becoming crazy over sexual intercourse. It will never be resorted to in order to satisfy passion without the desire for a child. After intercourse which has been performed as a matter of duty, the desire to repeat the process should never arise. The sexual glands are all the time secreting the semen. This secretion should be utilized for enhancing one's mental, physical and spiritual energy. He, who would learn to utilize it thus, will find that he requires very little food to keep his body in a fit condition. And yet he will be as capable as any of undertaking physical labour. Mental exertion will not tire him easily nor will he show the ordinary signs of old age. Just as a ripe fruit or an old leaf falls off naturally, so will such a brahmachari when his time comes pass away with all his faculties intact. Although with the passage of time the effects of the natural wear and tear must be manifest in his body, his intellect instead of showing signs of decay should show progressive clarity. If all this is correct, the real key to health lies in the conservation of vital energy. Key to Health, 1948, pp. 46 to 49 The Nature Cure man does not 'sell a cure' to the patient. He teaches him the right way of living in his home, which would not only cure him of his particular ailment but also save him from falling ill in future. The ordinary doctor or vaidya is interested mostly in the study of disease. The Nature Curist is interested more in the study of health. His real interest begins where that of the ordinary doctor ends; the eradication of the patient's ailment under Nature Cure marks only the beginning of a way of life in which there is no room for illness or disease. Nature Cure is thus a way of life, not a course of 'treatment'. It is not claimed that Nature Cure can cure all disease. No system of medicine can do that or else we should all be immortals. Harijan, 7-4-'46 www.mkgandhi.org Page 7 Nature Cure *I am a humble aspirant for perfection. I know my way to it also. But knowing the way is not reaching its end. If I was perfect, if I had acquired full control over all my passions even in thought, I should be perfect in body I am free to confess that daily I am obliged to expend a great amount of mental energy in acquiring control over my thoughts. When I have succeeded if I ever do, think what a store-house of energy would be set free for service! As 1 hold that appendicitis was a result of infirmity of thought or mind, so do I concede that my submission to the surgical operation was an additional infirmity of mind. If I was absolutely free of egoism, I would have resigned myself to the inevitable; but I wanted to live in the present body. Complete detachment is not a mechanical process. One has to grow into it by patient toil and prayer. Young India, 3-4-'24 www.mkgandhi.org Page 8 Nature Cure II NATURE CURE TREATMENT The science of natural therapeutics is based on a use of the same five elements, in the treatment of disease, which constitute the human body. These are earth, water, ether, sunlight and air. It is my effort to point out how they can be utilized for-health purposes. Up till the year 1901, although I did not rush to the doctors whenever I happened to get ill, I did use their remedies to a certain extent. I used to take fruit salt for constipation. The late Dr. Pranjivan Mehta who had come to Natal introduced me to certain drugs to remove general lassitude. This led me to read literature on the uses of drugs. Add to this a little more knowledge I gained by a certain amount of work I had put in at a cottage hospital in Natal. This enabled me to carry on for some time, but none of the drugs did me any good in the end. Headaches and loss of a sense of general wellbeing persisted. I was very dissatisfied with this state of things and what little faith I had in medicines began to fade. All through this interval my experiments in dietetics were continued. I had great faith in Nature Cure methods, but there was nobody to help me with practical guidance in their use. With the help of whatever knowledge I could gather by reading a little of Nature Cure literature, I tried to treat myself by diet regulation. My habit of going out for long walks also stood me in good stead, and thanks to that habit I did not have actually to take to bed. While I was thus managing to keep going somehow, Mr. Polak handed me Just's book, called Return to Nature. Key to Health, pp. 57 & 58 1. EARTH Just lays great emphasis on the use of earth. For constipation, he advises cold mud poultice on the lower abdomen. The mud poultice should be 3" broad, 6" www.mkgandhi.org Page 9 Nature Cure long and ½" thick. Just claims that mud can cure a man bitten by a poisonous snake. He would pack wet earth all round the body. I mention this for what it is worth. I would like to put down here what I have tested and proved for myself. It is my experience that a mud poultice applied to the head, relieves headache in most cases. I have tried it in hundreds of cases. Headache may be due to several causes, but whatever the cause, as a general rule, an application of mud poultice relieves it for the time being. Mud poultices cure ordinary boils. I have applied mud to discharging abscesses as well. For these cases I prepare the poultice by packing the mud in a clean piece of cloth dipped in potassium permanganate lotion, and apply it to the abscesses after washing it clean with permanganate lotion. In the majority of cases this treatment results in complete cure. I do not remember a single case in which it has failed me. Mud application immediately relieves the pain of a wasp sting. I have used it in many cases of scorpion bite, though with much less success. Scorpions have become a nuisance in Sevagram. We have tried all the known treatments for scorpion bite, but none has proved infallible. I can say this that the results of mud application are not inferior to those of any other form of treatment. In high fever, an application of mud poultice on the head and abdomen is very useful. Although it does not always bring down the temperature, it does invariably soothe the patient and make him feel better, so that the patients themselves ask for these applications. I have used it in several cases of typhoid fever. The-fever no doubt runs its own course but mud applications seem to relieve restlessness and abate the suffering. We have had about ten cases of typhoid fever in Sevagram with complete recovery in every case, so that the inmates of the Ashram are no longer afraid of typhoid fever. I have not used any drugs in the treatment of these cases. I have made use of other Nature Cure methods besides mud poultices, but about those in their own place. In Sevagram we have made free use of hot mud poultices as a substitute for anti-phlogistine. A little oil and salt is added to the mud and it is heated sufficiently long to ensure sterilization. www.mkgandhi.org Page 10