GOD'S PERSONAL MESSAGES -
THROUGH THE BODY
By William Saunders, M.D., Smyrna, Georgia, U.S.A

All true healing comes from God, and God has deposited within us His trust, the rational soul, the human spirit, He is closer to us than our own life vein, and He is constantly, uninterruptedly, sending us messages through our physical and spiritual senses. Listening to your body means to pay attention to the message He is sending and to respond to it in the way He wishes. Everyone receives His messages, He ensures that it is the proper response that is important. If we do not learn to respond, He increases the intensity: slight fatigue will gradually increase to total exhaustion, and mild discomfort to debilitating pain. The problem is not the unwelcomed message, which we have been taught to regard as a disease, to be destroyed at all costs, even our self destruction. The real problem is our lack of awareness to His divine health laws, which causes no discomfort and is not disagreeable. We adapt and learn to enjoy thesetransgressions, we become attached to them, and refuse to detach ourselves from these practices which are squandering our innate resources, our strength and health, and depriving us of the God-given power to serve Himat full power for a lifetime. Pain and discomfort do not result from these actions, they follow the attempts to continue to function at the level we were capable of achieving before we squandered our health by conforming to the standards of society. His messages are simple and clear, if you are sleepy, sleep, if you are tired, rest, if you are thirsty, drink pure water, and he has given specific written instructions. In the Most Holy Book is the injunction:"Resort ye, in times of sickness, to competent physicians."Abdu'l-Baha interprets this as follows:"According to the explicit decree of Baha'u'llah one must not turn aside from the advice of a competent doctor. It is imperative to consult one even if the patient himself be a well-known and eminent physician. In short, the point is that you should maintain your health by consulting a highly-skilled physician."(Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 156)"It is incumbent upon everyone to seek medical treatment and to follow the doctor's instructions, for this is in compliance with the divine ordinance, but, in reality, He Who giveth healing is God." (ibid, p. 156)In the Tablet to a Physician (included in this issue), written to a Persian physician more than a century ago, Baha'u'llah gives general and specific advice about health and healing. Of paramount importance is the advice:"Treat disease first of all through diet, and refrain from medicine."Equally important is the next statement:"If you can find what you need for healing in a single herb, do not use a compound medicine."The original of the Tablet is far more comprehensive than the translation implies, the word used is 'ahad', the Arabic word for 'one', 'a single unit', and could therefore apply to anything required: herb, drug, medicine, food or dish. Its essence is simplicity.This advice is for physicians, and for the wise in the absence of physicians. Physicians should learn how to do this, and patients should demand that it be done. This will be a sign of the maturity of mankind and will carry us into the medicine of the future, and that future is now, if we dedicate ourselves to making it a reality through our actions, ourunity, and our obedience to His will. _________________________________________________TABLET TO A PHYSICIANThis unauthorized translation of the entire Tablet by Baha'u'llah is published in "Star of the West", Vol.13, No.9, p.152, Dec.1922. O God! The Supreme Knower!The Ancient Tongue speaks that which will satisfy the wise in the absence of physicians.Say! O people! Do not eat except when you are hungry. Do not drink after you have retired to sleep. Exercise is good when the stomach is empty; it strengthens the muscles. When the stomach is full it is very harmful. Do not neglect medical treatment when it is necessary, but leave it off when the body is in good condition. Do not take nourishment except when (the process of) digestion is completed. Do not swallow until you have thoroughly masticated your food. Treat disease first of all through diet, and refrain from medicine. If you can find what you need for healing in a single herb, do not use a compound medicine. Leave off medicine when the health is good, and use them in case of necessity.If two diametrically opposite foods are put on the table do not mix them. Be content with one of them. Take first the liquid food before partaking of solid food. The taking of food before that which you have already eaten is digested is dangerous. The compounding of one food with another is a danger of which you must beware. Begin meals with "In My Name, the All Glorious." End with "In the Name of the Possessor of heaven and earth." When you have eaten, walk a little, that the food may settle. That which is difficult to masticate is forbidden by the wise. Thus the Supreme Pen commands you. A light meal in the morning is as a light to the body. Avoid all harmful habits; they cause unhappiness in the world. Relate the diseases to their causes. This statement in this connection is a conclusive decree.Verily the most necessary thing is contentment under all circumstances; by this one is preserved from morbid conditions and from lassitude. Yield not to grief and sorrow; they cause the greatest misery. Jealously consumeththe body and anger doth burn the liver; avoid these two as you would a lion. The main thing is to cleanse the body of its wastes, but in the temperate season. He who overeats, his illness becomes more severe. We have arranged for each thing a cause and we have bestowed upon it an effect. All this is from the effulglence of My Name which permeates all things. Your God is the Ruler in all things. Say! By adhering to that which we have set forth the humours of the body will not depart from their equilibrium nor will their set measure be upset by various conditions, for the primary substance will remain in its pristine purity and no change will occur in the normal proportion of one-sixth, and one-sixth of one sixth, and the twin active agents (qualities, properties) and the twin passive agents will remain intact; and in God must our trust be. There is no God but Him, the Healer, the Knower, the Helper.
The Supreme Pen has not written such words but for love of thee, that thou mayest know that grief has not siezed upon the Blessed Beauty. He is not sorrowful because of what has befallen Him from the nations. Sadness is forhim who loses his chance when it appears. Nothing on earth or in heaven is outside the grasp of God.
O physician! In treating the sick, first mention the Name of God, the Possessor of the Day of Judgement and then use what God hath destined for the healing of His creatures. By My Life! The physician who has drunk from the Wine of My Love, his visit is healing, and his breath is mercy and hope. Cling to him for the welfare of the constitution. He is confirmed by God in his treatment.
This science (of the healing arts) is the noblest of all the sciences, for it is the greatest means from God, the Life-Giver to the dust, for preserving the bodies of all people, and he has put it in the forefront of all sciences and wisdoms. It is indeed the most potent instrument provided by God, He Who breathes life into bones, for the protection of the bodies of men. He hath given it the foremost rank among all sciences and the knowledge of the wise. However, this is the day for thee to arise to help My Cause, while fully detached from all the worlds. Say! Thy name is my healing, O my God, and remembrance of Thee is my remedy. Nearness to thee is my hope, and love for Thee is my companion. Thy mercy to me is my healing and my succor in both this world and the world to come. Thou, verily, art the All-Bountiful, the All-Knowing, the All Wise._________________________________________________