Day 40: July 21, 2006
This morning we were picked up by Dr. Vira from the Sir Ganaga Ram Hospital (about 5 minutes by car from our hotel, the Hotel Swadi Deluxe) where we met with the some of the senior staff, and other doctors as well, from that institution. A fully allopathic hospital with all the latest equipment and skills necessary to run a modern Western hospital, none the less, the doctors here understand (or at least some of them do) that the Ayurveda precept of food as medicine and medicine as food is the basis for health (or its violation, the basis for disease). So the twin dangers of adulterating the food supply and taking away nutrients and other natural health options, was very, very concerning to them.
The doctors listened intently and asked probing questions at the end of the presentation. The most senior doctor present appeared to be slumped in his chair and sleeping through most of my lecture. At the end of my talk, he waited for all the questions to finish and then said that he would make some comments and end the meeting. Bert and I looked at each other: a negative word from this revered and very senior doctor, and there would be nothing more that would happen here at this influential center. Imagine, then, our delight and surprise when he stated that he had heard much that he did not know but that what he heard made sense and seemed right. He went on to say that his hospital had to be mindful of the fact that drugs are poisons and that there is much that must be done without them. Further, he went on to detail a family member’s search for anything — anything — that would help his autistic child and, along with other doctors in the room, asked where they could learn how to use natural methods like the ones I had talked about and where they or relatives with conditions “incurable” to allopathic medicine could get meaningful help.
I had the pleasure of referring those seeking training to the excellent educational programs of the American Academy of Environmental Medicine and discussed individual referrals with them since I am not able to take on new patients because of our heavy travel schedule. Codex: oh, yes! These doctors, although they had never heard of it, got it, and got it big time. Although Dr. Faul, the “Director Medical” of the hospital noted before my lecture that “We have lost faith in food”, still, here in India, the tradition of medicine/food/medicine is alive, if not well, and these doctors knew what that meant. Also, many of them come from villages where health was assured by this technique, along with herbs if needed. They have seen and experienced first hand what the loss of “faith in food” (CLEAN food) has meant to their health and that of their families so they are uniquely enabled to lock onto this concept and see the threat.
Following the lecture, we talked with the very senior doctor and learned that he is suffering from a serious and, for allopathic medicine, untreatable disorder which saps him of his strength more each day. I was able to make some suggestions which made sense to him and he immediately dictated a letter to Prof. Dr. B. M. Hegde, the Director of Natural Solutions Foundation — India, and a world-renowned physician to boot, to ask for assistance in securing the treatments I recommended.
Then we went on to vast briefly with Dr. Faul before we left for our next meeting. Imagine our pleasure when she invited us to speak at her January meeting on the importance of the Ayurveda integration of consciousness, mind and body in healing. Deepak Chopra will be there, too. Of course we accepted.
Along the way, we got to talking about what she calls “Cosmic Healing” and listened attentively when she said that a man she knows has created technology which does the same thing effectively. We asked if we could visit him and she said we could go (6 hours away by car each way) on Tuesday and come back Wednesday. We leaped at the opportunity, you can well imagine, since we are very interested in such technologies. We will let you know what we see!
Then back to the hotel for an afternoon meeting (which did not occur) with an exceptional pulmonologist who is very sympathetic to our work.
We waited until we had to leave for an encounter with an Indian agent for social change who is the brother of a highly respected Indian Scientist in the US who has been very helpful to us at the Indian International Center Annex. This senior gentleman arranged for us to meet at this venerable club with the Director of the Delhi Center of an Ayurveda Hospital and Treatment Center. We explained the Codex threat to both of them and, as we have always found, they listened attentively and asked profound questions.
Along the way, the Ayurveda doctor said that we could come the next day for a Panchakarma (hot oil) Ayurveda massage. I was thrilled because in the car on the way over I had said to Bert, “You know, tomorrow is Saturday and I would love to find an Ayurveda center and have a hot oil massage.” Honest!
Back to a restaurant for dinner and back to our hotel for a 10 PM appointment with the doctor who could not come earlier. We were together until 1:30AM while we talked Codex, energy medicine, nutritional medicine and public information techniques. By the end, we had a new ally and a new friend.
Day 41: July 22, 2006
I woke up today with a high blood pressure episode, the first I have ever had, at least as far as I know. My feet and ankles were swollen with “pitting edema” up my legs and, when I took it, my blood pressure was 165/135. I called the Ayurveda doctor and told him that I needed not only to have the Panchakarma treatment, but I needed a consultation with a doctor as well. He told me how to set it up and I did, indeed, have a consultation with a doctor at the facility. He prescribed herbal tablets and a special type of Panchakarma treatment. Following a very unique (to me) hot oil massage administered by two pleasant, but silent, trained Ayurveda masseuses my BP was 122/82 — totally within normal limits. Would it have come down by itself? Perhaps. But I will tell you that I believe that Ayurveda medicine belongs in our armamentarium for health care, not illness care. I was very appreciative of the opportunity.
Oh, by the way, Bert had a very sore point on his knee which has been getting steadily more painful ever since we began spending hours and hours in cramped cars where he cannot stretch his leg out and planes which are the same. He, too, had both a consultation and a Panchakarma treatment. His knee is vastly improved: there is no pain unless he presses really hard on the spot. My therapeutic intervention: “Don’t press the spot!”
We came home, showered and showered and showered (very oily oil!) and went out to dinner, then home and bed for Bert, computer for me.
Day42: July 23, 2006
We were invited today to lunch with a friend of the amazingly well-connected Dr. B. M. Hegde who is the former head of India’s equivalent of the FBI and currently a top advisor to the government on legal and human rights!
He and his grown son entertained us at their lovely, gracious home (guarded by a man with a rifle) and we talked about Codex, of course, but we also talked about the unity of goodness in all religions and sincere paths to God. We saw photos of this man with gurus, divines like the Dali Lama and other world spiritual leaders. He is a complexly simple (or simply complex) man of insight and great penetration of intellect who immediately saw the impact of Codex and invited us to present at a meeting on July 29th where the program is already set, of course, but where he will make about 20 minutes available to allow us to introduce the Codex issue to the audience. He, too, wants us to speak at a much larger meeting when we come back in January. We said we would.
The home cooked South Indian food was delicious, eaten with the right hand and not at all spicy. But the subtle blending of taste was fantastic.
We said goodbye to this gentleman and his son, nodded goodbye to the man with the rifle and drove off. As we went, we saw a beautiful complex labeled “Indian Handicrafts Exposition” which looked exceptionally nice. We asked the taxi driver to stop thinking we would spend an hour there. Four hours later we left having seen handicrafts and treasures old and new of a quality rarely seen outside of a museum. We could not afford anything, but we did make a new friend: the Senior Manager with whom we had an almost identical discussion about the same things we talked about over lunch. He, like India’s former “Top Cop” looks at life from a deeply holistic and spiritual perspective. His religion guides him to devotion in every act and an understanding of the unity through which good comes into the world without demanding that any one religion be followed while being deeply devout in his own religion. These two men provided us with pretty profound discussions on the depth of man’s good in the face of the world’s evil. And they are, by the way, members of different religions. Is this a shared personal reality or a typically Indian view? We do not know enough Indians to say, but all of the people we have talked to here have said pretty much the same thing on the topic and, unlike the US, they bring the topic up early and often, but with gentle interest, not fanaticism.
Then a quick dinner, many phone conferences and preparation for tomorrow’s extraordinary event. Stay tuned!
Yours in health and freedom,
Rima E. Laibow, MD
