What is the root cause of disease?

 

What is the root cause of disease?

Yesterday when I posted the proceedings of the discussion session on ayurveda, a friend asked, "How can the ego cause disease?". Dr Ashok Mahapatra, during his speech, had focused on the ego as the root cause of disease. He is a mainstream doctor, a highly acclaimed one as he has been the head of many premier medical institutions. How can a man of science say that the ego is the root cause of disease?

There are several issues here;

• The concept of science has been hijacked
• The ambit of science has been limited to only the world of senses
• A scientist is supposed to deal only with the material world

All of the above are unscientific. The scientist should have a 360 degree view to arrive at the correct picture.

Another thing is the reductionist approach of medicine; The body is a machine composed of many parts that can be treated separately. The mind has been carefully kept out. It is only when mental illnesses have exploded all over the globe and become routine that there is talk of mental health; but again with a reductionist approach. The mind and body continue to be kept separate.

That the reductionist method is inherently faulty and unscientific has been pointed out by several eminent doctors ever since Rockefeller took over. Earlier the mind was considered extremely important and counselling and even hypnotism was an essential part of medicine.

Today the mind body relationship has been very well studied with MDs having written books on neuroscience and hermeneutics. Even subjects like past life regression are no longer taboo. It has been observed that the mind is the origin of disease and addressing this core issue is a very important part of healing.

If the mind is convinced, the body proceeds accordingly. This is studied under the subject "The Placebo Effect". Dr Ashok Mahapatra also talked about it. It is an astounding subject and so is the "Nocebo Effect". If the mind is convinced that the inert subject is potent medicine, it will work like one. Similarly if the mind is convinced that the inert substance is poison; the body will produce symptoms of poisoning and can even die.

Nothing proves the mind body connection more and better than this.

When I explained this my friend, a man of scientific medicine, immediately exulted, so that explains homeopathy! Homeopathy is not placebo effect. It will work with the well selected remedy whether the mind is convinced or not. It works with those who intensely doubt it, are antagonistic, with infants, animals, and even the vegetative world. Thus the placebo effect is not behind the success of homeopathy. Dr Mahapatra had also pointed out that energy and vitality are the most important components of health. Homeopathy works on the vital force.

That there is a world beyond the senses is acknowledged by science. Men of science have acknowledged the role of intuition and dreams behind their findings. Nuclear physics has opened up entirely new dimensions and thoroughly changed the mechanistic view that prevails. The world is not what is visible on the surface and perceived by the senses.

So how is the ego responsible for disease?

The ego separates us from the whole. This separation is the beginning of misery. Even as we take the concept of a machine, if a part feels it is separate and tries to act separately both the machine and the part breaks down. An egoistic society collapses because it can no longer function as a whole.

It is this knowledge that led to the concept of sacrifice. People sacrificed their personal needs and ambitions and worked towards the benefit of all because the collective is more important than the part.

The ego makes us feel that we are a separate body. We then become preoccupied with it and seek ways and means to cater to the world of the senses. It also weighs us down as we react negatively to the world around us. It is the base for the negative emotions like envy, jealousy, ambition, greed, anger, and crimes that cause untold harm. All of this forms the basis of disease.

Disease is described as "Bhava Roga", our infatuation with the manifested world. As we become entangled with the world, it affects the balance of the elements that make up the body; space, air, fire, water, and earth. It also affects the energy and vitality. Thus the remedy is to be detached even as we acknowledge the world and stay within it. While the Western world is materialistic; about seeking power and enjoying the various comforts, the Eastern view is exactly opposite; seeking meaning and the truth rather than becoming occupied with what the Eastern world perceives is an illusion.

However even after explaining all of this my friend remains unconvinced.