XIII. The Ashes of the System
This will not be a pleasant chapter to those of you who are still bound with the old notions of the impurity of
the body, or any part of it-if there chance to be such among our students. Those of you who prefer to ignore the existence of certain important functions of the physical body, and feel a sense of shame at the thought that certain physical functions are a part of their everyday
lives, will not relish this chapter, and may even
regard it as a blot upon the book-a thing which we
should have omitted-something which we should
have ignored. To such we would say that we can see
no use (and much harm) in following the policy of the
ostrich in the old tale, who, dreading his hunters,
would stick his head in the sand, and, shutting the hated
things from sight, would ignore their existence until
they overtook and captured him. We have such respect
for the entire human body, and all its parts and
functions, that we are unable to see anything impure or "un-nice" about it. And we can see nothing but folly in the policy which refuses to consider and discuss
the functions referred to, or any others. The result
of this conventional policy of dodging the unpleasant
subjects, has been that many of the race are suffering from diseases and ill
health brought about by this folly. To many who read this
chapter, what we say will come as a new
revelation-others who are already acquainted with that of which we speak,
will welcome
the voicing of the truth in this book, knowing that many
will be benefited by having their attention called
to it. We purpose giving you a plain talk about the
ashes of the system-the cast off waste of the body.
That such a talk is needed, is evidenced by the fact that at least three-quarters of the modern people are sufferers
from a greater or lesser degree of constipation and its
baneful results. This is all contrary to nature, and
the cause is so easily removed that one can scarcely imagine
why this state of affairs is allowed to continue. There can be but one answer-ignorance of the cause and
cure. If we are able to aid in the work of removing
this curse of the race, and in thus restoring normal
conditions by bringing people back to nature, we will
not mind the disgusted expression upon the faces of
some who glance at this chapter and turn to some more
pleasant subject-these very people being the ones
who need this advice the most of any of our readers.
Those
who have read the chapter in this book upon the
Digestive Organs, will remember that we left the subject
at the stage where the food was in the small intestines,
being absorbed and taken up by the system. Our next
point is to consider what becomes of the waste
products of the food after the system has taken up all
the nourishment it can from it-the material which it cannot use.
Right here it will be as well to state that those who follow
the Yogi plan of eating their food, as given in other
chapters, will have a much less amount of this waste
matter than the average man or woman who allows his
or her food to reach the stomach only partially
prepared for digestion and assimilation. The average person wastes at least half of what he eats-the waste
matter of those who follow the Yogi practice being
comparatively small and much less offensive man that of the average person.
In order to understand our subject, we must take a look
at the organs of the body having to do with it. The large
intestine of the "Colon" (the large bowel) is the part of the body to be considered. The colon is a large
canal nearly five feet in length, passing up from the lower right-hand side of the abdomen, then passing over to the upper left-hand side, then passing down again
to the lower left-hand side, where it makes sort of
a twist or curve, and grows smaller, terminating in the
rectum or exit of the waste matter of the system.
The
small intestine empties into the colon by means of a small trap-door
arrangement, on the lower right-hand side
of the abdomen, this trap-door is so arranged
that it allows matter to pass out, but will not allow it
to pass back. The Vermiform Appendix, the seat of appendicitis, is just below
this entrance. The colon rises straight up on the
right-hand side of the abdomen, then makes a curve and
passes right over to the upper left-hand side; then
descends straight to the lower left-hand side, where
the peculiar twist or curve called the Sigmoid Flexure
occurs, following which is the rectum or smaller canal leading to the anus,
which is the opening in the body through which the
waste matter passes out of the body.
The
colon is a great big sewer through which should pass
freely the sewerage of the system. Nature intends this
sewage to be removed speedily, and man in his natural state, like the animals, does not long delay this necessary casting off. But as he grows more
civilized, he does not find it so convenient, and so he postpones nature's
calls, until at last she gets tired of calling his attention to the matter, and
goes off and attends to some of her other numerous duties. Man helps along this
abnormal unnatural state of affairs by neglecting to partake of sufficient
water, and not only does not give the colon sufficient fluids to properly
moisten, soften and loosen the waste matter
on its way from the system, but he even lets his body run so short of fluids that
nature, in desperation, draws back through the walls of the colon some of the
water already given it for its use-failing to get spring water for her work,
she must needs use sewer water. Imagine the result ! The failure of man to
allow a free passage of this refuse matter from the colon results in
constipation, which is the source of innumerable cases of ill-health the real
nature of which is generally not suspected. Many
people who have a movement of the bowels each day are really
constipated, although they do not know it.The walls of the colon are encrusted
with impacted waste matter, some of which
has been there for many days, a small opening in the middle of the mass
allowing what is absolutely necessary to pass through. Constipation means a state in which the colon is not perfectly
clean and free of impacted faecal matter.
A colon
filled, or partially filled, with old faecal matter is a source of poison to the
whole system. The colon has walls which
absorb the contents of the colon. Medical
practice demonstrates that nourishment injected into the colon will be
absorbed rapidly and carried to the blood. Drugs injected in the same way reach
the other parts of the system. And as
before stated, the fluid portion of the
waste faecal matter is absorbed by the system, the sewage water being used in
nature's work because of the shortage of purer fluids in the system. It is
almost incredible how long old faecal matter will remain in a constipated
colon. Cases are of record showing that when the colon is cleaned, among the masses of old faecal matter has been found
cherry stones, etc., eaten several months before. Cathartics do not
remove this old faecal matter, as they simply loosen up what is in the stomach
and small intestines, and pass it off through the little opening in the hardened
faecal matter with which the walls of a badly constipated
colon is lined. In some persons the colon is impacted with hardened
faeces, lamost as solid as soft coal, to such an extent that their abdomens
become swollen and hard. This old waste matter becomes sometimes so foul that it becomes the breeding place of worms, and even
maggots, and the colon is filled with their eggs. The waste matter, or
faeces, which is passed into the colon from the small intestine, is of a pasty
substance, and if the bowels are clear and clean, and the movements natural, it should pass from the system in
but a trifle more solid state, and of a light color. The longer faecal
matter is retained in the colon, the harder and drier it becomes, and the darker in color. When sufficient fluids are not taken, and nature's calls are
ignored until a more convenient time, and then forgotten, a drying up
and hardening process ensues. When later the movement is had, only a portion of
the faeces passes out, the balance remaining to clog up the colon. Next day & little more is added, and so on,
until a case of chronic constipation is manifested, with all its attendant
evils, such as dyspepsia, biliousness, liver troubles,
kidney troubles-in fact, all diseases are encouraged,
and many of them directly caused by this filthy
condition of the colon. Half of the cases of female
trouble are caused or aggravated by this condition. The
absorption by the blood of the faecal matter in the system, is occasioned in
two ways, first, the desire and need of the body for
fluids; second, a desperate effort of nature to throw off the waste matter by
the skin, the kidneys and the lungs. Foul perspiration and
foul breath are often caused by this effort of nature to get
rid of what should have passed from the colon. Nature
recognizes the great source of danger of allowing this
foul mass to stay in the system, and so resorts to the
desperate plan of throwing it off in other ways, even
at the risk of half-poisoning the blood and body in so doing. The best proof of the number of physical ailments and disease caused by this unnatural state of the colon, is the fact that when the cause is once removed people begin to recover from many ailments apparently unconnected with the cause. In addition to the
fact that diseases are caused and encouraged by this
state of the colon, it is a fact that one is far more likely to contract contagious diseases, and diseases like typhoid
fever, etc., by reason of a neglected colon furnishing a
fine breeding place for the germs of these diseases.
In fact a man who keeps his colon clean and healthy,
is believed to run but very little risk of diseases of this kind. Just
imagine what must be the result when we
carry a sewer around inside of us-is it
any wonder that diseases which are occasioned by filthy conditions outside thrive on like condition inside of the body? Use a little reason, friends.
Now that wehave said enough to call your attention to the seat of many troubles (we could fill hundreds of pages with still stronger remarks on this subject) you are
perhaps in a condition to ask: "Well, I believe that all this is true, and that it explains much that has been
troubling me, but what must I do to get rid of that foul
condition, and to regain and keep normal health
in this respect?" Well, our answer is: "First get rid of the abnormal filthy accumulation, and then keep
yourself sweet and clean and healthy, by following
nature's laws. We will endeavor to show you how to do both of these
things."
If
the colon is but slightly filled with impacted faeces, one may get rid of it by increasing the fluids and by encouraging
regular movements, and by treating the intelligence
of the cells of the stomach (as hereinafter described).
But, as over half of the people who are mentally
asking us this question, have colons more or less filled with old, hardened,
impacted, faecal matter, of an almost green color, which
has been there for months, perhaps longer, we must
give them a more radical remedy. As they have gone away from nature in contracting this trouble, we must aid nature somewhat in restoring
lost conditions so that she may thereafter
have a clean colon to work with. We will go to the
animal kingdom for a suggestion. Many centuries ago the
natives of India noticed that certain birds of the Ibis
family-a long-billed bird-would return from journeys
into the interior in a wretched condition, which was
due either to their eating some berry which was very
constipating, or else having been where there was no
water to drink-possibly both. This bird would
reach the rivers in an almost exhausted condition,
scarcely able to fly from weakness. The bird would
fill its bill and mouth with water from the river and then, inserting the bill into the rectum, would inject the water
into the bowel, which would relieve it in a few
moments. The bird would repeat this several times,
until the bowel was completely emptied, and would
then sit around and rest for a few minutes until its
vitality was restored, when, after drinking freely from the river, it would fly
away as strong and active as ever.
The
chiefs and priests of the tribes noticing this occurrence,
and its wonderful effect upon the birds, began to
reason about the matter, and finally some one suggested that it might be tried
to advantage upon some of the old men who, by reason of
their non-activity and sedentary habits, had departed
from nature's normal plan and had become constipated. So they managed to construct
a primitive implement resembling a syringe from the
reeds, with a sort of blow-pipe attachment, would
inject warm river water into the bowels of the old men
suffering from this complaint. The results were wonderful-the
old men took on a new lease of life, took unto
themselves young wives, and began to again enter into the active work of the
tribe, and to resume their positions as heads of the
tribe, much to the amazement of the younger men who had
considered the veterans out of the contest. The
old men of other tribes heard of the occurrence and
began coming in, borne on the shoulders of the young
men-they are said to have walked home unaided. From
all the accounts handed down, these primitive
injections must have been of a most heroic character, for
they speak of the use of "gallons of water," and by the time the
treatment was
concluded the colon of the old tribesmen must have been
thoroughly cleaned out, and in a condition which
would give the system no more poisons. But we are
not going to advocate such heroic treatment- we are not tribesmen,
remember.
Yes, the abnormal condition calls for a temporary aid to nature in getting rid of this foul accumulation in the colon. And the best way to get rid of it once and for all is to follow the example of the Ibis and the old
Hindu tribesmen with the aid of perfected twentieth century
apparatus. All that is needed is an ordinary cheap
rubber syringe. If you have a fountain syringe, so much the better, but a cheap bulb syringe will do the work.
Take a pint of pretty warm water-as warm as the
hand can bear with comfort. Inject the water into the bowel with the syringe.
Then hold the water in the colon for a few minutes,
and then let it pass from the system. The night time
is the best for this practice. The next night take a quart
of warm water and use it the same way. Then
skip a night, and the second night after, try three
pints; then skip two nights, and the third night after
try two quarts. You will gradually get used to retaining this quantity of water
in the colon, and the larger amount will pretty well clean
out the old matter, the smaller injections washing away
the looser fragments, and generally dislodging and
breaking up the hardened mass. Do not be afraid of
the two quarts. Your colon will hold much more,
and some persons use gallon injections, but we consider
this rather too much. Knead the abdomen before and
after the injection, and practice the Yogi Complete
Breath after you get through, in order to stimulate
you and generally equalize the circulation.
The result of these injections
will not appeal to the aesthetic tastes of people, but the question is
to get rid of the filth once and for all. The contents of the colon brought
away by these initial injections are often of a most offensive and unpleasant
nature, but certainly it is much better to have this filth out of your system than in it-it is just as foul when in you as when
it is expelled. We have known of cases in which great lumps of faecal matter, hard and green as
corroded copper passed from people, and the stench arising from the
vessel was such as to bring a most convincing proof of what harm had been
wrought upon the system by its retention. No, this is not pleasant reading,
but it is necessary in order to make you realize the importance of this
internal cleaning. You will find that during the week in which you are
cleansing the colon, you will have little or no natural movements of the
howels. Do not let this worry you, for it is caused by the water washing away
that which ordinarily would have been evacuated in the stool. In a couple of
days after the cleansing process is completed, you will begin to get down to
natural and normal movements.
Now, right here, we wish to call
your attention to the fact that we are not advocating the continuous use of the
syringe-we do not consider it a natural habit, and fail to see its necessity,
as we believe that natural habits persisted in will cause any one to regain the
normal movement of the bowels, without the use of any outside help. We advocate
the syringe only as a preliminary measure
in order to clear away past accumulations. We see no harm, however, in
the use of the syringe, say once a month, as a preventative of a recurrence of
the old conditions. There are several schools of teachers in America who
advocate the use of the syringe
as a daily duty. We cannot agree with them, for
our motto is, "get back to nature," and we believe
that nature does not call for the daily use of the
syringe. The Yogis believe that plenty of pure, fresh
water, and a regular habit of going to stool and a little "talking
up" to the bowels, will do all that is necessary
to keep one free from constipation.
After
you are through with the week of syringe treatment
(and even before that), start the normal use of
drinking water, as we have explained in our chapter on that subject. Get the two quarts of fluids inside of
you each day, and you will find quite an improvement Then start the
habit of going to the stool at the same time
each day, whether you feel an inclination or not You will gradually establish the habit, and nature is fond of falling into habits. Then again,
you may really need an evacuation and
not be aware of it, for you have
deadened your nerve calls by repeated refusals to heed them, and you will have to begin all over again.
Don't neglect this-it is simple but effective.
You will find it advantageous to give yourself autosuggestions while sipping your cup full of water. Say to yourself. "I am drinking this water in order to supply my system with the fluids it needs. It will make my
bowels move freely and regularly, as nature intended."
Carry the idea in your mind of what you are
trying to accomplish, and you will be apt to get your results
quicker.
Now
for an idea which may seem absurd to you, unless
you understand the philosophy back of it. (We will tell
you how to do it now, and talk about the philosophy
in another chapter). This consists in "talking
up" to the bowel. Give the
abdomen (along the lines of the colon) several
gentle slaps with the hand, and say to it (yes, talk to it): "Here, you
Colon, I've given you a good cleaning out, and made you fresh and clean-I am
giving you all the fluids you need to do
your work properly-I am cultivating a regular
habit in order to give you a chance to do your work-and now you got to
do it." Slap the region of the colon
several times, saying, "And now you've got to do it."
And you will find that the colon will do it. This seems like child's play to you, probably-you will understand
the sense of it when you read the chapter on
Involuntary Control. It is merely a simple way of accomplishing a scientific fact-a plain way of
calling into play a mighty force.
Now, friends, if you have suffered from constipation, and who has not, you will find the above advice valuable. It will bring back those rosy cheeks, and beautiful skin-it
will banish that sallowness, that furred
tongue, that foul breath, that troublesome liver, and all the rest of
the family of symptoms arising from the clogged
colon-that stopped up sewer which has been poisoning the body. Try this
plan and you will begin to enjoy life, and to be a natural, clean, healthy being. And now in closing, fill up your
glass with sparkling, clear, cool water, and join us in the toast, "Here's to health, and lots of
it," and while you drink it down slowly, say to yourself,
"This water is to bring me health and strength-it is Nature's own tonic."
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