by Charley Cropley
(editorials@boulderweekly.com)

Living in a body sick, exhausted and hurting with pain; a worried, overactive mind; and deceitful, angry, violent relationships is living in hell. Any other hell is hypothetical—and probably unnecessary. Conversely the experience of a healthy body, joyful mind and kind, caring relationships is heavenly. It is our nature to long for health on all levels. Without it we ever feel unfulfilled and dissatisfied. Something absolutely essential to us is missing, and we sense it. Humanity's eternal quest is for that elusive "something" that will permanently satisfy us. Fame, money, power, talent, intelligence, youth, beauty... nothing else can compensate for or satisfy this yearning. The knowledge of how to achieve health of our body, mind and relationships is knowledge that qualifies as truly "meaningful."

There are specific activities that nourish and sustain health. These activities are common, simple to understand, and everyone experiences their benefit. Our body is formed by food, movement and rest; our mind by thoughts and emotions; our relationships by our actions towards others.

You can readily experience the power of these common, simple activities. Overeat at one meal and undereat at another and tell me which is more beneficial. Eat only apples, salads and fish for one to three days. Follow that with three days of pizza or Mcdogfood and report back. After work stay at the office an extra hour or spend an hour dancing or working out. Sleep for as long as you want. Then get up two hours earlier than usual. Not one sane person would be confused as to which of these activities are beneficial and which are harmful.

Why then would anyone choose to harm themselves more than once? Obviously we must be compelled by factors other than intelligence. Perhaps desire, fear, hatred, lust, gluttony, envy, greed or laziness?

Repeating self-injurious actions daily over years causes disease in the same way as smoking does. Although this may seem somewhat obvious, the fact is there is almost universal failure to recognize this vital connection between the performance of wholesome activities and our state of health. What causes health and disease remains an utter mystery to most health professionals. This ignorance is the root of our national crisis in "health" care.

It is impossible to be alive and not perform the acts of eating, moving, thinking and relating. They are essential to being alive on this planet. The actions that give us what we passionately desire are precisely the actions Nature ordains that everyone must perform. These arts of living are the art of arts: the art of creating healthy, happy, kind human beings. Like all arts we improve through study and practice with a skilled teacher.

Untrained persons are unable to discern the difference between skillful and unskillful performance of the arts of living. The actions of a master appear more or less the same to most people as those of an uneducated person. But I promise you it is not so. Years of serious education are required to learn to control our appetites, to walk, stand and sit with poise, to think intelligently and relate kindly.

If people were taught even the slightest appreciation of the power of their own actions it would transform our culture and world. Because we are completely unaware of and therefore misuse our innate power to heal we become dis-eased. We then search feverishly and futilely elsewhere for some "cure" for our self-generated dis-ease. It is as if we were ignorant of the value of sunlight and seeds in growing plants and so we begin a quest to find a new means to grow plants without using sunlight and seeds. Where would we look for this other means? In DNA or bacterial cell walls? Amazonian herbs? The refrigerator?

I trust we are all well aware that our "experts" are absolutely baffled about how to resolve our national health crisis. In essence they are looking for a substitute for sane living. They are looking into genetic engineering, technology, organ transplants, cloning... everything but mastering our own actions. The problem appears baffling and unintelligible precisely because it is. It is impossible to ever know where to look because there is nowhere that such an answer exists. It is impossible to grow plants without sunlight and seeds. It is equally impossible to be healthy, happy and at peace with others without doing the actions that produce this.

If a formula could be made that could produce the same benefits as a good night's sleep or a good workout it would be sold out. The fact that such a miracle has never been and will never be found does not slow our search in the least. We were born into a culture hypnotized to worship fantasies. The more distant, foreign, unintelligible and mysterious the better. We have been brainwashed to regard what is natural, simple and readily available as worthless.

In reality there is no other way to heal ourselves other than the ways Nature has provided. She provides one and only one means to meet every need. She offers no second, no backup for sunshine, seeds, vaginas or honeybees. Nature, our own Nature accepts no substitutes for treating ourselves and others intelligently and kindly. Each and every action that we do today dictates what we will experience tomorrow.

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