COSMOS,

MAN AND SOCIETY

by E dm ond Bordeaux Szekely

 COSMOS,
MAN AND SOCIETY

by Edm ond Bordeaux Szekely

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 FOREWORD
to the 1989 Edition
This present volume, given the title Cosmos, Man and Society
by its author, Dr. Edmond Bordeaux Szekely, is actually the
major portion of another large volume of his called Medicine
Tomorrow, published in England in 1938, translated from
the French by L. Purcell Weaver. The other portions of
Medicine Tomorrow are now published under two titles:
The Essene Science o f Life and The Cosmotherapy o f the
Essenes. The original Cosmos, Man and Society was also
published in England in 1936, also translated by Purcell
Weaver, and, like Mecicine Tomorrow, now long out of
print. The major portions of the original Cosmos, Man and
Society are now published as six separate books: The Origin
o f Life, Man in the Cosmic Ocean, The Evolution o f Human
Thought, Treasury o f Raw Foods, Healing Waters, and The
Conquest o f Death.
We realize that some confusion has resulted from the
fact of Dr. Szekely’s having given the same title to two of
his books (he obviously liked the title very much), but let
the reader be assured that all of the important sections of
these two volumes are present in print under the above-
mentioned titles, and will remain available indefinitely.
Regarding the content of this volume, a glance at the
Contents page will perhaps explain why Dr. Szekely could
not resist using again the title, Cosmos, Man and Society—
for those formidable topics are explored brilliantly in these
pages. The author’s conclusions regarding the preservation of
our natural resources, especially in the form of trees, are not
only brilliant and thorough, but also incredibly timely in
a period when our planet’s survival is threatened as never
before in history, not by some outside enemy, but by our
own ignorance and disregard for the laws of nature. One can
only wonder how different things would be in 1989, had the
citizens of this planet heeded the author’s counsel in 1938.
NORMA NILSSON BORDEAUX SZEKELY
March 5th, 1989.
 CONTENTS

DIALECTICS AND EVOLUTION 5

THE ORIGINS OF MATTER AND LIFE 10

MAN’S ADAPTATION TO NATURE 20

THE LAWS OF LONGEVITY 29

MAN AND VEGETATION 41

THE PROGRESS OF THOUGHT 54

MAN AT WAR WITH HIMSELF 64

LIFE AND THE ENERGIES OF THE COSMOS 76

AGRICULTURE AND PUBLIC HEALTH 93

THE SYMBIOSIS OF MEN AND TREES 108

CIVILISATION AND THE SIMPLE LIFE 123

 Chapter I

DIALECTICS AND EVOLUTION

Death was not then, nor was there aught immortal.
That one thing, breathless, breathed by its own nature:
apart from it was nothing whatsoever.
All that existed then was void and formless: what
was above it then, and what below it?
Who verily knows and who can here declare it, whence
it was born and whence comes this creation?
The gods are later than this world’s production. Who
knows, then, whence it first came into being?
He, the first origin o f this creation, whether he formed
it all or did not form it,
Whose eye controls this world in highest heaven, he
verily knows it, or perhaps he knows not.
The Hymn o f Creation
from the Rig Veda

Let us begin with the problem of evolution. If we go

back some thousands of years and examine the first
systematically written documents of human culture, as
represented by the Vedas of India, we shall find in them a
hymn which deals with the last problem of existence and
the origin of the world. I t asks: ‘What is the essence of the
world and of existence? How did the world come into
being? Who created the world? And if there is a creator
how was the creator himself created?’ And it gives the
answer: ‘Only the gods can answer that, if they know how.’
So the Vedas are the first solemn confession of human
ignorance—and it is a sincere confession. We can say that
the world concept of the Vedas, the first systematic world
concept in human culture, can be characterised by two
words, pantheism and agnosticism. They give us the
conception of the unity of the world and of man, together
with the recognition that we can never know the final
cause of existence.
Now, if we advance several thousands of years in time

5
and examine the attitude of modern philosophy in relation
to these fundamental problems, we shall find no great
difference. I t is not so many years ago that Du Bois-Rey-
mond enunciated his famous ignoramus et ignorabimus. We
know not and shall never know. And if we go.from phil­
osophy to the positive sciences, if, for instance, we ask this
same question of a distinguished representative of astro­
nomical science—Sir James Jeans—we find that he gives
practically the same answer in his book The Mysterious
Universe, where he writes that we only know a tiny part
of the universe, a minute fragment which is a negligible
quantity of the universe, and that it is not within the scope
of astronomical science to affirm any positive conception
concerning the origin of matter or the formation of the
known stellar system. He says that later, when we have
more and more perfect telescopes, and can progressively
come to know an increasingly large part of the universe, it
is possible that we shall learn more about its structure and
mechanism.
And if we go on to ask the same question of a representa­
tive of biological science, Professor Carrel, we find that in
his book, Man the Unknown, he entirely affirms the agnos­
ticism of the Vedas; in fact, he goes much further, as he
not only says that we do not know much about the universe,
but also that we do not know much about the human
organism. If his view is right human knowledge does not
seem to have made much progress from the Vedas to the
present day, but this lack of progress is more apparent
than real, for in the thousands of years which have passed
since they were written masses of experience have been
gained. And this great period of time provides us with a
key, the key of evolution. If we examine evolution from
every point of view throughout the last seven thousand
years we have a method at our disposal which can serve as
a key to open the lock of the unknown mansion of the
universe and existence.
We will examine evolution from three points of view:
first, from the standpoint of nature; secondly, from that of
human society; and thirdly, from that of thought.
We must concede that during the last seven thousand

6
years there have been many changes in the natural environ­
ment of our planet, that many lands have risen from the
sea, while certain parts have sunk beneath the ocean. We
can see that many species of the animal world have dis­
appeared, and many new species have appeared by inter­
mixture. Similarly, we find that many new fruits and
vegetables have appeared, from which we see that nature
is not always the same. In nature there is perpetual move­
ment and evolution; the different species of the vegetable
world exhibit clear and characteristic signs of evolution, so
in spite of the shortness of this period in comparison with
the age of the earth, we can, none the less, observe the
process of evolution in earthly nature.
Now let us examine human society from the standpoint
of evolution. In antiquity we find a number of isolated
cultures appearing one after the other, but there was little
contact between them and little opportunity for inter­
change of their values. Travel was practically the sole
means of intercourse. The few records which remain show
us the great difficulties and dangers attending travel in
those times. The next best sources of knowledge—manu­
scripts and books—were similarly very rare and only
accessible to a very tiny fragment of humanity. In general,
antiquity was a period characterised by small, isolated
tyrannies without any freedom for the individual. In the
majority of these societies we find a social system based
on slavery, where the master had the life or death of his
slaves in his hands. In general, neither slaves, nor children,
nor women had even a minimum of liberty, so if we examine
the present state of human society and culture, compared
with that of antiquity, we must recognise that there is
change and evolution in society too.
The two sources of the interchange of human knowledge
(travels and the contents of books), are not, as in antiquity,
limited to a privileged few, but are becoming available to
increasingly wider masses of society. Similarly, there is
infinitely greater individual liberty in present society1 than
in the societies of antiquity. So we must recognise the
evolution, movement, and change of human society.
1 In 1949 this sentence perhaps needs qualification. (Ed.)

7
 Now let us examine the third factor: human thought.
Has there been an evolution of human thought? If we
compare the mental capacity of Homo Neanderthalensis
with that of the average man of to-day, or if we wish to
make a still greater contrast, with that of Einstein or of
Bernard Shaw, we must admit that there is movement,
evolution and change in the sphere of human thought.
So while we have no exact knowledge of mankind’s path
or of its end, we can, nevertheless, see that the path is a
path of progress, and that is worth much, particularly
when we consider the third aspect of evolution: the
evolution of human thought. In the words of Pascal, ‘Face
to face with the universe man is nothing, a mere reed, yet
a thinking reed.’ Human thought is a passing gleam in the
unknown night of existence, and the gleam is all, but it is
that which can and does illumine existence.
We see that the motion and evolution of nature, society,
and thought constitute the common basis of all the sciences.
So the material of our studies will be the science of the
motion and evolution of nature, society, and thought.
And this science we call dialectics—a science which gives
us methods that produce results. The method shows how
to take advantage of the forces of nature, of the individual,
of society, and of thought. We are able to use these forces
as sources of energy and knowledge even if we have no
perfect knowledge of their metaphysical roots. I t may be
objected that this involves a limitation of our capacities,
to which we can answer with the words of two philosophers
of antiquity. Protagoras was the first to say that for us
here and now ‘man is the measure of all things’. So from
the standpoint of man the practical application of the
forces of nature is more important than the metaphysical
knowledge of their origin. And Buddha, the most profound
oriental philosopher, said to one who asked whether there
is existence after death and similar metaphysical problems:
‘A man was walking in the forest and was wounded un­
expectedly by an arrow. Instead of drawing the poisoned
arrow straightway from the wound to save his life, he
began to ask himself “Who shot the poisoned arrow?” and
then “Who was the father of the man who shot the arrow?”

8
“And who was his grandfather?” And while he meditated
on these things the poison reached his heart and he died.’
So unproductive, metaphysical speculation should not
be our guide, but, on the contrary, we must concentrate on
the most urgent and pressing problem of humanity—the
problem of human suffering. Before all else we must
extract the poisoned arrow from the wound; we must
struggle with and conquer human suffering. When we have
conquered and overcome suffering, then will it be time
enough to meditate on the metaphysical roots of life and
solve those abstract problems.
We are of the opinion that this conception is clear and
logical; and in spite of the fact that we do not know the
origin of the cosmic and natural forces, experience shows
us that we can very well employ them for healing diseases,
and for improving individual and racial vitality, and put
them at the disposal of the human race and of society.
So in the following pages we shall deal chiefly with practical
questions, and only in the course of the first section shall
we deal with the theoretical foundation and methodological
parts of our study.

9
 Chapter II

THE ORIGINS OF MATTER AND OF LIFE

W e have now to consider the most difficult problems of

science: the problems of the origin of mutter and the
origin of life, and also that activity which science calls
psychism, which is something above organic life, a kind
of superstructure of organic matter. In the immense edifice
of the natural sciences we have three breaks in continuity.
First we have the great void before the appearance of
physical matter, of which we do not know the origin.
Secondly we have a great void between inorganic and
organic matter, or more simply between dead and living
matter. Third and lastly we have the great void between
living and thinking matter.
First we will examine what is the answer given to this
problem by the religions and philosophies of untiquity and
then we will examine what is the answer of the modern
sciences.
The oldest traditions concerning cosmogony and cos­
mology, which deal with the origin of the universe and the
structure and organisation of that universe, arc the Vedas.
They do not give us a concrete scientific answer, but they
answer us in their own manner, enfolding the truth in a
complicated structure of theology and theogony. But if we
take the essence of the Vedas and eliminate all their
complicated hierarchy of Gods and Divinities, it amounts
to the following: There are two universal cycles, the night
and the day of Brahma. Brahma is a sort of universal
essence, causa finalis, which later religions identify with
divinity. But in its earliest form this conception was pure
pantheism. So Brahma is a universal being having neither
beginning nor end, who has alternately his nights and days.
When Brahma sleeps nothing exists in space or time;
neither matter exists, nor life, nor movement; but when

10
 Brahma wakes he radiates into cosmic space, and thousands
and millions of new suns, stars and planets awake, and so
does life on the planets, with the appearance of plants,
animals and man—the second cosmic cycle begins. Accord­
ing to the old Hindu tradition we are now in the second
cycle, the day of Brahma. In brief and in essence that is
what the old Hindu tradition teaches us.
Later on this conception is repeated in different forms in
all later religions and philosophical systems. According to
Buddha there is an absolute, which has neither beginning
nor end, which was not created and will never disappear;
tips is ‘Nirvana’. And there is another existing material
world which begins and disappears, while the eternal flow
and circulation of these things is ‘Samsaro’.
Afterwards we see the same thing repeated in the
philosophy of Plato when he speaks about the world of
ideas and the material world (‘Shadows of Ideas’). We
see it also in Aristotle when he speaks of the world of
form and the world of matter. And the same thing is
repeated in various mediaeval and modern philosophical
systems.
In our modern philosophical terminology we should
express it in the following way. We have something which
is absolute, which has neither beginning nor end, and we
have something else which from time to time appears and
disappears, which consists always of two opposite parts,
one completing the other, and without one of which the
other is incomprehensible; for instance, existence and non­
existence, life and death, day and night, and so on.
Now having examined what the religions and the
philosophies have to say, let us examine the contemporary
sciences.
According to the latest results of astrophysics, astro-
chemistry and cosmology, to find the essence of things we
must get back to radiations as causa finalis of matter and
energy.
We classify radiations in two categories. If the radiation
has a straight line we say that it is force or energy, but if
it is concentrated round a point then we have whirling
radiations, like an atom, which we call matter. So the

11
ultimate constituent source of energy and matter is
radiations.
Now if we examine what truth there is in the ancient
traditions about the cosmic cycles we find the following
fact. According to the most recent results of astronomy
and cosmology, we find revolving in cosmic space huge
systems of planets and cosmic nebulae where that which we
call matter is still in process of formation, and there we
find that direct line radiations are being transformed into
circular radiations, that matter is now appearing. And we
have also discovered huge systems of planets and cosmic
nebulae where matter is disappearing; that is, where
whirling radiations are being transformed into straight
radiations, and there is the source of the various cosmic
radiations. So we see that some parts of the universe
radiate radiations while other parts of the universe absorb
them, and in the boundless universe there is an endless
series of transitory states between the straight-line and
whirling systems of radiations. So we can see that the
universe contains both cycles—the day and night of
Brahma. In certain immense parts of the universe we have
simultaneously the origin of matter and the disappearance
of energy; in other immense parts of the universe we have
the disappearance of matter and the origin of energy.
Naturally, one or the other form is merely predominant
in either, for always and everywhere we have both forms.
Thus in one part we have a predominance of new formations
of worlds, and in the other a predominance of the dis­
appearance of worlds, but not a complete separation of the
two processes as the ancient traditions tell us.
The ancient tradition intuitively found a true direction
as did also the various philosophical systems, and now by
means of our perfect telescopes and other instruments we
are able to confirm analytically and empirically the great
synthetic intuition of the great religions and philosophies.
Next let us examine the second problem, the problem
of the appearance of life. Naturally, in our empirical
researches we are limited to the examination of the
appearance of earthly life, so we are confined to a very
small fragment of the universe.

12
 From a logical point of view it would be a very broad
hypothesis to attribute alone to ourselves in the infinite
universe the capacity of life, to imagine that only our
planet has organic life upon it, for we are only a very small
speck in infinite cosmic space, constituting a negligible
quantity from a universal point of view. So I repeat that
we should not attribute only to ourselves the privilege of
life. Probably life does not exist on the other planets of
our own solar system, for on the other planets there are
lacking various preconditions of life, both physical and
chemical; but it is certain that if not in our solar system,
then at any rate in many of the innumerable solar systems
of cosmic space organic life must exist, only it is inaccessible
to our imperfect instruments.
Before asking what is the answer of the sciences about
the origin of life, we will first see the answer of the old
traditions, which represented science in the past ages.
Generally, in ancient theological systems we have a sort
of Olympus, the dwelling-place of the gods who created
life. From time to time the gods descended from the heights
of Olympus and created new beings. In the more obscure
of these traditions life is simply an amorphous thing which
seems to come down from the mountain heights and no
very clear information is given as to the origin of this
Olympus. So, as we see, these traditions tell us practically
nothing from a logical or scientific point of view, and it is
the same with philosophy which has simply repeated
various empty notions during the thousands of years of
civilisation, notions without logical or empirical foundation.
So the only solution for us is to consult the contemporary
sciences.
If we wish to know precisely the preconditions of organic
life we must reconstruct and examine the environment of
the processes operative before and during its appearance.
If we go back to former geological periods we find that
in the primitive state of the earth there was too high a
temperature for the appearance of life, the whole globe of
the earth being a fiery mass from which the preconditions
of life were absent. Little by little this fiery mass cooled
down, and in this way with the change of temperature the

13
various elements of the earth appeared through precipita­
tion, processes on so great a scale that we cannot reproduce
them in our laboratories.
Little by little we can see the progressive appearance of
the atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere, the appear­
ance of air, water, and an increasingly rigid earth. The
process of cooling still continues to-day. The lithosphere,
the exterior rigid zone of the earth, grows constantly
thicker and thicker; the interior fiery mass of the earth
always becomes smaller and smaller.
Now terrestrial life only appeared when the temperature
had become favourable to life. We know that life is only
possible between two limits of temperature, that a too
high or too low temperature will destroy life or make its
appearance impossible, so with this consideration in mind
let us see in what environment life first appeared.
It is certain that it could not be on the lithosphere, for
in the pre-geological state it had too high a temperature
and was still a fiery mass. The primitive waters which
covered this fiery mass were themselves a semi-fiery mass,
which also had too high a temperature for life to exist.
But above these exceedingly warm masses of water existed
a great zone of vapour which was not as hot as the water
and not as cold as the encircling cosmic space. It was only
there, then, that life could appear. This pre-geological
vapour consisting of water and air did not of itself contain
all the preconditions of life, but it is certain that in this
dense vapour, which lasted for millions and millions of
years, there existed in almost imponderable form certain
chemical elements necessary for primitive life. And this
vapour also received the solar and cosmic radiations which
together with air, water, certain mineral elements, and a
favourable temperature seem to be the preconditions for
the appearance of life. One day organic life appeared in that
environment; naturally not in its evolved form, but appear­
ing as ephemeral amoebic, semi-amorphous forms, whose
life was very short, for immediately they descended into the
warm zones they were killed, and immediately they were
carried by currents into the higher colder zones they were
also killed by the excessive cold. Millions and millions of

14
years passed until the earth itself cooled down sufficiently
for the great masses of water to quieten down and form
the oceans.
When these great zones of vapour little by little dis­
appeared and united with the oceans as the process of
cooling continued, then life itself also descended with these
vapours into the oceans and began a second phase of organic
life.
The water of the oceans in dissolved form contained even
more chemical elements than the vapour-filled atmosphere.
We know that the water of the oceans contains some
thirty chemical elements in dissolved form, so it has all
the chemical elements necessary for life, and has a chemical
constitution analogous to that of the blood of man and of
various living animals.
Naturally, this enrichment of the preconditions of life
produced a greater variety of the forms of life; new species
appeared and little by little there appeared a great variety
of forms of life in the oceans.
This second form of life, this second station of life in the
hydrosphere, following upon life in the vapour-laden
atmosphere, was characterised by the eating by animals of
their own species; by carnivorism. In other words, one
form of animal species represented the foods of the others:
the larger fish eating the smaller ones. This period repre­
sented the period of the great sea monsters, and the period
of war of all against all.
Little by little the outer part of the solid earth itself
cooled down and became rigid to such an extent that it in
turn became favourable for life; and when this occurred,
life left its second station in the oceans and extended over
the earth. So the third station of life is the lithosphere.
Little by little appear the different forms of vegetation
and of animal life. The respiratory system of all those
animals which lived in the sea and came to live upon the
earth was gradually transformed, and little by little there
appeared the different pulmonary systems. And instead of
instruments for swimming there appeared differentiated
limbs for moving upon the earth.
Little by little the vegetation became more abundant

15
and the roots of plants and trees absorbed from the atmo­
sphere and from the inside of the earth various chemical
elements which were accumulated in the leaves and fruits
of the plants and trees, and thus constituted new forms of
food for animals—herbs, cereals and fruits. Nevertheless,
the dominant character of animal life during this period
remained carnivorous in the constant struggle for existence.
Terrible races of monsters followed one upon another.
We can reconstruct their forms, and we can see that they
had organs chiefly for attacking and destroying one another.
These races existed for a very long time and afterwards
they disappeared. These races of monsters disappeared
because their life was not in accordance with laws of nature.
They developed large muscular forms through their
activity, but they could never acquire any nerve system
capable of evolution. This was the achievement of another
race, the race which began little by little with the species
th at started to consume herbs, cereals, and other vegetable
products of the earth. Certain vertebrate animals, among
them the mammals, began to evolve pure vegetarian races,
whose food was primarily herbs and grains. This race was
the ancestor of the dominant species of our planet.
Little by little certain species among them came into
the environment of the forests where to the herbs and
cereals were added fruits, growing higher on trees. These
species had to develop their limbs into organs for climbing
up the trees to get the fruits.
In this way there appeared among these vertebrate
mammal races new species—the simians—which little by
little became differentiated in the environment of the
forests.
We have come to the last but one station of life, to the
different simian species living in the forests. Now we shall
find new differences in species for various reasons. Little
by little certain species began to descend from the trees,
and arboricolous species became earth-dwelling species.
Those species which left the trees for the earth little by
little assumed an increasingly vertical position of the body;
their feet became stronger and stronger and more differen­
tiated, and their two front feet were little by little differen-

16
tiated into hands, becoming more and more flexible and
elastic.
I t is among these species that we must look for the
ancestor of Homo Sapiens. The fact th at the dominant
race of our planet comes from these species leads us to
attribute great importance to the vertical position of the
nervous system and the vertebral column in man.
As we know, the capacity and response of a wireless
aerial depends on its vertical, horizontal, or intermediate
position. Now the vertical position of the human nervous
system and also of the anthropoids seems to have certain
superior capacities which no other animal species possesses.
The vertebral systems and nervous systems of other
species are in a horizontal position, so we know that the
superior psychism of anthropoids and of man resides in the
cerebro-spinal system. So this new station of life, the last
differentiation of life up to the present, is marked by the
change from the horizontal to the vertical position.
Here an important point must be mentioned. The works
of Darwin are often cited, but very seldom read, which
explains why it is very often said that, according to Darwin,
man is descended from monkeys. Darwin does not state
this in any part of his works, but says that man and the
present existing simian species have a common origin and
common ancestors, but neither is descended from the other.
Now the anthropoids which, after being arboricolous,
became earth-dwellers, little by little exhibited a higher
phase of evolution in accordance with their developing
cranial and nervous systems. We can see this from an
examination of the various species of anthropoids, of Homo
Neanderthalensis and of Homo Cromagnonensis, who mark
different stations in this last phase of evolution, the penul­
timate phase of the evolution of the dominant race upon
the planet.
We know from various factors, from climatological,
anthropological, archaeological, and ethnological facts, that
the last dispersion of the human race had its origin in
Central Asia. The various remains of the periods before
this dispersion prove that there was in Central Asia a
tropical and Subtropical climate. Witnesses to this are the

17
and the roots of plants and trees absorbed from the atmo­
sphere and from the inside of the earth various chemical
elements which were accumulated in the leaves and fruits
of the plants and trees, and thus constituted new forms of
food for animals—herbs, cereals and fruits. Nevertheless,
the dominant character of animal life during this period
remained carnivorous in the constant struggle for existence.
Terrible races of monsters followed one upon another.
We can reconstruct their forms, and we can see that they
had organs chiefly for attacking and destroying one another.
These races existed for a very long time and afterwards
they disappeared. These races of monsters disappeared
because their life was not in accordance with laws of nature.
They developed large muscular forms through their
activity, but they could never acquire any nerve system
capable of evolution. This was the achievement of another
race, the race which began little by little with the species
th at started to consume herbs, cereals, and other vegetable
products of the earth. Certain vertebrate animals, among
them the mammals, began to evolve pure vegetarian races,
whose food was primarily herbs and grains. This race was
the ancestor of the dominant species of our planet.
Little by little certain species among them came into
the environment of the forests where to the herbs and
cereals were added fruits, growing higher on trees. These
species had to develop their limbs into organs for climbing
up the trees to get the fruits.
In this way there appeared among these vertebrate
mammal races new species—the simians—which little by
little became differentiated in the environment of the
forests.
We have come to the last but one station of life, to the
different simian species living in the forests. Now we shall
find new differences in species for various reasons. Little
by little certain species began to descend from the trees,
and arboricolous species became earth-dwelling species.
Those species which left the trees for the earth little by
little assumed an increasingly vertical position of the body;
their feet became stronger and stronger and more differen­
tiated, and their two front feet were little by little differen-

16
tiated into hands, becoming more and more flexible and
elastic.
I t is among these species th at we must look for the
ancestor of Homo Sapiens. The fact th at the dominant
race of our planet comes from these species leads us to
attribute great importance to the vertical position of the
nervous system and the vertebral column in man.
As we know, the capacity and response of a wireless
aerial depends on its vertical, horizontal, or intermediate
position. Now the vertical position of the human nervous
system and also of the anthropoids seems to have certain
superior capacities which no other animal species possesses.
The vertebral systems and nervous systems of other
species are in a horizontal position, so we know that the
superior psychism of anthropoids and of man resides in the
cerebro-spinal system. So this new station of life, the last
differentiation of life up to the present, is marked by the
change from the horizontal to the vertical position.
Here an important point must be mentioned. The works
of Darwin are often cited, but very seldom read, which
explains why it is very often said that, according to Darwin,
man is descended from monkeys. Darwin does not state
this in any part of his works, but says that man and the
present existing simian species have a common origin and
common ancestors, but neither is descended from the other.
Now the anthropoids which, after being arboricolous,
became earth-dwellers, little by little exhibited a higher
phase of evolution in accordance with their developing
cranial and nervous systems. We can see this from an
examination of the various species of anthropoids, of Homo
Neanderthalensis and of Homo Cromagnonensis, who mark
different stations in this last phase of evolution, the penul­
timate phase of the evolution of the dominant race upon
the planet.
We know from various factors, from climatological,
anthropological, archaeological, and ethnological facts, that
the last dispersion of the human race had its origin in
Central Asia. The various remains of the periods before
this dispersion prove that there was in Central Asia a
tropical and subtropical climate. Witnesses to this are the

17
mammoths and other animals and various vegetable species
such as palms, which have been found in various rivers in
Siberia and are now in the museums of Leningrad and
Moscow. Certain climatological changes caused by geo­
logical factors compelled our ancestors to emigrate and leave
this environment so ideal for life. And life was dispersed to
the West, to the South-west, to the South, to the North,
and to the East. If we follow the various ethnological
prehistoric migrations we find that the ultimate dispersion
point was Central Asia.
The catastrophic influence of the pleistocene disaster,
know to the various ancient traditions as ‘The Flood’, was
survived only by those groups who remained on the high
mountain ranges which stretch from Asia Minor to the
Behring Strait, constituting the longest and greatest
mountain chain in the world. And after the subsidence of
the flood these groups little by little descended from the
high mountains, and scattered over the Asian continent
to the four points of the compass. All ethnological, archae­
ological, and climatological studies affirm this fact. They
also affirm the fact that parallel to these races of man there
existed certain other less evolved human species living in
certain parts of Europe, Africa, and Australia.
These species were chiefly a European variety, a cave­
dwelling race enjoying less favourable conditions of life,
but there were other races in Central Africa and in what
is now Australia, who were related races, but not races
from which Homo Sapiens is descended. These secondary
races are definitely in correlation and in biological affinity
with Homo Neanderthalensis-, while the principal branch of
the human race, of which we form part, has an affinity with
Cromagnon man.
Generally, these less evolved secondary races are seen
little by little to disappear and superior emigrants from
Central Asia occupy their place.
Now we must examine the last important moment in the
evolution of the dominant race when, after the cataclysm,
the various groups which survived the cataclysm little by
little descended from the mountains. The great forests and
the vegetation were in large measure destroyed. The climate

18
became colder and less favourable, so these people did not
find the favourable preconditions of life and were thus
compelled to take up hunting instead of, as formerly,
existing on fruits and vegetables, and to rely on certain
vegetables of an inferior quality which remained. They had
to cook and use fire to transform these into edible form, and
they were also forced to use fire to warm their bodies, for
the pleasant temperature of the antediluvian climate had
disappeared. And thus we can mark the appearance of
carnivorism, and the appearance of fire, and the origin of
the cooking of foods; for it is quite natural that these races
unaccustomed to eating meat should have felt a repulsion
for eating raw meat, which can only be changed into edible
form by cooking.
All anthropologists affirm that the chief foods of our
ancestors were nuts, fruits and certain cereals, and not meat.
The biologists, including Darwin, Huxley and Cuvier, say
the same.
Now afterwards, due to the factors already mentioned,
a new period began in the history of the dominant race:
the beginning of the eating of meat, and of cooking, and
also the habit of people enclosing themselves in primitive
dwellings for protection against cold. And according to the
various documents and traditions which we have, these
unnatural conditions of life of the dominant races little by
little shortened the span of life.
Contemporary macrobiotes with a life of more than a
hundred and twenty years are, in ninety per cent of cases,
people who eat no meat at all: this supports the thesis that
meat is not the natural food of man.

19
 Chapter III

MAN’S ADAPTATION TO NATURE

T h e history of the evolution of the dominant race on our

planet is very important to us, because ‘cognoscere est
cognoscere causas’. We must always follow the various
changes which accompany the evolution of life and examine
what factors create and sustain life throughout this evolu­
tion, for only those forces which were capable of creating
and sustaining life are favourable to life and are alone able
to cure the various diseases of the organism. Only those
forces ought to be, and can be, the basis of medicine. For
this reason correlations and laws derived from the study of
the evolution of life have very important practical and
therapeutic consequences.
Now we must examine what are the preconditions and
principal factors and forces which create, sustain and evolve
life on our planet. As we have seen they are the following:
atmosphere (air), hydrosphere (water), cosmosphere (solar
and various other cosmic radiations whose nature we do
not yet perfectly know), lithosphere (the earth’s crust with
all its chemical elements), and later the botanosphere
(steppes with the grasses, the different seed-bearing plants,
the forests and trees, particularly trees with fruits). These
are the factors, the forces, the preconditions of the appear­
ance of the evolution and of the maintenance of life. We
have a heredity which scientists call ontogenetic experience
in the organism. These factors have an influence on our
organism; they have a very important hereditary influ­
ence, constituting the ontogenetic heredity which we
inherit from our various ancestors. The older the phase of
our ancestor’s life the weaker is its influence on our life,
while the nearer it is to us in time, the greater is the force
which it exercises upon us.
Let us take some examples. Customarily present man is

20
carnivorous, having eaten cooked foods for the last few
thousand years. Our ancestors have transmitted these
habits to us and so they exercise a hereditary reflex on our
nervous and muscular systems. On the other hand, the
structure of the teeth and the digestive system of man have
a close affinity with the fruit-eating simian races and are
totally different from those of the carnivorous animals.
These hereditary factors always have a great force or in­
fluence in our organism. We can say that the structure of our
organism is inherited by us from remote ancestors who were
fruit-eating and living in forests; while the functional
activity of these organs is inherited from our ancestors of
the last few thousands of years who had the custom of
eating meat and cooked food.
So there is a contradiction in the present human organism.
Structurally we are vegetarians, while functionally we are
carnivorous and omnivorous. This contradiction in the
human organism necessitates a solution. For contradictions
in the human organism destroy life just as contradictions
in human society cannot continue for long without causing
the destruction of the social organism. There are therefore
serious biological reasons and facts which necessitate that
we should solve the grave biological and physiological
contradiction in our organism—the contradiction between
its structure and function.
In the second part of this book, when we are dealing
with the practical and therapeutic material, we shall speak
about the solution of these contradictions by means of the
cosmotherapeutic diet which takes into consideration the
place to be assigned to the various hereditary ontogenetic
forces in our organism, and consequently lays down what
proportions of the various natural foods are needed by the
present human organism so as to be in harmony with the
ontogenetic forces which present man inherits from his
ancestors living through the various phases of evolution.
We find that the evolution of the dominant race begins
and ends with carnivorism, but has as its intermediate
stations the eating of plants, cereals and fruits.
The greatest ontogenetic force in our organisms is frugiv-
orism and is represented structurally in our organisms. For

21
this reason the cosmotherapeutic diet specifies fifty per cent
of fruit as an ideal for the diet. And having regard to the
ontogenetic forces which we inherit from our herbivorous
ancestors, who are further from us in time, it prescribes
vegetables for thirty-five per cent of the diet; and taking
into consideration the grain-eating phase of our ancestors
it Specifies ten per cent of cereals in our diet.
So, as we see, the diet of contemporary man should be in
harmony with the various ontogenetic hereditary forces
which are manifested both structurally and functionally. It
is important to achieve this harmony. We can show that
the recent short period of carnivorism of the human races
was only produced accidentally and is not in harmony
with the natural laws of evolution, for if the ancestors of
our dominant race had always been carnivorous, then the
human race would have disappeared like all the other
inferior races which fed on meat.
For only certain foods, notably fruits and vegetables,
contain accumulations of the specific solar and cosmic
energies, which are favourable for the evolution and
development of the superior psychic capacities of the
nervous system.
But the contradiction between the structure and the
function of the human organism is not the only one
existing in the human organism. I t is necessary to say
something of certain other contradictions.
If we examine the life of Homo Sapiens Sylvanus and
also the lives of the races between Homo Sapiens Sylvanus
and the present time, we can see and establish other
contradictions. For instance, our ancestors were nomads.
Stabilised life has only existed for some thousands of years,
from the time of the primitive civilisations of antiquity.
But the life of the human species is many hundreds of
thousands of years old, so we can see that the human race
is predominantly nomad, and this nomad heredity mani­
fests itself in our present organisms, for we have inherited
nomad instincts for many hundreds of thousands of years.
In spite of civilisation these nomad instincts lie latent
in us and are variously manifested. In man there is the
instinct for travel and change of environment, for making

22
excursions, for going into the mountains, and these mani­
festations spring from our ontogenetic experience, from our
heredity. And this dominant instinct of nomad life has also
been manifested in large measure in human history. We
can see that the whole of human history has consisted of
various migrations of nomad peoples, and this has also
been the case in civilised periods as well. If we examine
antiquity in certain periods we find interesting examples.
For instance, in the period of the greatness of the Roman
Empire we have in the West a great civilised empire—the
Roman Empire; and in the East another great civilised
empire—the Chinese Empire. I t is strange that there
should have been hardly any contact at all between these
two great empires. The one did not know the other, and
between the two and north of the two there existed a great
ocean of nomad peoples and tribes who, during hundreds
and hundreds of years, attacked one or other of these two
great empires.
The Eastern Empire defended itself by the famous
Chinese Wall which made it impenetrable, and so the force
of the nomadic peoples was diverted to the West, and after
struggles carried over some hundreds of years they
destroyed the Western Empire. A similar thing occurred
afterwards in the days of Tamerlane and Genghis Khan.
The former destroyed the great Ottoman Muslim civilisa­
tion, while the latter almost destroyed European Christian
civilisation. If we go back into history we see this process
repeating itself.
And it is likewise thanks to this nomad instinct in man
that we have the discovery of new continents and lands.
Columbus, Cortez, Captain Cook and Bougainville are
living examples of these nomadic instincts dwelling in us.
But these instincts also exist to-day in the ordinary man.
We have only to look at the inhabitants of great cities;
when summer comes there is an instinctive urge to make
excursions to the country.
However, if we examine our present civilisation we find
that it suppresses these instincts in man. We have great
agglomerations of people in small areas and this nomadic
instinct cannot manifest itself freely. So the present environ-

23
ment of man, our civilised environment, is in contradiction
with the heredity of man, with the nomadic instincts and
forces dwelling latently in us and manifesting themselves
from time to time.
There is also a very serious contradiction between the
psycho-physiological organism of man and his present
civilised environment.
But there are still others. I t is not necessary to go as far
back as the life of Homo Sapiens Sylvanus; we have only
to look at the life of many various primitive peoples in the
historical period of antiquity which we know, and also in
our present age. We can observe certain rhythms and cycles
in the life of nature. We see, for instance, that present
nomadic peoples in Central Asia have a rhythmic life
throughout the year and always follow the sun. Take, for
instance, the last of the existing nomadic peoples in Siberia.
In recent years Russian ethnologists from Moscow have
organised very interesting expeditions among them, and
have come to strange conclusions. In spite of every en­
couragement and persuasion by the Russian Government
that they should become sedentary and remain in one place,
it has been found impossible to alter their nomadic life.
In certain exceptional cases it was possible, but in the
majority of cases, in spite of very logical arguments, they
followed their instincts and continued the nomadic life of
their ancestors. For instance, during the summer they go
northward with all their animals, their tents, and their
families. Afterwards, with the approach of autumn and
winter, they return to the south. There are tribes which
during the year travel five hundred or a thousand miles
in the course of their travels north and south. This life has
been going on for thousands and thousands of years
according to the seasons of the year. The nomads always
travel according to the sun, which looks strange to our
civilised notions, but if we look we shall see that the sun
and the solar forces direct earthly life, and consequently
vegetable, animal and also human life, and so we must
recognise that there is some logic in their actions.
We can also observe that primitive man followed the
sun in the various cycles of the day, for when the sun sinks

24
he goes to sleep, and when the sun rises he wakes up, so
his life follows the rhythms of the sun. Primitive natural
life is adapted to the cycles of the year and to its rhythms.
I t is also adapted to the cycles of the day.
Now let us examine our civilised life. When the sun goes
down, then we light our electric or oil lamps and work at
night; very often when the sun rises we go on lying in our
rooms, and very often we sleep during the day.
So there is a contradiction between the rhythms of nature
and the rhythms of our life, a very serious contradiction,
for if the rhythm of our life coincides harmoniously with
the rhythms of the natural forces, then the natural forces
strengthen and augment our vitality. On the other hand,
if the artificial and unnatural rhythms of our life are
contrary to the rhythms of the forces of nature, then the
natural forces, instead of strengthening our vitality, weaken
it, just as, if we swim in a river with the current, the current
represents a source of energy to us; while if we swim against
it, it represents a resistance and a source of expenditure of
our forces.
The contradiction between the civilised life of man and
the rhythms of the natural forces and the heredity of our
organism which demands adaptation to this rhythm is a
serious one. For this heredity is suppressed by modern
civilisation.
Let us consider some examples of this. This rhythm
exists in every activity of organic life, according to the
rhythms of the year and of the months. For instance, those
scientists who have examined the life of wild animals have
observed—and this is true of domestic animals as well,
though they are somewhat deformed by the artificial
environment of man—that their sexual life shows certain
rhythms and in certain parts and seasons of the year is
more intense, and in certain parts does not exist at all.
Now the most intense part of the year from this standpoint
is the spring, and it is in this period that their sexual life
is most active. In the life of our ancestors, in more evolved
and modified form, there existed the rhythm of sexual life.
If we examine the lives of contemporary savage people we
find it is always in the spring that there are special feasts

25
and ceremonies which have a strict correlation with sexual
life. We can see in the same way that the waves of the
ocean, under the influence of the rhythmic movements of
the moon, are in ebb and flow. Similarly, in the female
organism we see the periodical and rhythmically repeated
process of menstruation. We can see that the human
organism is in a large measure a function of the natural
forces. Natural forces have determined man both func­
tionally and structurally and the natural forces are always
manifested in certain rhythms, creating certain cycles in
time. In this way the human organism, being subject to
the laws and forces of nature, cannot neglect or make
itself independent of these cycles and rhythms, but must
adapt itself to and live in harmony with them. So from
the viewpoint of the rhythms of life and nature there is a
great contradiction between the natural laws and forces
on the one hand and our present artificial civilisation on
the other.
And now we must ask the question: how are we to solve
these contradictions? For we must solve them. The adapta­
tion of the organism to the natural forces is a question of
existence or non-existence. We cannot transform the uni­
verse or nature so that they adapt themselves to us; on
the contrary, we must adapt ourselves to nature and her
laws.
Now comes the second question. In view of the contra­
dictions between the natural forces as manifested in the
rhythmic cycles of the days and year and our present
artificial civilisation, which can we change more easily—
the universe and nature or our present society and civilisa­
tion? I t is clear that we are not capable of changing the
universe and nature. With our greatest efforts we cannot
change the laws and forces of gravitation. With our greatest
efforts we cannot change the periodic movements of the
sun in cosmic space, nor can we change the periodic move­
ments of the earth upon its axis or the movement of the
moon. So the natural and cosmic forces are fundamental
forces and we must adapt our civilisation and life to them
because we cannot transform them. We must adapt our­
selves to them in order to solve the present contradictions

26
in the human organism itself, the contradictions between
the human organism and nature, and the contradictions
between our present civilisation and society on the one
hand, and nature and the universe and all their laws on
the other hand. It is natural and evident that being unable
to transform the cosmic and natural forces, we must
transform our own artificial life as well as our artificial
civilisation and society. I t is the only solution of these
contradictions.
It is not a question of philosophy whether it pleases us
to change our life or not, but a compelling necessity; for
if we do not do so, then the individual and the whole
human race composed of individuals will become more and
more ill. And its vitality will become less and less in spite
of the fact that we have inherited immense sources of
vitality and forces from our ancestor Homo Sapiens
Sylvanus, and in spite of the natural fruitarian and vege­
tarian life of our ancestors during hundreds of thousands
of years. Their natural lives have left us a huge capital
of vitality in the form of heredity, and although in the last
thousand years we have spent much of that capital, it is
nevertheless still great. And it is due to this great capital
of vitality which we have inherited from our natural­
living ancestors that we still exist and resist disease to the
extent we do, notwithstanding our unhealthy and un­
natural lives. But our capital is not so great that it will not
eventually disappear if we always spend it and never add to
it.
Hitherto heredity has collaborated with us and aided us,
for the present is the effect of the past. But let us not
forget that the present is also the basis of the future, and
for the future the present will become the past. So that if
we leave a bad inheritance of vitality to our descendants
we are creating bad hereditary forces for them. If we do this,
the prospect for the future of the human race is a sad and
hopeless one. There will be degeneration and disappearance
of the race.
So we must repeat that the basis of civilisation is nature
and the natural laws based on the natural forces. These
natural laws determine the correlations of civilisation and

27
society, for our civilisation and society are only the super­
structure built on the foundation of nature. The foundation
determines the superstructure, while the superstructure
only modifies and influences.
So we cannot afford to neglect or ignore the natural
forces, when we organise our life, whether individual or
social.

28
 Chapter IV

THE LAWS OF LONGEVITY

W e have already mentioned the correlations and laws of

the evolution of nature, society, and human thought.
What conclusions can we draw from the analysis of this
evolution?
Firstly, we find that in nature, in the human organism,
and also in society we have constant movement; that
nothing is rigid or fixed.
Secondly, we see that everything is in correlation with
everything else, that there is a single unity, and that we
cannot isolate certain phenomena from the great dynamic
totality.
Thirdly, we see that evolution always exhibits two
contrary forms: that there are progress and regression,
action and reaction, thesis and antithesis. Without op­
posites there can be no life and no evolution; yet we see
that evolution is not simply an automatic repetition of the
same opposites, for after thesis and antithesis always comes
the synthesis, which represents a higher phase than the
original thesis. And the synthesis becomes the thesis of a
new evolutionary series. So evolution is not a constant
repetition, but is always raised to increasingly higher
phases with each successive cycle of thesis, antithesis, and
synthesis.
Finally, we see that there is an affinity between man’s
capacity for knowledge and the mechanism and constitution
of the universe. If this affinity did not exist we should not
be able to know the universe and nature and her laws. So
the principle of correlativity obtains in the universe, in
nature, in the human organism, and in human society. It
indicates to us certain methods of investigation, which in
their totality form the common basis of all the sciences.

29
A n d th is to ta lity w e call th e d ia lectica l m eth od . In general,
th e classical sciences h a v e n o t h ith erto u sed th e d ialectical
m eth od , b u t a s ta tic m eth od . T h ey a lw a y s exam in e th e
p hen om en on or group o f p h en om en a as th e y e x ist, b u t do
n o t ex a m in e th e p h en om en on in correlation w ith th e
to ta lity o f p henom ena. N or do th e y ex a m in e th e origin o f
th e phenom en on, th ereb y n eg lectin g th e d ialectical prin­
cip le o f to ta lity in tim e an d space. W hen w e consider a
phen om en on as som eth in g fixed and rigid and n o t in
correlation w ith its en v iro n m en t and disregard th e con ­
clu sions to w h ich a stu d y o f its origin, m otion , and ev o lu tio n
leads us, th en th is sta tic u n d ialectical m eth od o f in v e stig a ­
tio n an d w orld co n cep t lead to insolu b le con tradiction s.
I w ill g iv e an exam p le o f w h a t I m ean. S uppose w e exam in e
th e problem o f life, th e problem o f its appearance and
evo lu tio n . A ccord in g to th e d ialectical m eth od we exam in e
life from its origin an d durin g its ev o lu tio n and consider
th e correlation b etw een all th e fa cto rs o f its en viron m en t.
W e can th u s und erstan d th e law s o f life. T he classical
scien ces a p p ly in g rigid an d u n d ialectical m eth ods o f in ­
v estig a tio n con clu de th a t th e origin o f life is com p letely
u nk n ow ab le, and th a t th e so lu tio n o f th e problem o f its
origin can on ly be h y p o th e tica l. N a tu ra lly , th is con cep t
ca n n o t sa tisfy u s, for th ere is n o th in g m ysteriou s in th e
origin o f life. O rganic life, like electricity , m agn etism , and
sim ilar q u a lities o f m atter, is an in h eren t essen tial q u a lity
o f m atter. W hen its p recon d ition s appear, th en life also
appears, an d inorganic m a tter is sim p ly transform ed in to
organic m a tter. W hen a favou rab le tem p eratu re and th e
oth er p recond ition s o f life appeared on our p lan et, th en
organic life also a u to m a tic a lly appeared.
B y rigid a n ti-d ia lectica l m eth od s it is n o t possible to
solv e th e problem o f life, for th e u niverse and life are in
p erm an en t e v o lu tio n an d m o v em en t. I f our m eth ods h ave
n o t a sim ilarly m o v in g and ev o lv in g basis, we sh all n ever
succeed in so lv in g th e problem s o f th e u n iverse and o f life.
T his d ia lectica l m eth o d is n o t o n ly o f th eoretical im ­
p ortan ce to us. W e d o n o t, fo r in stan ce, ex a m in e th e origin
o f life o u t o f th eo retica l in terest, b u t b ecau se w e ca n n o t
und erstan d th e law s o f life u nless w e em p loy th e d ialectical

30
m eth od . In v iew o f th e fa c t th a t life is th e esse n tia l q u a lity
o f our ow n organism s, u n d erstan d in g o f th ese law s is an
u rgen t an d v ita l n ecessity for us.
A fter th e la w s o f life w e m u st ex a m in e th e law s o f
lo n g e v ity , w hich are o f great p ractical im p ortance. A nd w e
w ill use th e sam e m eth o d s in our stu d y o f lo n g e v ity th a t
w e used in our stu d y o f th e law s o f life.
F irst o f all we m u st draw our con clu sion s from th e field
o f fa c ts and o f em pirical realities. So w e w ill n o t b egin to
stu d y th e law s o f lo n g e v ity w ith th e va rio u s th eories o f
ch em istry, p h y sics and b iology, b u t w ill ex a m in e in th eir
rea lity an d a c tu a lity th e liv e s o f th o se w ho h ave en joyed
lon g sp an s o f life. F o r u s fa c ts are im p o rta n t and n o t
a u th o rity . F or in sta n ce, th e p ractical and real exam p le o f
sim ple p ea sa n ts w ho h a v e liv ed to be one hundred and fifty
or one hundred and s ix ty years old, d esp ite th eir b eing o n ly
sim p le p easan ts, is a greater a u th o rity for u s th a n th e theories
o f professors o f b io-ch em istry in cities w ho die o f disease a t
th e age o f fo r ty or fifty years.
W e w ill d eal n ow w ith th e sp ecial scien ce w hich is called
m acrob iotics, th e scien ce o f liv in g long. T his science a p ­
peared a t th e b egin n in g o f th e p resent period o f culture,
w hen th e first d o cu m en ts b egan to be co llected ab ou t
in d ivid u a ls w ho liv ed to be m ore th an one hundred and
tw e n ty years old.
T hese in d ivid u als were called m acrobiotes, and great
p ains were ta k en to esta b lish and v erify th eir ages and
their m anner o f liv in g , so as to recon stru ct th e law s o f
lo n g e v ity and h ea lth on th e basis o f their experience.
W e w ill deal first w ith th e m acrob iotes o f th e p a st and
th en w ith th e m acrobiotes o f th e p resent tim e. V arious
Greek w riters sp eak o f th e P elasgian s w h o preceded th e
Greeks in Greece. T h e y sa y th a t th e average span o f life
adlbng th em w as from a hundred an d te n to a hundred and
s ix ty years, and th e y describe th e life o f th e P elasgian s
generally. T h ey w rite th a t th e y liv ed on fruits, particularly
on figs, grapes, oranges, an d oth er so-called M editerranean
fruits, an d th a t th e y also a te h o n ey an d a little cereal and
t he m ilk o f various an im als. A p p ro x im a tely th irty authori-

31
tie s w h o d ea l w ith th e P elasgian s describe th eir m ode o f
liv in g a s a co m p letely n atu ral an d sim p le life. T h ey alw ays
liv ed in th e fresh air and in th e sunshine; th e y sw am a lo t
and clim b ed m ou n tains an d p ractised m an y gam es and
sports; th e y u sed no artificial drinks or foods. W h en a fter­
w ards in G reece th e people o f A th en s an d S parta b egan to
drink h yd rom el, w hich w as a popular G reek drink, m an y
G reek sta te sm e n and philosophers w ho w ere th e ch am p ions
o f th eir a n c ie n t patriarchal cu stom s, ev en d enounced th is
q u ite h a rm less drink on th e ground th a t th eir P elasgian
an cesto rs h a d ta k e n no artificial drinks or food s. I n general,
th e P e la sg ia n s showed great endurance in lon g-d istan ce
ru n n in g a n d in sw im m ing, and all th e a u th orities agree th a t
th e y rep resen ted an ideal m uscular an d a th letic ty p e.
A p a rt fr o m accid en ts am on g th e m o u n tain s or w ounds
re ceiv ed w h ile hunting, th e y were n ever ill. So in general,
th e se a u th o r itie s are also d ocu m en ts w hich prove th a t th e
p rec o n d itio n s o f health and lo n g e v ity are a sim ple and
n a tu r a l life . N o need for a m ysteriou s or co m p licated
scien ce . W e ca n sum up w h at is n ecessary in three words:
s im p le , n a tu r a l life.
L e t u s n o w lea v e an tiqu ity and tr a v el to th e end o f th e
M id dle A g e s a n d beginning o f th e n ew age. W h en th e great
n a v ig a to r s o f th e Pacific O cean, lik e B ou g a in v ille and
C a p ta in C ook, discovered th e P o ly n esia n Island s, th ey
fo u n d th e r e a m agnificent h u m an race, th e Maori race,
w h ic h b e lo n g e d to the Caucasian race. I n appearance th e
C a u ca sia n ra ce is generally n o t b lack, b u t brow n, w ith th e
co lo u r w e acq u ire after m uch su n -b ath in g in th e sum m er.
T h e y sa w w ith great a ston ish m en t th is p eop le’s a th letic
fo rm s, th e extraordinary m uscular stren gth o f th e m en and
th e b e a u t y o f th e women. B o u g a in v ille and C aptain Cook
b o th d e sc r ib e h ow when th e y saw th eir m en ta lk in g w ith
th e n a t iv e s , th e y could n o t help n o tin g th a t th e E uropeans
w ere lik e p y g m ie s and pale, sick ly w eaklings com pared
w ith t h e n a tiv e s o f the Islands.
W h e n a t T a h iti, Bougainville w ish ed to carry som e b oxes
w e ig h in g 4 0 0 lbs. or more from on e p art o f th e island to
a n o th e r , a n d h e saw w ith th e g re a test surprise th a t cases
w h ic h n e e d e d fou r white m en to carry th em , were ea sily

32
lifted by a single native and carried some hundreds of
yards.
Both Bougainville and Cook describe the life and
appearance of these Polynesians. They say th at their teeth
were more perfect than any to be found in Europe, and in
general the various physiological qualities of the natives
awakened the interest of the scientists accompanying the
expeditions of Bougainville and Cook. The natives lived in
houses, but very simple houses made of leaves and vegeta­
tion. There were some tribes who lived on the sea coast and
others who lived among the mountains in the interior of
the island. The majority, living in the mountains, ate
exclusively fruits and various native vegetables grown in
the island. Those who lived by the sea caught and ate fish
as well, but Bougainville observes that those who lived
among the mountains were taller and stronger than those
who lived by the sea.
Meat-eating was the privilege of the tribal chiefs, but
was taboo for the people, which meant that they could not
eat meat at all. And it is interesting to note that whereas
they found various diseases among the chiefs, they found
none among the people.
Bougainville had difficulty in establishing their ages, for
there were no registrars of births. But he got over it by
finding out how many generations of descendants an indi­
vidual had living and so establishing their minimum possible
age. He found that the mountain people’s age varied from
one hundred to one hundred and thirty years, while those
by the sea and eating fish lived from eighty to one hundred
years.
These observations were of great value to the science of
macrobiotics, for the reason that not long afterwards these
native and untouched populations came into contact with
civilisation and all its disadvantages. Until Europeans
came among them they went almost naked, wearing a
simple pareu made of vegetable cloth, and were thus
always in contact with fresh air and with the rays of the
sun. Bougainville noticed that they never ate until the sun
reached its zenith; that whenever they crossed rivers and

33
streams they always bathed and swam in them; and,
incidentally, that they ate only once or at most twice a day.
And when the sailors offered them alcoholic drinks they
refused them with repulsion, as they did tea, coffee and all
other artificial foods. They knew nothing of money or
working for a living, as the fruits growing in the woods
were at the disposal of all, as were trees for building their
houses. They lived a carefree life.
New explorers appeared and civilisation slowly planted
itself in this island paradise. Next traders arrived and
brought alcohol, tobacco, coffee, tea, opium, and other
high values of our civilisation, and thus little by little the
people of the islands grew accustomed to eating our foods
and practising our habits. They had to pay for these
products with coconuts which were transported to Europe
and there sold.
When the International Cosmotherapeutic Expedition
came to these Islands some years before World War II we
did not find at all the same natives as those found by
Captain Cook and Bougainville. The size of the population
a hundred and seventy years ago in the time of Bougainville
and Cook was two hundred and forty thousand, calculated
by the number of their canoes. Now after three or four
generations there are only ten thousand inhabitants in
Tahiti instead of two hundred and forty thousand. So we
can see that changing their natural life to our own artificial
ways of life has resulted in the virtual extinction of this
magnificent race in less than two hundred years. And of
the present ten thousand inhabitants one-third are immi­
grant Chinese; there are also many white people, so the
real number of the natives is even less than ten thousand.
But they have not diminished only from the point of view
of quantity. Let us now examine the quality of their
vitality.
We had occasion during a year and a half to study the
diseases among the peoples of these Islands. We treated
approximately two thousand natives and came to the
conclusion that relatively they were suffering from more
diseases than the European. First, they had tropical
diseases: leprosy, elephantiasis, malaria, etc., and then

34
\
on top of them diseases imported from Europe, like
tuberculosis, syphilis, and various diseases of the diges­
tive system, which have decimated the natives of these
Islands.
What is the cause of this great change in a hundred and
seventy years? If we examine the foods they eat, we see,
first, that all of them eat white bread baked by Chinese
bakers, instead of eating their own breadfruit which grows
on a tree and is an ideal form of starch, superior to any
white bread whatever.
Secondly, they buy various tinned meats packed in
America. Though they have fat in ideal form in the coco­
nut and in a variety of nuts which abound on the island,
they eat tinned meats. They take tea or coffee every day,
while the consumption of alcoholic drinks imported from
America and Europe is habitual. So we can see how the
consumption of chemicals, toxins and poisons can destroy
the strength and vitality of a magnificent race which
formerly enjoyed long life and permanent health. And this
has been lost in three generations. The example of these
Islands and their inhabitants is a very clear and good
example, for the Polynesians represent the last natural­
living race and we can see well the consequences of contact
between them and civilisation. We can see all these facts
not in ancient historical periods, but in our own age and
time. So the facts are indisputable.
Naturally, they have altered not only in the matter of
food, but also in their mode of living. Now they live in
the town of Papeete in houses made of corrugated iron
instead of living in houses made of coconut and pandanus
leaves, which make them a cool and ideal house from the
point of view of hygiene. Then they have almost forgotten
how to walk with their feet, for now they walk with bicycles
and motor cars. And they no longer swim and climb the
mountains like their ancestors, but work in the factories
of the various commercial enterprises. So we can see that
their simple and natural life has been completely trans­
formed. Instead of wearing the pareu or loincloth, they are
clothed up to the neck, and so suffer great discomfort in a
tropical climate. So we see that the bad influence of the

35
instinct of imitation has led to the complete transformation
of their life and to the complete degeneration of the race.
The history of these Islands shows us in miniature the
whole history of the human race. For the same transforma­
tion has occurred in the human race during the last few
thousands of years, represented in evolution from the time
of Homo Sapiens Sylvanus to that of present Homo Sapiens
Faber.
So these two examples of the Pelasgians and of the
Polynesians show us that the secret of a long and healthy
life is nothing but a natural, simple life. We do not need a
complicated science to sustain health and attain longevity.
We do not need the operations of Steinach and Voronoff
and the transplantation of monkey glands into the human
organism to achieve rejuvenation.
We need simple and ordinary common sense. Is it not
simpler to acquire youth, health, and longevity by a
natural, simple life than through these artificial practices?
For how do the glands of the monkey get their vitality?
Through the monkey’s living a natural and simple life in
the fresh air and sun, and eating fruits and vegetables. So
we must simply lead a natural and simple life and then we
shall have the same healthy and vital glands as the monkeys
have, and shall not have to torture these unhappy creatures
in order to transplant certain glands into ourselves. For
this operation is vain. I have on several occasions spoken
with Professor Voronoff and I asked him whether it was not
a fact that after these operations the patient was very
vigorous and vital for a year or two, but that afterwards
there was a terrible reaction, and he became much older
than before. He replied, ‘Yes, that is a fact, but it is better
to have one or two years of youth than none at all.’ But I
objected to that, for there is a possibility of regaining
youth not only for one or two years, but permanently.
What is the source of the temporary success of these opera­
tions? The glands represent a certain capital of vitality,
because the monkey had a healthy life and a strong organ­
ism. But they have quite a different rhythm to th at of the
other glands in the organism, for the other glands of the
individual’s organism are old and not vital, while the

36
 transported gland is young and vital. Thus there is no
equilibrium between the old glands and the new. The old
glands are not able to adapt themselves to the rhythm of
the new one, so little by little the new gland has to adapt
itself to the old ones, and the individual simply grows old
again. But this adaptation of the new gland consumes a
great deal of energy of the organism, for nature does not
tolerate irregularities, and after one or two years of youth*
fulness old age returns, and the patient is ten or fifteen
years older than before the operation.
If we live a simple and natural life, eating fruits, vege­
tables, cereals, milk and milk products, and other simple
and natural foods, if we do various physical exercises, if we
take water baths and sun baths and if we live in the fresh
air, we can rejuvenate our organism with the same intensity
as is possible by transplantation of a gland. But such
rejuvenation will be permanent and instead of consuming
the energy of the organism it increases it, and instead of
shortening the individual’s life it extends it. We have many
concrete examples of this rejuvenation having occurred
even a t the age of sixty, seventy or eighty and it has
prolonged life greatly.
When we speak of longevity we must make it clear that
we mean not length of life with disease, but longevity
without disease, with a strong and vital organism. Of those
who have lived to a really advanced age, only about five
per cent ate meat or toxins; ninety-five per cent did not eat
toxins. The five per cent who ate meat or toxins lived to be
a hundred and ten or a hundred and twenty, but also had
diseases; while the macrobiotes who did not eat toxins not
only enjoyed a longer span of life, living to a hundred and
thirty, a hundred and forty and a hundred and fifty years
of age, but also enjoyed a life without disease.
There are many other examples of long lives. Since I
write in England, I will quote an English example. Thomas
Parr lived to be a hundred and fifty-eight and was never
ill. In his work he was superior to the young and also outdid
them in vitality. I must disclose certain discreditable
secrets of his life. At the age of a hundred and twelve,

37
again at the age of a hundred and twenty-five, and thirdly
at the age of a hundred and thirty-four he was condemned
by the judical authorities for immoral sexual assaults. So
we can see that longevity even at the ages above a hundred
and a hundred and twenty is not longevity with diseases,
but longevity in full possession of our vital forces.
There is also the well-documented case of Jenkins, who
lived even longer than Thomas Parr, for he lived to be a
hundred and seventy-eight. If we examine the lives of Parr
and Jenkins we find that they ate only once or twice a day,
eating only milk, fruit and wholemeal bread (not our present
artificial white bread which was quite unknown in their
day), that they worked in the fields in the fresh air and led
a simple and natural life. All these macrobiotes without
exception have one thing in common: their sobriety. None
of them was a large eater, but all were very frugal, eating
only once or twice a day and very little in quantity.
This is a general rule without exception in the life of the
macrobiotes.
There is another interesting example of recent times:
that of Zaro Aga, who some years ago was giving lectures in
the United States of America. An American business man
visiting Constantinople engaged a porter at the station who
took his baggage and carried it to his car. It was a heavy
package as it contained samples of machinery which he was
trying to sell, and generally he was accustomed to have two
men to carry it. When he saw that an old man with a long
beard was able to lift it on to his shoulder and carry it with
the greatest of ease, he asked him: ‘What is your occupa­
tion?’ The man said: ‘I am a porter as you see.’ ‘How old are
you?’ ‘I am a hundred and sixty-two.’ Then the business
man became a little alarmed as he thought the man must be
dotty. So he did not ask him any more questions, but
simply followed him. When they came to the car his
curiosity got the better of him. So he said: ‘Can you verify
that you are the age you say?’ Being a practical business
man and an American he wanted some verification. The
man said: ‘Yes, if you like to come home with me I will
show you my birth certificate, but if you want me to go
home you must pay me for the whole day, for I am a very

38
poor and busy man; I have a family and children to
support.’ The American thought perhaps it was worth
while going with him, for his story was a curious one. So
he went to the house of Zaro Aga, who introduced him to
his wife and his thirteen or fourteen children, some of
whom were not more than three or four years old. Then the
American went to the town hall to see if the document was
in order, for he already had in his head a brilliant scheme
in case he should find that the man really was a hundred
and sixty-two.
Having made sure he was, he made the following pro­
position: ‘I will pay you two thousand dollars a year and
all travelling expenses if you will come with me round the
big cities of America. I will speak about your history and
show you to the public, and the income from the lectures
will be mine.’
Naturally the old fellow was glad to sign the contract,
as he was so poor that he could only eat once a day. His
fare was black bread and onions, as he had no money for
anything else. However, he did not know that he was
signing his death warrant when he signed the contract.
He visited New York, Chicago, and other cities and for
two years attended lectures, while the business man gained
a great fortune. Naturally in the various restaurants and
hotels of the United States the poor Turk had to eat meat
and all the toxins that are eaten there. It is true he had a
great capital of health, but after two years of living on
toxins he one day became ill and after a few weeks he died.
Perhaps if he had stayed where he was he could have lived
some dozens of years more. When his organism was
examined it was established that, with the exception of
certain toxins accumulated during the last two years, all
his glands and organs were intact.
It would be possible to cite a hundred similar cases, but
it is not necessary. We can conclude that the basis of
health, perpetual youth and longevity is a healthy, natural
and simple life—just that which we do not have in our
present artificial and unnatural society. The great contra­
diction between our mode of life and the natural biological

39
laws is the cause of all our diseases and also of our old age,
for old age is nothing but a disease, quite superfluous and in
no way necessary. So the essence of all our studies must be
the laws of a natural and simple life, the technique of this
natural and simple life, and how to avoid the complications
and unnaturalness of our present existence.

40
 Chapter V

MAN AND VEGETATION

W e must next consider certain biological laws governing

the vegetation of our planet, for this is absolutely necessary
for an understanding of the laws of life and longevity.
After our examination of the macrobiotes among men
we must also mention those various animals which also
enjoy longevity. Animals which in their own manner adapt
themselves perfectly to their environment attain a very
high age; for instance, certain amphibians, birds, and
mammals. Elephants, crocodiles and crows live to be a
hundred or a hundred and fifty or even for some centuries.
Fish also live long as certain experiments have proved.
Fish have been caught and fitted with rings showing the
date of their capture and then put back in a pool. These
same fish have been caught one or two centuries later and
have been found to be in very good health and condition.
So we see that very often species of the animal races are
superior to the dominant race in span of life. The long life
of these species is not exceptional, but is in accordance
with the laws of nature. The organisms of amphibians and
fish have a very slow metabolism and so they grow old
very slowly in proportion. Thus their span of life is longer.
In the case of elephants and other vegetarian mammals
who enjoy a long life, their longevity is due to their food
and to their adaptation to their environment, which ensure
their harmony with the laws of nature. But important as
these animal examples are for us humans, it is still more
important to examine the longevity of plants of the
vegetable world, for our chief source of energy is vegetation.
Vegetation constitutes the foundation of our energy and
the source of our life, and not only the source of our life,
but also th at of all living animals. For in final analysis all
the vital energies of animals come from plants, even the

41
energies of the carnivorous animals. The only difference is
that carnivores get the natural energies stored in plants
second hand, while the vegetarian animals get them
directly. Man also, whether he eats vegetables or animals,
draws his energy from the same vegetable world.
Interesting experiments have been made with certain
rose trees by gardeners in Germany. With special care it
has been possible to keep rose trees alive for two hundred
or more years. We also know trees which are centenarians,
or even millennarians. So we find trees living some thou­
sands of years; yet man, the dominant race of the earth, the
crown of evolution of life on earth, lives only a few score
years. From this fact we must draw the following con­
clusion: that the longest and most perfect life is represented
on our planet by trees, which are incomparably superior
both to animals and to man in this respect. So these trees
living for thousands of years must represent the most
perfect adaptation to the laws of nature on our planet.
Let us therefore examine the biological function and
correlations of these trees, for they will certainly reveal to
us the most precise laws of longevity.
If we examine the life of a tree we can see that trees
which are apparently simple things are really very complex
and exhibit every process and law of life. We see that the
roots of the tree are in the lithosphere, in the earth; their
upper parts are in the atmosphere, in the air; their foliage
receives radiations from the stratosphere, the rays of the
sun; and their roots are in constant contact with the
hydrosphere through the circulation of water on the earth,
while their foliage is in contact with water in the atmosphere
which comes to them in the form of rain. They also absorb
all the minerals which are in the earth. The preconditions
of their life are thus the following: certain chemicals in
the earth; the earth itself in its various forms of humus,
sand, and clay; water either absorbed from the earth or
in the form of atmospheric humidity, or in the form of
rain; the air surrounding the vegetation of the earth which
the trees absorb by respiration and the process of meta­
bolism; the rays of the sun which surround the foliage of

42
the tree; and also all the other cosmic rays falling on our
planet.
As we can see, a tree is in natural contact with all the
preconditions of life. We saw what these preconditions of
life were when we examined the origin of life, and we can
see that it is precisely those forces and sources of energy
and life which feed trees; so trees enjoy the totality of the
sources of energy in nature.
Now let us examine what function trees fulfil upon our
planet. The physiology of trees is very interesting. When
we look at a tree, an apparently rigid thing without much
activity going on within it, we cannot imagine what a
great activity goes on inside. A forest of trees has a thou­
sand times greater activity than the largest factory in New
York or London. The factory of nature is incomparably
superior to all the factories of our civilisation. First of all
the roots work unceasingly to absorb the various chemical
materials from the earth, and also absorb a large amount
of water. Experiments and observations made by botanists
prove that in the course of a day trees exhale as much as
two hundred gallons of water into the atmosphere, and there
are trees which even exceed this amount, particularly after
a rainy period when the earth is a great well of water.
Thousands and thousands of leaves of every tree constantly
evaporate and breathe out water into the atmosphere,
while the immense surfaces of these hundreds and thousands
of leaves on a tree are constantly absorbing the maximum
quantity of solar energy, nitrogen of the atmosphere, and
various other elements and materials and many different
radiations which they accumulate and elaborate, by means
of millions and millions of chlorophyll cells.
So we can see that the work of a single tree during a
single day is very considerable. If we measure this great
activity over a whole year then we cannot fail to be im­
pressed by the vast amount of work done by a single tree.
And if we examine and measure this intense activity which
goes on in a whole forest consisting of many thousands of
trees, we get truly astronomical figures in calculating the
energies and amount of work performed by the accumulated
materials and different energies which play a part in the

43
intense and vast work done by forests during the year.
The output of the greatest factories of the world is as
nothing beside the work of the forests, not only from the
point of view of quantity, but also from that of quality;
for the products of nature from a biological, chemical point
of view are incomparably superior in precision to all the
products of our factories. If we examine a simple leaf or
fruit of a tree through a microscope we shall be truly
impressed by the perfect architecture of the work and of
the value which it represents from a qualitative point of
view.
If we examine the activity of trees from the point of
view of the economy of nature, we can see how in the
organisation of their work they achieve the greatest results
with the minimum sacrifice. The work of trees and of
forests is superior to the best work of rationalised factories.
We can see this best if we consider the results of the work
done by trees and forests.
First the trees take the various chemical elements from
the interior of the earth, and carry them up into their
leaves and fruits where they are transformed into organic
form and made more perfect by the addition of various
radiations and chemical elements of the atmosphere. The
trees give back these elements to tin* surface of the earth
in the shape of fallen fruits and leaves. In that way trees
constantly create and renew the hmmiN which is the true
source of life on our planet. Without humus there would
be no vegetable life, no animal life and consequently no
human life. But this does not exhaust the activity of trees.
Where there is a dangerous excess of humidity on the
earth, which would cause plants to rot and putrefy if it
persisted, then the trees of the forest work with an in­
creased rhythm and increased energy with (lie result that
within a relatively short time, in a few days or a few weeks
at the most, they drain away with their great perfect pumps
all the excess humidity in the earth into the atmosphere.
This is their second great function.
They are first perfect fertilisers of t he earth, bringing
t he necessary minerals from the interior of t he earth to the
surface and also creating humus; and secondly, they pump

44
out the excess of humidity in the earth. So we can see that
the machines of nature work perfectly and very precisely.
We must, however, examine their activity a little further.
What happens if there is drought? When the earth cannot
get sufficient humidity in the form of rain, then the trees
do just the opposite to what they do when there is too much.
First, by their shade they help the earth to conserve the
water and humidity which it contains; and, secondly, all
night long they accumulate humidity and water on the
surface of their leaves through precipitation of the humidity
of the atmosphere. In order not to exhaust the reserves of
water in the earth they take it from the atmosphere. So we
can see that their adaptation to their environment is the
most perfect possible, and they are in truth guardian angels
of the earth, which protect the earth from excess of
humidity and dryness, and from the exhaustion of mineral
materials. They steadily increase the porosity and elasticity
of the earth and prevent its becoming too rigid. Rigidity
impedes metabolism and would finally make organic life
impossible. But trees do more than this. They also protect
the surface of the earth from excessive sun. We can best
understand the importance of this function if we examine
those regions where there are no trees. In the absence of
trees the sun dries up the ground and afterwards, when the
rain comes, it dissolves the chemical elements of the earth
and carries them away, so that the earth is left without any
chemical elements and so little vegetable life is possible, or
none at all. And next come storms and hurricanes which
sweep away the little humus which remains and the
destruction of the earth is complete.
Let us recapitulate the good work of trees. They protect
the earth from excess of sun; their roots bind the humus
and give it cohesion in the face of winds and hurricanes;
their trunks and branches break the force of the winds and
hurricanes, one tree protecting another and at the same
time protecting the surface of the earth from the destruc­
tion wrought by hurricanes; they also protect the earth from
the dissolving forces of the rains, for their roots absorb the
excess of water in the earth, while their leaves absorb
much humidity from the atmosphere. They thus very

45
quickly eliminate the excess of water and prevent it dis­
solving the chemical materials of the earth; so truly we
can see that their work is perfect and every-sided. They
protect the earth from every destructive influence and
work differently according to the various meteorological or
climatological circumstances prevailing. They always react
to the various changes in the natural forces of their environ­
ment and always in the best and most perfect form.
The adaptation of the trees and forests to their environ­
ment is the most perfect of all the adaptations of our planet
and so trees are rewarded by nature with the greatest
longevity. We can see that they deserve this reward as the
result of their perfect adaptation and work, for their
function and activity on our planet are of more value than
the work of any other creature on the earth. Without trees
life would not exist.
Thus we see that the vegetation covering our planet,
particularly vegetation in the form of trees and forests
(the botanosphere), is the most fundamental basis and
precondition of life and furnishes us with the most perfect
example of complete adaptation to the natural laws and
forces. If we analyse the metabolism of the life of trees and
forests from a biological point of view, we can draw the
conclusion that on our earth vegetation (the botanosphere)
represents the natural laws in their most pure and perfect
form. We can say that the life of vegetation is natural law
itself. This is a very important law.
I t may be objected, however, that there are many trees
and plants which are diseased. We find diseased plants in
our gardens and also in the purely natural state where man
has no influence. There thus seems to be a contradiction.
If plants and vegetation represent the laws of nature in
perfect form, how can diseases in plants exist? A plant or
tree can only exist as long as every precondition of its life
exists. This is a dialectical and natural law from which
neither trees nor plants are exempt. For instance, if the
chemical content of the region of the earth is exhausted
then the plants and trees will lack one great precondition
of their life. As a result their life will be progressively
shortened, their vitality will be attacked, their resistance

46
both to bacterial life and various other destructive influ­
ences in their environment will be weakened and little by
little they will become diseased.
We know that our planet has great reserves of accumu­
lated chemical materials, yet these great reserves are not
inexhaustible. If we examine the dimensions and wealth
of the vegetation on the earth we see that it must exhaust
a great deal of this reserve of mineral forces. If we compare
the size and wealth of our present vegetation with that of
preceding periods we can see that the mineral reserves and
wealth of our planet are diminishing. The vegetation of a
region is an index of the chemical wealth of the earth. The
greater the mineral wealth, the more rich and varied the
vegetation.
So we can see that in former geological periods the
mineral wealth of the earth was much greater than it is
to-day and that this wealth has been progressively dim­
inishing, just like the thermic energy of the earth.
I t is a natural law applicable to every planet in cosmic
space that the energy of every planet is limited and is
progressively diminishing; for everything which appears,
first evolves, next regresses, and finally disappears. This is
the general cosmic law. After its disappearance, other forms
of life appear. Birth follows death, and death follows birth
and the different forms of energy of one being are after­
wards transformed into another form and give birth and life
to another being.
The earth and its thermic and chemical energies are also
subject to this law; so in spite of the fact that plants and
trees represent the most perfect adaptation to their natural
environment, to the laws of nature, they are limited by
the cosmic laws, which set a limit to their longevity and
existence. For the time certainly will come when the surface
of the earth will not contain all the preconditions of
vegetable life, and then vegetation will not exist at all
upon the earth just as now it does not exist upon the moon.
The disappearance of the vegetation will mean the end of
life on earth. So we can see that the vitality and longevity
of plants have a natural limit and there is thus regression

47
in the evolution of vegetable life, which is manifested in
diseases and in the death of the vegetation and of the trees.
B ut their death is a natural death and their diseases do not
spring from non-adaptation to the natural laws, but are
simply due to the fact that the natural preconditions and
the natural forces have limited their life in time and also
the intensity of their vitality.
So the causes of disease in wild vegetable life are quite
different to its cause in human life. On the other hand, if
we examine the health and longevity of plants cultivated
by man we shall learn very interesting lessons, for we shall
find that many diseases and shortened lives of trees and
plants are not necessarily due to limitation of the natural
energies, but to the mistakes and faults of man. For
instance, the trees which live longest are trees planted by
nature and not those planted by man, for man does not
follow the laws of nature in the planting of trees. I will
explain what I mean. When we plant a tree we dig a hole
and put in the seed or the seedling. However, this procedure
is rather an artificial one and not based on observation of
the natural laws. What happens in nature where there is
no interference by man? Do the natural forces dig a hole
and put the seed in it? I am very doubtful about it. We find
that the wind carries the seed till it falls into the soil.
Naturally if it does not fall on the humus, but on stone or
rock, it does not grow. If we walk among trees growing
naturally in the mountains we have always to take care as
we walk along not to fall over their roots which are above
the ground. In nature the upper roots of the trees are above
the ground in contact with the atmosphere and with the
sun. Such trees planted by nature are always huge, strong
and healthy trees which live for hundreds or even thousands
of years.
Now what do we find if we examine our fruit trees which
are planted according to our methods? They are very small
and weak and they live a very short time in comparison
with the trees of the forests in nature. Why? Because when
we plant trees we do not follow the natural laws, but put
the seeds or seedlings too deep in the earth. Experience
proves that certain upper parts of the roots must be in

48
contact with the atmosphere and with the sun, which is just
what we prevent by our artificial methods of planting, with
the result that the span of life of our planted trees is only a
tenth of the span of those planted by nature. Our trees are
also much more exposed to disease, for experience tells us
that trees living in nature are less diseased than the trees
which we plant and are also bigger and stronger, thus
representing a very perfect form of vegetation.
Just as we sometimes change for the worse the animals
we domesticate, so do we transform the trees which we
plant. But our true role should not be to degenerate but to
perfect them, for instead of hindering nature we can help
her. How can we do this?
First we can help by following the natural procedure
when we plant a tree. We should avoid planting it too deep.
Secondly, when we have planted the tree, we must assist
its metabolism. We must make the earth porous round the
tree once a year so as to make it easier for the roots of the
tree to absorb water and the chemical materials from the
earth. We should also periodically wash with water the
bark of the trunk of the tree, for dust and other dirt
accumulate on the sides of the tree and bacterial life
accompanies this accumulation on the tree trunk. This is
particularly important in dry seasons when there is not
sufficient rain, for we then help the perspiration of the skin
of the tree just as we help the transpiration and absorption
of air through our own skin if we wash it. There is an
analogy between the natural laws of trees and man.
We have the same needs, the same preconditions of life,
as vegetation. Plants and trees are the brothers of man.
We spring from the same sources of life and are nourished
by the same energies of nature. Plants and trees are truly
useful to us. They do us great service and deserve some
service in return. I t is also to our interest to help their
metabolism rather than to hinder it. If there are diseases
of plants and trees, it is not the result of maladaptations
of the plants or trees, but they are simply caused by
limitations of the natural energies of our planet or else by
the unnatural intervention of man.

49
 So the objection which I raised does not touch the great
law we established—that vegetation represents natural
law itself. We must not look for the laws of life in books
and in theories, but in the great book of nature which is
always unrolled before our eyes and which always speaks
to us. Unfortunately our denatured senses are no longer
able to understand the language of nature which our
natural-living ancestors were able to understand. Nature is
the primordial source of every truth and also its proof and
verification. If we want to see whether a truth is really true
or not, we can never prove it by speculation or by authority,
but only by real facts represented by nature, by our
environment. The greatest and most profound source of
knowledge for us is nature, and the most perfect guide
through the path of the complicated phenomena of truths
and falsehoods is always nature and her manifestations
which represent the natural laws.
Similarly if we wish to learn the laws of health and
longevity, we can learn them simply by observing nature
around us.
*

The macrobiotes of human history who enjoyed perfect

vitality, good health and a long life were simple peasants
and mountaineers who learned the science of health and
longevity in the school of nature. They could neither read
nor write, but could read in the great open book of nature.
We who live in great cities and in an artificial civilisation
are incapable of doing so, but if we wish to save our vitality
and acquire longevity we must give up for a while our
printed books and return to the great book of nature and
begin to learn the alphabet of her great language, its
grammar and its syntax. Thus we shall understand the
work and the teachings of nature, and so be able to live
in harmony with the natural forces and laws and acquire
health and longevity.
The laws of health and longevity are only to be dis­
covered and explained through examination of the course
of evolution of earthly life. We have seen that man
represents the highest phase of animal evolution. We have
also established that trees represent the highest phase of

50
vegetable evolution, and in accordance with the facts of
this evolution we have seen that the products of this
highest form of vegetable evolution are fruits, which
constitute the most natural form of food for the highest
form of animal evolution. Examination of the evolution
of earthly life proves this. We have also established that
the best and most natural environment for man is provided
by trees and forests. Thus the most recent phase of the
evolution of animal and vegetable life on earth has its
culminating point in men and trees.
Now we will examine what are the significance and
practical value of trees in the internal metabolism of the
human body. We have already examined the value and
meaning of trees in the metabolism and economy of the
planet. We shall find that their practical utility and value
for the human organism are no less great.
We see that the best preconditions of life are the rays of
the sun, water, air and the different chemical elements on
the earth and also a favourable temperature. It is on these
pillars that human health and longevity rest. We shall see
how the trees transform all these natural forces from their
original state in which they are unsuitable for human
consumption into a fit state.
Trees represent a great filtering machine for the human
organism. First, they improve and transform the air in
such a way that it has the most favourable effect upon the
human lungs and organism. If we breathe the air among
trees we can immediately observe a great difference between
such air and that of treeless regions.
Secondly, trees accumulate in their fruits those parts of
the solar rays which the human organism cannot capture
and absorb, and thus transmit those parts to the human
organism consuming the fruits. The human organism is
thus enabled to absorb those radiations of the sun which it
cannot absorb directly through the skin. Similarly the trees
filter water for the human organism. Water as it comes
from the earth contains many inorganic materials which
have an unfavourable influence when accumulated in the
human organism. So the tree’s organism transforms the

51
water with inorganic minerals into water with organic
minerals. In the form of their fruits, trees present the
human organism with the highest form of water free from
inorganic material and improved by accumulated solar
radiations.
Trees thus filter the water, just as they make ready the
solar rays and the air for the human organism. The chemical
parts of the earth are also transformed by trees into organic
state. So, as we see, trees filter and transform into the most
favourable state all the four elements for the human
organism—air, water, earth and solar energy.
The metabolism of trees thus represents a synthesis of the
lithospheric, hydrospheric, atmospheric and stratospheric
forces. These different spheres of the cosmos contain the
sources and preconditions of life, and their energies are
contained and accumulated in trees and are thence trans­
mitted to the human organism. Trees and the fruits which
they produce thus represent the last state of all the cosmic
energies, in a form favourable for human vitality. So we
call these energies cosmovital energies, and we call the
radiations which are the basis of these energies and the
form of their propagation cosmovital radiations. Thus we
see that the different cosmic radiations to be absorbed by
the human organism have first to be transformed into
cosmovital radiations, because the human organism is not
in general able to absorb directly the cosmic radiations in
their physical form; while even if it is capable of absorbing
certain among them they are not best and most favourable
in that form for the human organism. The environment of
man represented by trees transforms the cosmic radiations
into cosmovital radiations. Hence we see th at the form of
the highest evolution of life upon the earth is the harmo­
nious symbiosis of man and trees.
Trees do not therefore in reality represent for us simple
economic values as they do in the present social system
under which the greater part of the forests are destroyed
for economic reasons. We must regard this as the suicide
of Homo Sapiens, for by destruction of the trees we are
destroying the sources of human vitality. Nor have trees

52
merely an aesthetic value, as they have in the form of the
parks in our great cities. Trees represent very much more
for man. They represent life for man among the totality of
the elements and preconditions of life.

53
 Chapter VI

THE PROGRESS OF THOUGHT

W e have now considered the evolution of earthly life

from the standpoint of the last few thousand years, using
certain dialectical methods. We have also spoken of the
fundamental laws of this dialectical method.
The originator of the dialectical method is generally said
to be the Greek philosopher Heraclitus, but we cannot
understand the philosophy of Heraclitus without an under­
standing of the Milesian school of philosophy which
flourished before Heraclitus and which has great importance
from the standpoint of dialectics and of nature. Nearly all
authorities on the history of western philosophy are agreed
that the first true philosopher of western culture was Thales
of Miletus. Thales was the first to try and explain things
on the basis not of religious considerations, but of
the simple observation of phenomena—on the basis of
simple observations and the drawing of deductive con­
clusions from them, thereby creating a synthetic view of
phenomena. In order to understand the thought of Thales
we must go back to his age and environment. We must
remember that philosophy did not exist before him, that
no notion or expression of philosophy existed before him,
so that he had no precursor on whom he could base his work.
The thought of Thales represents the first attempt of human
thought to get into movement in the West. There were
no previous paths of human thought existing which were
known to him, though in the East they did exist. However,
we are concerned here with dialectics which is a product of
western culture, which we will consider as an independent
product of thought, though only for the purpose of explain­
ing and considering the stages in the evolution of dialectics.
In other respects we cannot consider western thought as an
independent evolution, for in its latest phases we see the

54
intermixture of western and eastern philosophies.
What was the conception of Thales? He lived by the
sea in Miletus. While walking along the seashore he observed
the immensity of the ocean and how it encircles us, so for
him immensity was represented by the sea. And besides
the billowing sea he saw rains falling from the heavens
above, and he was impressed by the fact that not only was
there water all round, but also water above. He also
observed that after rain the vegetation and the whole life
of the earth manifested itself in a more vital rhythm. So
he conceived water as being the basis of life, as its chief
promoter. He likewise considered that the transmission of
human life was secured by a liquid in the form of the sperm
of man, so he regarded water as playing a great part not
only in the origin, but also in the maintenance of life. He
also observed that blood flows from the human organism,
so he regarded water also as the sustaining element of the
human organism. These ideas seem strange to us, but we
must not forget the primitive methods of investigation at
the disposal of these early thinkers.
The title to nobility of Greek thought lies in its tendency
to explain phenomena. Greek thought likes clarity. The
Greeks lived in a climate full of sunshine; their nervous
systems did not tolerate obscurity in the field of thought
or elsewhere, and we see that it was Greek thought which
made the first and greatest efforts to understand nature
and evolution through thought. Thus Greek thought forms
the basis of western culture in its original form, in its
Latinised Roman form, in its renovated form in the
culture of the Renaissance and in its more perfected form
of the modern philosophies and sciences. Greek philosophy
exhausts every method and logical process in thought, and
the following periods only repeat in different forms the
methods and process of Greek philosophy.
Thales being a Greek and a thinker who liked clarity,
felt the internal necessity for making clear and explaining
nature, existence and the life around him. So after long
meditation he laid down as the basis of his philosophy that
water is the essence of all things. We only have a few
fragments of his works extant. Eighty per cent of them are

55
lost. Perhaps he established about water more precise
correlations than we know from what remains, but to-day
we have only his fundamental thesis that water is the
essence of everything.
In the age of Hippocrates, the father of medicine, many
fragments of the works of Thales were still extant. Hip­
pocrates himself was greatly influenced by his thought, so
we must attribute great importance to Thales, not only
from the standpoint of philosophy and human thought,
but also for his influence upon the genesis and growth of
medicine, of the first medical system founded by Hip­
pocrates.
After Thales came Anaximander and Anaximenes, who
were also philosophers of Miletus. They had slightly different
conceptions to those of Thales. They observed that we
were surrounded by a vast expanse of air in the form of
atmosphere and that this air came into the human organism
in the form of breath. So for them immensity was repre­
sented by the air. They saw also that air was a source of
life, for without breath there is no life; hence they considered
air as being the essence of life.
Thus did western thought begin to make its first primitive
efforts to explain phenomena. In spite of their primitive
character we must recognise the grandeur of these early
thinkers, for they had no predecessors and had to tread a
hitherto untrodden path.
After them came Democritus, who observed that, though
phenomena appeared and disappeared, yet something
remained. He attempted to explain the apparent contra­
diction between the appearance and disappearance of
phenomena in the following way. He said the phenomena
which appeared and disappeared were only combinations of
fragments which agglomerate and disaggregate. This
process of agglomeration and disaggregation causes the
density of phenomena. Yet according to Democritus the
tiny fragments, the atoms, which formed the combinations
always remain the same.
After Democritus we have the appearance of two great
antagonists, Heraclitus and Zeno, who represent a new
phase in the evolution of human thought, the appearance

56
in pronounced form of two opposed methods of thought,
the dialectical and the static, metaphysical method.
Zeno was of the opinion that the phenomena which
appear and disappear are not the essence of existence, but
are only illusions. He held that movement does not exist
at all, but that what exists is simply unity and immobility.
Unity and immobility are the essence of existence, while
appearance and disappearance and phenomena with their
variations and motion do not exist at all, but are only
appearance. In proof of his thesis he instanced that an
arrow shot from a bow apparently moves, but in truth
does not move, for at each second in time it occupies a
certain point. So from the standpoint of that moment it
does not move. Since time consists of a succession of brief
seconds, then if the arrow is not in motion at each one of
these seconds, it does not move in the succession of seconds,
so the arrow flying through the air does not move. It is
very strange that this thesis could not be confuted by his
contemporaries. I t was not until the empirical philosophers
of the new age began to criticise his thesis that his argument
was disproved. Zeno also gave another example. According
to him, if Achilles, the fastest of runners, were to race with
a tortoise, then if the tortoise had even a little start upon
Achilles, the latter with all his speed could never pass the
tortoise. For by the time Achilles had caught up with the
tortoise’s starting-point the tortoise would have moved on
a little bit, so Achilles would have to start again to get up
to the tortoise, and during that time the tortoise would have
moved on again, and so on to infinity. Thus Achilles could
never beat the tortoise in the race if the tortoise had even
the slightest advantage at the start. Zeno provides us with
an example of static anti-dialectical methods of thought,
which consider phenomena as rigid, as not being in evolu­
tion and movement. When we consider a phenomenon as
isolated and not in dynamic inter-relation with all other
phenomena, then verily monsters of thought are born, which
can only be justified by hypothetical deductions and syl­
logisms. I t does not matter to the static and undialectical
way of thinking that in reality the arrow moves through
the air and Achilles beats the tortoise.

57
 Unfortunately western science is for the most part based
upon static and undialectical modes of thought, whence the
large number of contradictions and insoluble problems;
insoluble that is to say by static and undialectical methods
of thought, but always soluble by the dialectical method
which is based upon reality. We can only understand and
solve these problems of moving and evolving phenomena
by always using evolving and moving methods of thought.
Greek thought seems with Zeno to come to a cul-de-sac
from which there is no exit. But at the same time as Zeno
there appeared another philosopher, by name Heraclitus,
who came to the opposite conclusion. He said that every­
thing flows and reflows, everything is in motion, nothing is
without movement, movement is the essence of everything.
He said that the cause of movement is always the dynamic
existence of two opposite forces, that there is constant
struggle between opposite forces, that struggle is the father
of everything and that the struggling and opposed forces
direct all the changes of phenomena and that in every
second of existence everything changes. We are not the
same as we were a second ago, nor is nature the same as it
was a second ago. As an example he said that if we go twice
into the same river, the second time we enter it the river
is not the same as when we entered it the first time. So, as
we see, the dialectical way of thinking in its pronounced
form appeared first with Heraclitus in the history of
western thought. I t was Heraclitus who formulated the
principle of motion and the principle of dynamism and of
antagonistic forces which form the essence of dialectics.
After Heraclitus came a long series of thinkers whose
methods of thought were half static and half dialectical.
Then came Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics and
Epicureans, Plotinus and Philo, and afterwards came the
scholastic and patristic philosophers of the Middle Ages,
then appeared modern philosophy with Descartes, Spinoza,
Leibniz. At this moment appears a German philosopher
who takes up the dialectical idea of Heraclitus and begins
to explain it, adding something to it. This philosopher was
Friedrich Hegel, whom we can consider as the philosophic
founder of evolutionism. Hegel was very strongly influenced

58
by the philosophy of Heraclitus; he agreed with Heraclitus
that everything is in movement, and also that this move­
ment occurs in the form of contrary forces, but he attempted
to formulate the simple idea of Heraclitus in an archi­
tectural systematic way and in an evolutionistic form.
Hegel thus enriched the history of dialectic thought with
the principle of thesis, antithesis and synthesis. He said
that the antagonistic forces of Heraclitus are not simply
antagonistic forces which come and struggle with one
another, but that they follow one another in such a sequence
that the new phase always represents a higher phase than
the preceding one. He said that the original force was always
thesis, that the original force produced antagonistic forces
which was the antithesis, and that afterwards, as the result
of the struggle of the two forces, there appeared the syn­
thesis which contained both the thesis and antithesis, being
as it were a component of the two struggling forces and
always representing the original thesis in higher and
superior form. Then the process begins again, and the
already realised synthesis becomes a new thesis, which in
turn provokes its antithesis and the new synthesis again
appears, and so on. Thus Hegel perfected the thought of
Heraclitus, by giving precise forms to universal movements,
explaining the opposed forces and giving an evolutionistic
interpretation of the movements and antagonisms.
Hegel’s architectural structure with its precisely pro­
portioned forms gave us a method and guide for under­
standing the general movement of phenomena, for under­
standing their correlations, their antagonism and their
evolution.
But Hegel also introduced a great error. Whereas
Heraclitus with the Greek genius for clarity saw phenomena
clearly and took simple examples from nature, from the
river which flows, from the fire which burns and so on,
Hegel, living under the cloudy skies of Germany, introduced
obscurities. The German climate seems to lead to complica­
tions, as Hegel and Schelling are the most obscure philo­
sophers in the history of human thought. These philosophers
represent so-called idealism, philosophical idealism, not
idealism in its normal sense. When we speak of idealism or

59
materialism in philosophy, we do not mean the same as
when we use the words to express human characteristics.
Materialism in philosophy means that the basis of pheno­
mena is material forces and that ideas are produced by
matter in the same way that the human nervous system
produces thought. The pre-Socratic Greek philosophers
were materialist philosophers; they spoke of water, air,
movement and natural motions and so on. On the other
hand, the philosophies of Hegel and Schelling were so-
called idealist philosophies which said that it was not
matter which produced ideas, but ideas which produced
matter. Thus the philosophic system of Hegel was called
‘absolute idealism’, while later the philosophies of Fichte
and Schelling were respectively called ‘objective idealism’
and ‘subjective idealism’. These idealist philosophical
systems are terribly obscure and I must confess that after
reading Hegel’s Phcenomenologie des Geistes I was in greater
confusion than I was before, and my colleagues, including
my German colleagues, had the same experience. What did
Hegel say and why is he obscure? He says that there is an
‘absolute idea’, which absolute idea exists as the basis of
all phenomena. This absolute idea moves like a gigantic
serpent. Its successive movements made in accordance with
the logical principles of thesis, antithesis and synthesis
subsequently create nature, society and man. Unfortunately
the description of the idea which creates nature, society
and man consists of the most obscure and complicated
collection of thoughts to be found in the evolution of human
thought.
There is not space to go into details, and even if there
was, we should be little wiser than we are now. So we
must appreciate only what is of value in the philosophy
of Hegel. Its value consists of the systematic formulation
of the dialectical thought of Heraclitus by means of the
logical principle of thesis, antithesis and synthesis. The
framework of the philosophy of Hegel is true: universal
evolution on the principle of thesis, antithesis and syn­
thesis, but the material with which Hegel fills the frame­
work is the obscure absolute idea which we shall not stop
to explore.

60
 In spite of his errors Hegel represents a dominant force
in western philosophy and his philosophy fertilised a great
number of thinkers who followed him. His philosophy
divided into two parts, some of his disciples interpreting it
in one way, and others in another. Thus there appeared the
new young Hegelians and the orthodox Hegelians. Among
the former school appeared an interesting thinker, Feuer­
bach. He said that Hegel was right in saying that there is a
universal evolution and that this evolution progresses
according to the principle of thesis, antithesis and synthesis,
but that what evolves is not a mystical idea, as Hegel
conceived, but something quite different. According to
Feuerbach the idea cannot be absolute and incomprehen­
sible, for the idea is a product of man, a man who sees with
his eyes, who hears with his ears, who feels with his hands,
so it is the human senses which determine the idea. In the
place of the absolute idea of Hegel, Feuerbach put man
who sees, hears and feels, man the producer of ideas and
not the product of ideas.
Thus Feuerbach turned the whole Hegelian system upside
down; what was beneath he put on top, and what was on
top he put beneath. He produced a great revolution in
German philosophy. But he was not the only one among
the philosophers who followed upon Hegel to make a
revolution. For not long afterwards came the great revolu­
tion of Marx and Engels, who extended both the dialectical
evolutionism of Hegel and also the humanism of Feuerbach.
W hat did they say? They said that Feuerbach was right,
for man is indeed determined by his senses, by his sight,
hearing, touch, etc., which lead to the production of ideas
in the human organism, and that it is not the ideas which
produce the human organism. They said Feuerbach was
right when he turned the whole Hegelian system upside
down, making the ideas of man determined by the senses
of man himself, but Marx and Engels added that man who
sees, hears and touches, lives in a social environment which
determines his ideas. Marx and Engels thus not only en­
large the idea of Hegel as turned upside down by Feuerbach,
but also formulate with precision the manner in which the
social environment determines man, and the explanation

61
which they gave constitutes the first systematic explanation
of the principles of dialectics.
We can follow the evolution of dialectical thought
through Milesian philosophy, Heraclitus, Hegel and Feuer­
bach up to Marx and Engels.
Let us consider the way in which Marx and Engels
formulated dialectics as the foundation of the sciences.
They held that it is not the absolute idea of Hegel which
evolves and moves and not simply man and his senses as
Feuerbach said, but the totality of existing matter. I t is
therefore moving matter which is the foundation of the
dialectics of Marx and Engels. This system is called
materialist dialectics, for according to the definition of
Marx and Engels, dialectics is ‘the science of the general
laws dealing with the motion, and evolution of nature,
society and thought’. The important thing to understand
is that according to materialist dialectics it is matter which
moves and evolves and itself creates the evolution of nature,
society and thought.
The conception of Marx and Engels represents the
penultimate stage in the history of dialectics, for the last
stage of its evolution is represented by the most recent
results of the sciences which deal with matter. The sciences
dealing with molecules and atoms, with electrons and ions,
with the association and dissociation of matter and with
the different radiations in the form of which these associa­
tions and dissociations of matter occur, and dealing with
matter in general, prove the dialectical system of Marx
and Engels, for it is matter in permanent motion which
is the source and basis of phenomena. In the light of the
modern sciences dealing with matter, matter is identified
with movement. Matter is whirling movement in the form
of atoms and agglomerations of atoms, while energy and
force are straight line movements. The contemporary
natural sciences thus affirm the thesis of Heraclitus and
the thesis of Marx and Engels, for in final analysis the
ultimate source of phenomena is movement.
So it is movement which created the various forms of
matter and energy. The Greek word from which the word
‘dialectical’ is derived means ‘in movement’. We see that

62
the last word of the contemporary sciences upholds the
dialectical way of thought and condemns to death the
former static ways of thinking. This new conception is
leading to a great transformation of the existing sciences
which are based on static, undialectical ways of thought.
This great revolution is approaching rapidly and will lead
to the solution of all the insoluble problems and of all the
contradictions, whether in nature, in society or in human
thought.
We can claim to live in the most important age of human
history, the age in which the dialectical method of thought
will dethrone the static, undialectical way of thinking, and
so guide Homo Sapiens to the higher forms of his evolution
a t a much more accelerated tempo than has been the case
on the basis of a static and undialectical conception.

63
 Chapter VII

MAN AT WAR WITH HIMSELF

A fte r this brief study of dialectics, let us return to man,

since man is the measure of all things. We have already
seen that the highest form of food value is supplied by
trees and that the highest form of animal evolution is man.
Now we will apply the method of dialectics and study
certain correlations between the physiology of trees and
the physiology of man. We came to the conclusion that
the life of vegetation in general and of trees in particular
represents the natural forces and laws themselves, the
organisms of trees and of vegetation being in complete
accord with the natural forces and laws and forming a
harmonious part of nature. Now let us examine Homo
Sapiens as he is a t present. In what measure is he inharmony
with the natural laws of his environment? The physiological
examination of the human organism shows us that one part
of the human organism is in complete accord with the
natural forces and laws, like the physiology and life of the
vegetation of the earth. This part of the human organism is
the organo-vegetative system. We know from physiology
that the organo-vegetative system of man governs and
directs all the automatic reflex functions of the organism,
such as the pulsation of the blood, the beating of the heart
and the breathing of the lungs. All these physiological
functions are independent of our will, they are involuntary
reflex functions of the human organism which always
without exception act in harmony with the natural laws.
So this part of the organism, like the vegetation and trees
of the earth, lives in optimal adaptation to the natural
forces. But if we examine the other part of the human
organism, the so-called cerebro-spinal system, which directs
our voluntary acts, our thoughts and conscious actions,

64
then we find that it does not function a t all in harmony
with the natural laws and forces. The source of all our bad
actions, for instance, is the cerebro-spinal system, and if we
have inharmonious thoughts, the source of them is always
the cerebro-spinal system. Inharmonious thoughts influence
the glandular activities of the organism, causing the glands
to secrete an internal poison which greatly lowers and
attacks the vitality of the organism. We will consider this
question in further detail later on.
Likewise when we deviate from our proper diet, it is the
cerebro-spinal system which is the source of the deviation.
If we think with hate of other people it is always the
cerebro-spinal system which is the source of the evil. The
heart which beats, the lungs which breathe and the blood
which circulates, in other words, the organo-vegetative
system, never wish any harm either to themselves or others.
So we can see that the unconscious activity of the human
organism is in perfect harmony with the natural laws and
forces, while the voluntary conscious activity of the human
organism is not in harmony. So one part of the human
organism, being in complete harmony with nature, has all
the superior characteristics of the vegetable world, but the
other half of the human organism works against these
natural laws. The greatest contradiction in the human
organism is the division of the organism itself. The organo-
vegetative system always wishes to follow and does in fact
follow the natural laws, while the cerebro-spinal system
nearly always acts contrary to these laws. This great contra­
diction of the human organism is the cause of disease, of
old age and of the shortening of life.
We should remember that animals generally live at least
five times longer than the time necessary for their complete
evolution. Some animals live eight or ten times longer than
the period of their development; five times represents a
minimum. Now if we examine the time required for the
complete development of the human organism, we find it is
not only twenty-two years as the classical theory believes,
but forty-five years which are required for the complete
development of the human organism. Now if we multiply
forty-five by five we get two hundred and twenty-five as

65
the minimum span of human life if the whole human
organism were to follow the laws of nature. Why is it that
Homo Sapiens, the highest and dominant race of the
earth, should have the shortest life of all the animals? The
reason for it is that the cerebro-spinal system, which is the
most completely developed in man, causes the organism to
go against the laws of nature. The influences of the cerebro­
spinal system are greater in man than in animals. In man
we have the most intense conscious and voluntary activity,
animals have less of it, while lastly plants and trees have no
voluntary activity at all. This explains why plants and
trees living in complete harmony with nature live longest,
animals next longest, and man the least long of all in
proportion to the length of the period of development.
Length of life is therefore directly proportional to the
importance of the role played by the organo-vegetative
system in man, animals and plants respectively.
On the other hand we can see that a diseased and short
life is directly proportional to the influence of the role
played by the cerebro-spinal system in man, animals and
plants. Plants have only an organo-vegetative system,
animals have both an organo-vegetative system and a
cerebro-spinal system, but the latter does not play a very
large part; finally man has both systems, but his cerebro­
spinal system has the larger role. I t is for this reason that
proportionately man has the shortest life, animals a longer
life and plants the longest life of all.
The conclusion to be drawn is that for the elimination
of illness and old age (itself a disease) and for the achieve­
ment of longevity, we must solve this central contradiction
in the human organism, the contradiction between the
opposing organo-vegetative and cerebro-spinal systems.
As we see, the dialectical principle of thesis and antithesis
holds good also in the human organism. We know that the
organo-vegetative system of the human organism is much
older than the cerebro-spinal system. The organo-vegetative
system comes down from very many hundreds of thousands
or even millions of years, while the cerebro-spinal system
is only a hundred or perhaps two hundred thousand years
old. So we can regard the organo-vegetative system as

66
thesis and the cerebro-spinal system as antithesis. Now
what must be the future synthesis? At present the organo-
vegetative system is in harmony with the laws of nature*
while the cerebro-spinal system is out of harmony with it,
so the synthesis of man of the future must have both
systems in harmony with the laws of nature. In order to
get rid of the great difference between the two systems, the
organo-vegetative and the cerebro-spinal system, man
must reach the state of being able to awaken now latent
and dormant capacities. If these latent energies are aroused
then the cerebro-spinal system will also come into harmony
with the laws of nature, like our unconscious actions, and
in this way the natural forces and laws will become conscious
in man himself. Hitherto, and a t the present time parti­
cularly, the natural forces and laws are unconscious in the
human organism. The virtualisation of these latent higher
capacities will also bring the organo-vegetative system
into approximation with the perfected cerebro-spinal
system. This virtualisation and approximation will be the
synthesis.
This consideration is very important, for the human
organism is like a cart drawn by two horses, one of which
wants to go to the right and the other to the left. One
part of the human organism wishes to obey and does obey
the natural laws and forces, while the other part constantly
wishes to disobey and does disobey the natural laws and
forces. The greater part of the energy of the human organ­
ism is consequently paralysed and lost in this internal
battle, with a resultant shortening of human life and im­
pairment of vitality. The first effect of the biological
disequilibrium is a series of diseases. Just as human society
cannot evolve harmoniously until it can solve its inner
contradictions and antagonisms, no more can the human
organism. There is a state of the human organism when the
latter is in complete harmony with the laws of nature.
This occurs when th e cerebro-spinal system is at rest and
is not working, when the organo-vegetative system governs
all the activities of the body. This is the case when the
human organism is unconscious during sleep. Some hours
of sleep in harmony with the natural laws and forces are

67
capable of entirely refreshing and revitalising the human
organism. When after a day’s work by the cerebro-spinal
system and conscious activity we feel tired and depressed,
then if we sleep for some hours we shall wake up entirely
new beings. Such is the profound significance of sleep in
the human organism. Some hours in harmony with the
natural laws and forces represent a very great source of
harmony and energy for the human organism. Sleep is
often more important for the organism than food. I t is
proved that man can live without food during some weeks,
but no one can live without sleep for some weeks, not even
for some days. So we can see that harmonious contact
with the natural forces is the most vital and important
source of energy for man.
At this point I wish to say something about the Yoga
system of exercises which have a certain vogue in Europe
and America at the present time. The aim of the Yoga
exercises is the attainment of a state of the human organism
in which the organism shall be in complete harmony with
the natural forces and laws. The result is achieved by the
practice of a certain technique over a course of years, by
the realisation and awakening of certain latent capacities
of the nervous system. Those who practice Yoga succeed
in achieving the harmonious synthesis between the cerebro­
spinal and the organo-vegetative systems during a certain
time. The present psycho-physiological state of man does
not yet allow this state to be achieved permanently, but
allows us to achieve it temporarily for a certain time. For
a certain time there is thus established a harmonious
balance, a synthesis of the two systems. This is a great
source of energy, harmony and knowledge. The source of
knowledge of the oriental philosophers, we may see, there­
fore, is quite other than it is in the West. I t does not
consist of thinking notions, but of the intuitive concentra­
tion of the essence of the natural forces and laws, a con­
centrated intuitive living of the truth in place of theories
and notions. In extensiveness western culture is superior,
but in intensity it will never be superior to eastern culture.
Naturally when I speak of eastern culture I mean the
ancient period of that culture, for in the East no less than

68
in the West there has been progressive regression in this
field. We must not suppose that the present Hindus, for
instance, possess the same capacities as their ancestors who
lived in the time when the Vedas were created. We can
see that since the time of the Vedas and Upanishads there
has been a decline in the value of eastern thought. Eastern
thought to-day is not what it was in the past. I t is there­
fore vain to look in the East for individuals who have
these higher capacities of the nervous system possessed in
the time of the Vedas and Upanishads. I t is true that one
can find Orientals who are more evolved in this respect
than Europeans, but not Orientals who possess the same
higher capacities as their ancestors.
Let us now return to the problem of the opposing systems
in man. If we wish to achieve health and longevity we
must concentrate on the elimination of the contradictions
in man himself. First, we must know the natural laws
which govern our organism. We must know that the
organo-vegetative system does everything possible to
correct the harm done by our cerebro-spinal system. For
instance, in accordance with the impulses of our cerebro­
spinal system, we introduce unnatural substances into the
human organism in the shape of food. The organo-vegetative
system thereupon produces intensive automatic respiration
and introduces oxygen into the lungs and blood to burn
up the toxins. Likewise the heart and the circulation of the
blood work to dissolve these accumulated toxins. Our
glandular system also does everything possible for their
chemical elimination. In like manner the artificial tension
of our thoughts which have not followed the natural laws,
but have dealt with unnatural things, leads to a certain
tension and fatigue of the nerves which are refreshed and
renewed during sleep by the action of the organo-vegetative
system. But this work of the organo-vegetative system
cannot continue without end. I t continues to exert its
revitalising influence for days, weeks, months and even
many years, but if the cerebro-spinal system continues to
make the organism lead an unnatural life, then finally the
organo-vegetative system itself becomes a victim of this
unnatural life. If the pulmonary cells become covered with

69
a layer of nicotine they cannot absorb as much oxygen
from the atmosphere as the organism needs. If the amount
of poisons introduced into the organism is greater than the
eliminative capacities of the organo-vegetative system,
then little by little the destructive influence of the cerebro­
spinal system will paralyse even the organo-vegetative
system. There is a gradual weakening of the organism;
it can no longer resist disease and there comes a series
of illnesses which finally result in death. As a verse in
the Bible which is derived from old heliolithic sources says,
‘the wages of sin is death.’ This is a simple physiological
truth.
Now the cerebro-spinal system not only leads the organ­
ism into an unnatural physiological life, but also introduces
into the organism other psychic toxins which are far more
dangerous than chemical toxins. Why? The finest and most
superior energies of the human organism are thought.
Thought is a form of energy like electricity, magnetism or
optical or acoustic energy. Certain psychological labora­
tories have measured the intensity of the force of thought,
and in recent times particularly there has been much pro­
gress in this direction. We can observe the influence of
thought indirectly by the reagents of thoughts just as we
can observe warmth by its reagent, mercury, in the
thermometer.
We can observe man. There are men who have optimistic
and agreeable thoughts in which case the lines of their
faces exhibit a certain form, characteristic of the individual.
On the contrary there are individuals whose nervous
system irradiates disharmonious and pessimistic thoughts,
and if we examine the faces and the movements and
attitudes of these people we can observe a great difference
—the physiological action of the face and of the whole
organism reflects the psychic force of the individual. Very
often we see that under the influence of great catastrophes
provoking great fear, the colour of the hair is changed in
the course of a few minutes. We can similarly observe
individuals in a moment of joy and can see that under the
influence of the harmonious forces of joy superior currents
of thought are introduced into their nervous system, and

70
their faces and whole organism seem to be completely
transformed for a certain time.
I will continue with the enumeration of other factors.
We know many cases of so-called telepathy. Generally
telepathy is regarded as something supernatural, but it is
not supernatural at all. In the same way that the energies
of nature are propagated according to certain laws in
harmony with their preconditions, so is human thought,
which is a form of natural energy, quickly able to propagate
if the preconditions exist. I t must not be imagined that
there is anything mysterious or suoernatural in this, for
thoughts and the energies of thoughts are always produced
by the nervous system in accordance with the psycho-
biological laws of nature and are propagated similarly in
a purely natural way. We must not imagine that there are
psychic forces which have not a natural source and which
can act contrary to the laws of nature. There are no
exceptions to all the laws of nature, there are no so-called
miracles. As Poincar^, the French philosopher, said: ‘The
greatest miracle of all is that no miracles exist.’ There is a
universal causality which does not tolerate miracles; there
are only rare phenomena and more frequent phenomena.
Generally the more frequent phenomena are regarded as
natural phenomena, while the rare phenomena are regarded
as super-natural miracles. Everything which is not under­
stood or is not known is regarded as a miracle. So when I
speak of currents of thought as a form of natural energy I
do not speak of them from a mystical or spiritist stand­
point, but I speak of them as simple natural phenomena
like electricity, magnetism or chemical energies.
If we enter a room where there are many people, then
even if we do not speak to the people we feel the effect of
the currents of thought which are in the room. Similarly
if we go into a place where there is a crowd of people who
are united in thought, this unity creates such a strong
force and current of thought that we are immediately
captured by it. If we examine human history, for instance,
certain subjective factors of revolution are explicable by
this psychic force. The enthusiasm which wc find as a
collective manifestation a t the outbreak of revolution,

71
uniting the currents of thought of great men, represents
an elementary force. Similar currents of thought represent
force in a contrary direction, opposed to this elementary
manifestation. For instance, if we go into a great cathedral
we capture its influence, which is not a strong influence
like the one in the case of revolution. I t will rather be a
completely tranquil influence, a component of all the
similar thoughts which are released in the place. So we
can see that the forces of thought have a psycho-physio­
logical influence on the human organism and also on the
environment of man.
The forces of the currents of thought depend on our
cerebro-spinal system, on ourselves alone. I t depends on
ourselves alone whether we create destructive or antago­
nistic forces in our organism. Harmonious currents of
thought strengthen the vitality of the human organism by
their harmonious influence, and the physiological influence
of our glands becomes increasingly superior. We can very
often observe that men who occupy themselves in certain
intellectual activities for which they feel enthusiasm live
to the age of seventy, eighty or even a hundred and con­
serve the vigour, spirit and the elasticity of their organisms,
despite a relatively unhealthy physical life. On the other
hand we can observe that individuals who have no intel­
lectual activity and lack these forceful thoughts are old
a t fifty and they become sick and weak and so die sooner
than the others. So we can see that harmonious currents
of thought have a preservative force for the human
organism, and that activity of thought, provided it is
harmonious, results in biological equilibrium, vitality and
longevity.
We know that the glandular system of the human
organism is influenced directly by the cerebro-spinal
system. When, therefore, we have inharmonious, destruc­
tive thoughts which are not in harmony with the natural
laws and forces, these, by their influence on our glands,
secrete a form of poison. Very often a person may lead as
healthy a life as possible physically, yet if he does not have
a psychic diet in his thoughts, then, nevertheless, his
organism will not be in equilibrium.

72
 We need harmony in our thoughts no less than in our
diet or in physical activity. If someone has an inharmonious,
ill-intentioned thought against others, he is punished for it
in the moment of its creation, for the inharmonious thoughts
immediately have a destructive influence on the human
glands. So in the form of glandular activity the poisonous
secretion always represents an immediate physiological
sanction and punishment of the sin. The passages of the
Gospels which say that we should not sin in thought, for
to sin in thought is as serious as to sin in deed, are very
true and profound from the point of view of human
physiology. There exists a superior tribunal of the cosmic
and natural forces which punishes offences at the moment
when they are committed. We can deceive the laws of
human society; we can commit crimes and escape punish­
ment, but we can never commit a single sin against the laws
of nature for which we are not punished immediately in
the moment of its commission.
In the human organism there is a miraculous collabora­
tion of every cell and every organ; they display a great
collective solidarity. The heart labours not only for itself,
but for the whole organism, and gives blood to all the
organs. Likewise the lungs introduce oxygen not only for
themselves, but for other organs, and the digestive system
sends chemical energies to every part of the organism. So
the human organism represents the natural laws through
the organo-vegetative system; it represents altruism, col­
lective solidarity. This law is written large in the human
organism, if we are able to read in the great book of nature.
I do not consider solidarity and altruism as just moral,
theoretical considerations, but as an iron law of the natural
forces, as a dynamic reality in the human organism and in
nature. I t is a law and a force, and when we act against
that law and force, then immediately and inevitably comes
the punishment. If we do not follow the example of solid­
arity and altruism represented by the human organism
(and also by the vegetation of the earth and by everything
which is in harmony with the natural laws and forces),
then we are punished. There is, so to speak, a great higher
tribunal of the natural forces which formulates and issues

73
higher laws which are valid for everything which exists in
nature or in man himself; this power punishes and rewards
immediately those who are in disharmony or harmony with
the biological laws and forces of life.
When we deal, therefore, with the laws of health and
longevity in practice, we shall attribute a certain, even a
great importance, to psychic harmony; to the elimination
of the internal contradictions of man, as an inescapable
precondition of health and longevity and harmony. And
this consideration forms the true basis of cosmotherapy.
We use material forces of nature, but we also use all the
forces of nature which are not material, but form the
superstructure of matter, for they react upon the material
foundation and are capable of improving or impairing it.
So not only do we take our therapeutic forces from the
sphere of nature, but also from the sphere of human
consciousness. For it is not possible to solve the internal
contradictions of the human organism simply on a material
basis. If there remains a psychic disequilibrium of the
forces of thought, then it is in vain that we may have
achieved chemical equilibrium, for the human organism is
not only a chemical and physiological being, but also a
psychological being. As man’s name of Homo Sapiens indi­
cates, the essence of man lies in his psychic forces, which
give him his superiority over all the other creatures of the
earth, provided that his forces and thoughts are used in a
superior way, for if not, they can lead to destruction
instead of to progress. I t is also a natural law that the
higher and finer forms of energy are always stronger than
the inferior and grosser forms. Finer radiations and forces
always traverse the coarser radiations, having a greater
force and penetration. For instance, there is a force of rigid
matter, a force of cohesion, a physical material force; there
are electrical and magnetic forces which are finer forces,
having a great power of penetration, and in spite of the
fact that they are not so observable as the forces of cohesion
of a solid body, nevertheless they penetrate and traverse
the solid body. Similarly currents which are even higher and
finer penetrate the electrical currents and so on. There is
an infinite hierarchy of the forces of nature which succeed

74
one another in force, intensity and superiority. And the
finest and strongest energy of the human organism is the
force of thought.

75
 Chapter V III

L IFE AND THE ENERGIES OF TH E COSMOS

W e have hitherto examined the laws of the evolution of

vegetable, animal and human life, concentrating parti­
cularly on the human phenomena of our planet. We should
not be faithful to the principle of the unity of space and to
the dialectical method, if we did not now examine cosmic
space and its phenomena, and the metabolism of the
cosmic energies in cosmic space, for cosmic space is the
environment of our planet. Our planet constantly plunges
in cosmic space, constantly absorbs its energies and also
transmits them. The so-called cosmic radiations or cosmic
rays are now very much in fashion. They are very often
mentioned, but seldom is there any real knowledge of them.
We are indebted to journalists for the false conception
of them prevailing.
Before we examine the cosmic energies, we must deal
with the essential problems of cosmology, with the cor­
relations of matter, force and radiations. As mentioned
already, there are two ways of looking at the world, th a t of
the materialist and th a t of the idealist. According to the
materialists m atter is the basis of all phenomena of exist­
ence, phenomena other than m atter being only super-
structural phenomena, just as psychological phenomena
are only superstructures of our nervous system. In their
view there is no phenomenon whatever which does not have
a material source. The idealist on the other hand supposes
the existence of an ultimate essence which is not material
essence and which they identify with a particular idea or
something similar. They affirm th a t it is this non-material
essence which created m atter. So m atter is the super­
structure and non-material essence is the foundation.
The two points of view are as old as human culture
itself and their struggle persists throughout every period.

76
In general, the results of the contemporary sciences prove
the conception of dialectical materialism which considers
moving m atter as the foundation of all phenomena. B ut
we must understand th a t it is dialectical materialism, not
vulgar materialism, which is supported. I t is not matter, but
moving and evolving matter, which is the foundation of all
phenomena. Certain modern philosophers have naturally
tried to interpret the results of the sciences in such a way as
to justify the idealist world conception. For instance, Mach’s
so-called empirio-criticism says th a t the modern sciences
show th at the energy of an atom consists of movement and
th a t the ultimate form of existence is therefore movement.
Matter thus disappears and there is only movement. The
materialist world concept consequently loses its right to
existence, according to the Machists, who by this means
try to dethrone the materialist world concept and replace it
with the idealist one. Outwardly this seems so, bu t not in
reality. For no fact of the contemporary sciences proves
th a t movement can exist without matter; there must
always be something which moves. If we examine either
the central nucleus of the atom or the parts moving round
it, it is always moving. Thus there is always something
existing which moves.
If we examine the propagation of light, of optical
energies, for instance, there appears to be something non­
material which is propagated. B ut if we examine the
optical rays then we shall find th a t they are not a t all
non-material. The discoveries of Einstein show us th a t the
propagation of light is not in straight lines as classical
energetics supposed. Bays of light come in curves. The
curves are due to the influence of gravitation, thus showing
th a t the rays of light have material parts which are subject
to the laws and forces of gravitation. The contemporary
natural sciences thus affirm th at there is no movement
without matter. The thesis of those who claimed the
existence of movement without m atter was based on
radiations. They thought th a t radiations were some non­
material thing, but it is not so. Naturally, radiations are
not identical with matter. Radiation is the common form
of m atter and energy, a source of m atter and energy.

77
M atter is whirling radiations while energy is straight line
radiations, and the different states of space between the
material and energetic forms represent the various inter­
mediate radiations between straight line and whirling
radiations. Radiations are a t the same time m atter and
energy. So radiation is not only energy or m atter, but is
a t the same time m atter and energy. Accumulation of
radiations forms matter, while disaggregation of radiations
forms energy, but the radiations always contain both
energy and matter. These experiments of modern phil­
osophy which try to steal materiality from radiations are
thus found to be entirely unscientific and undialectical.
We must add, therefore, th at all energies have a material
basis, for energy comes from the disaggregation of matter,
which is itself an accumulation of energy. Quantities are
transformed into quality and qualities are transformed into
quantity in cosmic life. If we examine the metabolism of
energies of radiations and of m atter on our planet we always
find th a t energies or radiations exist as long as their source
exists. For instance, if I have an electric torch and switch
on the light, the rays of the light exist, but the instant I
switch it off, the light also disappears. Similarly, as long as
a wireless transm itter emits electrical energies, those
electrical energies exist, but as soon as the radio station
closes down, the electrical energies also cease to exist.
We have naturally the principle of the conservation of
m atter and of energy. Different forms of energy are trans­
formed, united and dispersed. Neither energy nor m atter is
lost. B ut this does not contradict the fact th a t energy in
its special form can only exist if its source is in existence.
We shall find this to be so if we examine the metabolism
of energy on our planet. B ut if we examine the metabolism
of energy in cosmic space, the law is a little different.
Why? For earth is limited in space, but the universe is not
limited in space. We shall see shortly how this changes the
law a little. We know from astronomy th at many rays of
light come to our planet from planets which emitted the
light now arriving millions and millions of years ago. So
very often the stars which emitted this light have dis­
appeared and been destroyed, but their light emitted into

78
infinite space is always on its road. We can thus perceive
light coming from stars which disappeared millions of years
ago, though their light only now begins to reach us. The
boundlessness of space permits the existence of currents of
energy whose sources have long ago disappeared. So if we
work with space and time in cosmic dimensions, there is a
modification of the laws which are valid on our planet.
Hence the reason for the theory of special relativity and
the theory of universal relativity in the system of Einstein.
This applies to time as well as to space. The moving systems
of co-ordinates have separate different times. Time is not
the same on our E arth as it is on Saturn or some other
planet. Time always depends on the speed of movement.
This is a very im portant principle in the theory of relativity
of Einstein.
This conception can be made more clear by a practical
example. Let us imagine a railway track. A t either end
there is a lighthouse. On the railway line, a t its middle
point, there is an observer. Naturally when the two lights
flash out a t the same moment from the two lighthouses a t
either end, the man who is a t the middle spot exactly
between the two will see the two lights simultaneously,
because their distance from him is the same and the pro­
pagation of light is the same in the air. B ut if there is an
observer a t the central point in a moving train he will see
them a t slightly different times. He will see the light from
which he is receding a fraction after he sees the light from
the end he is approaching. The difference is only some
millionths of a second, but there is nevertheless a difference.
So the phenomenon which is simultaneous when looked at
from the earth is no longer simultaneous when looked a t
from the moving train. The moving earth has its special
time and the moving train has its special time. This theory
of universal relativity is also valid in larger dimensions. A
moving system has its own special times, for time is a
mathematical function of movement. We can see this very
clearly also on the earth. The movement of the earth upon
its axis gives us the changes of day and night, while the
movement of the earth round the sun causes the changes
of the various seasons. If the path of the earth round the

79
sun were longer, then the earthly year would also be
longer; if the path were shorter, then the year would also
be shorter. So we can see th at phenomena from the point
of view of earthly time are simultaneous, while from the
point of view of their moving systems they are not simul­
taneous. This is the law of the relativity of time and this
universal law of relativity changes the laws of energies, of
m atter and of radiations.
Let us leave our planet and go into cosmic space. On
our planet there do not exist currents of energy without
existing sources of them, but in cosmic space there exist
currents of energy whose material sources have already
disappeared millions of years ago. For instance, we have
light reaching our planet only now, while the sun or planet
which emitted the light disappeared millions of years ago.
Over short distances we find currents of energy whose
source exists simultaneously with them while in the longer
distances of boundless space, as a consequence of the
relativity of space, of energy and of time, we find currents
of energy whose source has already disappeared. We can
thus see th a t cosmic space is an ocean of the different
energies in the form of radiations which traverse this
cosmic space, coming from the various innumerable planets
and solar systems and nebulae, and which are permanently
radiated and united in boundless cosmic space. The sources
of the cosmic energies are always planets or suns or cosmic
nebulae, and these energies are united in cosmic space,
where many special forms of cosmic energies exist in the
form of currents even when their source, be it planet or sun,
has ceased to exist or has cooled down and no longer acts
as a source of energy or no longer possesses a special form
of energy.
Not only optical energies come from the various planets.
We know th a t the constitution of matter, of the atom, is
electro-magnetic, so also electro-magnetic energies abound
in cosmic space. Also the cosmos has gravitative forces,
for the material of cosmic space always possesses gravitative
energies and also the thermic energies. For instance, the
sun radiates large amounts of thermic energy into space.
Cosmic space is a great dynamic unity, an infinite ocean of

80
all the energies which are radiated from every planet, sun
and cosmic nebula, and to them, vice versa, from cosmic
space.
In the life of the universe which we call cosmic life,
planets, suns and cosmic nebulae appear and disappear,
and likewise with all the manifestations of phenomena
which exist on the planets. Planets, suns and nebulae
appear and disappear, but all cosmic energies and radiations
always remain. Energies are absorbed by cosmic space
from the appearing and disappearing suns and planets, and
newly appearing suns and planets are formed from it, but
the boundless and eternal ocean of the cosmic radiations is
permanently in existence. When we look a t the sea the
waves appear and disappear, but the ocean remains. The
same process is followed in the life of the cosmos. There is
something common to all phenomena of the universe; there
is a dynamic totality in the motion of energy, m atter and
radiations.
Now this is the final limit to which science can reach,
b u t it is sufficient to explain the life of the cosmos. Every­
thing which is above or beyond this scientific world outlook
m ust be considered as pure hypothesis.
The various philosophical systems give different names
to this eternal boundless ocean of cosmic radiations, and
ancient theogonies give it the name of divinity and attribute
certain human qualities to this boundless ocean—this is
anthropomorphism.
Man is capable of perceiving cosmic infinity only after
his own image, and so he conceives this eternal source of
existence and of life in the form of the various divinities
of the different religions. And the philosophers imagine
it after their manner. B ut th at which the sciences have
established about cosmic life, about the metabolism of the
energies, radiations and m atter and cosmic space is simply
and purely what I have mentioned. So from the point of
view of the scientific world outlook we must consider as
an hypothesis anything further about the eternal source of
the various phenomena. This is the conception of science,
free from any mysticism and free from dogma, about
existence and cosmic space.

81
 Now I want to explain an essential question. The words
‘vibrations’ and ‘radiations’ appear very often in modern
works and articles, but there is great confusion about
them. I have generally noticed th a t the words ‘vibrations’
and ‘radiations’ are used synonymously, so I wish to say
something about this. Vibration is not the same as radi­
ation. When two radiations meet and form a whirling
movement, vibrations are formed, so vibrations are a
stabilisation of radiations round a system. I must protest
therefore against the two words ‘vibrations’ and ‘radiations’
being used as if they were synonymous.
There is a further im portant question. W hat role is
played by life, meaning organic life, in the metabolism of
the universe? Certain astronomers consider organic life as
a superior phase of the evolution of universal matter.
Other astronomers and scientists regard it as a local
degeneration of cosmic energies and say th a t we are quite
wrong in regarding organic life as a superior phase of
universal matter. We must examine the life of our planet,
using the dialectical method, to receive an answer to this
problem. W hat is there in common between the various
manifestations of life of our planet? Let us begin with
vegetation. We see th a t vegetation grows from below
upwards, th at plants absorb vivifying energies, and these
vivifying energies and the natural environment of the
atmosphere give to vegetation the force and vitality which
enable it to conquer gravitation and to grow upwards and
contrary to gravitation. So we can see th a t vitality is a
force which works in a contrary direction to earthly
gravitation.
Vitality acts in the same way with animals. Animals by
their motion constantly overcome gravitation. A lifeless
stone remains always in the same place, but the living
animal organism moves, conquers and overcomes gravita­
tion by its physical movement and also by the radiations
of its organism. The common quality of the manifestation
of life in animals is an activity in the opposite direction to
th a t of gravitation. Gravitation has the role of drawing all
the materials of our planet in the direction of the centre of
the earth. Organic m atter exercises a controlling influence

82
and impels all living m atter to move in a contrary upward
direction, thus controlling the forces of gravitation. The
newly sprouting seed or plant is the triumph of organic
life over gravitation, while the death of an animal or
vegetable is the triumph of inorganic gravitation over
vitality, over organic life. Birth is the triumph of vitality
over gravitation, while death is the triumph of gravitation
over vitality.
Life springs from the struggle of two opposite forces, the
forces of gravitation and vitality. So the dialectical principle
of the antagonism of two opposite forces is true. We can
see th a t life is a synthesis of two antagonistic forces, the
forces of gravitation and vitality. The evolution of life
on earth shows us endless different forms of life, but all
these forms of life spring from the struggle of these two
antagonistic forces, the forces of gravitation and vitality.
Now if we examine the subsequent different phases of
life upon the earth we shall see that, in increasingly superior
phases, life upon the earth conquers gravitation in a more
and more accentuated form. For instance, the inorganic
stone is entirely a victim of gravitation; grass overcomes
gravitation a little, while the tree overcomes it still more
and grows up higher and stronger. The bird which flies in
the air overcomes it still more, while, finally, man by his
currents of thought which traverse the sphere of gravitation
of the earth and extend to the various planets in cosmic
space, conquers gravitation in an even more accentuated
form.
We can thus see th a t the further forward we go in the
evolution of earthly life, the different forms of earthly life
always achieve a greater and greater triumph over gravita­
tion. This shows us th a t the tendency of the evolution of
earthly life is towards a more and more complete triumph
over gravitation. Naturally each generation of life becomes
a victim of gravitation, but each succeeding generation is
able to overcome gravitation in a superior form. Genera­
tions follow one after the other in the battle of gravitation,
but vitality itself, organic life, which evolves through the
progressive generations, always triumphs more and more
over gravitation.

83
 An examination of the phenomena of our planet shows
us in miniature a picture of the universe. Inorganic m atter
is not the exclusive privilege of our planet. On other planets
there is also m atter as on the earth. Possibly there are
other chemical elements and other forms of matter, but
there is m atter. Likewise we cannot claim th a t organic
m atter is an exclusive privilege of our planet. I t is very
probable th at there is not organic life in the rest of our solar
system, for up to now science has not discovered it, but in
the infinity of millions and millions of planets and solar
systems in cosmic space there must also be organic m atter
as on our earth. We are not an exceptional and privileged
planet in cosmic space. We have no right to suppose th at
our planet is the centre of the universe and th a t it is only
on our planet th a t we have the chemical element of organic
matter. This would be a very proud hypothesis on our part,
for the universe does not exist for us, but our planet is a
very tiny speck in cosmic space and exists as a simple part
of the universe.
So we see th a t gravitation and all the inorganic materials
in cosmic space create a boundless ocean of gravitative
forces and every planet or solar system plunges in this great
ocean.
Vitality is nothing else but organic gravitation. The same
role which is played by inorganic gravitation in inorganic
m atter is played by vitality as organic gravitation in organic
matter. Organic materials exercise between themselves the
influence of organic gravitation, which is vitality. So it is
not only the inorganic materials of cosmic space, but also
the organic materials of cosmic space, which send out
forces into cosmic space. In addition to inorganic gravita­
tion with its currents and radiations, we have organic
radiations, vitality with its currents and radiations. Organic
m atter is the superstructure of inorganic m atter and in the
same way organic gravitation is the superstructure of
inorganic gravitation. In this way there meet in boundless
cosmic space all the radiations of inorganic gravitation and
also all the radiations of the organic m atter of our planet.
We thus see th a t in cosmic space there exists a great
solidarity of gravitative forces coming from every planet,

84
and in the same way there exists a great solidarity of all
organic gravitative forces, forces of vitality, whose sources
are the organic m atter of every planet. The radiations
whose source is inorganic m atter we have called ‘cosmic
radiations’ in cosmic space. Those radiations whose source
is organic m atter of the various planets we have called
‘cosmovital radiations’. In this way the role of the cosmic
radiations in the genesis of life of the various planets
becomes evident. W ithout gravitation there would not be
life, for it is gravitation which keeps m atter on the surface
of the earth. Likewise, if vitality (organic gravitation) did
not exist, then matter would remain in the state of inorganic
matter, and thus life would never be able to appear and
evolve on the planet, and life would never have evolved
higher than the inorganic state. We must establish clearly
the role of organic life and of organic m atter and the role
of vitality in cosmic and planetary life.
In this way we see th a t the dialectical method does not
know contradictions between the various forms of life and
of existence. These only exist from an undialectical, static
point of view. When we have studied the correlations
between organic and inorganic matter, we can then under­
stand the origin of m atter and the origin of the life of the
planets and of the universe. If we consider everything in
a great dynamic totality in constant movement and evolu­
tion, then there are no contradictions and no breaks in
continuity between cosmic space and the inorganic m atter
of the planets, between organic life and inorganic matter,
and between psychic life and the organism. Everything is
a total dynamism and everything has its role and everything
influences the other parts.
Let us now return to man. The human organism possesses
vitality in developed form. If the human organism absorbs
in optimal forms the vital energies of our planet, then the
human organism withstands the destructive influence of
gravitation, but as soon as the human organism isolates
itself from the vital forces of our environment, then
gravitation increasingly governs the human organism. The
various diseases and progressive senescence indicate less
and less resistance to gravitation, which finally causes

85
death, and the organic m atter of the human organism is
dissolved into inorganic m atter and the human organism
returns to the kingdom of inorganic gravitation. I t dies.
The more vital the organism is, the more it is capable
of overcoming gravitation. The less vital the human
organism is, the less capable it is of overcoming gravitation.
The period of youth in the human organism during which
the vital forces are developed and perfected, signifies pro­
gressive triumph over gravitation, the progressive growing
vigour of the human organism. Old age and decline of the
human organism represent progressively diminishing resist­
ance to the forces of gravitation. We must not forget that
a t every moment our organism is making efforts against
gravitation. Our movements, our walking, even the circula­
tion of the blood in our organism, every cell, every atom of
our organism are constantly struggling against and over­
coming gravitation. So human metabolism a t every moment
is constantly struggling against the forces of gravitation.
In this way the optimal absorption of vital energies assures
to our organism permanently new forces which enable us
to triumph over and resist gravitation. The human organism
must take advantage of the sources of energy to be able
effectively to struggle against gravitation and preserve the
vigour of youth of the organism. For instance, the organic
m atter of trees producing fruits has accumulated vital
energy. This accumulated form of the vital energies assimi­
lated by the human organism represents a source of energy
to counterbalance gravitation. If the human organism were
not a t every moment to absorb vital energies, it would not
be able to overcome and struggle against gravitation. I t is
an imperative necessity for the human organism to absorb
organic energies from our natural environment, but not
inorganic energies. If we introduce into our organisms
inorganic matter, we then strengthen the forces of gravita­
tion over our organism, for all inorganic m atter is governed
by gravitation. Organic m atter is subject to gravitation, but
it also contains the contrary forces, the forces of organic
gravitation, the forces of vitality, so we should always
introduce into our organism organic m atter which corre­
sponds to our organism, and which also contains vitality

86
and struggles against gravitation, and not inorganic m atter
which only contains gravitative forces and is subject to
gravitation, and does not possess the contrary forces of
organic vitality. For this reason cosmotherapy is against
the consumption of inorganic matter. For instance, instead
of consuming inorganic salts, we should always eat salts in
organic form in fruits and vegetables, for in this superior
form they dispense organic vitality. If we introduce in­
organic elements into our organism we strengthen the
forces of inorganic gravitation over our organism. If we
introduce organic m atter into our organism we introduce a
source of organic vitality, a force resistant to gravitation.
As we see, these apparently theoretical problems, the
relations between organic and inorganic matter, between
gravitation and vitality, have important practical con­
sequences for the human organism and determine, for
instance, the diet of the human organism, taken in con­
junction with other factors—ontogenetic and phylogenetic
factors, structural and functional factors.
Our planet plunges in boundless cosmic space every
moment, absorbing the various energies coming from the
different parts of cosmic space. Similarly the human organism
is in its natural environment and in every moment of its
existence absorbs different radiations, currents and forms
of energy which come to it from the different parts of
nature.
There are cosmic factors and planetary natural factors
which determine natural life, and medicine must consider
all these factors and correlations. Only then can medicine
be effective and complete.
We find a great wealth of different energies in cosmic
space. We find th at every planet, solar system and cosmic
nebula emits a great variety of different energies and
radiations, and the infinite ocean of the energies and radia­
tions of cosmic space is the greatest and most intense source
of energy in the universe, so for human science the discovery
and utilisation of the extraordinary wealth of cosmic
energy signifies a completely new horizon and a new age
in human progress. Let us not forget th at the utilisation of
the energies of our planet is limited. We know th a t the

87
amount of thermic energy and also the chemical energy in
the form of minerals on our planet exist in a limited
quantity, so it is vitally important for mankind to have a
knowledge of the cosmic energies residing in cosmic space,
for the limitation of our planet and of man can be remedied
by the illimitability of the cosmic energies.
These cosmic energies are divisible into two classes.
There are the radiations which traverse the atmosphere of
the earth and which as a result of their specially great
intensity and energy have suffered only very little trans­
formation. These cosmic energies are all of an inorganic
nature: gravitative energies, electro-magnetic energies,
optical energies and so on. We have seen th a t the organic
life of the various planets and solar systems is also a cosmic
source of energies, and these various sources of cosmic
energy represent sources of energy for the human organism
also. The science dealing with this is still quite a new one,
but the immediate direct utilisation of the organic forms of
the cosmic energies has very great significance for man.
There is also a second category of the cosmic energies
which undergoes transformation in the earth’s atmosphere.
For instance, we know th a t when light comes to us from
cosmic space, it is transformed in the earthly atmosphere.
In cosmic space it is pure radiation, and is propagated as
pure radiation, while in the earth’s atmosphere it is dis­
persed into various colours which are perceptible to the
human eye. So without the earth’s atmosphere we should
not have any colours, for there would only exist optical
radiations in their cosmic purity.
We see th a t the rays of the sun are also transformed by
the earth’s atmosphere, according to the resistance of the
earth’s atmosphere and according to its purity, and accord­
ing to the temperature of the various seasons and to the
climates. The sun is completely transformed in the atmo­
sphere in such a way th a t it is available to the human
organism. So we can see th a t the earth’s atmosphere
functions as a vast transformer of the cosmic rays coming
to the earth. I t transforms these various cosmic rays
arriving, to make them consumable by the human organism.
Let us take another example. If the earth’s atmosphere

88
were less thick, then the sun’s rays would reach the surface
of the earth with such force th a t everything would be
burnt up on the earth and life would not be possible.
Likewise if the atmosphere of the earth were thicker, then
the solar radiations would become so much less intense
th a t they would not be sufficient to ensure the necessary
temperature for life. So we can see th a t our earth in its
present state represents the optimal form for organic life
and in particular for human life. I t is for th a t reason th a t
organic life and human life exist, for on the earth are the most
favourable preconditions for th at life. We know th a t the
present age is not limitless. I t is not very long ago since
this age began, for we know th a t in the primitive geological
periods the extreme heat of the lithosphere caused various
sudden changes in temperature, volcanic eruptions and all
kinds of destructive meteorological phenomena provoked
by these sudden changes in temperature. For this reason
life did not have the most favourable preconditions a t this
period, and similarly the time will come when the chemical
and thermic energies of our planet will progressively
diminish and will not be sufficient to ensure the most
favourable preconditions of life. For this reason it is very
im portant for man to study and to come to know the
cosmic energies and their source, and to consider the
possibility of utilising them for the human organism.
If mankind takes advantage of the time at his disposal
during which the favourable preconditions of life exist,
then mankind will be able progressively to substitute the
different sources of cosmic energy for the missing planetary
energies. B ut if humanity does not utilise the time a t its
disposal, then man will not be capable of replacing the
diminishing planetary energies with the cosmic energies.
And in this consists the special significance of a united
cosmic science for mankind.
There is yet another point of view. The sciences are the
product of successive generations, so we must consider the
individual as a perfect scientific instrument which absorbs
the different experiences of preceding generations. So for
the effectiveness of the progress of the sciences the superi­
ority of the instruments represented by the individual is a

89
prime necessity, a precondition of human progress. This
gives a special significance to medicine. Human life is a t
present very short; hardly has an individual acquired the
experience of the preceding generation in the form of
accumulated values, cultures and civilisation, and hardly
has he done this toward the middle of his life, when the
biological decline of his vital forces begins, old age and
disease come, leaving him a very short time to utilise all
his knowledge. While the youthful individual organism is
strong and vital, it does not possess sufficient experience
from preceding generations and when it is at its best and
has accumulated the experience of the past generations,
then its vital forces are already diminishing. This is a great
obstacle to human progress. If science were able to double
the span of human life, this would result in a great wealth
of scientific discovery, and the progress of the sciences
would be accelerated as never before in human history.
For it is the second part of human life, when the individual
has acquired the whole wealth of culture, which is the most
im portant to scientific progress. We must therefore ensure
th a t this period of the individual life occurs when there
exists the greatest wealth of the vital forces of the indi­
vidual. In this way the individual would not merely be
doubled in value, but would be made a hundred times more
valuable for human progress, representing an infinitely
greater source of the creation of values for human culture
and progress. In this way the elimination of disease and
old age, and the prolongation of the span of life are not
simply an individual problem, but are a vital problem of
society and of human progress.
I t is thus a bounden duty towards humanity and towards
human progress to take part in this struggle. I have heard
many people say: ‘Yes, if I eat toxins perhaps I shall only
live to be fifty, while if I live healthily, perhaps I shall live
to be a hundred and twenty, but I prefer to live with toxins
and be fifty.’ This consideration might be justified from the
point of the individual, for the individual has a right to do
as he pleases, and we must respect the freedom of the
individual. B ut there are also other considerations. This
individual transmits his diseased, unhealthy disposition to

90
the succeeding generation and thus becomes a factor in the
biological degeneration of humanity, contributing to the
lessening of the span of human life. We are therefore
entitled to regard such an individual from a moral point of
view as an enemy of mankind and of human progress, for
health and longevity are not only individual values, bu t
are factors in human progress. So health and longevity
become our duty vis-a-vis human society and human
progress, and represent not only an individual problem, but
also a problem of the whole of humanity.

91
Edmond Bordeaux Szekely
(circa 1940)
 Chapter IX

AGRICULTURE AND PUBLIC HEALTH

T he production of healthy fruits, vegetables and cereals

is the foundation of health and of natural medicine. If
our fruits and vegetables are deficient and unwholesome,
the whole therapy and diet are illusory. From a biological
point of view the earth is the foundation of human society,
for the main source of everything th a t we have in society
comes from the earth. In this chapter we shall deal with
horticultural and agricultural problems, showing the best
way possible to fight against various diseases of plants
and to avoid unnatural chemical fertilisers and sprays
upon plants. This is a fundamental problem of naturism,
but it is one of the most neglected.
Most of us to-day are suffering from various dangerous
dietetic deficiencies which cannot be remedied until the
depleted soils from which our foods come are brought into
proper mineral balance.
The alarming fact is th a t foods—fruits and vegetables
and grains—now being raised on millions of acres of land no
longer contain enough of certain needed minerals and are
starving us, no m atter how much of them we eat.
Realisation of the importance of minerals in food is so
new th a t the textbooks on nutritional dietetics contain
very little about it. Nevertheless, it is something th at
concerns all of us, and the further we delve into it the more
startling it becomes. Laboratory tests prove th a t the fruits,
the vegetables, the grains, the eggs and even the milk and
meats of to-day are not what they were a few generations
ago. (Which doubtess explains why our forefathers thrived
on a selection of fruits th a t would starve us.) No man of
to-day can eat enough fruits and vegetables to supply his
system with the mineral salts he requires for perfect health,

93
because his stomach is not big enough to hold them. And
we are running to big stomachs.
No longer does a balanced and fully nourishing diet
consist merely of so many calories or certain vitamins or a
fixed proportion of starches, proteins and carbohydrates.
We know that it must contain, in addition, something like
a score of mineral salts.
Ninety-nine per cent of the English and American peoples
are deficient in these minerals and a marked deficiency in
any one of the more important minerals actually results in
disease. Any upset of the balance, any considerable lack of
one or another element, however microscopic the body
requirement may be, and we sicken, suffer from illness and
shorten our lives. We must make soil building the basis of
food building, in order to accomplish human building.
Minerals are vital to human metabolism and health,
and no plant or animal can appropriate to itself any
mineral which is not present in the soil upon which it feeds.
In the past, little attention has been paid to food deficiencies
and even less to soil deficiencies. Men eminent in medicine
denied there was any such thing as vegetable and fruits
th a t did not contain sufficient minerals for human needs.
Eminent agricultural authorities insisted th at all soil
contained all necessary minerals. They reasoned th at plants
take what they need, and th a t it is the function of the
human body to appropriate what it requires. Failure to do
so, they said, was a symptom of disorder.
Some of the respected authorities even claimed th a t the
so-called secondary minerals played no part whatever in
human health. I t is only recently th at such men as Dr.
McCollum of John Hopkins, Dr. Mendel of Yale, Dr.
Sherman of Columbia, Dr. Lipman of Rutgers and Doctors
H. G. Knight and Oswald Schreiner of the United States
Department of Agriculture have agreed th at these minerals
are essential to plant, animal and human feeding.
Nor does the layman realise th a t there may be a pro­
nounced difference in both foods and soils. To him one
vegetable, one glass of milk or one egg is about the same
as another. D irt is dirt too, and he assumes th at by adding
a little fertiliser to it, a satisfactory vegetable or fruit can

94
b e grow n . T h e tr u th is th a t ou r fo o d s v a r y e n o rm o u sly in
v a lu e , an d som e o f th e m are n o t w o rth e a tin g a s fo o d . F o r
ex a m p le, v e g e ta tio n grow n in on e p la ce o f th e c o u n try m a y
a ssa y 1,100 p a rts, p er b illio n , o f io d in e, as a g a in st 20 in th a t
g row n elsew h ere. P ro cessed m ilk h a s ru n a n y w h ere from
362 p a rts, per m illio n , o f io d in e a n d 127 o f iron, d o w n to
n o th in g . W e h a v e b een s y s te m a tic a lly ro b b in g th e poor
soils an d th e g o o d so ils a lik e o f th e v e r y su b sta n ce m o st
n ecessa ry to h ea lth , g ro w th , lo n g life a n d r e sista n c e to
d isea se. T h e m o st d ir ect a p p ro a ch to b e tte r h e a lth is to
fin d a m e th o d o f re sto rin g th o se m issin g m in erals to our
fo o d s.
W e k n o w th a t ra ts, g u in ea p igs a n d o th er a n im a ls ca n
b e fe d in to a d isea sed co n d itio n a n d o u t a g a in sim p ly b y
co n tr o llin g th e m in era ls in th eir fo o d s. A te n y ea r t e s t
w ith ra ts p roved th a t b y w ith h o ld in g c a lciu m th e y ca n b e
bred d o w n to a th ird th e siz e o f th o se fe d w ith a n a d eq u a te
a m o u n t o f th a t m in era l. T h eir in te llig e n c e , to o , ca n be
co n tr o lle d b y m in era l fe e d in g as re a d ily a s ca n th eir size,
th e ir b o n y str u c tu r e a n d th e ir g en era l h e a lth . P la c e a
n u m b er o f th e se lit t le a n im a ls in sid e a m a ze a fter sta r v in g
so m e o f th e m in a ce rta in m in era l ele m e n t. T h e sta r v ed
o n es w ill b e u n a b le to fin d th eir w a y o u t, w h ereas th e
o th ers w ill h a v e lit t le or n o d ifficu lty in g e t tin g o u t. T h eir
d isp o sitio n s ca n b e a ltered b y m in era l fe ed in g . T h e y ca n
b e m a d e q u arrelsom e a n d b ellig eren t; th e y c a n e v e n be
tu rn ed in t o ca n n ib a ls a n d m a d e t o d ev o u r ea ch oth er. A
ca g efu l o f n o rm a l ra ts w ill liv e in a m ity . R e str ic t th eir
ca lciu m , a n d th e y w ill b e co m e irrita b le a n d w ith d ra w a p a rt
fr o m o n e a n o th er. T h e n th e y w ill b eg in to fig h t. R e sto re
th e ir ca lciu m b a la n ce a n d th e y w ill g row m ore frien d ly;
in tim e th e y w ill b eg in to sleep in a p ile a s before.
M an y b a ck w a rd ch ild ren are ‘s tu p id ’ m e rely b eca u se th e y
are d eficie n t in m a g n esia . W e p u n ish th e m fo r our failu re
t o fe e d th e m p rop erly.
O ur p h y sic a l w e ll-b e in g is c e r ta in ly m ore d ir ectly
d ep en d e n t u p o n th e m in era ls w e ta k e in t o our s y ste m th a n
u p o n calories or u p o n th e p recise p ro p o rtio n s o f sta rch ,
p ro te in or ca r b o h y d ra te s w e con su m e.
I t is n o w a g reed th a t a t le a s t s ix te e n m in era l elem en ts

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are indispensable for normal nutrition, and several more are
always found in small amounts in the body, although their
precise physiological role has not been determined. Of the
eleven indispensable salts, calcium, phosphorus and iron
are perhaps the most important. Calcium is the dominant
nerve controller; it powerfully affects the cell formation
of all living things and regulates the nerve action. I t
governs contractility of the muscles and the rhythmic
beat of the heart. I t also co-ordinates the other mineral
elements and corrects disturbances made by them. I t
works only in sunlight. Vitamin D is its essential counter­
part.
Doctor Sherman of Columbia asserts th a t fifty per cent
of the American people are starving for calcium. A recent
article in the Journal of the American Medical Association
stated th a t out of four thousand cases in New York
Hospital, only two were not suffering from a lack of
calcium. W hat does such a deficiency mean? How would
it affect your health or mine? So many morbid conditions
and actual diseases may result th a t it is almost hopeless to
catalogue them. Included in the list are rickets, bony
deformities, fatigability, and behaviour disturbances such
as incorrigibility, assaultiveness, non-adaptability.
To take a specific example. The soil around a certain
city is poor in calcium. Three hundred children of this
community were examined and nearly ninety per cent had
bad teeth, sixty-nine per cent showed affections of the
nose and throat, swollen glands, enlarged or diseased
tonsils. More than one-third had defective vision, round
shoulders, bow legs and anaemia.
Calcium and phosphorus appear to pull in double harness.
A child requires as much per day as two grown men, but
studies indicate a common deficiency of both in our food.
Researches on farm animals point to a deficiency of one or
the other as the cause of serious losses to the farmers, and
when the soil is poor in phosphorus these animals become
bone-chewers. Doctor McCollum says th a t when there are
enough phosphates in the blood there can be no dental
decay.
Iron is an essential constituent of the oxygen-carrying

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pigment of the blood; iron starvation results in anaemia,
and yet iron cannot be assimilated unless some copper is
contained in the diet. In Florida many cattle die from an
obscure disease called ‘salt-sickness’. I t has been found to
arise from a lack of iron and copper in the soil, hence in the
grass. A man may starve from a want of these elements
just as a cow or bullock starves.
If iodine is not present in our food the function of the
thyroid gland is disturbed and goitre afflicts us. The human
body requires only fourteen-thousandths of a milligram
daily, yet we have a distinct ‘goitre belt’ in various parts of
the world, and in certain regions of both Europe and
America the soil is so poor in iodine th a t the disease is
common.
Each mineral element plays a definite role in nutrition.
A characteristic set of symptoms, just as specific as any
vitamin-deficiency disease, follows a deficiency of any one
of them. I t is alarming, therefore, to face the fact th a t we
are starving for these precious, health-giving substances.
I t may be said th a t if our foods are poor in the mineral
salts they are supposed to contain, then we should resort to
dosing. That is precisely what is being done, or being
attempted. However, scientists assert th a t the human
system cannot appropriate those elements to the best advantage
in any hut the food form. A t best, only a minimal part of
them, in the form of natural medicaments, can be utilised by
the body, and certain dieticians go so far as to say it is a
waste of effort to take them. Calcium, for instance, cannot
be supplied in any form of medication with lasting effect.
B ut there is a more potent reason why the curing of
dietetic deficiencies by drugging is not very successful.
There are sixteen indispensable elements and certain
others which presumably perform some obscure function as
yet undetermined. Aside from calcium and phosphorus,
they are needed only in infinitesimal quantities, and the
activity of one may be dependent on the presence of
another. To determine the precise requirements of each
individual case and to attem pt to weigh it out on a drug­
gist’s scale would appear hopeless.
I t is a problem and a serious one. B ut there is a hopeful

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side of the picture: Nature can and will solve it i f she is
encouraged to do so. The minerals in fruits and vegetables
are colloidal; i.e., they are in a state of such extremely fine
suspension th a t they can be assimilated by the human
system; it is merely a question of giving back to nature
the materials with which she works. We must rebuild our
soils; put back the minerals we have taken out. That sounds
difficult, but it is not hard in fact. Neither is it expensive.
Therein lies the short cut to better health and longer life.
The textbooks are not dependable, because many of the
analyses in them were made many years ago, perhaps from
products raised in virgin soils, whereas our soils have been
constantly depleted. Soil analyses reflect only the content
of samples. Any analysis may be entirely different from
another ten miles away.
Crops grown in a properly mineralised soil are bigger and
better; the seeds germinate quicker, grow more rapidly
and make larger plants; trees are healthier and put on
more fruit of a better quality.
By increasing the mineral content of citrus fruit, its
texture, its appearance and its flavour are improved. By
mineralising the feed a t poultry farms we have more and
better eggs; by balancing pasture soils, we produce richer
milk.
A healthy plant, however, grown in soil properly balanced,
can and will resist more insect pests. That very character­
istic makes it a better food product. You have tuberculosis
and pneumonia germs in your system, but you are strong
enough to throw them off. Similarly, a really healthy plant
will more or less take care of itself in the battle against
insects and blights, and will also give the human system
what it requires. For instance, in an orange grove infested
with scale, when the mineral balance was restored to part
of the soil, the trees growing in th a t part became clean
while the rest remained diseased. By the same means,
healthy rose-bushes have been grown between rows th at
were riddled with insects.
Similarly tomato and cucumber plants have been grown,
both healthy and diseased, when the vines interwined.

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Insects ate up the diseased and refused to touch the healthy
plants.
‘Healthy plants mean healthy people.’ I t is impossible
to raise a strong race on a weak soil.
The following extract is taken from a report of a sub­
sidiary of one of the leading copper companies in the
United States: ‘Many States show a marked reduction
in the productive capacity of the soil . . . in many
districts amounting to twenty-five, to fifty per cent reduc­
tion in the last fifty years. . . . Some areas show a tenfold
variation in calcium. Some show a sixty-fold variation in
phosphorus. . . . Authorities . . . see soil depletion, barren
live stock, increased human death rate due to heart disease,
deformities, arthritis, increased dental caries, all due to
lack of essential minerals in plant food.’
I t is neither a complicated nor an expensive undertaking
to restore our soils to balance, and thereby work a real
miracle in the control of disease. As a m atter of fact, it
is a money-making move for the farmer, and any competent
soil chemist can tell him how to proceed. First determine
by analysis the precise chemistry of any given soil, then
correct the deficiencies by putting down enough of the
missing elements to restore its balance. The same care
should be used as in prescribing for a sick patient, for
proportions are of vital importance.
Advancement in chemistry, and especially our ever
increasing knowledge of colloidal chemistry makes it now
possible by the use of minerals in colloidal form, to prescribe
a cheap and effective system of soil correction which meets
this ,vital need, and one which fits in admirably with the
plans of nature.
Soils seriously deficient in minerals cannot produce plant
life competent to maintain our needs, and with the con­
tinuous cropping and shipping away of these concentrates,
the condition becomes worse.
A famous nutrition authority in America recently
wrote: ‘One sure way to end the American people’s
susceptibility to infection is to supply through food a
balanced ration of iron, copper and other metals. An
organism supplied with a diet adequate to, or preferably

99
in excess of, all mineral requirements may so utilise these
elements as to produce immunity from infection quite
beyond anything we are able to produce artificially by our
present method of immunisation. You can’t make up the
deficiency by using patent medicines.’
Prevention of disease is easier, more practical and more
economical than cure, but not until foods are standardised
on a basis of what they contain instead of what they look
like, can the dietician prescribe them with intelligence and
with effect. There was a time when medical therapy had
no standard, because the therapeutic elements in drugs had
not been definitely determined on a chemical basis. Phar­
maceutical houses have changed all this. Food chemistry,
on the other hand, has depended almost entirely on the
government agencies for its researches, and in our real
knowledge of values we are about where medicine was a
century ago.
Disease preys most surely and most viciously on the
under-nourished and unfit plants, animals and human
beings alike, and when the importance of these obscure
mineral elements is fully realised the chemistry of life will
have to be rewritten. No man knows his mental or bodily
capacity, how well he can feel or how long he can live, for
we are all cripples and weaklings. I t is a disgrace to science.
Happily th at chemistry is being rewritten and we are on
our way to better health by returning to the soil the things
we have stolen from it.
The public can help; it can hasten the change. How?
By demanding quality in its food. By insisting th a t our
doctors and our health departments establish scientific
standards of nutritional value. The growers will quickly
respond. They can put back those minerals almost over­
night, and by doing so they can actually make money
through bigger and better crops.
I t is simpler to cure sick soils than sick people—which
shall we choose?
The foundation of cosmotherapy is the various energies
coming to us from the various spheres: botanosphere,
hydrosphere, lithosphere, etc., and it is based on the
utilisation of these various natural energies. The earth.

100
the vegetation, the air, the water, and the sun are the
essence of cosmotherapy, which consists of the total and
optimal application of these energies and of the technique
of perfect adaptation to all the energies of these spheres.
As things are, we adapt ourselves to all these spheres very
badly. For instance, we adapt ourselves very badly to the
atmosphere when we shut ourselves up in large houses of
our great towns, where there is hardly any fresh air a t all,
and where the sun’s rays penetrate with difficulty.
We also adapt ourselves very badly to the hydrosphere,
which consists of natural sun-irradiated water. In our
cities we cannot have such water for bathing and drinking.
We can only have the denatured, dead water out of pipes.
Similarly we adapt ourselves very badly to the botanosphere
(vegetation). Instead of plants and trees and flowers round
us we have only stone walls and metal machines. B ut of all
these maladaptations the worst is our bad adaptation to
the lithosphere, to the earth, for we allow all the vital
forces of the earth to be exhausted and wasted and thus
destroy the vital and chemical energies of the earth.
Unhealthy soil results in unhealthy vegetation, in un­
healthy fruits and unhealthy vegetables, and unhealthy
vegetation results in unhealthy animals and men and this
general sickness results in the degeneration of the race.
Disease, weakness and passivity constitute a very great
danger. This is proved by statistics.
To take one example out of many. The United States
Board of Education reported before the war th a t fifteen
million children in the United States were in some manner
defective. Some had more than one defect. The statistics
issued from the United States Board of Education,
Washington, D.C., are as follows:
4 0 0 ,0 0 0 ch ild ren have organic disease.
1 , 000,000 ,, tuberculosis.
1 , 000,000 ,, spinal curvature,
4 .0 0 0 . 0 0 0 „ are mal-nourished.
6.000. 000 have enlarged tonsils, adenoids, and
other gland diseases,
10 , 000,000 have defective teeth.

101
1 5 ,0 0 0 ,0 0 0 ch ild ren h a v e n eed o f a tte n tio n fo r p h y sica l
d efe cts.
F ifte e n b illio n d ollars is e s tim a te d t o b e th e an n u a l
eco n o m ic lo ss d u e to ill h e a lth e x p e n se o f sick n ess, h o sp ita ls,
h o sp ita l m a in te n a n c e , lo s t w a g e s, in efficien cy o f w orkers
a n d p rem a tu re d ea th . H e a r t d ise a se is th e c h ie f ca u se o f
d e a th in th e U n ite d S ta te s a n d is s te a d ily b eco m in g m ore
d e str u c tiv e . I n 1928, in th e U n ite d S ta te s i t ca u sed 2 3 7 ,6 4 9
d ea th s, a r a te o f 2 0 7 .7 p er 1 0 0 ,0 0 0 o f p o p u la tio n . P n e u ­
m o n ia w a s n e x t w ith a r a te o f 98 a n d ca n cer th ird w ith
95.9. K id n e y d ise a se w as a clo se fo u r th w ith 95. T h en
ca m e cereb ral haem orrhage a n d s o fte n in g o f th e b rain, 88;
n e x t a c c id e n ts a n d tu b erc u lo sis e a c h 79.2; c o n g e n ita l m a l­
fo r m a tio n s a n d d ise a se o f ea rly in fa n c y , 65.6; in flu en za,
4 5.2 a n d diarrhoea a n d e n te r itis, 2 6 .8 .
T h e se s ta tis tic s are a lesso n fo r all w h o see th e h ig h e st
id ea l fo r m a n k in d in th e h ig h e s t p erfectio n o f te ch n iq u e
a n d m a c h in es. W e ca n see th a t in th e U n ite d S ta te s w here
te c h n ic a l p e r fectio n h a s a tta in e d its m o st e v o lv e d form a
h ig h p rice is p a id fo r th is p erfectio n . W e ca n see th a t th e
p eo p le a re d e str o y in g th e m se lv e s as a r e su lt o f th is g re a t
a d o ra tio n o f th e id o l o f m a c h in ery . T h eir en ergies are
c o n c e n tr a te d o n m a ch in es a n d o n p r o d u c tiv e en erg y an d
n o t o n e p er c e n t o f th e ir en erg ies are c o n c e n tra te d o n th e
m o st v it a l p ro b lem o f m a n a n d o f s o c ie ty — th e p rob lem
o f h o w to sa v e h u m a n ity its e lf. I f th e p resen t te n d e n c y
to w a r d s a d en a tu red life c o n tin u e s fo r a n o th er tw o g en era ­
tio n s in th e U n ite d S ta te s, th e n th e w h o le c o n tin e n t w ill
b eco m e a v a s t h o sp ita l fo r e v e r y k in d o f d isea se. A n d th e
sa m e ca n h a p p en in e v e r y c o u n tr y o f th e w orld. E v e n if
b y a r a tio n a lisa tio n o f m e th o d s o f p ro d u c tio n an d d istrib u ­
tio n e v e r y fo r m o f e x p lo ita tio n o f m a n b y m a n is elim in a ted ,
th ere w ill a lw a y s rem a in th e m o s t d an gerou s form o f
e x p lo ita tio n , th e s e lf-e x p lo ita tio n o f m a n b y h im self. T here
w ill rem ain th e d estr u c tio n o f th e v it a l en ergies o f m a n an d
th e d e str u c tio n o f th e race in ou r fa c to r ie s a n d in our g rea t
c itie s. S o th e a c h ie v e m e n t o f a p e r fe c t m ea n s o f p ro d u ctio n
a n d o f a p erfectly ju s t d istr ib u tio n o f co m m o d itie s a n d th e
to ta l a b o litio n o f e v e r y fo rm o f e x p lo ita tio n is n o t co m p lete
an d c a n n o t b e su fficien t w ith o u t th e a b o litio n o f our

102
exaggerated urban and factory life. To the ideologies of the
various movements which wish to transform society into a
more perfect form we must add these ideas upon a natural
and simple life. We must struggle th at people shall come to
know the fundamental laws of a healthy, simple and natural
life which will always be the foundation of human health,
human longevity and human happiness in every age and
in every society whatever, as long as the human race and
our planet exist.
Society must adapt itself to nature, for nature is the
dialectical foundation of society. The natural forces and
laws determine man, while the social laws and forces modify
and influence man. Consequently, every sociological system
must adapt itself to the laws and forces of nature; without
this every social system will remain Utopian and its
ideology imperfect. We cannot choose what sort of social
system we shall construct and what forms of collective life
we shall establish, for these are dictated to us by the
natural forces and laws. I t is quite vain and useless to show
th a t such and such an industrial organisation can satisfy
the needs of the people in New York or London. For if
we do not live in a natural environment, in fresh air, in the
sun, among plants and trees, and if we do not eat natural
foods, man will always remain sick and unhappy, even if
all his economic needs are satisfied, and even if his standard
of living is the highest and most perfect. Behind the stone
walls of our great cities and among the machines of our
great factories, despite his great material wealth, man will
always remain poor, poor in vitality and poor in harmony,
and will always be the victim of maladaptation to the
natural forces and laws. I t is important th a t we should
know the laws of health and life. A knowledge of the
technique of a healthy and natural life is the most essential
science, for as the Latin proverb says, ‘Learn first and then
philosophise.’ If we are sick or dead, we cannot solve any
of the problems of society by philosophy. We must first be
healthy and then we gain time, time for living instead of
for dying. If we concentrate our energies on gaining this
time, then we can solve all the other problems of life. B ut
health and time are the two essential preconditions, for

103
we can attain nothing without them. We struggle to spread
our ideas. Among those ideas must be the idea of a natural,
rational agriculture, for there cannot be a healthy society
anywhere where the fundamental occupation of mankind
is not agriculture. The fundamental profession of man
must always be agriculture, for every other industry is
simply a superstructure of agriculture. If agriculture does
not give us the fundamental materials necessary for life,
then no other industry or superstructural branch of industry
can exist.
So the most urgent and essential economic problem is a
rational, natural agriculture. If this problem were solved
and the most fundamental needs of society were satisfied,
then it would be possible to rationalise and make natural
by a similar method the other spheres of production. One
of the most fundamental parts of the cosmotherapeutic
programme is therefore giving a knowledge of natural
agriculture.
I t is a problem of individual health and of the collective
health of society. I t is also a fundamental problem of the
economy of society.
By intelligent and intensive culture of the soil and utilisa­
tion of all the natural resources in an economical way, the
world can easily supply a t least twenty times its present
population, giving health and happiness to all, without
making war on neighbouring countries.
As we see, the principles of natural medicine are clear
and logical, yet we still have the predominance of the
classical allopathic chemical medicine. Similarly, the funda­
mental principles of natural agriculture are also clear and
evident, yet we still have the predominance of classical,
unnatural, chemical agriculture. Our official institutions of
agriculture yearly publish thousands and thousands of
books and pamphlets which constantly propagate the old
false ideas of agriculture. Everything produced is now
chemicalised and deficient in the most necessary materials,
so we must not be surprised to read the statistics of disease
in different countries. Everything is in a chain of cause and
effect in strict correlation. The most fundamental activity
of man, agriculture, is contrary to nature, and unhealthy,

104
so the whole social superstructure is also unhealthy,
unnatural and diseased.
Now this has great significance, not only from the
standpoint of human health and th a t of the economy of
human society, but it also gives us the clue to the under­
standing of the enigmas of universal history which hitherto
have remained in obscurity. The application of dialectics
to the understanding of history has arrived a t the historical
materialist conception th a t economic factors have been
predominant in the history of various societies. Now what
are these economic factors? In the present contemporary
period the foundation of our society is technical, industrial
production, but this has only been the case during the last
two centuries. During thousands and thousands of years
in history economic factors signified agricultural factors,
for agriculture was always the basis of human society
both in antiquity and in the mediaeval feudal period. When
there have been great disequilibriums and dangers, they
have always coincided with various irregularities and inter­
ruptions of agricultural production and distribution. For
instance, when the Mediterranean pirates stole all the wheat
which was being carried by sea to Rome, there was serious
disturbance and revolution in Rome, for the reason th a t
without wheat life was not possible. I t was therefore neces­
sary to organise a strong navy a t sea and to send a strong
expedition to get rid of the pirates. I t was necessary to
raise new taxes to be able to create this fleet, it was neces­
sary to organise an expeditionary force, it was necessary to
take dictatorial measures and to make large scale alterations
in the senatorial and governmental powers in Rome.
Other nations provide similar examples. For instance,
when Hannibal waged the great war upon Rome he almost
won the war before the walls of Rome. B ut because he did
not receive supplies of wheat and other necessities from
Carthage he had to retire from Italy and lost the whole war.
W hat would have happened if Hannibal had conquered
Rome? Instead of the Roman Empire there would have
been a great Carthaginian Semitic empire in the Mediter­
ranean, and, instead of the various countries derived from
the descendants of the Roman empire in all the Latin

105
countries of Europe and America, we should have quite
different countries with quite different languages and
culture. We know th a t the greatest and most glorious
period of Rome was when the Romans were all agricul­
turists, when every one had his little piece of land and
cultivated it, and when even for the election of a consul
it was necessary to go to look for him in the country, work­
ing on his estate. The reader will remember the story of
Cincinnatus. During th at period Rome was the master of
the whole known world. In the simple and natural life of
Latin society there was a strong vitality which enabled the
Romans to conquer the whole known world of antiquity.
If we follow history we shall find th at the natural simple
life was changed in Rome. The rich colonies in every part
of the world sent all kinds of unnatural products to the
metropolis. If we read the lists of foods at the great ban­
quets of Lucullus we find th a t there were eight hundred
different foods which came from forty different countries
of the world, from North and East Africa, Asia Minor,
Persia, Arabia, Palestine, Greece. Petronius Arbiter tells
the same story of luxury in food. In the period of Lucullus
and of the Roman Caesars foods were terribly denatured
and were extremely unwholesome. Instead of the simple,
natural life of their ancestors their soft descendants led an
unnatural degenerate life, in the midst of disease and
epidemics. There were no longer small owners of land, for
all the agriculturists went as soldiers in the army, going
to every part of the world to maintain order in the colonies.
Instead of the small owners appeared the large landowners
with great latifundia, worked by slaves imported from the
colonies. As Tacitus wrote of th a t period, ‘the latifundia
have destroyed Italy’. Soon afterwards came the revolution
of the imported slaves under the leadership of Spartacus,
and a t the same time the progressive degeneration of the
whole population accompanied by great political chaos.
One politician fights against another and there are constant
civil wars and revolutions. Julius Caesar against Pompey,
Crassus against both. And then Augustus against Antonius.
Later all the colonies revolted against the Roman State,
and one Roman emperor after another was killed by poison

106
or by the sword. One tyrant succeeded another in quick
rotation. The whole Roman Empire was destroyed by new
young races coming from Asia whose life was simple, natural
and healthy like th at of the early Romans. These new vital
peoples overthrew Rome and the great empire came to an
end.
We can trace the gradual disappearance of the small
landowners, the disappearance of natural agriculture, the
disappearance of a natural and simple life. And with this
disappearance we find social, political and vital biological
degeneration as the logical causal consequence.
If we examine the history of Greece, of Persia, of Egypt,
and of all the great empires of human history we shall
always find the same. Human history teaches us very
serious lessons. In our present age we are the actors on the
stage, so it is very im portant and urgent for us to learn the
lessons of history.

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 Chapter X

TH E SYMBIOSIS OF MEN AND TREES

T h e history of medicine follows a great elliptical path.

Medicine began with Hippocrates as an entirely natural
medicine, then with Galen medicine became entirely de­
natured and has remained so until the present day. Now
we can observe a great tendency in medicine to return to
naturalness. We can say the same of agriculture. Agri­
culture as a science appeared first in ancient Persia. The
first and most perfect manual of agriculture and arbori­
culture is certain chapters of the Zend Avesta of Zoroaster,
which catalogue about ten thousand fruits and vegetables;
telling how to grow them, how to improve them and
ennoble them by crossing and other processes. If we
examine the origin and evolution of all our present products
we shall find th at the most noble and perfect fruits, vege­
tables and cereals are of Persian origin. The agriculture
of Zoroaster was perfectly natural, like the medicine of
Hippocrates. According to his ideas agriculture was a
very simple, clear and precise affair. He told all who
followed his teaching to work two hours a day in the
garden, regarding this as an indispensable precondition of
health. For in gardening there is co-operation with all the
forces of nature, with the sun, with the rains, with the water,
with the earth, with the air and with plants. Gardening is
co-operation between man and nature and there is no more
perfect occupation for man, and there exists no more
favourable influence for the human organism than work in
the open air, in nature among flowers, plants and trees.
And indeed the contemporaries of Zoroaster were very
strong, robust, healthy and long-living individuals. If we
examine certain laws of Zoroaster, if we examine how he
placed agriculture as the basis of society, we shall find

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perhaps some strange considerations from the standpoint
of the men of the twentieth century. For instance, the laws
of Zoroaster prescribed the following: he who has one child
must plant one tree a month, he who has two children must
plant two trees a month, and he who has ten children must
plant ten trees a month and as soon as the children them­
selves have grown to an age when they can occupy them­
selves with arboriculture, they must themselves multiply
these trees so that, when the trees grow old new ones are
there to take their place. For according to Zoroaster the
aim of society upon the earth is to afforest the whole earth
so th a t the whole earth may be a great and lovely garden
of flowers, plants and fruit trees. Such is the essential
teaching of Zoroaster with regard to practical life. If we
examine this from the point of view of dialectics we must
recognise th a t it is not as strange as it appears a t first
glance, and it contains profound truths. For in tru th the
destiny of mankind and of human society depends on
natural arboriculture. This is the true dialectical foundation
of man from a biological standpoint and also of society
from the economic point of view. The essence of this
doctrine is the exploitation of the earth directly by man
instead of the exploitation of man by man as we have in
our present society. W ith regard to the practical ideas of
Zoroaster, how to produce plants and trees, no contem­
porary manual of agriculture can surpass his work in value.
His ideas on the co-operation of the lithosphere, hydro­
sphere, atmosphere and botanosphere are completely
justified from the point of view of contemporary science.
In the present age are appearing the first signs th a t arbori­
culture must return and is returning to the principles of
Zoroaster. Arboriculture js returning to the original form
in which it appeared in human history in the same way
th a t medicine is returning to the original natural form in
which it appeared in the shape of the medicine of Hippo­
crates. Some years ago I received some books by an author
named Gifford who is a Professor of Tropical Forestry in the
University of Miami. His extremely interesting works are
a sign and symptom of a return to the arboriculture of
Zoroaster. Indeed they have much in common with his

109
teachings. The one lived and the other lives in a sub-tropical
climate and their ideas, too, coincide. The following aphor­
isms give a clear picture of the first and last forms of agri­
culture, the agriculture of Zoroaster and the agriculture of
Gifford.
S I L V I C U L T U R A L A P H O R I S MS
We should remember that a tree is worth more in dollars
and cents standing, for the protection it affords, than cut
down for lumber. Keep the ground covered. Save the
humus. Leave seed trees. Use the natural sources of fertility.
There are plenty of substitutes for forest products, but no
substitute for the forest. I t is wrong to mutilate a forest
tree for turpentine, rubber or other products unless it is
mature or it is time for its removal in the process of
improvement cutting. Unless the primary object is public
welfare, the forest is in the same class as any other ordinary
industry. Civilisation is marked by many stages, but none
more im portant and modern than the care of the wild
forest for public welfare purposes.
Bear in mind th a t the forest is not merely a collection
of trees. I t is a society of living things, animal and plant,
working together for better or for worse. There is a soci­
ology of the woods, just as there is a sociology of humans.
There are mutualism and parasitism in the forest just as
there are in human society.
Forestry properly understood is the intelligent use of
the axe and spade.
Northern foresters working in the tropics must eliminate
from their minds the idea of summer and winter. This
means the elimination of the annual ring upon which so
many depend for the determination of annual increment.
Improvement cuttings should be conducted for silvi­
cultural and not mathematical reasons. Cutting to a
diameter limit or only as fast as trees grow is a means to
an end, but not necessarily forestry. A tree is ready to
be cut when it is time to cut it, regardless of whether the
amount cut is more or less than the rate of growth.

lio
 The idea th at plants must have a season of rest or
hibernation like northern animals and plants is foreign to
the tropics, the world’s biological headquarters. The idea
th a t field crops alone feed mankind belongs also to
temperate zones.
The tropics can produce all the essential needs of man
from tree crops.
Forest trees have an advantage over the field crops in
th a t there is no annual planting and no necessity for
fertilisers or sprays.
Any soil will grow trees in the tropics if there is sufficient
moisture. The tropics are a tree country. The tropics are
the place for perennials.
There is an excess of sunshine in all tropical countries.
Shade for man species is necessary. Owing to lack of
seasons the snowline is usually the timberline in the tropics.
Large areas in the torrid zone are covered with ice and
snow throughout the year.
In the north agriculture is agriculture, horticulture is
horticulture, silviculture is silviculture, but in the tropics
all may be advantageously combined.
When you give a crop of trees an abundance of the right
kind of humus you are giving it a balanced ration just as
the tree took it from the soil and air.
Leaf-fail and planting in the tropics are not confined to
any season.
There is no advantage in cultivating a soil which is
already too loose and porous. The only thing th a t helps
the capillarity of loose soil is humus. This applies as well
to a soil th a t is too hard and compact.
Tree roots reach down deep into the soil to garner
fertility. Tree roots grow in salt water in the tropics, but
no t in temperate regions.
The place to study trees and forests is where they are

ill
not restrained and hindered by lack of water and warmth.
If there is a science of forestry it should be based on
tropical data. The tropical out-of-doors is an all-year
museum, best suited for study.
A thing is of little interest by itself. A plant should be
studied from a use-association standpoint, always in
connection with the place and with the people.
Man is fighting many troubles produced by his own
unnatural systems of cultivation. We should always work
with and not against nature.
The extinction of a rare plant is a world-wide calamity.
There is usually a good substitute a t home for the things
we buy abroad. There is no reason why things from a
distance should be better than home products. The reverse
is for several reasons nearer the truth.
There is no reason why each region should not be so far
as possible self supporting.
If each region is self-supporting the whole will take care
of itself. Trade should be reciprocal between countries of
unlike capabilities. The section th a t buys more than it sells
is on the road to the poorhouse.
Many of our industries are obsolete; some are destructive,
some constructive and some neutral.
A forest tree can yield fruits, other foods, fibres, oils
and other products as well as wood.
A wood should never be discarded because it is hard to
work. This is usually offset by other good qualities. In
time it may not be the kind of wood, but wood of any
kind. Hardwoods are not always the slowest growers.
A weed is merely a plant out of place. The weed of to-day
may be very useful to-morrow. A weed in one place may be
useful in another location.
Tropical tree culture has hardly begun, and many
species may become extinct before it gets started.

112
 In judging forest soil look up not down, since the char­
acter of the vegetation which covers it is the test of its
capabilities.
If every family owned five acres of diverse tropical
forest bearing various useful products for home use, there
would be more people with a soil and tree conscience and
more self-supporting and patriotic citizens in the community.
Avocational schools are needed to show what can be
produced from a tropical soil, how to produce it and what
industries can be fostered for the manufacture of those
productions.
All wealth comes from the sea and the soil.
Any man who converts a piece of unused land into a
productive unit not only adds to the national wealth, bu t
with the help of nature is creating a real life insurance for
himself.
(Actually the farmers eat what they cannot sell instead
of selling what they cannot eat.)
Many tropical fruits are not perishable and are cheaply
transported.
There is nothing th a t can have a greater educational,
health-producing and gratifying effect than a five-acre
forest garden in the tropics. A man is filling a very praise­
worthy niche when he produces something th a t is of use
to the rest of us.
One moving to the tropics must forget northern nations.
The tropic is not, as usually supposed, the land of siesta
and manana. I t is a land of intensity.
If the lumberman had left one seed tree per acre and
cleared up his mess like the other industries are required
to do, there would be many fine forests in this country
(the United States).
The way to fight excessive sun, wind and rain is with
the forest. The earth must not be deprived of its protective
covering.

113
 The export of raw materials to foreign lands in exchange
for cheap, unnecessary manufactured articles is a poor
trade. A big export trade means a subsidised merchant
marine which in turn demands a big navy which in turn
tends to war.
Our greatest asset is beauty exemplified in all kinds of
art. The nearer natural this art the better.
Vegetation is the dress th at adorns the earth. Landscape
can be produced with vegetation on the face of the earth
just as a painter works with a brush and colours. This
vegetarian can yield useful products as well as beauty.
The man who leaves his inheritance in better shape than
when he received it has not lived in vain. The man who
introduces a new plant, develops a new plant or discovers
a new plant or a new use for an old plant may add millions
of wealth to future generations. A man may drop a single
seed accidentally which in time may completely change
the landscape and the industries of a people.
The best pumps are trees, they work for years without
repair or expense.
Plant deep-rooted, wind-resistant trees. Plant trees th a t
are fire-proof because of thick bark, gummy sap or those
th a t sucker from the stump and root. Use native trees or
trees th at have long been naturalised and survived. Let
nature do your experimenting.
Climatic disturbances cling close to the earth and are
unquestionably in many ways influenced by a forest
covering.
Forestry is a process of cultural operations th at cannot
be accurately measured in feet and dollars.
Useful trees are usually ornamental. Use and art are not
incompatible.
The prosperity of a country depends, not so much upon
its natural resources, as upon the way those resources are
handled. Even the hurricane th a t uproots a tree may
spread its seeds.

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 Exchange of products is superfluous in a country which
can produce everything it needs.
Almost every tropical region can be made self-supporting.
The final adjustments between living things and their
environment is the most puzzling thing characteristic of
nature. Too heavy and continuous fruiting may be a
distress signal.
* * * *

There is very great affinity between the ideas of Zoroaster

and Gifford. The explanation lies in the similarity between
the two periods. In the time of Zoroaster the forests were
almost in a state of disappearance and in general arbori­
culture was a vital necessity of the time. I t is the same
to-day. Our forests are disappearing with terrible rapidity,
and our climate becomes worse and worse. We have too
much cold, too much heat, too much dryness, too much
humidity, as a practical consequence of the destruction of
the forests. Gifford is in the true Zoroastrian tradition
when he recognizes the forests as the greatest treasure of
man and of human society.
The climate depends on the forests, and on the climate
our health, and on our health the economic welfare of
society. The reconstruction of our forests is truly an urgent
task. Unfortunately it is a problem neglected alike by
politics and by agriculture.
Public health cannot profit very much from a system
of feeding which is based upon our present system of
agriculture. The predominant and often excessive con­
sumption of meat and denatured cereals and the consequent
craving for stimulants and narcotics are the chief causes
of the almost universal toxic condition and social unrest
of the people, frequently intensified by over-production
and unemployment in the industrial fields. To-day we are
devoting over two million acres to the cultivation of the
different cereals. The total harvest is approximately five
billion bushels, most of which goes to the feeding of twenty
million animals. Only a comparatively small portion of the
developed agricultural land is devoted to the cultivation

115
of fruits, vegetables and nuts. Cereals and m eat are not
the best food for man. In fact, he could live much better
by reducing their consumption to a minimum and by
eating more fruits, nuts and vegetables instead, supple­
mented occasionally by small amounts of dairy products,
such as buttermilk, clabbered (sour) milk and cottage
cheese.
In the progress of civilisation fruit and nut trees will
always be a necessary and important element, not only for
providing wholesome and ample nourishment, but also for
enhancing man’s love for the beauties of nature. Mineral
food can be brought from greater depths by fruit and nut
trees than by cereals, as the strong roots of the tree are
capable of reaching the deeper, richer strata of the soil,
permitting, therefore, a more intensive cultivation of a
given area of land.
Agriculture and horticulture are the most natural and
wholesome occupations of man, the foundation of all other
occupations. In a nation wishing to achieve a healthy organism
about seventy-five per cent of the labouring masses should
occupy themselves largely with progressive and wholesome
agricultural and horticultural activities, and twenty-five per
cent with trades and commerce.
For health and delight the garden and the orchard are
the universal and supreme ideal of man. In every human
heart there is an ever-present yearning for the day when
he may own an acre of land and plant it w ith trees th a t
will blossom and bear fruit. This love of country and
orchard is the one abiding memory of an almost forgotten
paradise. How beautiful is the sight of an orchard, with
its blooming trees sending their roots deep down into the soil,
drinking the heavenly light with its millions of blossom
and bringing forth the luscious fruits in which the hidden
treasures of the earth and the life-giving forces of the sun
are so wonderfully combined!
The natural laws and forces determine hum an society.
There would be a natural human society if seventy-five
per cent of the people occupied themselves with arbori­
culture and agriculture and of only twenty-five per cent
occupied themselves with other occupations. And for their

116
health the twenty-five per cent should work for one or
two hours every day in the garden in order to avoid the
destruction of their health and longevity and to keep their
strength and vitality. B ut what do we see? We see just the
opposite. In the most civilised and progressive countries
it is not seventy-five per cent of the inhabitants who occupy
themselves with agriculture, but the proportion is inverse
and only twenty-five per cent occupy themselves with
agriculture and seventy-five per cent occupy themselves
with quite other things. We concentrate in great cities and
on various unhealthy occupations, and this concentration
is in a large measure responsible for the biological degenera­
tion of the race. We do not wish to abolish technique; we
only wish to put it back in its place and not to exaggerate
it; we wish to produce everything which is necessary and
nothing which is superfluous.
The twenty-five per cent who occupy themselves with
agriculture use thoroughly bad methods. The agricultural
workers and peasants work ten times more than would be
necessary, if they knew the natural laws. If they knew
them they could obtain the same results with ten per cent
of the work.
Let us examine what they produce. To a very large
extent they produce cereals to feed animals and afterwards
eat the animals, instead of producing products which man
can consume directly. If, instead of raising animals and
cereals to feed them with, our peasants were to raise fruit
and nut trees by rational methods, they could get five
times as much money with a quarter the work, not to speak
of the improvement in public health which would result.
The twenty-five per cent minority of agriculturists work
with old and bad methods and produce things which are
superfluous, providing a minimum of the things which are
the most necessary, such as fruit and nut trees. Agriculture,
which is a fundamental occupation of human society, is in
very great chaos from every standpoint, and this chaos of
the foundation naturally extends to the superstructure.
We can see clearly the origin of the world’s economic
crises, contradictions and problems, if we realise th a t in

117
ninety per cent of cases we produce things which are un­
necessary and harmful to health, both in agriculture and
in industry.
Trees, th a t is, fruit trees, and forests may be regarded
as the foundation of human health and human society. I
do not wish to induce people to produce in any large measure
trees which do not produce fruits. I t is always possible to
combine beauty and utility, for fruit trees are as beautiful
as trees which do not produce fruit. For instance, the great
nut trees are very impressive. In England it is not possible
to produce oranges and bananas and tropical fruits, but
it is possible to grow scores of temperate fruits. There
are about fifty different species of apple trees which can
all grow very well in England, twenty or thirty other
species of fruits and a long series of vegetables and cereals.
Every climate has almost unlimited possibilities for pro­
ducing products suited to it. Similarly there is the possibility
of creating new species of fruits, always more and more
perfect. If we examine our present fruits and vegetables,
we find they were not edible thousands and thousands of
years ago, but little by little they have become ennobled
and perfect and now they are edible. Likewise many fruits
and vegetables exist now which are not yet edible, but which
by the evolution of nature on the earth for some hundreds
or thousands of years will become edible and perfect. It
is not necessary to go to the tropics and plant trees there,
for each must live his life in the place where he is. I t is
possible to live everywhere naturally and in harmony with
the natural laws and forces. Every climate has its advan­
tages as well as its disadvantages. Our temperate climate,
with the changes of winter, summer, autumn and spring,
gives very favourable possibilities indeed for a natural life
and for the production of a large number of fruits and
vegetables. Arboriculture and agriculture should be, and
will always be, the basis of human society. If they are not,
social disequilibrium always results with a series of crises
in human society and in human economy.
Life is not as complicated and difficult as it is generally
thought. W ith the necessary knowledge of a rational and
natural arboriculture quite a little piece of garden, a single

118
acre, is sufficient to satisfy the needs of an individual,
and with only two hours work a day. And these two hours’
work are a necessary precondition of health. This agri­
cultural activity is in accordance with the laws of nature,
and is necessary to assure perfect vitality and health. B ut
it is not only a question of perfect health and vitality; it
is also a question of economic and consequently moral
freedom. If we look back a t the preceding centuries, we
see th a t when something was needed for cooking, people
went into the garden and took it. Everything which was
consumed was simple and, before all else, fresh. There
was no necessity for these simple and natural foods to be
transformed by a series of machines and factories into a
denatured condition. I t would be a very good thing to
restore these good old customs. If each family could have
just a small garden of not more than one acre, it would
supply all the requirements of fruits and vegetables, for it is
not the size of the plot which determines the quality and
quantity of produce, but the knowledge and method of
production. Even in our climate it is possible to have
three crops a year if one knows how to apply the principles
of natural rational agriculture. This is the sole solution
to the problem of having fruits and vegetables which are
natural and without deficiencies. Only natural home­
grown products can satisfy the needs of the human organ­
ism. Everyone obviously cannot leave his profession and
become a gardener, but everyone should know the laws of
agriculture just as he should know the laws of healthy
living. All should study cultivation and agriculture as a
second common occupation, for agriculture is a precondition
of health. Daily contact with fresh air and sun for two hours,
with the necessary muscular movement and respiration
and in the environment of plants and trees, is the most
effective and a t the same time the most useful preserver
of health and vitality. So just as it would be good if every­
one had a second common language, so everyone should
have a second common occupation, gardening. This would
free us from our artificial, technical and degenerated
civilisation which cannot assure to us any of the pre­
conditions of a healthy life—life with healthy vegetables

119
and fruits, with healthy milk, with fresh air and sun. This
programme is easily realisable by those who live in the
country. Naturally for those who live in great cities it is
realisable with difficulty, but it is possible also for them to
do it progressively. I t is possible for them to acquire a little
piece of garden not too far from the town and to spend the
week-end there. Instead of indulging in various superfluous
occupations they can do a little gardening and so assure
the necessary preconditions of health. Everyone can im­
prove his health according to his possibilities. Health
depends only upon ourselves. There are those who can do
it very radically and rapidly and those who can do it less
rapidly, but all of us can do it in some measure.
We consider three activities as the most fundamental
in human society: agriculture, medicine, education. If we
can have centres where the practical laws of agriculture
and of health are taught, they can do immeasurable good
to society. We have innumerable institutions and schools
teaching what is ninety per cent superfluous, the dates of
kings and the names of battles; they teach useless theo­
retical knowledge which we cannot utilise a t all in our
practical life. When we finish with the high school or
university we have a great mass of theoretical knowledge
accumulated, of which we can use less than ten per cent in
practice. Ninety per cent of it is forgotten and th a t which
is most necessary and vital for man cannot be learnt, for
there are no institutions and schools to teach it. The true
laws of health cannot be learnt in our schools, nor can
the laws of a natural and rational way of producing fruits,
vegetables and flowers. And if we do learn about them we
only learn the old bad methods which are better not learnt
at all.
Many things are out of order in our present civilisation,
in agriculture, in medicine and also in education. We have
everywhere schools and institutions for improving the
mechanical memory and not for educating the will and
intelligence and independence of spirit. Intelligence and
will are the greatest values in human progress and the
lowest value is mechanical memory. If mechanical memory
were the important thing in man then man could be

120
replaced by simple gramophone records and by volumes
of an encyclopaedia. Very many individuals with encyclo­
paedic erudition, holding four or five diplomas of various
universities, cut a sorry figure in practical life. I t is sad
but true th at our schools do not prepare us for life.
There exist sciences which we do not know a t all and
which have a vital importance in life. One of these sciences
is the science of the simple and natural life. Simplicity is
an almost forgotten notion. If we walk in London or in
New York, or even in small towns, and look in the shop
windows a t all the things which are produced, we shall
find th a t ninety per cent of them are completely super­
fluous. We can live very well and very healthily and satisfy
all our needs, material, intellectual and cultural, and never
see or use these superfluous articles. Indeed, the greatest
part of mankind sacrifices health and time to be able to
acquire and purchase these superfluous things.
From this point of view human society has not evolved
very much. Plato and Xenophon, two disciples of Socrates,
tell this story of the master: His friends once wanted him
to come and visit the great markets of Athens, so th a t he
should know a little about a part of the city which he had
never visited. He acceded to their wishes and went with
them. From morning to evening his friends showed him
all the riches of Athens and of the market, pointing out
the various products which came from Africa and Asia
and from various countries with which Greece had com­
mercial relations. When evening came and when his eyes
were tired with looking at the variety of all these things,
they said to Socrates: ‘W hat do you think of all these
things?’ ‘Are we not very rich and privileged in living in
Athens?’ ‘W hat is your opinion of all these treasures?’
Socrates answered very shortly: ‘W hat a lot of things
exist in the world th a t I do not want.’ And then he turned
round and went home.
If we were to take Socrates to the various department
stores of London and New York he would say the same.
The source of all our economic difficulties and conflicts lies
in this, th a t we sacrifice true values for pseudo-values. We

121
sacrifice health for superfluous things which we do not need.
We sacrifice our free time, which is of great value in the
acquisition of superfluous things. W hat is the value to us
of all the things accumulated in museums and libraries if
we have not the time to take advantage of them? We have
not the time to read the thousands and thousands of books
accumulated in libraries. There is a great chasm between
institutions and the masses. We have everything; we have
bigger libraries than ever existed before in human history.
We have all the masterpieces of literature, of the arts, of
music and of painting, but we have not the necessary time
to contemplate them, so they do not exist for us. And even
if we have the free time the majority of mankind lacks the
capacity to appreciate them. For instance, in the United
States, even in the small towns, there are perfectly arranged,
well equipped libraries, but they are almost always empty.
In their homes the people read detective novels, while the
volumes of Shakespeare and Goethe stay untouched in the
libraries. With our civilisation we are at once very rich and
very poor. If we weigh up what we pay for our present
civilisation and what we receive from it, then the balance
will be a very negative one. We give our health, free time,
quiet and the possibility of reading and studying, not to
speak of fresh air, sun and other natural values. In the
other balance we receive toxins, tinned foods, completely
superfluous objects, a completely unnatural environment,
stone walls and machines and an education of minimal
value. We also receive various diseases destroying the
nervous system, constant restlessness and a series of
insoluble problems and contradictions. So the balance is
very negative.

122
 Chapter XI

CIVILISATION AND THE SIMPLE LIFE

W e have examined the fundamental occupations of

human society, agriculture and arboriculture, and after­
wards the various superstructural activities of that society,
and we have found that there is not equilibrium or order
among them. Now we must examine a little the origin of
this chaos. Our present society is generally called ‘capitalist
system’, but it is preferable to call it chaos, for the word
‘system’ implies some sort of order. The present system
is lunacy, it is not a system. We must accordingly examine
when this chaos appeared first in embryonic form and then
see how the monster grew and grew until it finally reached
its present gigantic size. If we go back some hundreds of
years we find another social system, the so-called mediaeval
feudal system. I t would be untrue to say that this feudal
system was a good system, for it was neither a just nor
perfect social system, but nevertheless compared with the
present chaos we cannot say that it was inferior. The
injustice of the feudal system consisted in the fact that
certain great landowners exercised power over great masses
of peasants working on the land who had to give a tenth
of their produce to the feudal lord. This was already a
form of primitive exploitation, but not as dangerous as
the present exploitation. Why? They only had to pay a
tenth of their wheat and other produce, which was as
much as the feudal lord and his family and his servants
could consume. The exploitation was never very exag­
gerated, for wheat and produce over and above what the
lord could eat was of no use at that time. But when money
appeared, taxes had to be paid in the form of money
instead of in the form of produce. Then exploitation
became cruel and increasingly intolerable. While the

123
possibility of consumption of natural produce was limited,
the possibility of acquiring money was unlimited, and the
periodic exploitations began to become more and more
unbearable. This symptom also coincided with another
symptom. The first machines appeared in the towns. To
begin with there were primitive manufacturing workshops
where twenty, fifty or perhaps eighty workers worked
together with the new machines. These new machines
permitted the owners to buy raw materials and to trans­
form them at once into industrial products. And they
enabled them to repeat this operation ten or twenty times,
always producing and selling fresh industrial products.
In this way the possessors of primitive workshops could
turn over their capital ten or twenty times a year, while
the feudal lords could only use their capital once a year
at the time of the harvest. The first possessors of the first
machines thus became more and more rich in the towns;
little by little the small workshops became great factories;
and little by little the economic power passed from the
feudal lords to the owners of the factories. And parallel
with this we have another process going on. The owners
of factories needed more and more men to work in
order to get profit, so it paid them to give a daily wage
in money to the labourer. As time went on the factories
needed an increasingly large number of workers. According
to mediaeval law the peasants belonged to the estate of the
feudal lord, but the owners of the factories began to demand
that the people should come into the towns to work for
them. To facilitate this, they also took political power out
of the hands of the feudal lords as well as economic power.
They favoured the development of the central power of
the state, supporting the king. They were ready to pay
bigger taxes and to have a large central army in place of
the previous situation where nearly every feudal lord had
his own army. In this way parliaments were formed in the
towns and the freedom of the serfs was voted. This marked
the end of the feudal system.
But the serfs were not freed on any moral principle, but
simply so that they might come into the towns to work,
and that the feudal lords might not have the right to

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oppose this. In this way little by little more and more
people came into the towns and were transformed into
urban workers. Thus there was born a new class, the class
of the proletariat. The present social system is thus based
on two things, first on machines as a means of production,
and secondly on the great masses of workers, on the
proletariat. I t is based upon the exploitation of these two
factors. We can see that the previous equilibrium in the
distribution of population between industry and agri­
culture has been turned upside down. Previously seventy-
five per cent of the people were agriculturists, but after
this process of transformation there were only twenty-five
per cent of agriculturists and seventy-five per cent became
urbanised and became engaged in industry, commerce,
machines, etc.
Such is the origin of our present chaos. Such is the cause
of all succeeding disturbances and crises. So long as man
lives in an unnatural, artificial environment where there
are no fresh air, sun or natural foods, and no quiet and
freedom, man can never know harmony and happiness. So
long as there exists the exploitation of man by man there
will never be social peace and social tranquillity. We shall
always have diseases and epidemics, revolutions and wars.
For present society is not in harmony with the natural
laws, and if present society is not in harmony with the
natural laws this implies the existence of two antagonistic
forces: the force of nature, and the force of present society.
Which is stronger? Undoubtedly nature is the foundation
of society. The whole of human society is only a little
superstructure living on the surface of our planet, which
planet with the solar system obeys natural and cosmic
laws and forces of universal life. And these natural and
cosmic laws in the course of endless evolution always
destroy everything which is not in harmony with them.
In the same way no individual can have health and long­
evity if he lives contrary to the natural laws, but will be
destroyed by disease and death. Similarly no social system
can exist for long if it is not in harmony with the natural
and cosmic laws; it is destroyed just like the individual.
The role played by epidemics, diseases and death in the

125
destruction of individuals who do not obey the natural
and cosmic laws, but walk in the path of ignorance, violence,
and egotism is played in human society by revolution, wars
and crises. This will be so long as human society is based on
ignorance, egotism and violence. It is not the natural and
cosmic forces and laws which are destroyers, but individuals
and societies destroy themselves. Just as the individual
destroys himself by an inharmonious and unnatural life, so
a chaotic society destroys itself if it is not in harmony with
the natural forces and laws. It is therefore a completely
natural consequence that the great disequilibrium existent
in present society which is based on ignorance, egotism and
violence should lead us to crises, revolutions and wars. We
must not be Utopian dreamers and suppose the few idealists
and pacifist movements which exist can prevent the next
world war. It is not possible. For the thoughts represented
by these few idealists are like a little seed in the turmoil of
a cyclone. The general world armament and preparation
for war will provoke very speedily a vast world catastrophe.
I t will provoke it before the constructive forces working for
peace prevent it. This great destructive work is more
rapid than the constructive work, so the approaching great
catastrophe is inevitable. Yet we must continue to work,
for out of the ruins of the catastrophe will rise a new
society which must be created and established. If this new
society is based on the natural laws and forces and
works in harmony with them, then will come a new age for
humanity.
This is the sad truth about the present situation. We
must be objective and sincere; we must be realists. The
law of causality does not permit present society to live
longer. This destruction is coming in accordance with the
laws of cause and effect and cannot be avoided.
There is one very serious matter which deserves attention.
All the people with higher ideals, working for humanity in
the faith that this great catastrophe can be avoided, live
in cities and it is the cities which will be the first to be
destroyed in the coming world war. This is a great danger.
The vanguard of humanity, the true values of the human
race, are in peril. A realistic analysis of present military

126
strategy leaves us in no doubt that the first and strongest
attacks will be made on the great capitals and industrial
centres. These will be the first to be gassed and bombed.
Bombs cost a great deal of money, so they will be dropped,
not on country cottages, but on great industrial centres
of the enemy country, for it is only by paralysing the in­
dustrial centres that the war can be won. In this war the
vision of the apocalypse will be realised and in truth great
monsters will appear in the air, which will deal death round
them. Military technique to-day is more perfect in offence
than in defence. There can be no defence against a modern
aerial fleet. Even if one or two thousand planes are
destroyed, there will still be thousands more which can
destroy completely the greatest cities of the world. Un­
fortunately present ignorance, egotism and violence are
leading present mankind rapidly towards the destruction
of the great capital cities. The danger is a menacing one
and a great one.
There is a further reason why we are against life in big
cities. Cities not only destroy health and individual freedom,
but they destroy themselves. What we see to-day happen­
ing to Madrid is only an overture to what may be enacted
to-morrow in Paris, London or Berlin. Big cities represent
great dangers, particularly in the present moment of uni­
versal history. I t will be truly a great pity if those very
people who are working for human progress and struggling
against egotism, violence and ignorance should be the ones
to be destroyed in this great cataclysm. The collaboration
of all who have higher ideals and who wish to work for
social justice and for peace will be needed in the construc­
tion of the future society. If by the destruction of our great
capitals all the constructive and superior individuals are
destroyed, then who will be left to create the new world?
We must lead mankind back from the great towns to the
country, just as the peoples of the Bible were led out of
Egypt. Disease and death and destruction are close at hand,
and the new society can only be constructed if the funda­
mental equilibrium of human society is re-established and
seventy-five per cent of people return to the fundamental
occupations of a simple, natural life, to a natural agri-

127
 culture, to freedom, and to harmony with the natural laws
and natural forces.
We owe it to human society to restore the equilibrium of
human society. A healthy society can only exist on the
foundations of agriculture. And it is a biological no less
than a social necessity, for the whole human race is
threatened. I t is also our duty vis-a-vis human culture,
for all the values of human culture are concentrated in
great cities and likewise menaced with destruction. The
three fundamental pillars of human progress must be first
a natural and rational agriculture, secondly the science of
a natural life and medicine and thirdly the science of
education.
As things are, humanity rests on the pillars of ignorance,
egotism and violence. That is why I call the present society
by the single word ‘chaos’. I do not call it technical
civilisation or capitalist civilisation, for there is only one
word which can express the present state of mankind on
its path of progressive suicide and that word is ‘chaos’.
I t could be objected that my thesis is rather a savage
one, involving the abolishment of civilisation and tech­
nique. To this I answer that technique is of very great
value to mankind and does not deserve to be abolished.
I only wish to put technique in its place and I speak only
against an exaggerated technique. I do not speak against
those technical products which are necessary, but only
against those which are superfluous and dangerous.
Unhappily, now, ninety per cent of technical products are
superfluous and dangerous and uselessly complicate life.
And it is this exaggeration of technique which leads us
into wars and economic crises. Technique intervenes
between man and nature and isolates man from nature,
and that is a very great danger. Technique should exist
for man and not man for technique. Unfortunately
technique has become the end instead of the means, and
this is a very great danger. I am in no way against tech­
nique, I am only against its exaggeration. Technique
and machines have the noble mission of freeing Homo
Sapiens from unworthy and monotonous occupations, but
now exaggerated technique has resulted in just the opposite.

128
Instead of freeing man it enslaves him, and it is only that
to which I am opposed.
Another objection may be raised to our leaving the
great towns and retiring to nature in the country. Is it
not egotism to leave the great centres where we may be
needed and to withdraw into a simple, natural and agree­
able life in the country? Is it not egotism and is it not
immoral? To it that may be answered that we can accom­
plish our purpose wherever we may be. Its fulfilment
does not depend on the place where we are, but depends
upon ourselves, upon the individual. Emerson said that
the strong man would always find a hundred times more
work than he was capable of. We can always be active
and useful and help those around us whether we are in
towns, in a tropical forest, or in the snowfields of Siberia.
For our activity depends upon ourselves, upon the indi­
vidual, and not upon the place where we are.
Secondly, if we remain in the chaos and destroy our own
health and strength, we become weak and sick. How can
we then work for others if we ourselves are weak and sick
and in need of help? If we get involved in chaos we destroy
ourselves and cannot help others. The simple and natural
life gives us a hundred times more energy and a hundred
times more time and liberates a great fount of energy in us,
so that we can become a hundred times more active points
in the universe than before, and can accomplish a hundred
times more valuable social work. The first precondition of
useful activity is that we should be healthy and strong in
order to help those who are weak. We must consider
vitality and health and longevity simply as a means, not as
the end. If we do not put our vital forces and our long life
and our free time at the disposal of the weak and suffering
in the service of society and of humanity, then our health
and vitality and length of life are worth nothing. If we do
not, we are no better and represent no greater value than a
healthy animal. For the mission of man is active love. In
these two words I can sum up all the old teachings of the
prophets of mankind—active love. I do not agree with
those naturists who consider health as the sole aim of man.
If those individuals whose sole idea is physical health call

129
themselves naturists, then we prefer to call ourselves non-
naturists. Vitality can become a danger if it becomes the
end instead of the means.
It may be objected further than to leave the great cities
means hard work in the country and means a lack of the
comforts of life in the towns to which we are accustomed.
To that I can answer as follows. First, if one knows the
principles of a natural, good and rational agriculture and
arboriculture, the work is not hard at all. With two hours’
work a day we can produce all the fundamental necessities
of life on quite a small piece of land, not more than one
or two acres in area. Agricultural work is hard only when
it is not based on a knowledge of the natural laws. Our
role is not hard physical work. We have only to direct in a
rational way the forces of nature: sun, rains, the earth,
water, and then plants work for us instead of our working.
We have only to collaborate intelligently with the natural
forces instead of working against them. But unfortunately
in present agriculture we struggle against the natural
forces. Our ideal is not anti-natural agriculture whose
source is ignorance, but a true natural and rational agri­
culture which is not hard work, but a recreation and a
pleasure. Natural agriculture is a series of true natural
pleasures in constant contact with and contemplation of
the beauties of nature. On the other hand the daily com­
modities which we enjoy in towns are not as useful as we
think. They soften our organisms and isolate us from the
natural forces, and this paralyses our vitality and sup­
presses our individual will and energy. All the great
conquering peoples in universal history lived a simple and
so-called hard life. They began to degenerate when the
so-called comforts and luxuries in life appeared. Is there
any greater luxury than being able to dip in the river each
morning, to bathe in the sun, to breathe fresh air in the
countryside, among the trees? Natural life in the country
is more pleasant and agreeable than artificial life in towns.
Secondly, we must not forget that the complications of
life in towns suppress our individuality and transform us
into machines. In the monotony of daily life the towns
follow the artificial, unnatural rhythm of machines and

130
factories, and of all unnatural works and occupations.
Yet another objection is that to leave our great cities
is to leave culture behind. I t means leaving libraries behind,
leaving concerts behind and the values of intellectual and
cultural life. In appearance this is so, but not in reality.
If we have a good wireless set in the country we can listen
to all the symphonies of Beethoven and the Passion music
of Bach. It is not necessary to remain in cities on that
account. During concerts in towns we have to breathe the
bad air of the concert hall, when we can hear the same
symphonies sitting under the trees in the open air in the
country. Similarly the thousands and thousands of books
in libraries are only illusory values for us, for in the hustling
life of great cities we have not the time to read them.
How many books do we read in a year if we work in a
big city? Not more than one or two books a month. We
can read them quite well in the country, where there are
various facilities for buying and borrowing books. And if
we live simply and naturally in the country we can read
two or three times the number of books and read them
undisturbed. In the country we can concentrate on what
we are reading and can assimilate better the thoughts of
the authors of the books than in the rapid life of the town.
Also we learn to read in another book, in the book of nature,
which was not printed by machines in the town. For all
the cosmic and natural laws are written in trees, in flowers,
in grass, in the shining of the sun, in the flow of rivers,
in rains and in wind, in the singing of the birds, in the
work of the insects and in all the beauties of nature. These
reveal to us the natural and cosmic laws much more
perfectly than all the masterpieces of human culture. The
morning and evening concert of the birds in the trees is
much more beautiful than the Pastoral Symphony of
Beethoven. The great book of nature, if we learn its
alphabet and if we can read it, will reveal to us all the
laws and secrets of nature and of universal life much
better than all the works of the various natural sciences.
So the school of nature is more valuable than all the
universities of our cities. This superior school does not
give us degrees and diplomas like the universities of our

13 1
cities, but gives us knowledge, an immense source of
energy and harmony. I t teaches us the most fundamental
laws of life. I t gives us freedom of body, economic liberty
and moral liberty; it gives the profound values of a rich
inner life which it is impossible to find in the chaotic life
of the town.
Now a further objection can be raised: to leave the great
cities is a reactionary attitude. Instead of remaining in the
great cities and there organising the masses to destroy
this great artificial system, you retire from the struggle
and you hide in the country. You are a reactionary and a
fascist. So I wish to answer this objection too. At first
sight this objection is valid. But if we consider how we
can most effectively do our duty to human society from a
biological point of view, we find this objection cannot be
sustained. For if we remain in the chaos we consume ail
the superfluous and capitalist toxins, we collaborate with
the social system and become a cog in the machine. If
we examine the great revolutionaries in their daily life,
we find they nearly all worked in a factory or office and
remained a part of the apparatus of the social system they
were seeking to destroy. They thus lost the greater part
of their free time, their health, their vitality and their
energy, and could only devote a very small amount of
time and energy to the socialist movement.
When I have visited the socialist parties’ headquarters in
various places I have always found men who were giving
their spare time and energies with enthusiasm to the
movement. When ten years later I have returned to the
same place, I always find quite different people in the office
and when I ask where so-and-so is, I am told he is in a
sanatorium or is dead, or has been crippled by a machine
at work. I t is very seldom that I can find one of the former
workers in the movement. And if I do happen to meet them
again I find individuals with completely destroyed nerves,
in complete physical and psychic disequilibrium. They have
sacrificed themselves to the movement, but for that very
reason they cannot continue their work, for their vitality
is exhausted and they have no energy left. So other young
strong people come and continue their work. In our towns

132
we can only work some years for our ideals, but by a natural
and simple life in the country it is possible to work for our
ideals all our life, and with increased energy and vitality.
I t is not only in great cities that one can work for a
social movement. Not at all. It is a very great error of the
various progressive movements to concentrate on the
towns and neglect the countryside. This has serious con­
sequences. The masses living outside the towns will always
remain instruments of reaction as long as they are left
untouched and are ignored by the various social movements.
An important task of the progressive political parties is to
win over these great masses which hitherto have always
been the instruments of reaction. It is a very important
mission to go to the country and do a work which has
hitherto been neglected, thus withdrawing the foundations
from beneath the feet of the reactionaries. So far from its
being a reactionary attitude to retire to the country, the
progressive worker will be able better to accomplish his
social mission there than if he remains in the big cities and
in some years destroys his own health and strength. He
can accomplish very valuable work for his movement if
he spreads the movement around him where he lives. The
value of our work does not depend on where we are, but
always depends on who we are, on our individuality and
upon our activity. If we have superior ideals, if we have
love of mankind and of progress and if we are active, we
can quickly be useful to human society wherever we may be.
In great cities we see that ideals are spread by spoken
words or by written pamphlets or books. I t is necessary,
but not enough. For we must propagate our ideals always
by the most effective weapons of propaganda, by practical
example, by our own life, by our own simple, natural and
unselfish life. Only then can our work be truly effective and
complete. If we give an example by our own life, then words
and books are not necessary. They are only substitutes.
The life we lead is the foundation of successful propaganda,
so active individuals who have social ideas have very large
and unlimited possibilities in the country as well as in the
town.
Furthermore, by our collaboration with nature we

133
progressively improve the earth. With the return of each
person to a natural, simple and active life, fresh acres of
land become more fertile and productive and fresh fruit
trees and nut trees are planted. Our climate will become
more and more perfect, and man will become more and
more independent and free, economically and morally. An
ever increasing number of people will become active and
new individual energies will constantly be liberated to
create new values of human culture and new higher forces
in human society. Thus our ideal does not have any di aw-
backs, but only has advantages. It represents no loss of any
value, but, on the contrary, represents new creative values
in every field of human and social activity.
Hitherto, the philosophers have only interpreted the
world; the point, however, is to change it.

134
 A P P L IC A T IO N F O R A S S O C I A T E M E M B E R S H IP
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 EDMOND BORDEAUX SZEKELY
grandson of Alexandre Szekely, eminent poet and Unitarian Bishop of
Cluj, is a descendant of Csoma de Koros, Transylvanian traveler and
philologist who, over 150 years ago, compiled the first grammar of the
Tibetan language, the first English-Tibetan dictionary, and wrote his
unsurpassed work, Asiatic Researches. He also was Librarian to the
Royal Asiatic Society in India. Dr. Bordeaux earned his Ph.D. degree
from the University of Paris, and other degrees from the Universities of
Vienna and Leipzig. He also held professorships of Philosophy and
Experimental Psychology at the University of Cluj. A well-known
philologist in Sanscrit, Aramaic, Greek and Latin, Dr. Bordeaux spoke
ten modern languages. In 1928, he founded the International Biogenic
Society with Nobel Prize-winning author, Romain Rolland. His most
important translations, in addition to selected texts from the Dead Sea
Scrolls and the Essene Gospel o f Peace (over a million copies in 26
languages) are selected texts from the Zend Avesta and from pre-
Columbian codices of ancient Mexico. His last works on the Essene Way
of Biogenic Living have attracted worldwide interest. He is the author
of more than 80 books published in many countries on philosophy and
ancient cultures. His work is carried on by the International Biogenic
Society headed by his successor, Norma Nilsson Bordeaux Szekely.

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