Tag Archives: Human nature

WHOLEDUDE – WHOLE DOCTOR

SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE – THE ART OF MEDICINE:

The Art of Medicine in its essence is a spiritual practice. It aims to restore the experience of Peace, Harmony, and Tranquility in the living condition of the Man. The fundamental concepts of Medical Theory reflect the Philosophy of Nature and of Man. The term Physician describes the person who practices ‘The Art of Medicine’. This term is derived from the medieval English word ‘PHYSIC'(Latin. physica; Greek. physike which means nature) which is used to describe Natural Science, Medicine, and Nature. This archaic usage of the English word “Physic” as the name for the art, science, practice and profession of Healing suggests what the word’s Greek root signifies, namely that the physician is a student of Nature.

SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE - THE ART OF MEDICINE: Hippocrates, the Greek physician(c.460 - 377 B.C.), the Father of Medicine stated that, The Art of Medicine consists in three things, 1. The Disease, 2. The Patient, and 3. The Physician.
SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE – THE ART OF MEDICINE: Hippocrates, the Greek physician(c.460 – 377 B.C.), the Father of Medicine stated that, The Art of Medicine consists in three things, 1. The Disease, 2. The Patient, and 3. The Physician.

Natural Science provides systematized knowledge of the physical world and its branches include Zoology, Botany, Chemistry, Physics, and Geology. The Faculty of Medicine represents Biological Sciences that are concerned with knowledge bearing on the relation of man to nature. Medical Science as a Natural Science must be concerned with the following  two questions:

1. What is the Status of Man in Nature?

2. What is the true or real Nature of Man?

The first question deals with man’s relationship with the physical world in which man exists. The physical world represents the total of all things in Time and Space or the entire physical universe. The term Nature includes the Power, Force, and Laws that regulate or operate in the physical world. In Biology, the Theory of Evolution proposes a view about the origin of species and it describes that things in Nature change under the influence of Time. It opposes various cultural, and religious beliefs about the origin of man and his Status as a Created Being. The second question is about the essential characteristics or qualities that makes or describes man’s essence as a Human Being. The Nature of Man deals with the inborn character, innate disposition, and inherent tendencies of the Whole Person and it includes the instincts, desires, appetites, drives etc., of the Person apart from the vital functions of specialized organs. Man’s Nature could be detected from the activities of the human organism and from the forces that operate and influence these activities.

THE MEDICAL THEORY – ATOMISM, MECHANISM vs SPIRITUALISM:

SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE - THE ART OF MEDICINE: GALEN, CLADIUS GALENUS(c. 130 - c.200 A.D.), Greek physician who served the Roman Emperors provided a synthesis of the Medicine of the ancient Greek world. In his view, "The true Art of Medicine borrows its method from Nature's Art."
SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE – THE ART OF MEDICINE: GALEN, CLADIUS GALENUS(c. 130 – c.200 A.D.), Greek physician who served the Roman Emperors provided a synthesis of the Medicine of the ancient Greek world. In his view, “The true Art of Medicine borrows its method from Nature’s Art.”

There is tremendous increase in our knowledge of the specific diseases and man developed a vast store of well-tested remedies and still the problems of medical practice essentially remain the same. According to Galen, the Art of Healing consists in imitating the health-giving and healing powers of nature itself. Galen thinks of human body as an organic unity and not as a simple aggregation of atoms or a system of interlocking parts. Galen had opposed the views of Atomism, or Mechanism that views the human body as a mechanical assembly of tiny, individual parts. In Galen’s view, Nature works not by the external impact of part upon part, but by its faculties or powers for the performance of natural functions and the production of natural effects. “Nature is not posterior to the corpuscles( small, constituent parts), but a long way prior to them…” writes Galen. “Therefore it is nature which puts together the bodies of both plants and animals; and this she does by virtue of certain faculties which she possesses – these being on the one hand, attractive and assimilative of what is appropriate, and on the other, expulsive of what is foreign. Further, she skillfully moulds everything during the stage of genesis; and she also provides for the creatures after birth employing her other faculties again.” Galen calls Nature the Artist for it produces effects according to its powers and in conformity to its needs. Nature seems to work with intelligence and for an end, not blindly and by chance. Galen stated it as a maxim, “Nothing is done by Nature in Vain.” An Art like Medicine seems to imitate Nature by cooperating with natural process. The Art of Medicine involves following the course of nature, and thereby it enables the natural result to emerge by overcoming the chances of adverse outcome. The interior nature is the Principal cause of Healing with the physician providing exterior or external help. The physician strengthens nature and employs food and medicine to assist the natural mechanism( such as the “Repair and Inflammation” described in the Science called Human Pathology) to achieve the intended end. The subordination of The Art of Medicine to Nature appears to be the keystone of the whole structure of Medical Practice. The patient is guided to regulate and control the various aspects of diet, exercise, and the lifestyle and medicines or drugs perform an auxiliary function. Surgery is used in the treatment of injuries and to resolve problems where medication by itself will not yield good results. However, it is important to remember that surgical procedures and interventions work by cooperating with nature and natural healing process called Repair and Inflammation. In other words, the physician is a servant , not a master of Nature. Medicine as an Art can be compared to Agriculture which helps a natural result to come about but this effect would never occur without the  work of the Artist. Plants may grow and reproduce without the help of farmers. A person may regain some health without the care of physicians. But, in reality, it is impossible to raise a crop or to grow an orchard by simply depending upon nature and natural mechanisms.

SPIRITUALITY SCIENCE – THE SPIRITUAL BASIS FOR HEALTH:

If the term Soul or Spirit describes the vital, animating principle that governs and operates the existence of the human organism, its nature and functions can be derived from studying the structure and functions of the Red Blood Cell or Erythrocyte which simply exists to integrate and to harmonize the functions of trillions of individual cells, tissues, and the organ systems that constitute the Whole Person who exists as an Individual with Individuality. Health is that condition of the body in which the physiological elements are in balance and in which the various parts function harmoniously with one another. Health represents harmony or good order, or equilibrium in the body. I describe Spirituality as the operating Principle that generates this functional unity, good order, and equilibrium among the cells, tissues, organs, and the organ systems that comprise the human organism and the human Individual who exists because of these functions experiences Peace, Harmony, and Tranquility in his living condition.

SPIRITUALITY MEDICINE - THE ART OF MEDICINE: The integration of Structure and Function describes the Spiritual Basis for Health and Human Existence. By knowing the structure and function of the Red Blood Cell or Erythrocyte, we can establish the facts of Blood Circulation, the reason for the structure of the Heart and Lungs, their motions and their relation to each other and their relation to the Human Being who exists as an Individual with Individuality.
SPIRITUALITY MEDICINE – THE ART OF MEDICINE: The integration of Structure and Function describes the Spiritual Basis for Health and Human Existence. By knowing the structure and function of the Red Blood Cell or Erythrocyte, we can establish the facts of Blood Circulation, the reason for the structure of the Heart and Lungs, their motions and their relation to each other and their relation to the Human Being who exists as an Individual with Individuality.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

The Theory of Medicine will determine the nature of The Art of Medicine that is practiced to establish the Physician – Patient Relationship. If The Art of Medicine is based upon Spirituality Science, the Physician – Patient Relationship will have a Spiritual basis. I would ask my readers to give attention to the problems of modern medical practice and we need a Medical Theory that would have a bearing on the following three aspects of The Art of Medicine:

1.  Is Health is better served by the General Practitioner treating the Whole Man or by a Specialist treating a functionally differentiated Special Organ or Organ System?

2. What should be the nature of the Physician-Patient relationship? Is there a therapeutic factor in the relationship that underlines the effectiveness of the Physician’s skills in all other respects?

3. What is the interaction between mind and body in the origin and in the cure of disease?

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SPIRITUALISM AND KNOWLEDGE OF HUMAN NATURE

SPIRITUALISM AND THE KEY TO HUMAN NATURE

THE STATUS OF MAN IN NATURE

Whole Dude – Whole Behavior

Human Nature and Human Behavior:

The Vitruvian Man c. 1492. The painting by Leonardo da Vinci displays the spirit of scientific inquiry. We must know the distinction between Human Nature and Human Behavior.

What is man? The motivation for asking this question comes from a statement expressed in Sanskrit language : “Sarvesham Swastir Bhavatu”, which seeks the well-being of all humans, of all races, of all religions, of all cultures, and of all nations. Our efforts to support the well-being of man would be affected by our understanding the ‘real’ or ‘true’ nature of man. I recognize that man exists with the following five forms, 1. the Physical Being as described by Human Anatomy, Human Physiology and other Medical Sciences, the human being in health and sickness, 2. the Mental Being, the intellect and emotional aspects as described by Psychology and Psychiatry, 3. the Social Being as described by Social Sciences, 4. the Moral Being as described by Morals and Ethics, the power of discernment used by man to make the distinction between good and evil, and right and wrong, and 5. the Spiritual Being as described by the spiritual nature of man’s corporeal substance that develops and builds the cells, the tissues, the organs, and the organ systems of the human body. While most religious and philosophical traditions explore spirituality by understanding human thoughts, and feelings, I try to know this spiritual aspect of human nature by observing the functional behavior that is displayed in the interactions of cells, tissues, and organs that constitute the human organism. If man is viewed as a multicellular organism, human behavior must be observed in the biotic interactions of cells, tissues, and organs because of whose functions man lives in the world. The five aspects of man contribute to the five kinds of behavior of man; the physical, mental, social, moral, and spiritual behavior. A muscle cell displays the behavior of contraction in response to a stimulus and it is able to contract because of its contractile nature which gives it the power of contracting.

In my view, Spiritualism is the human nature that gives the man the power or ability to perform his living functions and display his characteristic behaviors like feeding, breathing and reproduction. I remind my readers to be very careful to make the distinction between Human Nature and Human Behavior. For example, the power of Nutrition described by Human Physiology is not the same as the eating behavior that manifests as the problem of obesity.

Human Behavior and Environment:

Whole Dude – Whole Behavior: Burrhus Frederick Skinner (1904 – 1990), Professor of Psychology at Harvard University (1948 – 1974) proposes that the empirical study of human behavior is the only way to arrive at a true theory of human nature. He had published several books, The Behavior of Organisms:An Experimental Analysis (1938), Science and Human Behavior (1953), and Verbal Behavior (1957).
Whole Dude – Whole Behavior: The relationship between Man and Nature (Environment) that conditions human behavior.

B. F. Skinner studied behavior and the environmental causes of behavior mediated through conditioning mechanisms. In his opinion, all behavior is a function of environmental variables. He proposed a thesis of Universal Determinism, and thinks that every human event including all human choices has a set of preceding environmental causes.

Bhagavad Gita: Chapter 14, Verse 5

सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति गुणा: प्रकृतिसम्भवा: |
निबध्नन्ति महाबाहो देहे देहिनमव्ययम् || 5||

sattvaṁ rajas tama iti guṇāḥ prakṛiti-sambhavāḥ
nibadhnanti mahā-bāho dehe dehinam avyayam

In the Indian tradition, the Bhagavad Gita also explains the relation between human behavior and environment or ‘Prakriti’. Chapter XIV, verse 5 states : “Sattvam, rajas, tama iti gunah prakriti sambhavah”, the modes of human behavior such as Sattva (the mode of goodness), Rajas (the mode of passion), and Tamas (the mode of ignorance) are generated by the interactions between human body and the environment in which he lives.

Whole Dude – Whole Behavior: A thing comprises of two categories, 1. Matter, and 2. Form. Behavior pertains to the actions performed by the Form and Nature pertains to the material nature of Matter, the Living Matter or the corporeal substance.

At the same time, Indian tradition makes a very clear distinction between true human nature and the three modes of human behavior. The real, or true man is described by the spiritual characteristic of human nature. The Bhagavad Gita in Chapter XVIII, verse 20 claims that all living entities share a single reality even while they are divided into innumerable forms (Sarva bhutesu yenaikam bhavam avyayam iksate) and directs us to recognize that spiritual nature as the true reality that is common among different living forms. B.F. Skinner paid attention to the external causes or influences that generate or modify human behavior and has totally avoided the study of innate or inner cause of behavior. He did not give any importance to the role of heredity in human behavior. This internal influence on an organism’s behavior is not directly observable and an experimenter cannot manipulate such internal influences to conduct experimental studies of behavior. Skinner’s findings about external influences and environmental conditioning mechanisms explain several aspects of human behavior but they do not explain the relationship between human behavior and human existence. To understand human existence, we have to learn about the nature of man’s substance and the behavior of the cells, tissues, and organs that provide the structural and functional basis of the human organism.

Man is a very complex living organism that shows structural differentiation and the functional organization of various tissues and organ systems. The specialized functions of tissues and organs is possible because of the functional subordination of the cells to the requirements of the organism as a whole. In other words, the specialized functions of tissues and organs could be described as ‘altruistic’ behavior, a behavior that promotes the well-being and appears to favor the individual’s chances of survival and reproduction. Man may exhibit behavior under the influence of environment and may act in the modes of behavior such as goodness (Sattva), passion (Rajas), or ignorance (Tamas), but his existence is made possible by his innate human nature which acts as an internal influence and determines the characteristics of the biotic interactions between the cells, the tissues, and organs of his own body.

Whole Dude – Whole Behavior: The integration of Structure and Function describes the Spiritual Basis for Health and Human Existence. By knowing the structure and function of the Red Blood Cell or Erythrocyte, we can establish the facts of Blood Circulation, the reason for the structure of the Heart and Lungs, their motions and their relation to each other and their relation to the Human Being who exists as an Individual with Individuality.
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