The human body is certainly among the Creator’s crowning achievements. The body is like a small universe, whose parts are in constant interaction to maintain balance and the motion of life.
It operates by natural principles to preserve health and fight disease. Yet much about its marvelous functioning remains a mystery. When an imbalance or blockage disturbs the interactions among the body’s cells and organs, disease and pain result.
The entire body is then mobilized to aid the infected part. In this, the body illustrates universal moral laws: living for the sake of the greater good, and attending to a deficiency in a part before it compromises the whole.
Furthermore, the importance of the mind, or the psychological component in healing, can never be understated. Medical science has done much to improve health, and the role of the physician is affirmed in the scriptures.
In this section, we have added to sacred writings passages from some of the foundational authorities in medicine: Hippocrates, Galen, Paracelsus and the Classic of the Yellow Emperor.
Father Moon calls for a holistic approach to medicine that utilizes the best of both East and West, scientific medicine and spiritual healing.
If you wish to live a long life, you should eat healthy food, drink pure water, breathe clean air, and exercise regularly. And, Father Moon adds, love all people.
1. The Healing Power of the Body
Great thanks are due to Nature for putting into the life of each being so much healing power. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The human body contains blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile. These… make up its constitution and cause its pains and health. Health is… that state in which these… substances are in the correct proportion to each other…
When one of these is separated from the rest and stands by itself, not only the part from which it has come, but also that where it collects and is present in excess, should become diseased, and because it contains too much of the particular substance, cause pain and disease. Hippocrates
There are many parts, yet one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” On the contrary, the parts of the body which seem to be weaker are indispensable, and those parts of the body which we think less honorable we invest with the greater honor, and our unprepresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving the greater honor to the inferior part, that there may be no discord in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. 1 Corinthians 12.20-26
In the whole world it is said that some part of the body is afflicted and painful. It is truly a signpost or guidance from God, though you are ignorant of it. Ofudesaki 2.22 (Tenrikyo)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
Truly, the human body is a treasure house of truth, a microcosm of the vast universe, and a palace of mysteries. (203:327, June 28, 1990)
The human body is like a comprehensive kingdom of heaven, where all the parts interact with one another in harmonious subject-object relationships. Therefore, the universe protects the body, and you do not get sick.
People do not realize that air pressure of one kilogram per square centimeter is squeezing every cell. Yet everything is in balance. When we get sick, it means that something is lacking in a particular part of the body.
Some subject and object partners have lost their ideal relationship, and the universe tries to pull these failed ones down. An expelling force pushes them out; this is expressed as sickness. (204:112, July 1, 1990)
Why do you get sick?… In order for the body to sustain its life, all its parts engage in good interactions, with each part performing its function well. Then the body functions smoothly, and its life continues.
However, what happens if there is a blockage somewhere?
This universe protects anything whose elements engage in give and take in accord with God’s ideal pattern. However, should an opposing element appear, something becomes lacking, or there is a blockage someplace, those elements no longer move within the realm that the universe is protecting. Hence, there is a reaction to expel the offending elements.
This reaction is not a bad thing; it happens for the universe to protect itself. People mainly view sickness as something bad, but it is a natural function to protect the greater organism. So we should change the way we view sickness.
Therefore, if you have a stomach-ache, this means that there is a blockage in a circuit of give-and-take action between some subject and object partner. Your body tries to expel it to the same degree as it is blocked. An expelling force is acting on that place, and so it hurts. Once you release the blockage, you will recover. (165:176, May 20, 1987)
When you get sick, why do you feel pain? It is because the balance in your body has broken down. Once the balance is out of kilter, a universal force acts to expel.
Even if you did not feel pain, since you have a conflict within your system, the universal force would still act to repel, and you could die. The pain warns you of your condition.
Likewise, the reason you feel a pang of conscience is because of the action of this same universal force. Therefore, you should not do or even think of anything that can cause such a result. (400:113, December 28, 2002)
2. The Mind’s Power to Heal
A cheerful heart is a good medicine, but a downcast spirit dries up the bones. Proverbs 17.22
Passion makes the bones rot. Proverbs 14.30
Nowadays, people… use wine as a beverage and they adopt reckless behavior… Their passions exhaust their vital forces; their cravings dissipate their true essence They do not know how to find contentment within themselves; they are not skilled in the control of their spirits.
They devote all their attention to the amusement of their minds, thus cutting themselves off from the joys of long (life). Their rising and retiring is without regularity. For these reasons they reach only one half of the hundred years and then they degenerate. The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine
Neither ought you to attempt to cure the body without the soul; and this is the reason why the cure of many diseases is unknown to the physi- cians of Hellas, because they are ignorant of the whole which ought to be studied also; for the part can never be well unless the whole is well… For this is the great error of our day in the treatment of the human body, that physicians sepa- rate the soul from the body. Plato (Hellenism)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
Your mental attitude toward your situation is all-important. Diseases and bodily sicknesses can be controlled by your mind. When you get sick, if you think, “I will die soon,” you very well might!
Rather, you should think, “This illness came not to kill me but to make me stronger by fighting it off. Maybe it will even give me a blessing.” Then you will soon be healthy. Conquer your sickness in your mind, and you will regain your health. (118:327, June 20, 1982)
If you think you are too old, you are finished. Then you will age very rapidly.
Although I am aging, I am always thinking of things to do so that I will not lose my spirit and energy. Because I don’t lose my spirit, I can overcome any obstacles and maintain my health. Your mental outlook is a powerful thing. (205:91, July 7, 1990)
No matter how healthy your mind may be, if you do not have a healthy body, you cannot fulfill your responsibility as a human being. Therefore, I bid you to constantly make efforts to bring unity in your mind and body. (271:151, August 27, 1995)
In order to become a revolutionary, you should be healthy. If you are weak physically, you cannot carry out your revolutionary mission.
(203:177, June 24, 1990)
3. Medicine
The physician is Nature’s assistant. Galen
The book of Nature is that which the physician must read; and to do so he must walk over the leaves.15 Paracelsus
Servants of God, make use of medical treatment, for God has not made a disease without appointing a remedy for it, with the exception of one disease: old age. Hadith of Ahmad, Tirmidhi and Abu Dawud (Islam)
Give the physician his place, for the Lord created him; let him not leave you, for there is need of him. There is a time when success lies in the hands of physicians, for they too will pray to the Lord that he should grant them success in diagnosis and in healing, for the sake of preserving life. Ecclesiasticus 38.11-14
The medicine men learn their medicines from the spirits in a vision. The spirits tell them what to use and how to use it. Their medicines are nearly always herbs (wato) or roots (hutkan)… They drive the disease out in the sweat, in the vomit, in the defecation, in the urine, and in the breath. Oglala Sioux Tradition (Native American Religions)
The hekura [guardian spirits]… help you bring back stolen souls; thanks to them you don’t lose your way. You can repel the demons of disease; they enable you to recognize them by their smell.
Each one has its particular odor, and their hammocks are impregnated with it; it comes from the watota, which they all possess. A high-quality hallucinogen enables you to see and name the demon who has just sto- len a soul. You think, “It is so-and-so who is guilty!” And it is your turn to hurl your familiar hekura after him. Yanomami Shaman’s Instruction (Native American Religions)
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
Even the vilest germs disappear when faced with their natural enemies. All we need to do is introduce several of the germs’ natural enemies to mop them up and restore the body’s balance.
Yet today’s doctors, in their ignorance, cut and slice to cure diseases like SARS. I am establishing a unified medical science, a combination of Eastern and Western medicines. It is a preventative medical science.
I believe that by employing the principle of natural enemies, people can protect themselves from disease proactively. We should not have to undergo surgery to be healed of disease. In God’s love, our bodies are not meant to be cut and sliced. (May 10, 2003)
What is medicine? It is the disease’s natural enemy. If you have a disease in your head, the medicine would be the tail of its natural enemy. It is interesting to examine the materials and methods of Oriental medicine. If you get sick in the right side of your body, the treatment for it may involve the left side.16 (325:148, June 30, 2000)
We need to develop a unified medical science as a field of Unification Thought. It will cure the diseases of the body, even those that originated from the Human Fall. Furthermore, it should help to heal the conflict between Eastern and Western medicine by harmonizing Eastern and Western cultures. When we can combine Eastern and Western medicine, we will be able to cure incurable diseases like HIV/AIDS.
In Korea, among people of the countryside with no formal medical education, there are many gifted healers. The spirit world instructs them about special treatments for curing diseases such as AIDS that are incurable with modern medicine. Conventional medicine ignores such things. (287:38, August 10, 1997)
4. Good Hygiene
Nothing is to be found that can substitute for exercise in any way… Exercise will expel the harm done by most of the bad regimens that most men follow. Not all motion is exercise. Exercise is powerful or rapid motion, or a combination of both, vigorous motion which alters breathing and increases its rate. Maimonides, Mishneh Torah (Judaism)
Diseases caused by over-eating are cured by fasting; those caused by starvation are cured by feeding up. Diseases caused by exertion are cured by rest; those caused by indolence are cured by exertion. To put it briefly, the physician should treat disease by the principle of opposition to the cause of the disease according to its form. Hippocrates
Those children who are nourished by their mother’s milk enjoy the most appropriate and natural food. Galen
Teachings of Sun Myung Moon
Are you doing exercises in the morning? Some might say, “Why should I? I am still tired, and I need my rest.” However, those who do not make efforts to keep their health will gradually grow infirm. It is the law of nature. (380:164, June 7, 2002)
Whenever my physical condition is poor, I know how to improve it with exercise and massage. For instance, if I feel an ache in my lower back, I massage it like this—a sort of acupuncture. If I examine myself, I can tell what is wrong with my body. I’ve trained myself to manage my health. (203:176, June 23, 1990)
Before you love God directly, you should love the food you eat, love material, all things, and your body from head to toe. Through loving all things, you come to love your body, because your body absorbs the elements of all things. (138:99, January 19, 1986)
Appreciate the grass growing in the earth, made by Heavenly Father’s hands. Fresh air is far more fragrant than any man-made perfume. Anyone who knows the taste of fresh air, sunshine, and clean water will not get sick. If we live with a heart to appreciate nature, we shall always remain healthy. (9:177, May 8, 1960)
If you want to be healthy, you should love people, give, and forget what you have given continually. People who live this way will be happy and enjoy their life during their sojourn on earth. (331:23, August 23, 2000)
Sun Myung Moon