Gandhiji’s Views on Health
From the point of view of Naturopathy health means:
- Body ease
- Free from all diseases
- Carries his normal activities without fatigue
- Able to walk 10-12 miles a day with ease
- Perform ordinary physical labor without getting tired
- Can digest ordinary simple food
- Mind and senses are at the state of harmony and poise
To have the above qualities of health it is necessary to have knowledge of human body. Only research worker may be able to tell something, only something, about what kind of education was prevalent in previous times.
The human body is composed of five elements what the ancient philosophers believed to have. These are earth, water, vacancy, light and air.
All human activities are carried out by mind aided by ten senses: five senses of action – hands, feet, mouth, anus and the genitals; and five sense of perception – touch through skin, taste through tongue, smell through nose, seeing through the eyes and hearing through the ears.
Thinking is the function of the mind and some people have called it the eleventh sense. In health all these senses with mind act in perfect coordination.
The human body is the universe in miniature. That which cannot be found in the body cannot found in the universe. Hence the philosophers formula, that the universe within reflects the universe without. It follows therefore that if our knowledge of our own body could be perfect we would know the universe. But even the very best of the doctors, vaids and hakims have not been able to acquire it. It will be presumptuous for a layman to aspire it. No instrument has been discovered yet to give us any information of our mind.
Scientists have given attractive descriptions of the activities going on within and without the body, but no one can say what sets the wheel going. Who can explain the why and wherefore of death or foretell its time? After infinite reading and writing, after infinite experiences he has come to know how little he knows.
All the part working in harmony is required for smooth function of the machine. Even a disorder in a single part brings it to stop. For instance; if the digestion is out of order, the whole body becomes slack. Therefore, he who takes indigestion and constipation lightly does not know the a-b-c of the rules of health. These two are the root cause of innumerable ailments.
The present education system leaves us totally oblivion of our body system. Our knowledge of our own village and our fields shares a similar fate. On the other hand we are taught about the things that have no bearing on our daily life. This knowledge is also required but at first we must know of our body, our house, surroundings, the crops and its history before all.