An elucidating journey into eastern healing and medicine

Sep 13, 2020 Book Review…, News

Book review…

Book: Ancient Secrets of a Master Healer – A Western Skeptic, An Eastern Master and Life’s Greatest Secrets
Author: Clint G. Rogers, PhD
Critic: Glenville Ashby, PhD

Dr. Clint G. Roger’s ‘Ancient Secrets of a Master Healer’ is encyclopaedic and invitingly presented. With an engaging blend of animated anecdotes and curative formulas, Dr. Roger’s work intrigues and mystifies the most discriminating of readers.
India is the home of Dr. Pankaj Naram, an unsuspecting medical genius that ably integrates Aryudeva, a healing philosophy of the East into a holistic model that meets the unique challenges of the modern times. One can argue that Eastern teachings have long flooded the West. Today, alternative and complementary approaches to health openly compete with allopathic medicine. Herbal medicine, qigong, acupuncture, and yoga are part of an expansive array of therapeutics available to westerners.
In fact, the most notable of medical institutions in the United States boast divisions of integrative medicine. So what makes Dr. Roger’s work so uniquely engaging?
Firstly, he chronicles patients treated by Dr. Naram in real-time, capturing the trepidation of parents, the existential struggles of patients and the exuberance of those successfully treated. Moreover, for all the hagiography surrounding Dr. Naram, his humility is moving. In an impersonal world, Dr. Naram responds to human anguish with magnanimity and compassion. Comfortable among children and adults he is the consummate empath and clinician. He is a reservoir of an ancient art of healing that he unreservedly renders to the sick and suffering.
Dr. Rogers paints an India that is aesthetically appealing. It is arcane and cosmopolitan. Not unexpectedly, he is mesmerized by its multiple-tiered religious fabric. Jainism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity flourish but, the philosophical depth of Hinduism stands out, stirring more than the intellect. Dr. Rogers, fascinated by its history and his new realization, questions the purported polytheistic theory of Hinduism. It is far more complex than we care to learn. He reasons that Hindus are monotheists but they never fail to celebrate the multifaceted aspects of the Supreme. And of India’s ancient texts from which the Dr. Naram crafts his medical practice, Roger is drawn.
He writes, “He can personalize care based on things he can feel in the pulse that modern Western medical equipment is nowhere near able to detect. Whereas Western science often says, ‘You have a headache so here’s a pill,’ it sounds like Dr. Naram distinguishes which type of headache you have, he looks at your particular constitution to draw from a wide variety of remedies.”
He later adds, “In the United States we create breakthroughs in science and engineering at universities and in laboratories. We focus on mastering the tangible outer world. In India, however, there are countless rishis, yogis, and spiritual masters trying to create breakthroughs by mastering the inner world through consciousness, awakened intuition (the third eye), and exploration of metaphysical experiences. They use the tools of meditation, yoga, ancient healing methods, and Prana, or life force.”
Dr. Rogers recalls one of the most salient cases he witnessed involving an autistic, incorrigible child, and her distraught parent. After initial outbursts, “Dr. Naram went to her again and tried to place his hands on her head in a particular way, to press certain points…[to] help remove blocks and rebalance the body.”
With some gestures and calming words, the child’s conniption subsided, her receptivity impressing everyone in the office. Dr. Naram explained that these points or marmas (of which there are 107 in the human body) transmit messages to the subconscious mind of the patient.
“When you combine this with a certain diet, herbal enemies, and home remedies- amazing things can happen,” he added.
Dr. Rogers was left reflecting on the billion-dollar pharmaceutical industry in the West and, the inordinate dispensation of prescription drugs to children diagnosed with autism, Aspergers, and related conditions with no cure in sight.
In addition to marmas, we are introduced to other unfamiliar terms and concepts, such as pitta and dosha, Mahabharata, and Siddha-Veda’s six keys of deeper healing, all part of Ayurvedic teachings.
Further, Dr. Naram emphasized the importance of reframing, that patients facing Herculean challenges can reap equal or greater benefits.
Paramount is understanding our unique constitution and our innate reservoir for self- healing.
“Once you know who you are, what your blocks and imbalances are, then you can know what food is your medicine,” he stated. “We need to pay more attention not only to the food we are giving our body, but also to the thoughts we are feeding our mind with, and the attitudes we feed our emotions.” He promoted preventative care stressing the essentiality of consuming the right foods, herbal supplements, proper sleep, exercise, prayer and meditation.
“If you know what to do, you won’t get sick in the first place,” he counselled.
Dr. Naram’s shared with the author his secret recipe for moong soup, a meal that was rich in protein, reduced inflammation, removed toxins, supplied lots of energy, and still gave a feeling of lightness.” Of the masters from whom Dr. Naram learned his art, he attributed their long life span to moong soup and ghee.
Captivating are the tales of invigorated septuagenarians, octogenarians and centenarians. “Anyone can experience vibrant health, unlimited energy, and peace of mind at any age,” but “first you must have a clear idea of what ‘youth’ is,” Dr. Naram noted.
“Youth is possible at any age if your lifestyle is aligned with your inner nature. Young people are full of hope. ‘Old’ people lose hope.”
Interestingly, many of Dr. Naram’s ‘old’ clients enjoyed a robust sex life, to which the author mused, “I knew friends in their twenties and thirties who had problems with erectile dysfunction which impacted their self-confidence. They felt powerless and embarrassed. And there was an eighty-seven-year-old man and an eighty-one-year-old woman having sex multiple times a week.” These remarkable men and women also reported that their age-related joint pain was gone.
Notably, Dr. Naram painstakingly ensures that his treatment and product are sealed with the highest standards. He has had to convince new scientists the importance of reciting certain mantras (sacred words) before and during the production of herbs, and explain to them “why things were to be combined only in certain ways and certain times especially when it took longer and cost more than doing it a simpler way.”
‘Ancient Secrets of a Master Healer’ is an elucidating journey into eastern healing and medicine. Unquestionably, Dr. Roger’s work is an monumental document for the western mind. Invariably, the human body is viewed as part of a far larger construct, an organism sustainably connected to all of nature. In guarding the human body from illnesses, we are cautioned to adopt preventative measures through physical activity, nutrition, health, and knowledge of the needs of our body according to our dosha or Ayurvedic body type.
(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)
Feedback: [email protected] him on Twitter@glenvilleashby
Published by Wisdom of the World Press
ISBN – 13: 978-1-952353-00-0
Copyright 2020 by Paul Clinton Rogers
Available at Amazon
Ratings: Essential