If the experience of helplessness and despair promotes cancerous growth, will a state of serenity, on the contrary, slow it dawn? Certain exceptional cases suggest this may be so.
About this exceptional case, I read in a great book by David Schreiber -
Anticancer, A New Way of Life, New Edition
In Melbourne, Australia, Ian Gawler, a young veterinarian who had just finished training , found out that he had a dangerous osteosarcoma (cancer of the bone) that had affected his leg. Amputation, followed by a year of conventional treatments, was unsuccessful in halting tumor growth. It spread to his hip and thorax, where it created visible deformities. His oncologist expected him to live no more than a few weeks, perhaps less than a month. With nothing to lose and with his wife's full support, Ian threw himself into an intensive practice of meditation. He wanted to enjoy in his remaining days the calm he had discovered practicing yoga. His physician, Dr. Meares, had been initiated into meditation in India, where he had encountered great mystics. He was particularly impressed by the calm his young patient succeeded in experiencing. He attributed it to the characteristic serenity of the dying in their final days.
But after a few weeks of this regiment, to the astonishment of all, Ian seemed to be getting better. After several months of intensive meditation (an hour, three times a day!), along with a strict diet, Ian recovered his strength. The hideous bone deformities that had marked his chest started to dissolve. A few month later, they had completely vanished. Dr. Meares asked Ian how he explained his extraordinary remission.
"I think it's our way of living, the way we experience our life," Ian answered, speaking of his wife and himself. As if, Dr. Meares explains, at every moment of his existence, this patient was filled with the peace he experienced in his intense period of meditation. Today, thirty three years later, Ian Gawler is still alive. Since his recovery, he has devoted most of his time to working with groups of cancer patients, helping them integrate meditation and other healthy habits into their lives.
Ian Gawler tells the story of his extraordinary recovery in a very beautiful book "You Can Conquer Cancer"
and strictly natural diet were not the only resources he used. He also drew on a number of different natural treatments, both psychological and psychospiritual. However, he attributes his recovery principally to his inner calm.More video with dr.Ian Gawler:
http://www.youtube.com/user/GawlerFoundation
The Gawler Foundation is a not for profit, registered charity that promotes the integrated management of cancer, MS and other serious illness:
http://www.gawler.org/
Photos and articles:
The remarkable servival story and pics
Grace Gawler:
http://www.youtube.com/user/GracieG53
Grace Memoir:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3ToWJcnH4E
