Establishing Your Credentials As An Authority

1. Establishing Your Credentials As An Authority

In the light of the great providence of the wisdom of the body as was so beautifully expressed in Lesson Six of this wonderful course of instruction, it is with great humility and concern that I even accepted the challenge of preparing this lesson. I am proud and delighted that the procedures that we have employed in working with people who have been fasting (at the Life Science Health School, Yorktown, Texas) have been sufficiently correct and constructive as to merit the consideration of the school faculty and staff to offer service in whatever way that is necessary.

We have found that the intelligence and wisdom which is an integral component of the body that is undergoing a fast is, indeed, quite able to handle the situation in a most efficient and awesome manner when we refrain from interfering in any way. We can recall one fast, in particular, in which a guest appeared in our presence more dead than alive. Her breath was coming in “thimbles-full” and the exertion of just trying to breathe seemed almost overwhelming. She had to remain in an upright position to be able to breathe at all when it was obvious that she was completely exhausted and should have been reclining in a restful position. We covered her with a blanket and propped her upright in a recliner with pillows.

Through the grace of God or the creative force or power or by whatever name you may call it and the exercise of what proved to be good judgment, the guest improved. Her improvement was slow and frustrating to those of us on the outside of her body that felt something should be done, and we were guided to do just that—we did nothing. We let the innate providence and wisdom of that frail and debilitated body do “its thing” as we sat by and observed, helping as we could from time to time.

In a matter of five days, the first two of which seemed twice their usual length, the “innate intelligence” within that woman’s body completely healed her to the point that she was lying down completely flat upon her bed breathing just as deeply as she had ever been able to do in her life without so much as the slightest indication of apnea or difficult breathing.

1.1 Developing ”En Rapport” With Your Guests

To preside over a fast requires many things, all of which are designed to instill faith and confidence within your “guests” that all is going to be uplifting and supportive of life. These guests come into your presence in a fearful state of being, because if they were not fearful for their life, they would not have come to you or the many other practictioners of so-called health before you in the first place.

‘One of the greatest things you can do for your guests is to instill a feeling of hope and build a pathway to a faith in themselves to realize that they do, in fact, have within themselves everything that is necessary to bring them safely back to a state of near perfect health and well-being.

Many of your guests will have been in “fasting centers” or “health institutions” of one sort or another before coming to you. You will be “under the gun,” so the speak, and your reactions and forthrightness in your responses to their questions, both voiced and implied, will determine how well they respond to your suggestions.

1.2 Your Conduct As An Operator of a Composite Personality

When you have established a condition of “En Rapport” with your guests, you will have formed a composite personality between yourself and your guests. If you have been attentive to their needs and have been responsive to them you will have gained the respect and cooperation of your guests and they will follow your instructions to the very letter. Your guests will thereby gain the greatest amount of good wholesome benefit from their time of fasting under your supervision.

To form this composite personality you will have to get to know your guests in a very personal manner without becoming overly intimate or concerned about their personal affairs, beliefs, and customs. They will share those things with you that they want to share and, as you begin to establish your trustworthiness as a pillar of strength and determination, your guests will begin sharing more and more of themselves with you. This can lead to some rather touchy situations wherein you will be hard pressed to maintain the supervisor-guest relationship to the nth degree, but you must prevail. You are the one who has set yourself up as being the so-called “well” person and the guest is the one who is “sick” or “not with it.” You must be part of the solution to their problems as opposed to becoming a part of their problems.

We have found from experience that it is far better to give honest and straightforward answers to the questions you will be asked. If you do not know the answer to your satisfaction, it is far better to simply say you don’t know the answer. Tell them you will try to find the answer for them and then make an honest effort to obtain it—one that is satisfactory to both yourself and your guest. None of us knows everything—as Will Rogers is quoted as saying, “We are all ignorant in different things.” With the vast amount of knowledge available to the human brain in this day and age, it is no disgrace not to know everything. But you should make a real effort to try to know as much as you can in all subjects relating to Hygiene and Nutrition in their broad sense and application. Bluffing and insincerity are not the hallmark of a dedicated teacher of Hygiene.

1.3 Case Histories and Consultation

Case histories should be as complete and as detailed as necessary to get a good perspective concerning your guests. You need to pry into their affairs as well as you can to determine whether your guest is someone who can benefit from your services. Without their complete cooperation and willingness to turn themselves over to you to get the benefits of your expertise, you are going to be wasting your time as well as that of the guest. When you can find this out early in your program, you will be saving yourself a great deal of trouble and problems. The guest needs to know that fasting is not an easy thing to do, especially one of long duration. He or she should be given some idea of the new and different things that can be experienced, and at the same time, to not be unduly alarmed or frightened at the prospects.

In those cases where there is apprehension or concern, it could be in the best interests of all concerned to feed the guest for a few days while they visit with the other guests who have been fasting to let them learn a little about the effects of the fast. The main point is that you clear the air as much as possible so that the numbers of surprises that the guest experiences through the fast will be minimized.

Upon your acceptance of the guest, you have entered into a contractual agreement more often implied than written but nonetheless a binding contract defensible in a court of law where both parties have their clearly-defined responsibilities.

If for any reason, you feel that your guest doesn’t trust you or is uncooperative with you, you will be well advised to consider not accepting him or her or accepting him or her under certain conditions which should then be clearly spelled out and agreed upon in the form of a written contract. A standard contract format can be made out selling forth the conditions under which you have agreed to work with the guest. This prevents the situation at some later date of “I thought you said I’m a no good so and so.” All you have to do then is refer to the contract.

1.4 Procedures, Regulations and Rules (General)

These types of things (contracts, case histories, etc.) can be prepared in advance and kept on file. After you have accepted the guest following your consultation, you can hand him/her copies of the little packet of “dos and don’ts” so that he/she can immediately begin adjusting thinking to the kind of things you want him/her to consider as long as with you and under your supervision and guidance. These contracts need not be lengthy, cumbersome, or difficult of implementation. You should always operate on the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) principle, and then you are not later embarrassed by saying something that is obviously uninforcable or redundant.