Natural healing

 

Not long ago, the University of Oxford published results of a study on wild chimpanzees in Uganda. Crucially, these results show that chimps know of certain plants which they can apply to visible wounds, both on themselves and on others. Tests on the particular types of leaf which they were using showed that several of these had anti-bacterial properties, so the chimps were applying leaves which were helping to heal the wound. With regard to chimpanzee behaviour, the evidence suggests a number of things which were not definitely proven before, but I wish to concentrate here on the animals’ instinctive knowledge of natural remedies. As a Bahá’í, this is no surprise to me. There are references to the phenomenon of natural healing in the Bahá’í writings. Abdu'l-Bahá, who was Bahá'u'lláh’s son, wrote the following on the subject of animals healing themselves:
“Animals have never studied medical science, nor carried on researches into diseases or medicines, treatments or cures. Even so, when one of them falleth a prey to sickness, nature leadeth it, in fields or desert places, to the very plant which, once eaten, will rid the animal of its disease. The explanation is that if, as an example, the sugar component in the animal’s body hath decreased, according to a natural law the animal hankereth after a herb that is rich in sugar. Then, by a natural urge, which is the appetite, among a thousand different varieties of plants across the field, the animal will discover and consume that herb which containeth a sugar component in large amounts. Thus the essential balance of the substances composing its body is re-established, and the animal is rid of its disease.”

This process also helps to keep animals in good health. They have very few ailments compared to humans. Abdu’l-Bahá explained: “…when the constitution is in a state of equilibrium, there is no doubt that whatever is relished will be beneficial to health. Observe how an animal will graze in a field where there are a hundred thousand kinds of herbs and grasses, and how, with its sense of smell, it snuffeth up the odours of the plants, and tasteth them with its sense of taste; then it consumeth whatever herb is pleasurable to these senses, and benefiteth therefrom. Were it not for this power of selectivity, the animals would all be dead in a single day; for there are a great many poisonous plants, and animals know nothing of the pharmacopoeia.”
It is often said, for example, that ragwort is dangerous to grazing animals and should be removed wherever found, but cattle, for instance, will not choose to eat ragwort. It is only when plants grow in fields which are harvested for fodder that it becomes dangerous, because the animals don’t recognise the bits of ragwort which have become mixed in with the feed, so they become ill. 

The same principle, of keeping and restoring the balance between different chemicals or different food groups, applies also to human healing, and therefore to human diet. Abdu'l-Bahá refers to various questions relating to a healthy diet, including using plants for recreating a natural balance in the patient: “People… must develop the science of medicine to such a high degree that they will heal illnesses by means of foods. The basic reason for this is that if, in some component substance of the human body, an imbalance should occur, altering its correct, relative proportion to the whole, this fact will inevitably result in the onset of disease…” Since the time in which Abdu'l-Bahá wrote these words, a number of discoveries have been made in which certain conditions have been shown to be a direct result of chemical or nutritional imbalance, and it is also well understood that invasive diseases are more of a threat to those whose nutritional condition is not good. More study of the effects of nutrition in human beings is essential. Abdu’l-Bahá continued: “At whatever time highly skilled physicians shall have developed the healing of illnesses by means of foods, and shall make provision for simple foods, and shall prohibit humankind from living as slaves to their lustful appetites, it is certain that the incidence of chronic and diversified illnesses will abate, and the general health of all mankind will be much improved.” In the meantime, we need to use modern medicine when needed. Bahá'u'lláh, in communicating with a medical doctor, wrote the following about the practice of medicine: “Do not neglect medical treatment when it is necessary, but leave it off when health has been restored. Treat disease through diet, by preference, refraining from the use of drugs; and if you find what is required in a single herb, do not resort to a compounded medicament… Abstain from drugs when the health is good, but administer them when necessary.”

Through much of human history, there have been people who studied which plants had beneficial results when treating each particular illness. Medical practice began to neglect or even dismiss these “folk” remedies, but in the present era there is now a general belief that there are naturally beneficial plants, and that there will still be plant remedies to be discovered among the many thousands of species present on the planet. This is indeed often used as an argument for biodiversity: if we replace all the world’s forests with grazing land for cattle or monocultures of palm oil, sugar cane or tea, we may well lose entire species of plants before their medicinal possibilities are even discovered. It is therefore of interest to learn that Bahá’í communities in different countries are now deliberately planting native species on land belonging to the community. For example, I am aware that this is happening around both of the Houses of Worship in South America – the Continental one in Chile and the local one in Colombia. Similarly, at the Bahá’í World Centre in Haifa, Israel, the beautifully maintained Bahá’í gardens are flanked by areas left for nature to flourish.

The Bahá’í approach to healing can be generally summarised as accepting scientifically developed medical approaches, but coupling that with a desire to learn more about the natural type of diet possible in each part of the world. We have already discussed the idea of developing medicine in the direction of healing illnesses by means of foods, but this is not to deny other current methods. Bahá'u'lláh says: “Resort… in times of sickness, to competent physicians.” In the case of the chimpanzees however, as they do not have doctors or hospitals of their own, they will presumably continue to use natural healing.