Invaluable conversation with Dr. Ruediger Dahlke and Dr. Nedelya Shtonova

Illness is not an obstacle that appeared on our path by mistake, and therefore unpleasant. Illness is the very path a person walks on their way to health and awareness. The state of the body is a mirror of our essence.

And every illness is a call of the soul.

In this way, it asks us to hear it.

When a problem does not find its elegant resolution on a mental level, it "sinks" into us and the body becomes the new stage where the drama unfolds in a new way. The entire "dramaturgy" is transferred to another level.

Therefore.

Do not be pessimists.

Do not be optimists.

Be intelligent.

And benevolent toward the world.

Have mercy on yourself.

When we are angry, we are at our least capable.

Happiness comes with learning.

And gentleness.

Unshed tears, unexpressed emotions, a desire for total control, repressed insults, experiences, fears, bottomless destructive feelings…

We must "metabolize" them calmly.

Otherwise, things go wrong.

 

We are talking about all this with Dr. Rüdiger Dahlke.

I have dreamed of meeting him for a long time. I know his books almost by heart. And here it is—it happened. He is a doctor with 40 years of practice, a psychotherapist, a vegan, the father of a little girl with Down syndrome, and the author of more than 60 books, including one of my favorites and a highly intriguing one – "The Illness as a Path," co-authored with Thorwald Dethlefsen.

 

Me

Is the soul an important thing, Dr. Dahlke? Does it matter, given that it is so invisible to our physical eyes?

 

HE

I have been working as a doctor for 40 years, and I can tell you that the soul is the most important thing.

Everything we are is the result of the countless experiences of our soul.

Psychosomatics is a field of medicine that examines the relationship between physiological illness and the human psyche. But the psyche, that invisible and so sensitive place, is at the root of everything. First is the soul. And then the body. There are so many experiments in this direction.

For example, we perform surgery on a patient. The surgery goes perfectly. However, the patient dies. Why? Because that is the choice of the soul. A choice from the deep, invisible inner space of the soul.

 

ME

And where is the home of the soul? Where does the soul live? Where, anatomically speaking, does it find shelter within us?

 

 

HE

I think the soul is everywhere. There is not even a single tooth in us that is not connected to the soul. The word "soul" translates to mean a creature that breathes. The soul is a living being; it is everywhere. The human soul is the entire personality. I have a child, Naomi, she is a… child with Down syndrome, trisomy 21—you know, you are a neurologist. And we had a problem in the family—how to get Naomi to open her mouth. At the level of dentistry, at the purely mechanical level, we solved the problem, but she continued not to open her mouth. After a while, we found a Turkish dentist who spoke to her so kindly, who managed to touch her soul in such a way, that she began to open her mouth with ease… evidently, he found a way to connect with her soul.

There are many other examples; here is another one.

Modern medicine speaks like this: "That person in room 20 with a liver problem." You go into room 20 and you see that there isn't just a liver slumped in the bed, but a person lying there, a patient with a problem in the main chemical laboratory of the human body—namely, the liver. And I begin to reason.

The liver always gets sick from an excessive amount of something—too much fat, too much food, too much alcohol, medication. A sick liver shows that a person is taking in too much of something that exceeds their capacity for processing. It shows a lack of measure, it shows excessive desires for expansion, and ideals that are too high. And from a psychosomatic point of view, that is exactly the field of tension in which a liver begins to get sick.

 

ME

All right, Dr. Dahlke, but traditional medicine does not deal with the human soul or with such analyses; medications are not designed to heal the soul…

 

HE

Well, that is precisely the place to ask ourselves: What does the word "medicine" mean? Do you notice how it shares a root with the word "meditation"? This close connection between ethics, soul, center, religion, and medicine has existed since antiquity. If we look for the origin of the word "medicine," we find that its root is the Indo-European "med"… "Med" means "middle," "measure." And the meaning of these words is linked to finding the center. Ancient medicine was called "remedium," which means returning back to the center, to peace of mind and stability.

In English, "rescue remedy" means facing challenges by returning back to the center. To the norm.

And how does one return to the middle, to the center? How does one get centered? That is the question! Because the soul is located in the center, and equilibrium is never just a matter of the body; it is a matter of mental attitude first.

The soul can be in danger, it can be lost. But we must guard and balance it. The mind is invisible; it directs the thought process, but the thought in the soul is that invisible, motivating force that drives visible action and even illnesses. In the same way that electricity stands behind the lighting in our home.

 

Me

And how do we get centered today, when the world is so dynamic and material; that is not easy at all?

 

HE

Yes, in modern society with its consumer appetite and hyper-materialism, this is difficult. But according to ancient Indian teachings, each of us inhabits a reality in which the primary essence of the personality is encoded. That is where our true, essential Self "settles." It always seeks harmony. And we must give it to it. Illness is the disruption of this harmony and the primary balance between body, soul, and mind. Today, we use modern medicine only to suppress symptoms. Which, in my opinion, has nothing to do with true medicine.

Only when we embark on the path of awareness do we approach the experience of truth and balance. And true healing is related exactly to that—to returning to balance.

 

Me

What is the hidden message of illnesses? What does "illness as a path" mean?

You say that every illness, every symptom is a lesson, a specific lesson that we must learn. Does illness have some sacred purpose?

 

HE

Ever since the time of Hippocrates, academic medicine has tried to suggest that a symptom is a more or less random event. However, this causes the signal to lose its true function. Because pain is a signal. It is a message. Pain asks you to direct your attention to the corresponding area. And in this sense, it would be silly or absurd to be angry at the symptom or to want to "switch it off." On the contrary, we must delve deeper into it and understand what it is signaling. The head, for example, reacts with pain faster than any other organ. When we have a headache, it is actually telling us: "Pay attention to your thinking, you are directing it incorrectly, you are pursuing questionable goals, you are racking your brain over unimportant things…" and it is strange to dull these warning signals with painkillers. Instead of tablets, we should analyze this continuity with understanding—from the delicate invitation of the symptom to the persistent pressure of the illness.

 

Me

Dr. Dahlke, you have published more than 60 books dedicated to the mind-soul-body connection. Do you think that the entire physical reality is constructed upon a spiritual foundation, that the soul-body connection is inseparable and the most important thing? How do you perceive psychosomatic medicine?

 

HE

I think that every medicine should be psychosomatic. You know, next year it will be 40 years since I have been working in medicine. And I am now fully convinced that for the comprehensive treatment of any medical condition, the place for targeted mental influence is very important. If you connect psyche and body, you will have success in decoding the illness. Illness is so deeply rooted in human existence. Let's take heart attacks, eating disorders, cancer—these are large, socially significant problems. But we must admit that illness is a state of a person that points out that their consciousness is no longer in order and not in harmony. This loss of internal balance manifests in the body as a symptom. The symptom signals that we, as spiritual beings, have a problem. And our symptoms have much more and much more important things to tell us than the people we interact with.

This applies to every illness. We must admit it and listen to our bodies. Otherwise, it will cost us more and more…

It is not farsighted to seek a solution to the problem only at the body level. Let's say a person eats poorly, doesn't exercise, doesn't move, is lazy. Who tells them what to do? Who dictates these choices? Well, thought, the soul, the invisible reality—they do that. How we move, how we train the body, how we do yoga or meditation, how we eat, walk… These directions are set by the soul. The world of the soul is intangible and immaterial. But it yields results precisely in the visible and material world. The body itself cannot make a decision to get sick, because the body is matter, and it does not possess the ability to make decisions. Decisions are something intimate, and they are created in the soul.

 

Me

In this century of modern comfort and in this society that is almost devoid of signposts, what is the place of morality and values? The soul is precious, but is it relevant today to take care of it?

 

HE

For modern society, there is only one value. First—money, second—money, third—money. The spiral of needs is very strange. Look, in the first half of their life, a person goes crazy working and earning money, money which, in the second half of their life, they begin to spend on doctors. Because of stress, anxiety, insomnia, ambition, poor nutrition, and a lack of respect for themselves and their soul, in the second half of life, a person has already accumulated so many chronic illnesses that there is no chance, there is no way to cure them all; one can only suppress them and keep them in remission. Remember.

Every important thing that was neglected and uncared for in the first half of our lives later, in the second, comes in the form of a problem. Which is somehow… a very expensive and stupid way to construct your days.

And precisely because it is very expensive, I think we will change it. Because money is the only language that modern society understands.

 

Me

Dr. Dahlke, contrary to conventional opinion, you think that illness has a healing potential? Is that so?

 

HE

Problems that we have not resolved in our psyche begin to settle in the body. Let's look, for example, at what lies behind a heart problem. The heart is a symbol of a center in a person that is made neither by will nor by intellect. When a person loves people, children, we say they have a heart for them, they have a big heart, they are capable of opening their heart, they are open and loving. From a Christian point of view, it is perfect to have a big heart. But here, with heart failure, the heart also enlarges, grows. X-rays show an enlarged heart, echocardiography does too; the body is overloaded with excess fluid. But at a life level and a psyche level, this means… narrow-mindedness, a lack of love and understanding for oneself and the wisdom of the world. Here, the therapy of academic medicine shows an original symbolism—the heart patient is given nitroglycerin—that is, an explosive to blast away the narrowness, so that space can be freed in the body for the heart again. In other words… we must grow… we must expand. Growth is a good thing; we must grow all our lives. Because when WE do not grow and live in the narrowness and limitations of the capricious Ego, SOMETHING ELSE in us begins to grow—tumors, the heart, the prostate… And life is in danger.

 

Me

Dr. Dahlke, a little-known reality and fact is that nearly 70% of people over 65 will need long-term care in their lives.

What should we do to better prepare for this period?

And what does it mean to grow old with dignity?

 

HE

I am 66 years old now, and from this position, I think like this—it is better to be honest and lose a certain amount of money than to be dishonest. Friendship, happiness, love, respect, morality… are things that must be above money. These are the dignified things. And caring for the soul—your own and that of others. If a friendship ends with money, it was not a true friendship. It is the same with love; people often fight over money, even get divorced. But if it is true love, they don't need to fight over that.

I share this from personal experience with my first wife. She and I still love each other; yes, we don't have a sexual level of communication, but we write books together, we talk, I visit them often, her and the child, and we always have a wonderful time together. The question of money has never stood between us. We share the same philosophy, the same values, we have a daughter, and we have never fought over money.

 

Me

Many people look with hope toward the New Year 2018. Can you share your inspiring New Year's wish or message?

 

 

HE

My Christmas message is—eat healthily. Stop eating animal protein; that is the best thing you can do for your health and for the animals. And also for the hungry people in the world, because we destroy so many calories by eating meat. It is good to eat plant-based food. That way we are healthier, the animals are happier; from a Christian point of view, it is better. And I also wish for us not to carry pains in our bodies, let us not accumulate experience at that level. Figuratively speaking, the body is a place where a process coming from above reaches its lowest point. A falling ball needs a material medium so that it can bounce upward again. Let us keep this analogy of "above and below" in mind and not become patients. Although, illness is a sacred teacher. And I have many patients who became healthy again, and quite grateful for the illness, because as paradoxical as it may be, it was precisely the illness that returned them to their wholeness. Yes, they lost their romanticism, but they discovered a new, deep meaning in life.

And more…

To be honest with ourselves, to take responsibility, to meet the demands of the environment with unconditional love, and to be in love – with ourselves, with the person beside us. And even with our enemies. Enemies are our shadow, and we must love our shadow. Because in their consciousness, a person remains ill until they integrate the shadow.

 

I

Dr. Dahlke, what will you write on the New Year's card to your daughter?

 

HE

My daughter is… she is a very special child… I will write to her that… I want her to be happy, just as she is happy now, and I want to have plenty of time that I can dedicate solely to her. Because I… love her very, very much.

(his eyes slowly filled with tears)