A Metaphysical Perspective 0n Sarscov-2 19

Summary: This article is based on the premise that …

1. Human existence has three aspects – physical, mental and spiritual.

2. Health is defined as a stable equilibrium or harmony of these three aspects.

3. Disease is a state of unstable equilibrium or disharmony of these three. Disease is able to overtake the human functioning whenever the stable equilibrium or harmony between these three aspects of human existence is disturbed or lost. The dominance of one over the other is the reason for disease. Even the dominance of the spiritual aspect with neglect of the physical and mental aspect can lead to disease.

4. Every sickness brings with it an opportunity to heal. When the sickness is in an individual, it brings with it an opportunity for the individual to heal. When the sickness is in the collective – an epidemic or a pandemic, it brings with it an opportunity for collective mankind to heal.

Any system of medicine or any assortment of systems that helps in restoring harmony of these three aspects of existence is in my opinion the most ideal system for healing.

The last few years have seen a huge gulf develop between the spiritual existence and the mental and physical. The dominant medicine (allopathy) of this era completely disregards the spiritual existence of the living things.

People have been influenced and impressed by technological advances and digital tools in the field of medicine. While these tools definitely enhance life and do wonders, people get too dependent on them and stop relying on signals from the body.

We find watching nature documentaries on television more preferable than real walks in the woods. We find exercising on a treadmill in an airconditioned room more pleasurable than running at the beach. All the gadgets boast of our mastery over nature rather than our harmony with it.

Some may be uncomfortable reading this article, as it deprives the reader of any opportunity to blame the environment, civilization, genes etc. as a reason for their illness. This article is not meant for materialists and rationalists, but for those who believe in all three aspects of existence – physical, mental and spiritual. It is an attempt to view disease in a holistic perspective.

Key words: Virion, Fear, Love, Kent, SarsCov-2 19, Air, Respiration   

At all given times our immune system does a remarkable job of defending our human body against any pathogen (disease causing microorganisms). The absolute healthy situation is wherein any pathogen is unable to invade the human body.

THE VIRION  [1]

Virion, an entire virus particle, consisting of an outer protein shell called a capsid and an inner core of nucleic acid (either ribonucleic or deoxyribonucleic acid— RNA or DNA).

The core confers infectivity, and the capsid provides specificity to the virus.  If the host/ human does not defend itself adequately the virions attack its cell and take over its machinery to carry out their own life processes of multiplication and growth.

A virus must use its host cell processes to replicate. For this the virus needs to take over the host cell processes. The term is ‘take over’ means to begin to have control over, to assume to take possession or to become dominant[2].

The term take over is most popularly used in military parlance. This condition is called ‘infection’.  Infect[3] (verb) is from the latin word  inficere , in-in and ficere to stain, to tinge, to dye, also to corrupt, stain, spoil, literally to put into, dip into, from in +facere -to make, do, perform.  When the pathogen is unable to subjugate the human organism, it retreats and leaves the human to enjoy good health.

Therefore, infection is a war-like condition, wherein the host’s system is in in-flame-mation. This warlike situation is secondary to the overwhelming insult from the pathogen meeting with an equally strong resistance by the host’s defence systems. This can be seen through typical symptoms such as fever, swelling, redness and pain.

The intensity of symptoms of inflammation is proportional to the defence offered by the person. The more the defence offered, the more is the inflammation and increased chances of damage to the system of the human organism.

THE COVID-19 SITUATION & FEAR-COVIDPHOBIA 

Dr Kent[4] has said in Chapter 29 in his Lectures on Homeopathic Philosophy:

“There are two forms of protection from sickness. Man is protected from sickness in two ways, by Homoeopathy and by use. The physician and the nurse who go into the district of yellow fever or typhoid or diphtheria or smallpox, who keep busy, who have, in the highest sense of the word, the true love of the use, who have gone into the work as mediums of mercy, will be largely protected just simply from their love of the work, from their delight in it. They have no fear. Fear is an overwhelming cause of sickness; those who fall prey to fear are likely to become sick, but those who face disease with no fear are likely to remain well; they do sometimes fall sick, it is true, but I believe it is because they begin to have fear in the work. The other and greater prophylactic is the homoeopathic remedy”.

Rarely has the threat and fear of a pathogen occupied so much of our collective conscious and unconscious mind spaces. It is more than a year, all news is bombarding us with the deadly nature of this novel tiny virus (the diameter of the virus has been found to range between 50nm to 140 nm[5]  and 1 nanometer can be expressed as 1x 10⁻⁹ m). Incidentally it also termed the Novel Corona Virus or SarsCov-2019 or Covid 19.

The voice of all those practitioners of medicine who instill confidence in our inherent immunity and the unsurpassable capacity of our innate immune system to defend us in all circumstances is subdued by this bombardment.

The situation of unreasonable fear, anxiety and uncertainty created and manufactured around Sars Cov-2 19 virus has implications at all three levels of human existence – physical, mental and spiritual. The www, the internet has become the new collective mind space, the new collective digitalized unconscious.

1. Physical health measures adopted are wearing a mask, maintaining personal hygiene, getting tested, self-isolating and social distancing.

2. Mental health measures adopted globally are doing yoga-pranayam, meditation, working from home and keeping oneself constructively occupied, finding joy and living quality time with family, pursuing a long-cherished hobby, reading inspirational books etc.

3. Spiritual health measures have been conveniently forgotten by many. Spiritual health also means a balance in all 4 elements – air, fire, water and earth in the body.  

Air represents intellect, ambition and connection to the universal life force. Earth represents strength, grounding and connection to a life path. Fire represents inner strength and will and connection to personal power. Water represents emotions and connection to our instincts and intuition.

Spiritual measures include being compassionate, serving others in one’s capacity, understanding other people’s pain, sharing with others, being generous, loving without prejudice, considering all of creation as Divine etc.

This neglect and alienation from one’s spiritual self contributes to loss of trust in life and in self. Also, loss of trust in God and it results in despair. This in turn generates exaggerated fear of severe suffering, fear of death, anxiety for the health of near and dear ones, depression and uncertainty of finances and future, loss of purpose in life, existential angst, loss of sense of identity etc.

The situation surrounding the SarsCov-2 19  situation is that of fear, and fear and fear. It has been scientifically demonstrated that chronic fear[6]  causes immune system dysfunction, endocrine system dysfunction and alterations in the autonomic nervous system.

Fear thus is as or more dangerous than the pathogen itself. There are experts studying how to diagnose, treat and prevent infectious diseases. We need experts who can study the fear response and create a fear quotient that can predict who’s going to become infected.

This fear quotient can help identify patients who are susceptible to getting infected even before they show any symptoms. We need to work towards identifying the susceptibility for disease rather than treating after disease has set in.  

THE SARSCOV-2 19 or NOVEL CORONA VIRUS

SarsCov-2 19 virus is a respiratory virus. Respiration or breathing, like the heart beating, is an involuntary and rhythmic activity. Hindu wisdom teaches us that breath is the carrier of our life force and therefore it is called ‘prana’.

The bible mentions that ‘God “breathed into his nostrils the breath of life” (Genesis 2:7), but God did not simply breathe air into the man; God shared divine life with him[7]”.

This echoes in Egyptian culture in which the god of air, Shu, was created from the breath of the first god, Atum[8]. The symbol of Ankh is a representation of this breath of life. The breath of life is used as a greeting in some cultures-the traditional Hawaiian greeting, whereby two people press the bridges of their nose together whilst inhaling, is intended to share ha or the breath of the life and welcome.

Science analyzes the air we breathe as O2, C02, N2, Co2, argon and trace amounts of neon, methane, helium, krypton, hydrogen and water vapor and stops at that. This is a reductionist attitude. This breath also has a divine connotation to it. It is the breath that connects us unconsciously to the universe.  Breath therefore in the holistic view is our connection to the divine. In Sanskrit air is qualified as ‘sukshma’ because the presence of air is only felt and not seen.

Breathing therefore connects us to our divine and also connects us to one another, to the whole of the breathing universe (all humans, plants, animals etc.).

We are inhaling what others have exhaled. There is a constant exchange of air happening at the ‘sukshma’ level. This rhythm is unconscious and constant and cannot be controlled by our will. We can choose whom to make contact with through skin, but whether we like it or not, we choose it or not, we cannot control with whom we make contact via our breath, the element of air.

Our skin is our clear boundary or demarcation from the outside world whereas our breath is our ‘sukshma’ connection with the outside world and of course the divine.

Our conscious or unconscious aversion to make contact with the divine or our outside world (people at home, the office, the outside, etc.) can cause issues of breathing (hyperirritability, coughing, spasms, suffocation, asthma, pneumonia etc).

These breathing issues are an unconscious attempt to resist the involuntary contact we make through air and this resistance compels us to isolate ourselves from the one who we don’t want to make contact with.

We need the support of the laboratory-made indispensable O2 (Oxygen) through gadgets. This aversion to making contact with others is expressed emotionally as not being accepting of the differences of other people’s ideas, lifestyle, culture, religion, habits etc. This is made worse by a strong ego.

The dynamics manufactured around SarsCov-2 19 virus are mainly of isolation. We are obligated to isolate ourselves from others and to isolate others to protect from getting infected by them!

The whole dynamic is of separation and isolation in the real-world while being compelled to be connected artificially in the virtual world through gadgets! We see this separation at the level of the family, society, city, country and continents. All borders between humans are closed and all movement regulated.

When fear overtakes us, love takes a back seat. Fear of infection can twist our ordinary interactions and lead us to behave in unexpected ways[9].  We become less tolerant and less accepting of others. We become tribalistic and conformist.

We develop a strong disgust response to others that don’t conform to our way of thinking and behaving. This disgust, tribalistic and conformist behavior further alienates us from others. This creates a society that is divisive and alienating. We shut ourselves off from each other.  This pandemic has seen an exaggeration of this alienation from each other in the name of the virus.

THE NOVELCORONA VIRUS or SARSCOV-2 19 ILLNESS

SarsCov-2 19 illness [10]  is caused when the immune system is unable to defend and stop the entry or invasion of the virus. This initial lack of defense gives the virus a passage to the mucous membranes in the throat.

The immune system does not stop defending at any point. When the pathogen does manage to enter the body, the immune system continues its efforts that reflect in the symptoms mentioned below.

The sick can recover and restoration of health can begin at any symptom level. Some may recover just after fever, or after cough or some may recover after suffering ARDS, taking support of the ventilator and have their ‘eureka moment’ to restore the balance, regain health and emerge successful in fighting off the pathogen. The whole orchestration of the elemental work happens at an energetic level and most do not remember anything. Some individuals refer to it as dreams or out of body experiences after they recover.

1. Fever – increase in body temperature is to activate heat-shock proteins and suppress microbial growth and propagation. Fever is expression of the fire element at work. The sick individual connects to inner power, will and strength and creates fever to kill the pathogen.

2. Cough – is an attempt at clearing the throat and respiratory passages of microbes through forceful expulsion of air from the lungs. It is the body’s way of vacuum cleaning by the air element at work.

3. Runny nose – is an attempt at discharging the virus out of the nasal passages through secretions. It is the body’s way of mopping up with immunoglobulins as detergent by the water element at work.

4. Throat pain – Throat pain is being anxious and fearful about appreciating, admitting, discussing or dismissing of one’s belief, one’s personal truth. Throat is our will and our ability to communicate, to others as well as ourselves. It is an inability to voice one’s opinion. This is fire element at work.

5. Weakness – is a symptom of loss of vital energy. Muscle is the tissue of the body which primarily functions as a source of power. It also represents our will. The main function of the muscular system is movement. Feeling weak and tired, compels one to rest thereby allowing all energies to be utilized and directed by the immune system against the pathogen. This is the earth element at work.

When these attempts are unsuccessful in the expulsion of the virus from the upper respiratory tract there are symptoms of viral coup …

6. Loss of sense of smell and/or taste – Smell and taste are classified as ‘behavioral immune response’. It protects us against anything rotten. We are able to avoid things, food and people that ‘smell bad’ or ‘taste bad’. These instinctual responses are lost. The virus has been successful in its take-over and gaining control over the immune system and the air, water and fire element losing their grip to assist the sick to kill the pathogen.

The virus now moves further down into the respiratory system – the lungs. The lower airways have more ACE2 receptors than the rest of the respiratory tract. Here it can cause inflammation – pneumonia.

7. Pneumonia – infection of the alveoli (tiny air sacs) that are responsible for air exchange (Oxygen and Carbon-dioxide exchange). The CT scan shows ‘ground glass opacities’. The persons breathing is affected. Breathing, like other functions is automatic and rhythmic.  It is an exchange process between O2 and CO2. Air is indispensable for this activity. In this condition there is no exchange of air at the level of alveoli.  This non exchange situation is relayed at the level of the alveoli by the mind and soul that is averse to any or all exchange. The sick may require oxygen[11] support of CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure) machine, IMV

(Invasive mechanical Ventilator) depending on the extent of lung damage. This is the first sign of viral coup.

If the virus continues further in its take over, the infection gets more severe and develops into ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress syndrome)

8. ARDS – As fluid collects in the lungs (exudation), the tiny air sacs are unable to carry oxygen to the blood. This situation causes labored breathing. This causes lack of Oxygen supply to other organs of the body. This deficiency of Oxygen causes other organs like kidneys and liver to shut down. The sick may require oxygen[12] support of ECMO (Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation) due to extensive lung damage.  This is the water element overworking and trying to assist the sick by reconnecting to the instinct to live and survive.

Being supported by an IMV or ECMO to breathe is the most despondent situation for any human being.  The function of a ventilator is to pump or blow oxygen rich air into the lungs referred to as oxygenation. They also assist in the removal of CO2 from the lungs, referred to as ventilation.  Mechanical ventilators are machines that take over the breathing process entirely. The theme of take over continues. There are many who take a U-turn even at this stage when they manage to take over the reins of their life force and work towards restoring the harmony and the wholeness with or without support of medical devices or gadgets.

HOMOEOPATHY & METAPHYSICAL UNDERSTANDING

The disease picture mentioned above is the totality of symptoms of the SarsCov-2 19 disease caused by the so named virus. The simillimum therefore in most cases would be the Sars Cov-2 19 Nosode (SCN) prepared from the virus itself and it would also would clear the miasma created by the virus.

Depending on the symptoms observed in COVID-19 infection, below is a chart of a few applicable homoeopathic remedies for reference by homoeopaths that match its symptoms to be used based on symptom similarity.

These are simple remedies that will at the very least give the vital force/prana an impetus and boost the immune system (inherent healing mechanism) to work efficiently and help the sick restore health.  We have a vast repertory of well proved remedies, and any remedy can apply on the basis of symptom similarity.

Aconite Life is rendered miserable by fear, fear he will die, starts predicting day and date. Inconsolable anxiety Person takes ill suddenly high fever with thirst for large quantities of cold water  Tossing about in agony Face red and pale alternately Cough dry and hoarse	Antim tart Loss of sense of taste   Nostrils dilated, Alae nasi flapping Face pale twitching with cough covered with cold sweat Must sit up to breath or cough Loose rattling cough, chest feels full of mucous but cannot expel the mucous; A feeling as if leaflet seems to be closing his trachea Coughs and yawns alternately Despair of recovery Pleuro pneumonia	Belladonna Sense of smell diminished, Imaginary odors Coryza with mucus with blood Fever with hot red flushed skin, glaring eyes, throbbing carotids. Thirst for cold water and lemonades Larynx feels sore and painful, hoarseness Stitches in chest while coughing Sleepy but cannot sleep
Arsenic album Anxious, fearful, mentally restless but too weak to move but still keeps moving here and there in the house Fear of death is surely he is going to die, does not want to be alone. Anxiety attacks after midnight Great thirst drinks little and often Diarrhea and vomiting- cannot retain water Cough with sore throat, burning and running nose Great debility from anxiety	Grindelia Frank symptoms in the lungs along with affections of the eyes Headache with pain in eyeball with pupils dilated, with Purulent ophthalmia and iritis Cannot breathe when lying down Suffocation of falling to sleep or on waking up Profuse secretions in bronchial tubes, foamy mucus difficult to expel On examination: Sibilant rales are disseminated, Spleen enlarged	Bryonia Fear of loss of business, talks of business with homesickness Dryness of mouth tongue and throat with excessive thirst for large quantities of water Tough mucus in larynx or trachea loosened after much hawking Cough dry, pronounced at night  must  sit up with frequent desire to take a long breath Pneumonia Chill with external coldness
Gelsemium Weakness and trembling due to fear and anxiety Hoarseness with tiresome low breathing Dry cough with fluent coryza Heaviness of head, eyes, cannot keep eyes open Chill without thirst Diarrhea	China officinalis Violent dry sneezing with cold sweat about nose Influenza symptoms with debility Cannot breathe with head low Constant choking rattling in chest Fever with chills in noon, thirsty before chill with debilitating night sweats Diarrhea with flatulent colic	Eupatorium perfoliatum Coryza with sneezing Hoarseness and cough, must support chest while coughing Great soreness of muscles and bones Cough relieved by getting on hands and knees Chill, perspiration relieves, vomiting of bile when chill ends Green watery diarrhoea

Utility of Metaphysical Understanding

The understanding that certain symptoms are protective mechanisms of the intelligence of the body allows the sick to see the symptom as a companion, assisting them in eliminating the sickness.

Example 1 – Fever being the body’s intelligence raising the temperature of the body to kill pathogens through heat. Example 2 – coryza as the body’s way to expel the pathogen through mucus discharges etc. Example 3 – weakness compelling bed rest.

Understanding the symptoms will help physicians decide when to assist the sick with medicine of their choice without interfering with their immune system in their process of defending against the pathogen (homoeopathy, ayurvedic or from the dominant medicine).

It can help the treating physician decide when to utilize technological tools and the marvellous gadgets invented by the dominant medicine to support the sick whilst their immune system is defending them from the pathogen.

Our health measures in the present time include attending primarily to the physical and mental aspects of existence only. The gulf between these two and the spiritual aspect of existence is widening due to the advantage and edge that dominant medicine and medical technology offers to the sick.

This intervention in some cases does not allow inner reflection and trust in our inner intelligence (air), utilizing of inner strength and will (fire), following our instincts and acknowledging our intuition (water) and staying grounded while following our chosen life path (earth).

Integrating the spiritual aspect of existence into our day-to-day living assures us of a stable equilibrium while we are turned to conducting our physical and mental aspects. Once we have grasped the deeper meaning of our existence, our basic approach to illness and health transforms. We are able to live in harmony with nature that includes these viruses and all other pathogens from the past and many new to come.

[1] https://www.britannica.com/science/virion

[2] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/takeover#:~:text=transitive%20verb,2%20%3A%20to%20become%20dominant

[3] https://www.etymonline.com/word/infect

[4] LECTURES ON HOMOEOPATHIC PHILOSOPHY BY James Tyler KENT, A.M., M.D. Lecture 29 on Idiosyncrasies

[5] https://www.news-medical.net/health/The-Size-of-SARS-CoV-2-Compared-to-Other-Things.aspx

[6] https://www.ajmc.com/view/the-effects-of-chronic-fear-on-a-persons-health

[7] https://my.uiw.edu › advent-adamandeve-storiesofot

[8] https://www.tonyhyland.com/rw/the-spiritual-meaning-of-air/

[9] The fear of coronavirus is changing our psychology – BBC Future

[10] https://www.webmd.com/lung/coronavirus-covid-19-affects-body#1

[11] https://coronavirusexplained.ukri.org/en/article/vdt0008/

[12] https://coronavirusexplained.ukri.org/en/article/vdt0008/