Julie: Why is that the case, yet today?

Dr. Simon: The problem that I see is that often medicines are prescribed when it is the only thing that a doctor knows how to do. And so it's not really the most effective treatment; it is not even really what the body is asking for. Medical doctors are trained to diagnose diseases for which they can apply pharmaceutical intervention. But often a patient's condition does not clearly require pharmaceutical intervention. Since as western medical doctors we're often not trained to offer other interventions, doctors figure out ways to rationalize or justify pharmaceutical intervention.

Julie: What are the options?

Dr. Simon: Patients expect some pharmaceuticals. And you know the expression that 'if the only tool that you have in your toolbox is a hammer, then everything looks like a nail.' I think that is rampant throughout all healing. Acupuncturists tend to treat everything with acupuncture, chiropractors treat everything with adjustments, homeopaths treat everything with homeopathic remedies, and medical doctors treat everything with prescriptions. None of it is really holistic.

Julie: You didn't list Ayurveda in that group.

Dr. Simon: Ayurveda offers the best framework for a truly holistic practice because everything is Ayurveda. Chemotherapy can be Ayurveda if presented in the right context for the right condition.

Julie: You have said that we can identify our shadow side when we identify qualities in others that we are initially drawn to and then we are eventually repulsed by. Will knowing this help me?

Dr. Simon: Yes, it will help you. It will help you to be more self-accepting. Ultimately what ahimsa means is to reduce the need for conflict. Conflict is the origin of illness. People have tremendous internal conflict. And most of that conflict comes out of a sense of judgment, self-judgment and judgment of others. And in my experience both personally and professionally, the more that we can embrace the dark stuff in ourselves the less likely we are to judge it when we see it in other people. A shadow is an aspect of ourselves that we don't really want someone to see. That is why we try to keep it hidden and out of the light. But it usually is there because at some point it served us. If I can be a sarcastic biting jerk, it is probably because at some time in my life it actually kept me from being hurt in some way. So I can embrace it and say ok, I understand I have this side of me in some previous time in my life and it served me well. But, isn’t there a way to get my needs met without expressing it in a way that causes harm to other people?

Julie: It feels like a jump in the expansion of Self.

Dr. Simon: In my mind the definition of spiritual evolution is two fold. It is expanding your sense of self from localized ego based to increasingly seeing yourself as a universal being. And along with that comes expanding your capacity for compassion. But you can't be compassionate if you are constantly judging. And everything that we judge in someone else is really an expression of something in our own nature, which may or may not have been previously expressed.

Osha used to say that the greatest enlightened beings are not people that have never made mistakes or not done anything wrong. They are people who literally have their feet in the muck while their arms are reaching to heaven and embracing both the dark and the light; they become whole and in that wholeness they become holy and they don’t have to reject anything. In my awareness, spirituality means embracing all that stuff.