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HOMEOPATHY: NOT A THEOLOGY

NOR A DOGMA

Dr. M. A. USMANI
M.A.(Phil), D.H.M.S.

A philosopher said that the humanistic view of the universe is wrong. I saw a cow in a
jungle, on the Reality TV, and I saw that two sticks were sticking out of her vulva and
she was running franticly with a wild look on her face. I found that the protruding sticks
were, in fact, two hooves of the calf that she was going to give birth to. And anon I saw
that, lowering her hind legs, she gave birth to a beautiful calf. Coming from the dark
slumbering world of the womb, the calf opened its eyes in the vast world of colors,
fragrance, and sounds. It tried to stand up but fell; again tried, and could stand for awhile,
but fell again. Third time it was walking one or two steps when her mother was licking it.
What a beautiful scene it was! New life is always mystically charming!! But all of a
sudden I saw a hoard of jackals descending on the scene just out of nowhere. In spite of
the utmost struggle of the mother, they tore to pieces the new guest of the world. It
cruelly jolted me out of my trance, and made me sad for many days. But this was neither
cruel, nor unjust nor evil. It was just an occurrence. Nature doesn’t bear such epitaphs or
titles. It is neither good nor evil. Nature is what it is: totally amoral.

Science, since it describes nature, cannot be made handmaid of any religion or theology.
Therapeutics is a science, albeit a science of suffering and its alleviation, then too it has
nothing to do with human sentiments of mercy and compassion, never anything to do
with metaphysics and religion. We should, therefore, see it separately from any
theological concepts. We should not bother about any theological ideas of soul and spirit.
It works quite ok without such crutches. Homeopathy is a therapeutics, so therefore
should stand on scientific pedestal. It works without any theological hotchpotch.

Equating Psora with the Original Sin, or regarding the Original Sin as the cause of Psora
is a sheer nonsense. Psora is an innate proclivity of the organism to fall sick or become
malfunctioning form undue and prolonged stress caused by an over- or under-action of
natural functions, or owing to lopsided living.

Psora as one of the three miasms in the Theory of Chronic Diseases is the gateway for the
other two miasms. It could not be created by any sin, let alone the much trumpeted the
Original Sin. One should not calumniate the Original Sin. We should talk reverentially
about the Original Sin; for what we see around us: this beautiful world, advancement of
science and technology, this modern world, and everything in it, is because of this
Original Sin. See, in introspection, what the world would have been had not Adam, our
father, had committed this all-fertile and promising sin. We still would have been the
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cave-dwellers, and living as primitives. If you say: ‘not the cave-dwellers, but the
dwellers of palaces in the paradise’, then too what a humdrum life that would have been?
Like animals, drinking from streams and rivers, and eating fruits by plucking from the
trees! And roaming and reveling all the time!

As philosophers and mystics say, the world was created by two forces, viz. positive and
negative, yin and yang, nafi and athbat. God himself created this dichotomy by creating
‘do’s and don’ts’. Do was, evidently, the status quo, while Don’t was impregnated with
endless possibilities. Obedience always keeps the status quo, plus, may be some promised
reward; while disobedience and doubt means treading in the uncharted expanse; hence
full of incipient prospects and possibilities. Doubt and disobedience are the first cause,
the first step, to knowledge, to self-knowledge, and to self-realization. The embodiment
of eternal disobedience, the great Lucifer, is the patron-in-chief of all knowledge, science
and technology in the world. He is the personification of enlightenment, and civilization;
chief architect of the modern world. [Lucifer, a Latin word, meaning: bringer of light;
luci means light.]

He implanted doubt in the heart of man, that created inquisitiveness and burning desire
for knowledge. So this negative, this ‘nafi’ or this doubt became the potent seed from
which sprouted forth all that is before us in the garb of civilization, science and
technology.

The positive is a realized part of the whole scenario, hence finished and limited as a
means of realization; while the negative has many possible ways to attain that positive.
These possible avenues are in reality the arteries of knowledge, spreading in all possible
directions. So this negative, or call it ‘sin’ or, according to context, ‘disobedience’ , is a
blessing in disguise_ a source of vast knowledge, or an impetus to gain knowledge.

Suppose, for example, a person having three children whom he want to lead for the
realization of a goal. He is confident that making them follow a certain path of ‘do’ and
‘don’t’, he can make them attain that coveted goal. But (un)luckily one child disobeys,
and he is thrown out. He, after finding himself alone and helpless, launches himself on a
voyage of discovery and self-realization. He wanders far and wide; meets other people
and visits other nations. Converses with everybody; trying to find in him a guru, but soon
he feels himself deluded and passes on. He studies the mores and cultures of other
nations, and sucks wisdom from them. He meets people with myriad shades of beliefs,
faiths and religions. It creates insight and tolerance in him. Such a person when comes
home, do you feel that he can be compared and equated with the two morons, at home,
who fledged under the protective wings of their father? Certainly not!

Adversity is negative, but it seasons man, makes him tolerant and forbearing. Ease of life,
over-protection and abundance_ positive traits_ make men short sighted, short tempered
and keep them immature and sentimental. The latter is what happened to his two brothers
who were bred and brought up at home.
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The negative is always a fertile seed that sprouts forth into knowledge, insight and
wisdom, in every field. Take, for example, the medical field. Suppose a minor surgery is
done on a patient, by incising a wound to take out the core and slough that was hindering
the cure. The bandage is done. On the next visit two possibilities are possible: the
positive or the negative. The positive is what was expected; i.e. the wound is clean and
healthy-looking. No further ado is needed. Story ends there. One or two more bandages
will finish the case. What was expected have been achieved. The second possibility is
negative. When the bandage was undone the wound looked dirty, festering and full of
puss. Now it is the occasion for thinking and head scratching for the doctor. He will
reflect on all the possibilities: isn’t the patient diabetic? Doesn’t the patient have some
dyscrasia? Did the patient indulge in some unwholesome practice? Was the bandage done
too tightly? Was the ointment time-barred, or inappropriate? So many things to be
thought of and to investigate! This is a moment of discovery, of dawning knowledge and
finding new insights.

We have come to the conclusion that the negative brings knowledge, insight, wisdom
and solidity of character. So the balloon of the First Sin as the fountainhead of all misery,
evil and Psora, stands burst. It can’t be equated with Psora. And homeopathy, being
science, doesn’t need any crutches of soul or spirit.

I want to mention another oddity and fantastic notion that is being propagated these days.
The veracity of homeopathy is being searched in the religious scriptures. Its being
flaunted that the idea of homeotherapeutics was already present in the New or Old
Testaments. Similarly a few years back a news item was flashed in the press in my
country, that Hahnemann was Muslim by faith, because a copy of the holy Quran, a
prayer- rug and a rosary was found in his study. Homeopathic magazines much trumpeted
this news. Did this concoction add a laurel to homeopathy, or a feather to the cap of
Hahnemann? Not in the least! Weather Hahnemann was a Christian or a Muslim or an
Untouchable, doesn’t make any difference, for Hahnemann will remain Hahnemann: the
unsurpassable genius that he was. .

On the same lines of religiosity there is another masterpiece as good news for the
‘faithful’ homeopaths. It is captioned: ‘Was Moses the first homeopath?’ It is told that in
the absence of Moses, his nation started worshiping a self-made golden calf. There was
no end to Moses’ anger and misery when, on coming back, he saw this idol worshipping..
He burnt the calf and grounded it to powder and made the whole nation to drink of it after
dissolving this powder in water. This is the first instance, according to the author, of
homeopathic dispensation to an ailing nation. A very naïve narration, unexpected of a
homeopath. Who else than a homeopath knows how a metal, like gold, copper, or silver
etc. is made soluble in water, and after what potency? And who else than a homeopath
knows whom to give this dose of aurum: i.e. to the children of Israel, who were happy
and reveling in their ignorance; or to the prophet (Moses) who was hurt and cheated to
the dire core of his conscience? Who would have these symptoms of aurum (gold) as
“despair, depression, or suicidal depression, and hopelessness”, except Moses? So verily
it is he who needed a dose of this medicine.
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Homeopathy is already being ridiculed and laughed at in the world. Go to ‘youtube’ on

the internet, and write ‘homeopathy’ in the ‘search box’ and sit back, and witness stage-
shows and dialogues about homeopathy. By theologizing homeopathy don’t make it a
laughing stock.