2,7
that digestion Is arrested more or less completely
by work. Hunting dogs are said to know this truth
so well that they always avoid eating before going
for a hunt. Strange that most people are not aware
cf this simple truth and are often relucant to change
their habits even when they, are taught the
correct way.
Other Causes :—
Any habit which reduces our vitality and
weakens our Life will also lead to indigestion,
because it is Life which digests- All stimulants like
coffee, tea, alcohol etc. are a tax on our vitality.
There is of course an energetic feeling after we take
coffee. But this increased energy has not been
obtained from these drinks. As is explained in
Practical Nature-Cure, the brain is entrusted with
the task of regulating the flow of vital power; coffee,
tea or alcohol poisons the brain and thus makes the
regulating machanism inoperative* Hence vital
energy lows along the nerves uncontrolled, and w©
get a feeling of increased energy. But the ultimate
effect is a depletion of our vitality. Dyspeptics who
want a cure must first give up these debilitating
drinks. They are as bad as drugs.
Non-observance of Brahmacharya in younger
'vears ard excessive indulgence in later years may
often be the cause of chronic indigestion. I know
^ome yoang men who, due to sexual abuses, became
chronic dyspeptics before they were 20- When
such abases exceed a limit,—it is difficult to limit
oneself in these things once one qives way to
iemptation—the vitality of the patient gets so much
reduced that even Nature-Cure may not avail to save
him. For it is Life which cures and Nature-Cure
only provides the conditions necessary for enabling
Life to do its work of healing.