by Dharma Singh Warner Books, 1997 Review by Wyndham Perring on Nov 25th 2003 
This is indeed an instructive book.
Written with a great deal of research into the subject and I am sure, with a
sincere desire to deal with the events in the brain, leading up to middle age
and then to dotage.
The cover blurb states that it is
the Breakthrough Medical Program that Improves Your Mind & Memory.
We learn that drugs, vitamins,
natural medicinal products (ginko biloba) are aids while red meat is not. One
of the examples quoted is where the subject has clinical evidence (not
specified) that he had begun to 'turn off' the cortisol-producing stress
response to he turned to meditation, which was helpful.
"In Western terms he had
learned to better control his physical stress response. In Eastern parlance he
had learned to shift his focus from the finite to the infinite, and has
therefore become less vulnerable to the vicissitudes of the material, temporal
world. By both definitions he was a much happier man."
While I imagine that the above
information may be correct it is not much more than the sentence: Meditation
helps to relieve stress.
Which is where I begin to part
company with the 449 pages I am supposed to read to find the Breakthrough
Medial Program.
If I were a car dealer (Automotive
Dealer) and you, my customer, instead of an intelligent faithful reader, and it
was your intention to buy from me the Chevy Corvette - or the' Vette', you
hankered after, you might be put off if I started by telling you of the
chemical composition of the tires, spending another hour describing the
problems the maker of the pistons had when sourcing supplies, his name and
opinions, going on the intricacies of the wiring looms. Before you walked away
I would stop you and tell you of the experiences of the various owners of this
model with in-depth details of their family history. Perhaps at this stage you
would prefer to attack me with an axe, before running off, sobbing.
To try and get to the Breakthrough
is a strain. drugs, mental exercises and the rest, are all probably very
effective and the battle to learn about them, is in itself a mental exercise to
be considered as part of the Breakthrough, but by that time, who the hell
cares?
I would strongly advise ignoring
the first 300 pages, which generally go into details of case histories; go
straight to the remaining199, trying to ignore the padding.
Or you could take my medical
program to Improve your Mind and Memory. This is:
·
Take exercise to improve the blood flow to your brain.
·
Take steroid hormone DHEA (apparently a youth hormone) by the
bucketful
·
Join Amateur Dramatics
·
Take a University Course
·
Play Bridge or Chess.
·
Above all, avoid people and books that are boring
·
Read Oscar Wilde.
There. You already feel better.
© 2003 Wyndham
Perring
Wyndham
Perring lives in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, UK.
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