Whole Earth Is Medicine

A Zen Buddhist priest’s memoir of cancer recovery

This remarkable memoir by Steve Kanji Ruhl blends vivid personal narrative with fascinating information from the forefront of medical science, revealing how the author—a Zen Buddhist minister, trained at Harvard Divinity School—teamed with supportive doctors to use sensible Asian herbal remedies, medicinal diet, Zen practices, “bodymind” energy methods, and modern Western lab technology to boost his natural immunity and experience radical remission from stage II cancer.

A powerful, lyrical testament to transformative new approaches of achieving wellness, The Whole Earth is Medicine introduces time-honored Zen techniques and twenty-first-century scientific knowledge that anybody, working with open-minded physicians, can adapt in exploring junctures of conventional and alternative healing, the Western and the Asian, the medical and the mystical. Impeccably researched, deeply heartfelt, this unique book challenges preconceptions, offers glowing inspiration, and will change how you think about your body, your spirit, and your life.

“Solid, grounded…exactly what is needed.” —Dr. Jeffrey Rediger, MD, Harvard Medical School, author of Cured: The Life-Changing Science of Spontaneous Healing

“Eloquent prose.” —Dr. Lissa Rankin, MD, author of Sacred Medicine

“Intimate page-turning honesty...balanced, informed, and inspired.” —Paula Arai, PhD, author of A Little Book of Zen Healing