The one teacher that a medical student and a doctor can forever learn from is a patient- the very raison d’^etre of the art and the science of medicine. A doctor does not treat a patient: he interacts with the patient to enlighten himself and to help the patient. We are deeply grateful to all the diseased fellow beings we have had the privilege to interact with, for the insight they have given us into health, disease, recovery from disease, dying, and death.

Jayanti Mani, Asmita Mehta, Mayur Mehta, Dr. Rajesh Parikh, Dr. Sunil Pandya and Dr. S.M. Bhatnagar have critically evaluated the style and the substance of the book. Their compassionate and critical perusal has enabled us to simplify, abbreviate, or amplify the text making it both more comprehensible and readable.

Swamy Suddhabodhananda, Vasant Shukla, Harindra Dave and Ghanshyam Desai provided us access to the Indian Scriptures, the etymology of Sanskrit words, and a wider understanding of the concept of the Upanishads.

Dr. Jyoti Kothari, L.P. Kothari, Vatsal Kothari, A.J.Mehta, Ramila Bhatt, Mahesh Bhatt, Rusi Engineer, Claude Alvares, Ashis Nandy, Pritish Nandy, Nikhil Lakshman, Dr. J.K. Bhatt, Dr. Rupin Shah, Chandrakant Shah, Hemang Shah, Raj Parab, Ramesh Parab, Chandrika Pani, Dr. N. Laxminayana, Davide de Souza, Prof. M.N. Pandia and Dr. Sulbha Punekar, and the members of our families have all along been encouraging and helpful. We owe a great deal to their kindness and love.

It has been a pleasure to have Mr. Keshav Godhia as a co-worker. All that we write passes through his hands to come out as a typescript. Immaculateness is his; the errors are ours.

Marion Boyars has urged us to be ourselves - heretical here, scientific there - encouraging us, through her readings of previous drafts to emphasize Eastern thought. The tacit contract of mutual patience between her and ourselves has been rewarding in more than one way.