On 30 November 2022, Tenshin dōjō in Paris will welcome biologist Marc-André Selosse for a lecture entitled: The Human Microbiota: From Our Bodies to Our Civilisations.

Here we offer you a reading of his book Never Alone (in French) and its points of convergence with Seitai.

What binds us together: microbiota and human terrain

Since the dawn of civilisation, microbes have shaped our diet, enabling food (bread, cheese, wine, vegetables, etc.) to be preserved and consumed. Domesticated empirically for thousands of years, the microorganisms involved in these processes were only identified relatively recently, less than 200 years ago.

And it is only even more recently that scientists have begun to study the microbiota, i. e. all the bacteria, fungi, viruses, etc. that are harboured by a host organism (e. g. a human being) and live in a specific environment of that host, such as the skin or stomach.

Most of us are unaware that our lives depend on a close association, called symbiosis, that we naturally establish with tens of billions of bacteria that populate the surface of our bodies and even the depths of our intestines. We consider ourselves to be above and independent of all this microbial influence, with the notable exception of people with colds, who often hear the phrase, ‘Ah, but don’t give me your germs!’ The microbiota is therefore considered, at best, only for or in terms of its pathogenic potential.

This now outdated but still omnipresent view of microbes as harmful has profoundly influenced our relationship with nature, our bodies and, more broadly, life itself. Whether it be pesticides in agriculture or antibacterial soaps and disinfectant gels on our skin, these products indiscriminately eliminate both beneficial and harmful microorganisms, creating conditions that impoverish the soil – both in our fields and in our mucous membranes.

These hygienist actions, repeated over time, starting at birth, prevent the human immune system from maturing, so that later on it will no longer be able to recognise the body of which it is a part, or will have disproportionate reactions. Our era is also one of autoimmune diseases and allergies.¹Marc-André Selosse, Jamais seul — Ces microbes qui construisent les plantes, les animaux et les civilisations [Never Alone — The Microbes That Build Plants, Animals and Civilisations], 2017, pub. Actes Sud (Arles, France), p. 185

The Seitai principles, in the work of Haruchika Noguchi²See the work of Itsuo Tsuda (9 volumes), available from pub. Courrier du Livre (Paris), and Haruchika Noguchi, 3 books in English available from Zensei Publishing, start from a radical point of view: intuitive rather than analytical. Based on his thirty years of experience as a healer, H. Noguchi abandoned the idea of therapy in the 1950s because he had observed that it weakened individuals’ bodies and made them dependent on the practitioner. This led him to consider health in a completely different way, acknowledging that the body’s reactions are manifestations of an organism responding to restore its balance.

‘Illness is natural, the body’s effort to recover lost balance.’ ‘It is good that illness exists, but people must avoid becoming enslaved to it. This is how Noguchi happened to conceive of the notion of Seitai, the normalisation of the terrain, if you will.’ ³Itsuo Tsuda, The Dialogue of Silence, Chap. IX, Yume Editions, 2018 (1979), pp. 75 & 76

This rebalancing is the work of the involuntary system; it does not depend on our will. It causes symptoms that involve the microbiota. For example, the flows that expel harmful germs from the body (colds, diarrhoea)⁴Never Alone (op. cit.), p. 156, the regulatory function of fever, or the antibiotic function of iron deficiency in pregnant women.⁵ See the blog article Marc-André Selosse: La disparition silencieuse des SVT [M.-A S.: The Quiet Disappearance of Earth and Life Sciences], Café pédagogique [Pedagogical Coffee], 7 May 2019

The Seitai philosophy has the distinctive feature of viewing human beings as an indivisible whole. There is no separation between the psychological and the physical. The word seitai (整体) translates as ‘normalised terrain’. H. Noguchi‘s concept of terrain is comprehensive. It partly overlaps with the concept of microbiota. For us, the latter is like the soil surrounding the roots of a tree; it is Nature living in harmony and collaboration within each of us, without us even being aware of it. That is why we are never alone.

Whether we consider microbes to be harmful and fight them, or take advantage of their help and collaborate with them naturally, is a question of inner orientation. Favouring excessive hygiene or promoting what Mr. Selosse calls ‘clean dirt’⁶Never Alone (op. cit.), p. 156 and p. 197 is part of this same choice. The expression ‘cultivating one’s garden’⁷ibid., p. 169 takes on a new and concrete meaning. It all depends on us.

Where instinct has disappeared, scientific discoveries must be made available. Although self-taught, H. Noguchi was fully aware of the science of his time. This fuelled his reflections and intuitions. In this same spirit, we are honoured to welcome Prof. Marc-André Selosse, who will present the latest discoveries on the human microbiota and engage in a discussion with the audience.

Reservations required