Porfiri Korneevich Ivanov was an original thinker and unique healer, researcher and practitioner who was able to unite body and cognizance with Nature. He felt that a person should not be dependent on medicines to heal his body of various illnesses and maladies. In place of medicines Porfiri proposed to people that they take responsibility for their own illnesses, utilizing air and body and ground to achieve this. Porfiri Ivanov had a unique and almost miraculous ability to heal people of various illnesses, and the stamina to endure the worst of exposure to the elements, including extreme cold. By becoming one with Nature a person could also become one with God. Daniel H. Shubin has written several books on Russian history, biography and philosophy.