心灵瑜珈课 (22)
心灵瑜珈课(22)——精神决定健康
精神决定健康
生活中常常会出现不尽如人意的局面，我们不可避免地会面临许多精神困扰，这些困扰虽然表现形式各不相同，但归结其原因，无一不是由于人类自身消极的负面情绪所致，例如恐惧、忧愁、焦虑、苦恼、嫉妒、憎恨等等。
生命系统同时存在着两种基本功能，一是吸引、利用养分，制造细胞；二为分解、转化并排出废物与毒素。
生命体都在生命过程中不断进行着这两种活动。第一种功能为我们的生命提供足够的活力，使我们身体健康、延年益寿；第二种功能却可以使体内的垃圾累积起来，破坏了整个身体或身体中某个部位的平衡，因而我们感到不适或病痛。如果我们希望自己能够保持健康而不被疾病所累，那么最好的方式莫过于在增加机体的能量的同时，减少体内毒素的累积。
要做到这一点并不难，当我们将意念中的消极因素逐步减轻直至消除，就可以大大降低疾患的可能。当我们体内用于消除毒素和排泄垃圾的细胞和组织不再为恐惧、忧愁、焦虑、苦恼、嫉妒等消极情绪所破坏，延年益寿将不再是难题。
任何辅助性的保健食品或营养品都只是在次要的层面上给机体以补充，那么生命的和谐健康最主要的依赖是什么呢？
- 借助于知识控制我们的情绪
知识在我们的生活中起到至关重要的作用。我们不仅可以依赖知识获得生存的力量，还可以利用知识更有效地控制和调节我们的情绪、观念与思想，使我们获得更加积极、更加健康的性格与心态。
- 反思自己
当我们对负面观念的作用还一无所知的时候，负面观念自身所产生的破坏性作用可能已经在我们的身体中集结了庞大的敌对力量。它植根于我们的潜意识当中，并幸灾乐祸地准备着收获它所希望看到的结果。因此，我们应该不断反思自己的思维方式是否存在着问题，把不良的观念消解在萌芽状态。
- 有因必有果
如果我们的思维中存在着过多的消极因素，那么根据因果相循的原理，我们就必将为病痛、失败、颓废、沮丧所累。归根结底，我们在思考着什么，我们就将获得什么。什么样的“因”必将产生什么样的“果”。
- 一切都为时不晚
如若我已身陷病痛的困扰，那么也不要灰心丧气，请借助于我们前面所提到的在大脑中构造美好愿景的方式，来尝试更新和消解体内消极的敌对力量。你会发现当你持续不断地将自身体魄雄健的图影烙印在大脑中，并反复将它显现时，各种不适与痛苦就会很快地消失殆尽，即使是长年的慢性病痛也完全可以改变，而且所需要时间只需数周而已。
- 精神的共振
物质正是通过无休止的振动来达到自身的不断改变与更新。精神同样也可以通过共振的原理改变我们体内的原子运动的形式，从而带来细胞内部结构和生理状态，随后机体的面貌也会焕然一新。我们因此可以借助改变思维的振动方式而改变机体，使其调整至最理想的状态。
- 驱除负面的思想
我们总是不自觉地将负面的思想根植于头脑中，从而招致恶果。但如果下定决心，通过训练，把正确、智慧的信念植根于我们的大脑，就可以利用它的有益的振动，使身体状态朝着我们希望的方向发展。
- 积极的思想导致积极的结果
当我们的思想更加积极、乐观、自信时，它就会拥有更强大的活力和更高的创造性，我们的身体也因此会得到更为和谐的振动。但如果我们的思想始终充满着愤慨、仇恨、嘲讽、嫉妒，则会导致破坏性的振动形式，使我们意志消沉，疾病缠身。
- 精神指引身体
- 外界的影响只是暂时的
生活中的许多事情可以控制我们的身体。当你听到滑稽可笑的事情，脸部的肌肉会做出笑的表情；当你为电影中的剧情感动得流泪，或困紧张的情节而手心出汗时，说明你体内的腺体正在与思想共振。当你感到愤怒的时候，会感觉到全身的血液仿佛在一瞬间全部充盈到你的头部，这些都是外界的事情影响我们的身体的结果。但不要担心，所有这种客观事物对身体的控制或影响都是暂时的，并不会长外地存在。
- 潜意识的作用是持久永恒的
潜意识则用另一种完全不同的方式控制我们的身体，当我们出血或受伤，便有无数的血小板立刻开始工作，帮助伤口愈合；又如一个人不小心因外伤而骨折，虽然他要接受医生的治疗，但真正让他的骨头重新长合在一起的仍然是他自己……
- 必须持有正确的信念与想法
可以想象，一旦在我们的思想中出现了一些消极负面的想法，或者一些让我们失望沮丧的画面，我们的身体细胞们就会对这样的指令不知所措，会被这样的不明确的指令搅扰得心烦意乱，难以抉择，最终使我们的身体陷入到疲惫、乏力、迟钝之中。
- 要领悟共振法则
一旦我们懂得：借由思想与身体的共振可以顺利地走上身心健康之路，共振法则就会通过我们的精神世界发挥巨大的作用。拥有了这种智慧、了解了这个基本原理，当我们发现自己生活之中存在的问题时，就可以立即行动起来去努力改变自身的内在世界与思想，然后在我们的外部世界中就可以获得相同的反映。
- 因果相循之自然法则
对客观世界问题答案的求解，总是会在内部的精神世界中找到它的答案，当“因”被改变时，“果”也必将发生相应的改变。
- 宇宙精神隐匿于最细微之处
我们身体内的每一个细胞都是一个个智慧的小精灵，充盈着宇宙之精神。每一个细胞都具有非凡的创造力，它们会按照最理想的图景构筑你希望看到的现实。
- 怀有积极的愿景
当你将完美、理想的图画贮存进你的大脑中时，你的身体细胞就会听命于它，它的天才的创造力会将一个真实而健康的体魄完美地打造给你。
- 脑细胞也是如此
我们大脑中的细胞也在遵循同样的法则而工作。大脑受控于我们的心态与思想。不时地将健康、乐观、积极的观念导入大脑中才可以确保我们拥有健康强健的体魄。
- 精神也是一种共振
- 精神与身体的共振
积极、乐观的精神振动会带来健康、强壮、有力的身体的振动。
- 让精神引导自己的身体
我们完全可以控制并引领我们的身体向着我们希望的方向发展和变化，通过了解精神的力量我们就可以做到这一点。
- 健康的心态导致健康的身体
- 精神疗法
医生往往只对看得见、摸得着的医疗手段加以利用，却忽略了精神疗法的强大力量。
- 自我唤醒
精神治疗就本质来说，是一种自我唤醒或自我暗示，患者本人就可以独立完成。病人可以将自己的情绪和思想从不利、消极的状态中解脱出来，以快乐、充满希望的、平静的心绪替代，然后就可以改变他们的病情，乃至获得快乐健康的生活。
- 命运只在自己手中
太多人持有着这种荒谬的信念：即人类的一切不幸皆来源于上帝的安排。但如果这真的是正确的，为什么又有那么多的人取得了快乐、健康、富足、成功的生活？一切命运皆由自己把握，前提是你能够认识到你自己内心深处的巨大潜能。
- “原罪”未必存在
神学家一直在鼓吹我们生来即有“原罪”，使我们自出生起便没有一天可以逃离自责和心灵的处罚。但造物者果真爱人，又为何让我们以有罪之身活在世间，通过一生的自责与悔悟去得到不可知的来世的清白？所以人们不断地忏悔并非是出于对全能上帝的爱，而是“惧怕”。这种恐惧是由于他们不懂得自己内心深处即有无限潜能所造成的。
- 无限潜能终将转变为现实
本课重点
１、怎样才能使人类摆脱疾病的负累？
——让自己与这全知全能的自然法则协调统一。
２、如何才能保持这种完全的高度统一？
——去体验你的内心深处，把你的思想打造得像宝石一样完美，然后你的肉体也会自然地完美起来。
３、为什么要反思自己？
——通过不断反思自己的思想方式是否存在问题，把不良的观念消解在萌芽状态。
４、精神是怎样作用于身体的？
——精神借助共振法则对身体中的每一个细胞，进而对身体产生影响。
５、为什么振动法则会适用于此？
——振动法则是万事万物的普适法则。它充分体现着精神与物质的交互作用。
６、精神治疗的本质是什么？
——精神治疗就本质来说，是一种自我唤醒或自我暗示。将自己的情绪和思想从不利、消极的状态中解脱胎出来，以快乐的、充满希望的、平静的心绪替代，然后就可以获得快乐健康的生活。
７、精神治疗的方法是否已得到众多人群的认同？
——世界各地的人们在应用它时所采取的形式不尽相同，但已有数以千万计的人们通过应用此法获得了积极健康的生活。
８、把握自己命运的前提是什么？
——前提是你能够认识到你自己内心深处的巨大潜能。
９、无限潜能怎样才能转变为现实？
——去领悟和掌握宇宙精神，对知识的掌握和对未知事物的探索会使我们不断进步、成长，直至达到卓越，无限潜能就会变成现实。
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Part Twenty-Two
In Part Twenty-two you will find that thoughts are spiritual seeds, which, when planted in the subconscious mind, have a tendency to sprout and grow, but unfortunately the fruit is frequently not to our liking.
The various forms of inflammation, paralysis, nervousness and diseased conditions generally, are the manifestation of fear, worry, care, anxiety, jealousy, hatred and similar thought.
The life processes are carried on by two distinct methods; first, the taking up and making use of nutritive material necessary for constructing cells; second, breaking down and excreting the waste material.
All life is based upon these constructive and destructive activities, and as food, water and air are the only requisites necessary for the construction of cells, it would seem that the problem of prolonging life indefinitely would not be a very difficult one.
However strange it may seem, it is the second or destructive activity that is, with rare exception, the cause of all disease. The waste material accumulates and saturates the tissues, which causes autointoxication. This may be partial or general. In the first case the disturbance will be local; in the second place it will affect the whole system.
The problem, then, before us in the healing of disease is to increase the inflow and distribution of vital energy throughout the system, and this can only be done by eliminating thoughts of fear, worry, care, anxiety, jealousy, hatred, and every other destructive thought, which tend to tear down and destroy the nerves and glands which control the excretion and elimination of poisonous and waste matter.
"Nourishing foods and strengthening tonics" cannot bestow life, because these are but secondary manifestations to life. The primary manifestation of life and how you may get in touch with it is explained in the Part which I have the privilege of enclosing herewith.
PART TWENTY-TWO
1. Knowledge is of priceless value, because by applying knowledge we can make our future what we wish it to be. When we realize that our present character, our present environment, our present ability, our present physical condition are all the result of past methods of thinking, we shall begin to have some conception of the value of knowledge.
2. If the state of our health is not all that could be desired, let us examine our method of thinking; let us remember that every thought produces an impression on the mind; every impression is a seed which will sink into the subconscious and form a tendency; the tendency will be to attract other similar thoughts and before we know it we shall have a crop which must be harvested.
3. If these thoughts contain disease germs, the harvest will be sickness, decay, weakness, and failure; the question is, what are we thinking, what are we creating, what is the harvest to be?
4. If there is any physical condition which it is necessary to change, the law governing visualization will be found effective. Make a mental image of physical perfection, hold it in the mind until it is absorbed by the consciousness. Many have eliminated chronic ailments in a few weeks by this method, and thousands have overcome and destroyed all manner of ordinary physical disturbances by this method in a few days, sometimes in a few minutes.
5. It is through the law of vibration that the mind exercises this control over the body. We know that every mental action is a vibration, and we know that all form is simply a mode of motion, a rate of vibration. Therefore, any given vibration immediately modifies every atom in the body, every life cell is affected and an entire chemical change is made in every group of life cells.
6. Everything in the Universe is what it is by virtue of its rate of vibration. Change the rate of vibration and you change the nature, quality and form. The vast panorama of nature, both visible and invisible, is being constantly changed by simply changing the rate of vibration, and as thought is a vibration we can also exercise this power. We can change the vibration and thus produce any condition which we desire to manifest in our bodies.
7. We are all using this power every minute. The trouble is most of us are using it unconsciously and thus producing undesirable results. The problem is to use it intelligently and produce only desirable results. This should not be difficult, because we all have had sufficient experience to know what produces pleasant vibration in the body, and we also know the causes which produce the unpleasant and disagreeable sensations.
8. All that is necessary is to consult our own experience. When our thought has been uplifted, progressive, constructive, courageous, noble, kind or in any other way desirable, we have set in motion vibrations which brought about certain results. When our thought has been filled with envy, hatred, jealousy, criticism or any of the other thousand and one forms of discord, certain vibrations were set in motion which brought about certain other results of a different nature, and each of these rates of vibration, if kept up, crystallized in form. In the first case the result was mental, moral and physical health, and in the second case discord, inharmony and disease.
9. We can understand, then, something of the power which the mind possesses over the body.
10. The objective mind has certain effects on the body which are readily recognized. Someone says something to you which strikes you as ludicrous and you laugh, possibly until your whole body shakes, which shows that thought has control over the muscles of your body; or someone says something which excites your sympathy and your eyes fill with tears, which shows that thought controls the glands of your body; or someone says something which makes you angry and the blood mounts to your cheek, which shows that thought controls the circulation of your blood. But as these experiences are all the results of the action of your objective mind over the body, the results are of a temporary nature; they soon pass away and leave the situation as it was before.
11. Let us see how the action of the subconscious mind over the body differs. You receive a wound; thousands of cells being the work of healing at once; in a few days or a few weeks the work is complete. You may even break a bone. No surgeon on earth can weld the parts together (I am not referring to the insertion of rods or other devices to strengthen or replace bones). He may set the bone for you, and the subjective mind will immediately begin the process of welding the parts together, and in a short time the bone is as solid as it ever was. You may swallow poison; the subjective mind will immediately discover the danger and make violent efforts to eliminate it. You may become infected with a dangerous germ; the subjective will at once commence to build a wall around the infected area and destroy the infection by absorbing it in the white blood corpuscles which it supplies for the purpose.
12. These processes of the subconscious mind usually proceed without our personal knowledge or direction, and so long as we do not interfere the result is perfect, but, as these millions of repair cells are all intelligent and respond to our thought, they are often paralyzed and rendered impotent by our thoughts of fear, doubt, and anxiety. They are like an army of workmen, ready to start an important piece of work, but every time they get started on the undertaking a strike is called, or plans changed, until they finally get discouraged and give up.
13. The way to health is founded on the law of vibration, which is the basis of all science, and this law is brought into operation by the mind, the "world within." It is a matter of individual effort and practice. Our world of power is within; if we are wise we shall not waste time and effort in trying to deal with effects as we find them in the "world without," which is only an external, a reflection.
14. We shall always find the cause in the "world within"; by changing the cause, we change the effect.
15. Every cell in your body is intelligent and will respond to your direction. The cells are all creators and will create the exact pattern which you give them.
16. Therefore, when perfect images are placed before the subjective, the creative energies will build a perfect body.
17. Brain cells are constructed in the same way. The quality of the brain is governed by the state of mind, or mental attitude, so that if undesirable mental attitudes are conveyed to the subjective they will in turn be transferred to the body; we can therefore readily see that if we wish the body to manifest health, strength and vitality this must be the predominant thought.
18. We know then that every element of the human body is the result of a rate of vibration.
19. We know that mental action is a rate of vibration.
20. We know that a higher rate of vibration governs, modifies, controls, changes, or destroys a lower rate of vibration.
21. We know that the rate of vibration is governed by the character of brain cells, and finally,
22. We know how to create these brain cells; therefore,
23. We know how to make any physical change in the body we desire, and having secured a working knowledge of the power of mind to this extent, we have come to know that there is practically no limitation which can be placed upon our ability to place ourselves in harmony with natural law, which is omnipotent.
24. This influence or control over the body by mind is coming to be more and more generally understood, and many physicians are now giving the matter their earnest attention. Dr. Albert T. Shofield, who has written several important books on the subject, say, "The subject of mental therapeutics is still ignored in medical works generally. In our physiologies no references is made to the central controlling power that rules the body for its good, and the power of the mind over the body is seldom spoken of".
25. No doubt many physicians treat nervous diseases of functional origin wisely and well, but what we contend is that the knowledge they display was taught at no school, was learned from no book, but it is intuitive and empirical.
26. This is not as it should be. The power of mental therapeutics should be the subject of careful, special and scientific teaching in every medical school. We might pursue the subject of maltreatment, or want of treatment, further in detail and describe the disastrous results of neglected cases; but the task is an invidious one.
27. There can be no doubt that few patients are aware how much they can do for themselves. What the patient can do for himself, the forces he can set in motion are as yet unknown. We are inclined to believe that they are far greater than most imagine, and will undoubtedly be used more and more. Mental therapeutics may be directed by the patient himself to calming the mind in excitement, by arousing feelings of joy, hope, faith, and love; by suggesting motives for exertion, by regular mental work, by diverting the thoughts from the malady.
28. For your exercise this week concentrate on Tennyson's beautiful lines "Speak to Him, thou, for He hears, and spirit with spirit can meet, Closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet." Then try to realize that when you do "Speak to Him" you are in touch with Omnipotence.
29. This realization and recognition of this Omnipresent power will quickly destroy any and every form of sickness or suffering and substitute harmony and perfection. Then remember there are those who seem to think that sickness and suffering are sent by God; if so, every physician, every surgeon and every Red Cross nurse is defying the will of God and hospitals and sanitariums are places of rebellion instead of houses of mercy. Of course, this quickly reasons itself into an absurdity, but there are many; who still cherish the idea.
30. Then let the thought rest on the fact that until recently theology has been trying to teach an impossible Creator, one who created beings capable of sinning and then allowed them to be eternally punished for such sins. Of course the necessary outcome of such extraordinary ignorance was to create fear instead of love, and so, after two thousand years of this kind of propaganda, Theology is now busily engaged in apologizing for Christendom.
31. You will then more readily appreciate the ideal man, the man made in the image and likeness of God, and you will more readily appreciate the all originating Mind that forms, upholds, sustains, originates, and creates all there is.
All are but parts of one stupendous whole, Whose body nature is, and God the soul.
Opportunity follows perception, action follows inspiration, growth follows knowledge, eminence flows progress. Always the spiritual first, then the transformation into the infinite and illimitable possibilities of achievement.
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Study Questions with Answers
211. How may sickness be eliminated?
By placing ourselves in harmony with Natural Law which is Omnipotent.
212. What is the process?
A realization that man is a spiritual being and that this spirit must necessarily be perfect.
213. What is the result?
A conscious recognition of this perfection - first intellectually, then emotionally - brings about a manifestation of this perfection.
214. Why is this so?
Because thought is spiritual and therefore creative and correlates with its object and brings it into manifestation.
215. What Natural Law is brought into operation?
The Law of Vibration.
216. Why does this govern?
Because a higher rate of vibration governs, modifies, controls, changes, or destroys a lower rate of vibration.
217. Is this system of mental therapeutics generally recognized?
Yes, there are literally millions of people in this country who make use of it in one form or another (and obviously many more world-wide).
218. What is the result of this system of thought?
For the first time in the world's history every man's highest reasoning faculty can be satisfied by a demonstrable truth which is now fast flooding the world.
219. Is this system applicable to other forms of supply?
It will meet every human requirement or necessity.
220. Is this system scientific or religious?
Both. True science and true religion are twin sisters, where one goes, the other necessarily follows.
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Part Twenty-Two
In Part Twenty-two you will find that thoughts are spiritual seeds, which, when planted in the subconscious mind, have a tendency to sprout and grow, but unfortunately the fruit is frequently not to our liking.
The various forms of inflammation, paralysis, nervousness and diseased conditions generally, are the manifestation of fear, worry, care, anxiety, jealousy, hatred and similar thought.
The life processes are carried on by two distinct methods; first, the taking up and making use of nutritive material necessary for constructing cells; second, breaking down and excreting the waste material.
All life is based upon these constructive and destructive activities, and as food, water and air are the only requisites necessary for the construction of cells, it would seem that the problem of prolonging life indefinitely would not be a very difficult one.
However strange it may seem, it is the second or destructive activity that is, with rare exception, the cause of all disease. The waste material accumulates and saturates the tissues, which causes autointoxication. This may be partial or general. In the first case the disturbance will be local; in the second place it will affect the whole system.
The problem, then, before us in the healing of disease is to increase the inflow and distribution of vital energy throughout the system, and this can only be done by eliminating thoughts of fear, worry, care, anxiety, jealousy, hatred, and every other destructive thought, which tend to tear down and destroy the nerves and glands which control the excretion and elimination of poisonous and waste matter.
"Nourishing foods and strengthening tonics" cannot bestow life, because these are but secondary manifestations to life. The primary manifestation of life and how you may get in touch with it is explained in the Part which I have the privilege of enclosing herewith.
PART TWENTY-TWO
1. Knowledge is of priceless value, because by applying knowledge we can make our future what we wish it to be. When we realize that our present character, our present environment, our present ability, our present physical condition are all the result of past methods of thinking, we shall begin to have some conception of the value of knowledge.
2. If the state of our health is not all that could be desired, let us examine our method of thinking; let us remember that every thought produces an impression on the mind; every impression is a seed which will sink into the subconscious and form a tendency; the tendency will be to attract other similar thoughts and before we know it we shall have a crop which must be harvested.
3. If these thoughts contain disease germs, the harvest will be sickness, decay, weakness, and failure; the question is, what are we thinking, what are we creating, what is the harvest to be?
4. If there is any physical condition which it is necessary to change, the law governing visualization will be found effective. Make a mental image of physical perfection, hold it in the mind until it is absorbed by the consciousness. Many have eliminated chronic ailments in a few weeks by this method, and thousands have overcome and destroyed all manner of ordinary physical disturbances by this method in a few days, sometimes in a few minutes.
5. It is through the law of vibration that the mind exercises this control over the body. We know that every mental action is a vibration, and we know that all form is simply a mode of motion, a rate of vibration. Therefore, any given vibration immediately modifies every atom in the body, every life cell is affected and an entire chemical change is made in every group of life cells.
6. Everything in the Universe is what it is by virtue of its rate of vibration. Change the rate of vibration and you change the nature, quality and form. The vast panorama of nature, both visible and invisible, is being constantly changed by simply changing the rate of vibration, and as thought is a vibration we can also exercise this power. We can change the vibration and thus produce any condition which we desire to manifest in our bodies.
7. We are all using this power every minute. The trouble is most of us are using it unconsciously and thus producing undesirable results. The problem is to use it intelligently and produce only desirable results. This should not be difficult, because we all have had sufficient experience to know what produces pleasant vibration in the body, and we also know the causes which produce the unpleasant and disagreeable sensations.
8. All that is necessary is to consult our own experience. When our thought has been uplifted, progressive, constructive, courageous, noble, kind or in any other way desirable, we have set in motion vibrations which brought about certain results. When our thought has been filled with envy, hatred, jealousy, criticism or any of the other thousand and one forms of discord, certain vibrations were set in motion which brought about certain other results of a different nature, and each of these rates of vibration, if kept up, crystallized in form. In the first case the result was mental, moral and physical health, and in the second case discord, inharmony and disease.
9. We can understand, then, something of the power which the mind possesses over the body.
10. The objective mind has certain effects on the body which are readily recognized. Someone says something to you which strikes you as ludicrous and you laugh, possibly until your whole body shakes, which shows that thought has control over the muscles of your body; or someone says something which excites your sympathy and your eyes fill with tears, which shows that thought controls the glands of your body; or someone says something which makes you angry and the blood mounts to your cheek, which shows that thought controls the circulation of your blood. But as these experiences are all the results of the action of your objective mind over the body, the results are of a temporary nature; they soon pass away and leave the situation as it was before.
11. Let us see how the action of the subconscious mind over the body differs. You receive a wound; thousands of cells being the work of healing at once; in a few days or a few weeks the work is complete. You may even break a bone. No surgeon on earth can weld the parts together (I am not referring to the insertion of rods or other devices to strengthen or replace bones). He may set the bone for you, and the subjective mind will immediately begin the process of welding the parts together, and in a short time the bone is as solid as it ever was. You may swallow poison; the subjective mind will immediately discover the danger and make violent efforts to eliminate it. You may become infected with a dangerous germ; the subjective will at once commence to build a wall around the infected area and destroy the infection by absorbing it in the white blood corpuscles which it supplies for the purpose.
12. These processes of the subconscious mind usually proceed without our personal knowledge or direction, and so long as we do not interfere the result is perfect, but, as these millions of repair cells are all intelligent and respond to our thought, they are often paralyzed and rendered impotent by our thoughts of fear, doubt, and anxiety. They are like an army of workmen, ready to start an important piece of work, but every time they get started on the undertaking a strike is called, or plans changed, until they finally get discouraged and give up.
13. The way to health is founded on the law of vibration, which is the basis of all science, and this law is brought into operation by the mind, the "world within." It is a matter of individual effort and practice. Our world of power is within; if we are wise we shall not waste time and effort in trying to deal with effects as we find them in the "world without," which is only an external, a reflection.
14. We shall always find the cause in the "world within"; by changing the cause, we change the effect.
15. Every cell in your body is intelligent and will respond to your direction. The cells are all creators and will create the exact pattern which you give them.
16. Therefore, when perfect images are placed before the subjective, the creative energies will build a perfect body.
17. Brain cells are constructed in the same way. The quality of the brain is governed by the state of mind, or mental attitude, so that if undesirable mental attitudes are conveyed to the subjective they will in turn be transferred to the body; we can therefore readily see that if we wish the body to manifest health, strength and vitality this must be the predominant thought.
18. We know then that every element of the human body is the result of a rate of vibration.
19. We know that mental action is a rate of vibration.
20. We know that a higher rate of vibration governs, modifies, controls, changes, or destroys a lower rate of vibration.
21. We know that the rate of vibration is governed by the character of brain cells, and finally,
22. We know how to create these brain cells; therefore,
23. We know how to make any physical change in the body we desire, and having secured a working knowledge of the power of mind to this extent, we have come to know that there is practically no limitation which can be placed upon our ability to place ourselves in harmony with natural law, which is omnipotent.
24. This influence or control over the body by mind is coming to be more and more generally understood, and many physicians are now giving the matter their earnest attention. Dr. Albert T. Shofield, who has written several important books on the subject, say, "The subject of mental therapeutics is still ignored in medical works generally. In our physiologies no references is made to the central controlling power that rules the body for its good, and the power of the mind over the body is seldom spoken of".
25. No doubt many physicians treat nervous diseases of functional origin wisely and well, but what we contend is that the knowledge they display was taught at no school, was learned from no book, but it is intuitive and empirical.
26. This is not as it should be. The power of mental therapeutics should be the subject of careful, special and scientific teaching in every medical school. We might pursue the subject of maltreatment, or want of treatment, further in detail and describe the disastrous results of neglected cases; but the task is an invidious one.
27. There can be no doubt that few patients are aware how much they can do for themselves. What the patient can do for himself, the forces he can set in motion are as yet unknown. We are inclined to believe that they are far greater than most imagine, and will undoubtedly be used more and more. Mental therapeutics may be directed by the patient himself to calming the mind in excitement, by arousing feelings of joy, hope, faith, and love; by suggesting motives for exertion, by regular mental work, by diverting the thoughts from the malady.
28. For your exercise this week concentrate on Tennyson's beautiful lines "Speak to Him, thou, for He hears, and spirit with spirit can meet, Closer is He than breathing, and nearer than hands and feet." Then try to realize that when you do "Speak to Him" you are in touch with Omnipotence.
29. This realization and recognition of this Omnipresent power will quickly destroy any and every form of sickness or suffering and substitute harmony and perfection. Then remember there are those who seem to think that sickness and suffering are sent by God; if so, every physician, every surgeon and every Red Cross nurse is defying the will of God and hospitals and sanitariums are places of rebellion instead of houses of mercy. Of course, this quickly reasons itself into an absurdity, but there are many; who still cherish the idea.
30. Then let the thought rest on the fact that until recently theology has been trying to teach an impossible Creator, one who created beings capable of sinning and then allowed them to be eternally punished for such sins. Of course the necessary outcome of such extraordinary ignorance was to create fear instead of love, and so, after two thousand years of this kind of propaganda, Theology is now busily engaged in apologizing for Christendom.
31. You will then more readily appreciate the ideal man, the man made in the image and likeness of God, and you will more readily appreciate the all originating Mind that forms, upholds, sustains, originates, and creates all there is.
All are but parts of one stupendous whole, Whose body nature is, and God the soul.
Opportunity follows perception, action follows inspiration, growth follows knowledge, eminence flows progress. Always the spiritual first, then the transformation into the infinite and illimitable possibilities of achievement.
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Study Questions with Answers
211. How may sickness be eliminated?
By placing ourselves in harmony with Natural Law which is Omnipotent.
212. What is the process?
A realization that man is a spiritual being and that this spirit must necessarily be perfect.
213. What is the result?
A conscious recognition of this perfection - first intellectually, then emotionally - brings about a manifestation of this perfection.
214. Why is this so?
Because thought is spiritual and therefore creative and correlates with its object and brings it into manifestation.
215. What Natural Law is brought into operation?
The Law of Vibration.
216. Why does this govern?
Because a higher rate of vibration governs, modifies, controls, changes, or destroys a lower rate of vibration.
217. Is this system of mental therapeutics generally recognized?
Yes, there are literally millions of people in this country who make use of it in one form or another (and obviously many more world-wide).
218. What is the result of this system of thought?
For the first time in the world's history every man's highest reasoning faculty can be satisfied by a demonstrable truth which is now fast flooding the world.
219. Is this system applicable to other forms of supply?
It will meet every human requirement or necessity.
220. Is this system scientific or religious?
Both. True science and true religion are twin sisters, where one goes, the other necessarily follows.
