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HEALING: THE DIVINE ART |
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PART TWO: THE PHILOSOPHY OF HEALING
A DIAGRAM OF THE MAGNETIC FIELDS OF THE HUMAN PERSONALITY A. The Physical Body. B. The Functional, or Etheric Body. c. The Emotional Body. D. The Mental Body. E. The Energy Field. F. The Circumference of the Personality, the Abode of the Body Principles. CHAPTER 6: ESOTERIC PHYSIOLOGY SOME FUNDAMENTALS -- MAN'S THREE INVISIBLE BODIES -- THE BODY AND INDWELLING DIVINITY -- THE HUMAN AURA -- THE SECRET OF ALL FUNCTION AND GROWTH -- THE FOUR ETHERS -- THE PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL ETHER -- THE FUNCTIONAL, OR VITAL ETHER, -- EMOTIONAL OR PSYCHIC ETHER -- MENTAL OR INTELLECTUAL ETHER -- THE HUMAN WILL -- THE VOICE OF CONSCIENCE -- GENERAL OBSERVATION. SOME FUNDAMENTALS THE subject now to be dealt with is difficult to present, especially in digest form. Clearest expression demands little or no use of synonyms, for those that could be used are both confusing and inexact; the essential words will thus be repeated whenever necessary, for the sake of clarity. According to the doctrines of the occult sciences, the physical body of man is a vehicle for the manifestation of invisible, spiritual energies. These energies not only sustain the body itself, but flow through it, manifesting as the attitudes, impulses, and functional processes of the outer life. This viewpoint of the old philosophers may be summarized in a definition: Man is a metaphysical being, abiding in the superphysical worlds; he is revealed to our material sense perceptions by his physical body, which is the least part of his composite nature. One school of materialistic psychology teaches that thought and emotion arise within the physical body, with individuality, character, and temperament being the result of the external pressure of environment and events. Intelligence is thus identified as a kind of overtone of the body, originating in the chemical activity that is in substance itself. The mystics believe that intellectual and moral energy flow into the body; these mould the form into the likeness of themselves, and so establish the true causes of all the phenomenal life of man. It is not possible to comprehend the principles of occult healing without an understanding of the four-fold constitution of the human being. The personality of man is composed of a mental nature, an emotional nature, a functional nature, and a physical nature. Of these four natures only the physical is visible; but the powers of the remaining three higher natures can be discovered by studying their effects upon the physical nature. The physical body of all living creatures is a mineral organism; of itself it is only a refined kind of stone. According to the Hindu mystics, it is "the hard rock that softened," described in the Tibetan Book of Dzyan, but still a mineral structure. Consider the composition of man's physical body: -- oxygen, 65 percent; carbon, 18 percent; hydrogen, 10 percent; nitrogen, 3 percent; calcium 2 percent; and phosphorus, 1 percent. The remaining one percent is made up of small quantities of potassium, sodium, chlorine, magnesium, iron, iodine, fluorine, and silicon.
No matter how these elements are arranged and combined, the occult philosopher contends that the genius of a Leonardo da Vinci, or the mental excellence of a Plato, could not possibly lurk among them. Or, if you combine all the listed chemical elements in their correct proportions, the result is not a man, but an inert mass. Is it, then, such a mystical abstraction to believe that the human being is not merely his physical body? Is it not much more reasonable to regard man himself as the intangible power that ensouls the elements, and fashions them into the vehicle of his purposes? The mechanistic school of physics has tried for a long time to prove that the universe and man are self-operating machines, and so there is no need for the hypothesis of a conscious or intellectual principle in nature to explain the mystery of life. But, though machines may be very wonderfully and very skillfully made, human beings must build them, and human beings must operate them; and when, for any reason, they cease to function, human beings must repair them. For all practical purposes, the human body is a machine, the most perfect machine in all the world. It is capable of almost unbelievable delicacy of function, and is sensitive to every impulse of the will, but like all mechanical devices, it is composed of material substances, useless unless directed by intelligence, and inert and powerless unless ensouled by a conscious spirit. MAN'S THREE INVISIBLE BODIES Behind the physical form that is visible to the eyes stands man himself, clothed in three intangible but very real bodies of specialized energy. The first of these is composed of mental substance, the stuff that thoughts are made of; the second is composed of emotional substance, the sensitive fabric of feelings and desires; the third is composed of vital substance, the functional energy without which physical forms could not endure. Man thinks, not with his brain, but through his brain. The brain is but a sensitized area of physical matter which reacts to the subtle impulses of the mental body. In the same way, emotions and functions are communicated to the physical body through the liver and the spleen, and these organs are but distributors of specialized impulses, and not the originators of these impulses. Nothing originates in the body but inertia. All its activity is communicated to it from one of the zones of metaphysical energy. It is for this reason that the ancients did not refer to the physical body as a principle, but as a receptacle of principles. Like the canopic jar of the classical Egyptians, it receives into itself the waters of Life, and distributes them into the world through its many mouths. In order to make these sequences of processes more readily comprehensible, they can be arranged in a table, as follows:
Behind the body principles is the spiritual consciousness itself. But the spirit cannot be sick or diseased, because it abides in the perfect state of its own nature. Nor can it exert any direct healing power except through the four-fold personality which it has set up as the proper medium for the mechanics of its biological processes. THE BODY AND INDWELLING DIVINITY That Deity is outside of, or apart from its creation, is a doctrine of Christianity, one that only a few great religious systems teach. All enlightened pagans taught that the material universe is the physical body of the creating Principle. Plato called the universe the "Eternal Animal," and the Neo-Platonists of Alexandria described the world as "the body of a Blessed God." The modern occultist accepts this philosophical doctrine. He does not seek in the distant heavens for the Spiritual Cause of all things, but finds the creation itself bearing splendid witness to its indwelling divinity. The "personality" of the solar system, the sun, with the group of celestial bodies which revolve round it, is composed of four kinds of substance; mental substance, emotional substance, functional substance, and physical substance. In the solar system these spheres of substance are called planes, and together, these make up the personality of the solar God. These four strata are the four worlds of the philosophical Cabala, and it was in the substance of these four worlds that the four Adams came into being. Man has a body to correspond with each of the planes of nature. Each of these bodies of man is composed of the substance of the plane in which it originated. It grows and develops in that plane, it is subject to the laws governing that plane, and ultimately it disintegrates back into the basic matter of that plane. These four bodies are the four Adams, and the physical body is the last Adam, the one that fell into matter and put on the coat of skins. It may be a little difficult to realize that the mind is really a body, and not merely a strange, vague emptiness with thoughts floating about in it. Our way of thinking has long accepted things as material only if we can contact them with our sense perceptions. Yet we know that the five senses of man are only at the beginning of their development, and many very real things are beyond present sensory range. There are innumerable sounds that the human ear cannot hear, colors and forms that the human eye cannot see, flavors that the human taste cannot register, odors that the human sense of smell cannot detect, and substances so refined that they cannot be felt by the human sense of touch. Only in recent years has science come to a realization of the limitations of man's sensory perceptions, recognized the possibility of the substance and reality of things unseen. THE HUMAN AURA The physical body of man and the superphysical bodies which sustain it are shown in their proper relationship to each other in the figure on page 186. To the trained clairvoyant, the higher bodies B, C, and D, are visible as fields of light; they make up what is commonly called the aura. The ancients referred to this aura as an "invisible perspiration," because it seemed to be emanating from the physical form. In actuality, the only part of the aura that comes from the material body is the etheric sheath B. The emotional and mental auras C and D are magnetic fields of energy that flow toward the body, and are involved in its functions through the medium of the etheric sheath. E represents an energy field that has not yet been differentiated into a body, but which will become the vehicle of man's spiritual nature when this has been perfected by the processes of evolution. F is the circumference of personal existence, the shell of the auric egg, in which the human creature lives, and moves, and has his being. The importance of the functional body -- or etheric double, as it is often called -- will now be apparent. It is the link that unites the physical body A, with the emotional bodies C, and D. The ethers are the great mystery of occultism; it is by the knowledge of them and their operation that the metaphysician comes to understand the workings of spiritual force in the material world. THE SECRET OF ALL FUNCTION AND GROWTH The ancients recognized four ethers, or four etheric essences which serve as binders between the spiritual energies of man and the physical substances through which they operate. This is the true explanation of the four humours of Hippocrates. The modern physicist defines ether as a postulated medium for the transmission of light waves; but to the occultist the ethers are the secret of all function and growth. The ethers, physical in their origin, are actually the subtler parts of matter. The etheric emanations of the earth itself fill the inner atmosphere of the planet, so that, as Thales expressed it, the earth seems to float in an humid vapor, a thinned-out or attenuated water. This etheric humidity is invisible to the physical perceptions, but may be examined by those possessing etheric sight. When seen, it resembles a slightly luminous thin haze, dimly stratified. Its lower parts are placid and unchanging, but its upper layers are in a state of constant agitation. Close to the earth, and about the bodies of living things, the etheric haze is more pronounced, and shines with a greenish-blue light. This light surrounds minerals, plants, animals and human beings with glistening halos. The etheric emanations from the lower kingdoms are not so brilliant as are those of man. THE FOUR ETHERS The four ethers and the parts they play in the economy of human life are as follows:
These ethers have laws governing them, and have qualities inherent in their natures which every metaphysical healer must learn to know and use. A considerable part of so-called physical sickness and disease originates in the etheric binders, and not in the material body itself. Even contagion and infection are largely the result of disturbances in the etheric envelopes. For example, consider the ethers as protection against bacterial infections. In the normal state of health the physical body is surrounded by etheric rays which flow out through the skin pores, and enclose the form in a flickering fur-like aura. This aura is a natural defense, repelling contagion and infection, and destroying any germs that come within its field. But, if, for any reason, the chemical vitality is depleted, these sterilizing ether-rays lose their power, and can no longer combat the destructive micro-organisms. THE PHYSICAL OR CHEMICAL ETHER During life, a pale electric mist hovers about the human skeleton. This is the physical ether, and it seems to originate in the bone marrow. From there it flows out along the heavier chemical formations, touching with its eerie light each cell and organ of the body. Pronounced condensations of this same ether surround most of the vital organs, the strange glow being especially bright about the heart, where it serves as the focus for the physical principle of the body, which is located at the apex of the left ventricle. The human body's inorganic chemical processes are controlled and regulated by the natural energies which operate through the physical ether. As a chemical binder it preserves the arrangement of the element-patterns which make up the corporeal form. Because of its peculiar cohesive power it serves as a matrix holding within itself all the basic substances involved in the human chemistry. The physical ether is most active in child life, from the first year to the seventh, during which time its crystallizing activities are establishing order in the inorganic structure that is to serve as the foundation for organic life. In the newborn infant this ether is derived directly from the maternal parent and carries the ancestral records implanted in the fertilized cell at the time of impregnation, and it is the medium for the perpetuation of hereditary tendencies, and the cause of family resemblance. In a larger way it also preserves racial differentiation, and determines organic quality. The physical ether is the most dense and material of the four etheric essences; and it is so similar to the corporeal body from which it emanates that the two are bound together with an intense vibratory sympathy. Paracelsus's followers taught that this ether could be injured by sharp instruments, shocks, bruises, and various accidents which affected the physical body. The higher ethers will permit the repairing of the tissue of the body when cut or wounded, but the chemical ether is entirely inorganic, and injuries to it will not heal. The marks will remain, and their shadows in the flesh are called scars, or scar tissue. Plastic surgery in many cases can remove physical scars. But plastic surgery has no effect on the etheric records. Persons having some extension of vision can still see the abrasions, even after all traces apparently have been removed. As the physical ether impresses the form patterns upon matter, derangements of it may result in deformities, monstrosities, and imperfect births. These bodies seldom survive, for they lack the perfection that permits the proper manifestation of the higher life principles through them. Childhood ailments, especially those in which the bones fail to harden properly, or crystallize too rapidly, are due to derangements of the physical ether. The common reservoir of the chemical ether is the earth, and those suffering from a deficiency of this ether's activity should contact the earth as much as possible. But they must not expose themselves to the direct rays of the sun. Essential to them are the minerals in food, and additional mineral support may be indicated. If there is an excess of crystallization, the mineral intake must be reduced, and the supply of functional ether correspondingly increased. In Europe, occultists have been experimenting with polarities which can be taken into the body to increase the flow of the ethers. One of the substances with which they have been working is meteoric iron. Because of its tremendous magnetic powers, this material is useful in combating deficiencies of the etheric energies. Paracelsus was of the opinion that chemical drugs are important to the body, not because they can be assimilated, but because they set up magnetic poles and attract the ethers which are so necessary to physical health. THE FUNCTIONAL, OR VITAL ETHER The vital body of the human being is a brilliant complex of radiant energy. The force follows along every nerve, so that each fiber seems to be filled with an internal light. It glistens in the cell tissue, and the minute particles appear like tiny stars. Around the spleen, which is its peculiar center in the body, it makes a gleaming aureole. In pulsing waves it pours out from the nerve ends and extends several inches beyond the skin. This ether fills all structure with vitality and life, and wherever functions are taking place, it gathers its shining substances and energizes the organs and muscles for their tasks. The essential functions of life, growth, reproduction, assimilation, excretion, and circulation are maintained by the forces flowing through the vital ether. It also distributes pigmentation. This ether regulates the life energy supply, called prana by the Hindus, which sustains all organic structure, thus maintaining the functions of living tissue. As the chemical ether is associated with the solids of the body, so the functional ether is related to the fluids, and was known among the ancients as the "water of life." This vital ether is closely involved in all of the processes of human growth, and is especially active from the seventh to the fourteenth years, the period of most rapid physical development. As the result of the abundance of functional etheric energy at that time, there is a rapid increase in the number of cells, with a corresponding enlargement of the composite structure. In the adult, the principal work of this ether is the restoration of tissue destroyed by physical, emotional, or mental activity, and the rebuilding of structure destroyed or enervated by disease. The happy sense of well-being enjoyed by those in good health is the direct result of the normal flow of vitality through the channels of the functional ether. Nature has entrusted the perpetuation of the species to the vital ether, and it is the vortex of this substance in seeds and eggs and animal cells that makes them fertile. The amazing endurance of this etheric atom is attested to in a number of remarkable ways. Wheat, found in the hand of an Egyptian pharaoh who had been buried more than three-thousand years, was planted and it grew. Yet so sensitive is the fertility principle that the slightest derangement of its physical magnetic poles in the body may result in sterility. Although the vital ether is derived from the sun, its activity in the human body is most intense during sleep. It sustains and regulates the automatic and involuntary functions and repairs the consequences of daily wear and tear. If rest is disturbed, this work is interfered with, and the next morning the person does not feel so well. Most of the ailments involving the functional ether are the result of the failure of the human being to cooperate with the biochemical requirements of his body. The effort necessary to mend the damage done by wrong habits, improper diet, overwork, and physical exhaustion, may tax this energy flow beyond its capacity. In addition, the vital ether must cope with the depressing and demoralizing effects of destructive mental patterns and emotional excesses which react harmfully upon the physical fabric. Enlargements and benign growths, giantism and dwarfism, overstimulation of function, disorders of bodily rhythms, and some types of obesity, are ailments of the vital ether. Anemia is an advanced form of etheric debility. Sun baths help in many cases, but, in avoidance of extremes, should be taken only under proper advice. It is a good rule to remember, that the functional ether will serve a man well if he will be moderate in all things, and not expect from nature accomplishment of the impossible. Both chemical and vital ether have an interesting photographic quality. As they permeate all the earth's atmosphere, they are present in any place that man can occupy. A person walking through a room leaves a picture of himself in the ethers of that room; and also a vibratory record of his personality and character. These etheric pictures remain for some time after he has departed. A psychometrist can go into the room later and describe all that has occurred there; and can sometimes do the same from examination of articles of dress, or jewelry, impregnated with the etheric emanations of previous owners. These ethers are especially active in water. Magical vessels filled with water were often used by primitive Witch Doctors and old mystics in their divinations. It is recorded that the celebrated Nostradamus gained some of his prophetic powers from spirits he had captured in bowls of magnetized water, and Cagliostro employed similar methods at his seances. The photographic power and vibratory sympathies in ether are the basis of the new theories of extra-sensory perception. The etheric essences possess what the ancients called an azonic quality. The word azonic means "above zone," that is, beyond the limitation of place. According to this doctrine, similars are always near to each other regardless of what we call distance. A certain man had his leg amputated, and because he knew nothing about the theory of ethers, he was indifferent as to the disposal of the removed limb. As time went on the man continued to feel pain in the leg that was gone, not an unusual phenomena, because part of the etheric body of the leg remained with him. But in this case the pain grew more and more intense, and felt as though a sharp instrument was cutting into the missing limb. At last the leg, which had been buried in a wooden box, was dug up, and it proved upon examination that a careless workman had driven a nail through the lid of the box and into the leg. This nail was removed and the patient immediately enjoyed greater comfort. Paracelsus has recorded such instances, but to most modern physicians these are not of interest, not anyhow until something unusual happens to one of their own patients. The activity of the functional ether may continue for a short time after the death of the physical body. There is evidence that hair will grow on the dead. This is denied by some modern authorities, but the older medical writers give numerous examples. A curious book by Oswald Crolli, a disciple of Paracelsus, passed through my hands some time ago. In this work is described a rare case in which the fur continued to grow on an animal's skin, stretched on a wall. General Albert Pike mentions the vital power of acacia wood, which in Syria will send forth shoots after the tree has been cut down, sawed into planks, and built into doorposts. EMOTIONAL OR PSYCHIC ETHER Through the arterial system of the human body flows a pale rose light with a greenish fringe of etheric force. This is the emotional ether. It courses along the blood vessels in a state of constant pulsation; everywhere there is motion. Around the organs, especially the intestinal tract, this fiery substance whirls and eddies. The principal center of the psychic ether is in the liver, and the great vortex of this important gland is a swirling sea of pinkish flame. This ether is responsive to the emotional impulses of the individual, and blazes forth in moments of intense feeling or desire. It registers every mood of the psychic nature, and when for any reason, self-control is lost, as in the case of extreme anger, the effect in the ethers resembles a miniature volcanic eruption. Such outbursts do considerable harm to the etheric structure. If they occur too frequently they will finally destroy emotional control. Through the medium of the emotional ether, the physical body of man is united to his superphysical body of feeling and desire. The two lower ethers are vehicles of involuntary natural processes, but the third ether carries into the emotional centers of the nervous system the fears, angers, disgusts, griefs, joys, surprises, and yearnings of the metaphysical self. It is obvious therefore, that this ether is heavily burdened with impulses, many of which are far from constructive. In addition to its other responsibilities the psychic ether must also distribute the power of motion, and support the sense perceptions. In the growing human being the emotional ether has its period of most intense activity between the fourteenth and twenty-first years. There are marked changes in the physical body during this period, and equally important changes in the mental outlook. It has been observed that many of the less advanced races have unusual problems at this time. Very often, children of these races are mentally alert until adolescence, and then lose the power of further intellectual advancement. A school teacher verified this for me; she taught such a class, and had noted that the children were exceptionally brilliant until their fourteenth year, and from that time on could learn nothing. Impulses carried from the outer world to the emotional and mental bodies enter through the gateways of the sense perceptions. To a great degree the emotional life is conditioned by externals, and by personal reactions to externals. A person's general convictions determine largely his impulsive reflexes. The testimonies of the sense perceptions are carried back to the emotional body across the bridge of ether, and the reactions of the emotional body to these testimonies are then returned again through the same ether to the emotional centers in the physical body. In this case the etheric medium carries emotional impulses in two directions. The emotional ether can be damaged by an overload of intense feeling or desire, in much the same way that too heavy a current damages an electric wire. With its proper function destroyed, the ether may permit an overflowing of emotional content; or it may be so debilitated that emotional reflexes almost cease. Lack of reasonable emotional control is the cause of numerous physical ailments. On the other hand, too much self-control can prove equally disastrous. All extremes destroy; moderation and right use are the sustaining virtues. Hysteria is one of the most common ailments due to unbalance of the psychic ether. Irresistible feelings flow into the body, and overwhelm the judgment and control. Hallucinations of various kinds and a wide variety of psychical disturbances can be traced to disorganizations of this ether. Homosexuality is often the result of psycho-chemical derangement in the compound of the functional and psychic ethers. It must be remembered that the ethers are brought into a diseased state as the result of the abnormalcy of the conscious impulses sent through them. When a breakdown comes, it is not the ethers that are at fault, it is the quality of the material which they are forced to distribute. MENTAL OR INTELLECTUAL ETHER The upper half of the human body is surrounded by a soft golden light that seems to originate in the central parts of the brain. The glow streams out from the third ventricle in particular, enclosing the head in a nimbus like that pictured around the heads of saints. This yellow glow extends down the spine through the sixth ventricle, and touches the spinal nerves with its luminous power. The greater a person's intellectual life, the stronger the activity of the mental ether. Its substances and currents are constantly responding to thought impulse, and the quality of the mental viewpoint can change the colors in the etheric medium from yellow to deep orange, and even pale green. The intellectual consciousness of the individual flows into the body on the currents of the mental ether. To the psychologist, mind is the total of the conscious states of man; but to the philosopher, mind is man's consciousness that is perceptive, reflective, and imaginative. It is in this sense that the occultist views the intellect. The mental ether binds the conscious mind to the magnetic field of the pineal gland, which is the mental focus in the physical body. The ways in which mental impulses are distributed through the objective processes of the brain are so important in metaphysical healing that a later chapter is devoted to a detailed consideration of the subject. The intellectual ether is the most volatile of the etheric essences, and is the last to be developed in the maturing of the human being. The activity of this ether begins to be observable in the personality about the twenty-first year, but the period of maximum intensity is from about the forty-fifth to sixtieth years. In the case of an infant prodigy, this ether takes hold earlier in life; and this may cause trouble, because the physical body is not then sufficiently developed to stand the strain of adult mentality. The mental ether is the victim of thought disturbances, and may be seriously injured by chronic habits of wrong thinking. All four of the ethers are sensitive to thought impulses, and if they have been seriously affected by faulty mental processes, the consequences are gradually transferred to the physical structure as chronic diseases. Mental senility, and the failure of memory and thought acuteness, is often due to the depletion of this ether. It is an old occult belief that most forms of insanity are not the result of the failure of the mind, but arise in the physical brain or the ethers which support it. If complexes and fixations become too intense, they will destroy the subtle magnetic fields which bind the mind to the brain. The brain, in turn, deprived of the energies necessary to its processes, shows various symptoms of decline and deterioration. Remembering always, that the ethers originate in the physical body, the matter of nutrition becomes a spiritual science. The powers of the ethers depend upon proper food, relaxation, sleep, sunlight, exercise, the normal expression of the emotions and the right attitude of the mind. Many students of the mystical philosophies fail in their search for higher truths because they neglect or even ignore the physical foundation of spiritual regeneration. While the perfection of the physical body is not the principal end of philosophy, the release of the transcendental powers in man depends to a considerable degree upon the health of the body. THE HUMAN WILL Closely related to the four fields of etheric energy is that mysterious force which is called the human will. The will has been defined as the total conscious process in making a decision; but much more than decisional activity takes place in its psychic-chemistry. Will power is most frequently an application of energy to bring about that which is desired; or that which seems desirable in the light of convictions, ideals, or accepted principles. The direction in which the will is most likely to impel life or action is determined by the educational opportunities, the religious affiliations, the environmental circumstances and examples, the economic standards, and the personal inclinations. Like many of the metaphysical energies that operate through man, the actual substance and nature of the will is unknown to materialistic thinkers, but the consequences which it sets up can be studied and classified. Will is usually bound up with purposes of physical ambition, and if these ambitions are inordinate, frequently the result is tragic. The will may force a condition or state that is foreign to the capacity of the personality, and will power, unsupported by adequate rational strength from within the self, can only result in disaster. The delusion is common that will power is a substitute for trained ability. Some metaphysical teachers have circulated doctrines to the effect that a person can accomplish anything that he wills to accomplish. Nothing could be further from the truth; but such ideas appeal to those who have little desire to equip themselves by the arduous procedure of real personal effort. Even if the will could with certainty bring about the circumstances willed for, there is nothing to prove these new conditions would be more solutional than the present state. The uninformed cannot know what is necessary to themselves. The informed quietly but effectively bring about the patterns that they require, without heroic exertions of the will. The use of will power in occult healing must be carefully considered, for there are conditions in which it is definitely indicated. For example, the will is useful in breaking up undesirable habits, in controlling inordinate impulses, and in directing activity into constructive channels. Moderate self-discipline is good for most persons, and those inclined to be dilatory in matters of decision, or given to sloppy thinking generally, are improved by a little intelligently applied will power. Many who are suffering from dissipation and lack of self-control are in this condition because of will demoralization; in nearly all these cases suggestion therapy is helpful. By the judicious use of mental suggestion the will can be reestablished as the controller of conduct. The will is a kind of whip, indicated for the lazy, but very destructive to those who are really sick and require a sound program of health reconstruction. The one exception to this rule is the will to live. Many have recovered from apparently hopeless infirmities by the strength of will alone; when combined with proper therapy the will is a vital factor in recovery. Conversely, patients who lose the will to live may succumb to comparatively trivial ailments. The attempt to substitute will power for proper treatment, and the type of metaphysics which would deny the right of the body to manifest the diseases which exist within it, can only lead to trouble more serious. The whip or spur may get a last burst of energy from an exhausted horse, but the life of the creature is shortened and we have complicated the misfortunes which afflict it. There may be moments when a high duty makes it necessary for us to drive ourselves beyond the breaking point, but this does not mean that we should make a practice of such extreme measures. Pain and fatigue are warnings, and they cannot be denied with impunity. The individual who by will power drives himself beyond the natural endurance of his body will suffer the results, even if he uses a religious formula to justify his actions. The gods never sustain in man any course of action contrary to the laws established for the governing of the world. One who would try to deny symptoms of disease, and go on as though they did not exist, should be fully aware that he is a hypochondriac, with symptoms that are entirely imaginary. Seldom can hypochondriacs diagnose themselves as such. Pain is a gentle but insistent reminder that something is wrong; to ignore it is to endanger health and survival. THE VOICE OF CONSCIENCE Conscience, already mentioned in the chapter on the Witch Doctor, is a mysterious voice worthy of more detailed analysis. Conscience frequently supplies the stuff for exhibitions of will power, so the two can be intimately connected. A theological belief holds that conscience is a spiritual organ, by which the will of God is made known in the personal conduct of individuals. A little investigation proves that conscience, far from being the voice of a universal morality, is a very mundane, and often dangerous, form of subconscious opinionism. It is the type of opinionism that Heraclitus called a falling sickness of the reason. Conscience, in actuality, is a fear mechanism, and its origin is in the emotional body. Basically, it is the fear of nonconformity, ever compelling its owner to agree with the patterns of his time. For this reason conscience usually speaks for obedience to law, order, and tradition; and this in many cases is constructive in its effect, for society can survive only if its parts conform with the rules which have been established by the whole. But, though these rules may be necessary, it does not follow that they are divine. Left to its own devices, conscience would no doubt make a very sensible contribution to human betterment; but unfortunately, its gentle ways have been interfered with seriously by religious training. Most religious teachings are heavily loaded with 'thou shalt nots,' and these have a demoralizing effect on the conscience. They cause this poor faculty to lose all sense of orientation and dissolve in a sea of fears. We will never have a spiritual code that solves human problems, prevents war and crime, and leads men to the Promised Land of personal and collective security, until fear is removed from the mechanisms of soul conversion and religious practice. It is impossible to live a truly God-like existence with terror in the heart.
Conscience having become the vehicle of the taboos, it can no longer be depended upon to indicate the proper course of action. A man may obey the dictates of his conscience and yet be a danger to himself and a menace to all others in his community. Some have taught that conscience is the voice of Karma, (the principle or law of as-ye-sow-so-shall-ye-reap); but this is not always true, according to my experience with conscience sufferers. The effect is much more likely to have originated in the parental home, where good and bad were defined according to the personal points of view of father and mother. These well-meaning elders, with their well set opinions on virtue or vice may, or may not, have had any intelligent understanding of the meaning of either. Out of "don't do this," and "don't do that," from tired and exasperated elders, conscience is born. On and on through the years, it keeps repeating, parrot-like, "don't do this," and "don't do that." A mind accustomed to this endless cycle of negatives becomes keenly aware of the monotonous voice of the proprieties in every aspect of life, chanting the same dolorous admonitions. Resistance to the traditions having been broken in childhood, before the character is formed, generation after generation goes on, conforming to the old ways; because of fear, fear of displeasing the multitudes who sing the "don'ts." It is through those who refuse to accept the will and attitudes of the many that progress comes to the world. These free-thinkers obey if they can discover some sensible reason for obedience; for they have learned that things are not necessarily true merely because the majority believes them. Many of these blazers of new trails are heartily persecuted in their own time for their refusal to conform, only in later centuries to be honored as heroes, with their words and thoughts set up as the basis of new standards of conformity. A great many people are suffering from conscience trouble, and some of them deserve their remorse; but others are miserable over thoughts and actions that violate some system of hereditary 'don'ts,' but are perfectly natural and honorable. Let me give you a true instance of how foolish and stupid the whole thing can be. A man came to me on the verge of a complete nervous breakdown; he was so mentally and morally sick that his life was endangered. He told me he was filled with shame, he could never raise his head and look men in the eyes again; he was a sinner. This awful knowledge had ruined his digestion and destroyed his peace of mind. He was conscience stricken. And what was the horrible sin? A religious organization that he belonged to forbade its members to attend motion picture shows on pain of the loss of their immortal souls, and in a moment of weakness the devil had tempted him, and he had gone to see the March of Time. More terrible yet, he had taken his children. This had not at the moment appeared so sinful, but as the weeks passed his conscience had revealed to him the magnitude of the offense. He had broken his solemn vow, had himself done a sinful deed, and had contributed to sin in the lives of his children. It is hard to believe that a thing like this could happen in our day. There is of course nothing spiritually or naturally wrong in going to a motion picture. The real fault lay with the religious group, clinging to a medieval antipathy to all places of amusement. The seventeenth century protestants stopped even the Shakespearean theater in England. The crux of the man's remorse was the broken obligation. He had given his solemn word, and had not kept it. In this case the sufferer was guilty of two faults. The lesser one was breaking his word, and the greater one was that he had taken such a vow in the first place. But, an obligation which is unreasonable, unnatural, and out of harmony with wisdom and truth, cannot be binding. No religion can prove that Deity requires such vows. And no man can be held to his word once it is apparent that the entire premise is false. Many religious and most metaphysical organizations demand that their students sign various pledges and vows before they can become members in good standing. Because little, if any, personal consideration is given to the characters or temperaments of students, these obligations frequently are unsuitable, and if strictly observed bring disaster. But the majority of joiners do not take their vows too seriously, and their consciences do not hurt. It is the very sincere and conscientious person who gets into trouble. He tries to live the letter of his vows, secure in the belief that the cult knows what is good for him; he goes along full of faith until some of his unnatural obligations unsettle his life, forcing him to modify his practices in order to survive; he then has trouble with his conscience. It would surprise you how many metaphysicians are having this kind of difficulty with the still small voice. Of a great number who have come to me for help, some tell stories that are pitiful beyond words. Many psychologists are of the opinion that once the conscience pattern is firmly set, the individual is most likely to be happy if he conforms with its dictates. This may be true for those who lack the character to correct the false impulses that are locked within the conscience; but the philosophically minded prefer to straighten out their thinking, even if it requires a complete mental housecleaning. Conscience is a valuable faculty once it has been relieved of the burden of complexes and fixations which have been accumulated from taboos. But spirituality and fear cannot abide in the same personality. There is nothing in the universe of which man need be afraid; but there are many things which he must learn, and there are many laws which he must come to love and to obey. GENERAL OBSERVATION As the functions of the ethers are not visible to the physical perceptions of man, unless dicyanin screens are used, the healer must depend upon his ability to diagnose causes from their effects. This is not always easy; the patient's own description of the circumstances which have brought about his difficulties may be quite misleading. If the sufferer is himself a metaphysician, he is likely to have an elaborate explanation of his ailments based upon things he has been taught, or from suggestions made by fellow students. The practitioner has to remember that to the mystically minded all disease takes on mystical qualities, which usually have no existence except in the imagination. Take the case of a woman who had been studying with several oriental teachers who specialized in breathing exercises. She developed a curious type of headache, affecting the region behind the eyes, and causing great physical discomfort. She discussed the matter with one of her instructors. He was of the opinion that the pain was due to overstimulation of the pineal gland. A friend, who thought otherwise because she was taking similar instructions, warned that the kundalini had reached the brain too suddenly, and that condition could be very serious. The unhappy sufferer then consulted a practitioner and was assured that the trouble was 'vibratory'; a long series of treatments would put things right. Several months passed with no improvement, and the woman finally was convinced that she had done permanent damage to her mind. In the despair that followed this conclusion she contemplated suicide. Things were in this state when the woman came to me, as a last resort. She prefaced her visit with the remark that the condition was hopeless, and there was no reason to spare her feelings. A few minutes conversation cleared up many important details. It is valuable for the healer to know the esoteric exercises taught by various groups, and individual teachers, for the moment the names of the instructors were made known to me, it was possible to dismiss the pineal gland theory without further discussion. Although these 'masters' had a wide reputation for their spiritual powers, out of personal knowledge I was sure that none of them had the ability to bestow development exercises that would produce results, good or bad. The only soul growth that these teachers could confer was out of sad experience, with its maturing effect on consciousness. Getting rid of this stumbling block of metaphysical implication, the way was cleared for a reasonable consideration of the facts. The pain was no illusion, even if the esoteric exercises were. What was it that had caused the vital ether to densify in the frontal part of the brain area? It was not black magic, nor was it the kundalini, nor again, over-hastened soul growth -- it was plain old fashioned eye strain. This eager disciple of life's mysteries spent the greater part of her time reading and re-reading the literature of her favorite subject. She read many hours in bed, by a poor light, and unwisely had given up most of her social contacts, cutting off the diversion that might have given her tired eyes a rest. A well-fitted pair of glasses and moderation in reading brought immediate relief. The lady is now in the best of health, and has discontinued the foolish lessons and taken up a more substantial type of teachings. It is rare to find an instance of real disaster resulting from wrong development exercises, for there are very few teachers who actually know enough occult physiology to teach anything dangerous. But there are a large number of cases in which fear and imagination have resulted in serious nervous disorders in persons who believe they have opened centers of consciousness which they cannot control. |
