Chapter VII - Physiology
194:1
and that the might of omnipotent Spirit shares not its
and that the might of omnipotent Spirit shares not its
strength with matter or with human will. Review-
ing this brief experience, I cannot fail to discern the
coincidence of the spiritual idea of man with the divine
Mind.
Change of belief
194:6
A change in human belief changes all the physical symp-
A change in human belief changes all the physical symp-
toms, and determines a case for better or for
worse. When one's false belief is corrected
Truth sends a report of health over the body.
194:10
Destruction of the auditory nerve and paralysis of the
Destruction of the auditory nerve and paralysis of the
optic nerve are not necessary to ensure deafness and blind-
ness; for if mortal mind says, "I am deaf and blind," it
will be so without an injured nerve. Every theory op-
posed to this fact (as I learned in metaphysics) would
presuppose man, who is immortal in spiritual under-
standing, a mortal in material belief.
Power of habit
194:17
The authentic history of Kaspar Hauser is a useful hint
The authentic history of Kaspar Hauser is a useful hint
as to the frailty and inadequacy of mortal mind. It
proves beyond a doubt that education consti-
tutes this so-called mind, and that, in turn,
mortal mind manifests itself in the body by the false
sense it imparts. Incarcerated in a dungeon, where
neither sight nor sound could reach him, at the age of
seventeen Kaspar was still a mental infant, crying and
chattering with no more intelligence than a babe, and
realizing Tennyson's description:
194:27
An infant crying in the night,
An infant crying in the night,
An infant crying for the light,
And with no language but a cry.
194:30
His case proves material sense to be but a belief formed
His case proves material sense to be but a belief formed
by education alone. The light which affords us joy gave
195:1
him a belief of intense pain. His eyes were inflamed by
him a belief of intense pain. His eyes were inflamed by
the light. After the babbling boy had been taught to
speak a few words, he asked to be taken back to his dun-
geon, and said that he should never be happy elsewhere.
Outside of dismal darkness and cold silence he found no
peace. Every sound convulsed him with anguish. All
that he ate, except his black crust, produced violent
retchings. All that gives pleasure to our educated senses
gave him pain through those very senses, trained in an
opposite direction.
Useful knowledge
195:11
The point for each one to decide is, whether it is mortal
The point for each one to decide is, whether it is mortal
mind or immortal Mind that is causative. We
should forsake the basis of matter for meta-
physical Science and its divine Principle.
195:15
Whatever furnishes the semblance of an idea governed
Whatever furnishes the semblance of an idea governed
by its Principle, furnishes food for thought. Through as-
tronomy, natural history, chemistry, music, mathematics,
thought passes naturally from effect back to cause.
195:19
Academics of the right sort are requisite. Observa-
Academics of the right sort are requisite. Observa-
tion, invention, study, and original thought are expansive
and should promote the growth of mortal mind out of it-
self, out of all that is mortal.
195:23
It is the tangled barbarisms of learning which we
It is the tangled barbarisms of learning which we
deplore, – the mere dogma, the speculative theory, the
nauseous fiction. Novels, remarkable only for their
exaggerated pictures, impossible ideals, and specimens
of depravity, fill our young readers with wrong tastes
and sentiments. Literary commercialism is lowering the
intellectual standard to accommodate the purse and to
meet a frivolous demand for amusement instead of for
improvement. Incorrect views lower the standard of
truth.