Chapter VII - Physiology
196:1
If materialistic knowledge is power, it is not wisdom.
If materialistic knowledge is power, it is not wisdom.
It is but a blind force. Man has "sought out many inven-
tions," but he has not yet found it true that knowledge can
save him from the dire effects of knowledge. The power
of mortal mind over its own body is little understood.
Sin destroyed through suffering
196:6
Better the suffering which awakens mortal mind from
Better the suffering which awakens mortal mind from
its fleshly dream, than the false pleasures
which tend to perpetuate this dream. Sin
alone brings death, for sin is the only element
of destruction.
196:11
"Fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body
"Fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body
in hell," said Jesus. A careful study of this text allows
that here the word soul means a false sense or material
consciousness. The command was a warning to beware,
not of Rome, Satan, nor of God, but of sin. Sickness,
sin, and death are not concomitants of Life or Truth.
No law supports them. They have no relation to God
wherewith to establish their power. Sin makes its own
hell, and goodness its own heaven.
Dangerous shoals avoided
196:20
Such books as will rule disease out of mortal mind, –
Such books as will rule disease out of mortal mind, –
and so efface the images and thoughts of dis-
ease, instead of impressing them with forcible
descriptions and medical details, – will help
to abate sickness and to destroy it.
196:25
Many a hopeless case of disease is induced by a single
Many a hopeless case of disease is induced by a single
post mortem examination, – not from infection nor from
contact with material virus, but from the fear of the
disease and from the image brought before the mind; it
is a mental state, which is afterwards outlined on the
body.
Pangs caused by the press
196:31
The press unwittingly sends forth many sorrows and
The press unwittingly sends forth many sorrows and
diseases among the human family. It does this by giv-
197:1
ing names to diseases and by printing long descriptions
ing names to diseases and by printing long descriptions
which mirror images of disease distinctly in thought. A
new name for an ailment affects people like a
Parisian name for a novel garment. Every one
hastens to get it. A minutely described dis-
ease costs many a man his earthly days of comfort. What
a price for human knowledge! But the price does not ex-
ceed the original cost. God said of the tree of knowledge,
which bears the fruit of sin, disease, and death, "In the
day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die."
Higher standard for mortals
197:11
The less that is said of physical structure and laws, and
The less that is said of physical structure and laws, and
the more that is thought and said about moral
and spiritual law, the higher will be the stand-
ard of living and the farther mortals will be re-
moved from imbecility or disease.
197:16
We should master fear, instead of cultivating it. It
We should master fear, instead of cultivating it. It
was the ignorance of our forefathers in the departments
of knowledge now broadcast in the earth, that made them
hardier than our trained physiologists, more honest than
our sleek politicians.
Diet and dyspepsia
197:21
We are told that the simple food our forefathers ate
We are told that the simple food our forefathers ate
helped to make them healthy, but that is a mistake.
Their diet would not cure dyspepsia at this
period. With rules of health in the head
and the most digestible food in the stomach, there would
still be dyspeptics. Many of the effeminate constitutions
of our time will never grow robust until individual opin-
ions improve and mortal belief loses some portion of its
error.
Harm done by physicians
197:30
The doctor's mind reaches that of his patient. The
The doctor's mind reaches that of his patient. The
doctor should suppress his fear of disease, else his belief
in its reality and fatality will harm his patients even more