Chapter x.x.xVI

The Symphony of Life

Human life appears to me as a great orchestra in which we are the players. The great composition to be performed is the "Symphony of Life," its infinitude of dissonances and melodies blending into one colossal tone picture of harmony and grandeur. We players must study the laws of music and the score of the Great Symphony and we must practice diligently and persistently, until we can play our part unerringly in harmony with the concepts of the Great Composer. At the same time we must learn to keep our instrument, the body, in the best possible condition; for the greatest artist, endowed with a profound knowledge of the laws of music and possessed of the most perfect technique, cannot produce musical and harmonious sounds from an instrument with strings relaxed or overtense, or with its body filled with rubbish.

The artist must learn that the instrument, its material, its construction and its care are just as subject to law as the harmonics of the score.

In the final a.n.a.lysis, everything is vibration acting in and on the universal ethers, which are held to be the primordial substance.

Possibly the ethers themselves are modes of vibration.

That which is constructive is harmonious vibration. That which is destructive is inharmonious or discordant vibration.

Against this it may be urged that devolution has its harmonics as well as evolution, that every symphony is made up of dissonances as well as of harmonies. To this I answer: "Unadulterated harmony may, solely for lack of change, become monotonous; but discords alone never create melody, harmony, health or happiness."

As the artist seeks vibratory harmony between his instrument and the harmonics of the universe of sound, so the health-seeker must endeavor to establish vibratory unison between the material elements of his body and Nature's harmonics of health in the physical universe.

The atoms and molecules in the wood and strings of the violin, as well as the sounds produced from them, are modes of motion or vibration. In order to bring forth musical and harmonious notes, the vibratory conditions of the physical elements of the violin must be in harmonious vibratory relations.h.i.+p with Nature's harmonics in the universe of sound.

The elements and forces composing the human body are also vibratory in their nature, the same as the material elements of the violin.

They also must be kept in a certain well-balanced chemical combination, mechanical adjustment and physical refinement before they can vibrate in unison with Nature's harmonics in the physical universe and thus produce the harmonies of health and strength and beauty.

If our instrument is out of tune, or if we ignorantly or willfully insist on playing in our own way, regardless of the score, we create discords not only for ourselves, but also for our fellow artists in the great orchestra of life.

Sin, disease, suffering and evil are nothing but discords, produced by the ignorance, indifference or malice of the players. Therefore we cannot attribute the discords of life to the Great Composer. They are of our own making and will last as long as we refuse to learn our parts and to play them in tune with the Great Score. For in this way only can we ever hope to master the art and science of right living and to enjoy the harmonies of peace, self-content and happiness.

Chapter x.x.xVII

The Three-fold Const.i.tution of Man

The following diagram and accompanying explanations will serve to ill.u.s.trate "Three Planes of Being," the corresponding "Three-fold Const.i.tution of man," and their a.n.a.logy tothe artist and his instrument.

The Three-fold Const.i.tution of Man

~Planes of Being~

~Three-fold Const.i.tution of Man~

~a.n.a.logy~

Psychical or Moral

Soul

Music, Laws of Harmony

Mental

Mind

Player

Material

Bodies

(Physical and Spiritual)

Violin

Man lives and functions on three distinct planes of being: the physical-material and spiritual-material, the mental and the soul (psychical or moral) planes.

He may be diseased upon any one or more of these planes. The true physician must look for causes of disease and for methods of treatment upon all three planes of being.

The purely materialistic physician concentrates all his study and effort upon the physical-material plane of being. To him, mental, spiritual, psychical, and moral phenomena are merely chemical and physiological actions and reactions of brain and nerve substance. He has nothing but contempt and derision for the man who believes in or knows of a spiritual body or a soul.

He is like an artist who says: "My violin is all there is to music.

The musician's art consists in keeping his instrument in good condition. Technique and the laws of harmony are a matter of imagination and of superst.i.tious belief."

On the other hand, mental healers, Christian Scientists and faith healers concentrate all their efforts upon either the mental or the soul plane, frequently making no distinction between the two. In the treatment of disease, they ignore the conditions and needs of the physical body, and some of them even deny its existence.

These metaphysicians are like the artist who devotes all his time and energy to the study and practice of technique, counterpoint and harmony, neglecting his instrument and taking no heed whether its mechanism is out of order or its interior filled with rubbish. His knowledge of the laws of harmonics and his execution may be ever so perfect; but with his instrument out of tune and out of order he will produce discords instead of harmony.

The true artist realizes that MIND, the player, must study SOUL, the harmonics; and that the mind must also have its instrument, the BODY, in perfect condition in order to interpret perfectly and artistically the harmonies of the symphony of life. Likewise, the Nature Cure physician will look for causes of disease and for means of cure upon the material, mental and psychical planes of being.

Thus will higher civilization and greater knowledge lead back to the natural simplicity of primitive races, where physician and priest are one.

After all, physical health is the best possible basis for the attainment of mental, moral and spiritual health. All building begins with the foundation. We do not first suspend the steeple in the air and then build the church under it. So also, the building of the temple of human character should begin by laying the foundation in physical health.

We have known people who had attained high intellectual, moral and spiritual development and then suffered utter s.h.i.+pwreck physically, mentally and in every other way, because ignorantly they had violated the laws of their physical nature.

There are others who believe that the possession of occult knowledge and the achievement of masters.h.i.+p confer absolute control over Nature's forces and phenomena on the physical plane. These people believe that a man is not a master if he does not miraculously heal all manner of disease and raise the dead.

If such things were possible, they would overthrow the Laws of Cause and Effect and of Compensation. They would abolish the basic principles of morality and constructive spirituality. If it is possible in one case to heal disease and to overcome death through the fiat of the will of a master, then it must be possible in all cases. If so, then we can ignore the existence of Nature's laws, indulge our appet.i.tes and pa.s.sions to the fullest extent, and when the natural results of our transgressions overtake us, we can go to a healer or master and have our diseases instantly and painlessly removed, like a bad tooth.

I say this with all due reverence for, and faith in, the efficacy of true prayer and with full knowledge of the healing power of therapeutic faith, but I do not believe that G.o.d, or Nature, or a master or metaphysical formulas can or will make good in a miraculous way for the inevitable results of our transgressions of the natural laws that govern our being.

If such miraculous healing were possible and of common occurrence, what occasion would there be for the exercise of reason, will and self-control? What would become of the scientific basis of morality and constructive spirituality?

All this leads us to the following conclusions: