CHAPTER II.
KNOW THYSELF.
The foregoing pages present an outline in the elementary anatomy and physiology of the brain and nervous system, to those who are not acquainted with its structure. To all who are interested in the intelligent care of the body it is of prime importance to obtain practical knowledge of the principles underlying the control of the body. The proper development of the individual is a steady growth. It resembles the unfolding of a flower, through the partaking of proper food, water, air and sunshine. A normal human being enjoys merely being alive. This is Nature’s law. The shortest road to happiness is to regard the body as the present dwelling-house of the eternal, and not merely to dream of the possibilities of becoming perfect in some future state of existence. Our physiological body constitutes the source from which the immortal man receives its strength. In order to have a healthy mind, all the body must work together harmoniously. The quality and quantity of the fluids must be right, there must be no leakage, the wires or nerves must lie in perfect harmony with the structures resting on a perfect foundation. Only in this way can the oxygen undergo the highest modification.
A seed requires the power of the sunshine in order to utilize the elements which it takes from the earth, and in the same sense the spiritual man receives his nutriment from the spirit through its elementary forces. God gave us these bodies, and unless we are willing to care for the temple which our spirit inhabits, we are not worthy of a better body in this world or in the one beyond. The primary course for most ailments can be traced back to hereditary weaknesses, developed through wrong environment, bad habits and improper feeding. We cannot develop a fashionable disease of typhoid, small-pox or diphtheria unless our lymphatic glands are storing up excessive waste matter produced by continuously overeating or wrong eating of unclean combinations of foods. Neither can right eating alone, without right thinking, physical exercise, fresh air and sunshine, produce health. The air we breathe is filled with healing power. The water we drink is from the fountain of life.
Deep philosophy combined with material science and practical work will lead to the understanding of the divine laws of nature. An individual who is suffering from a chronic ill which he is unable to correct by following a physician’s advice at home, should seek refuge in a sanitarium and be educated in the divine laws of God or Nature.
“No soul helps flesh more, now, than flesh helps soul!”—Browning’s Rabi Ben Ezra.
Spirit, also called essence, light, mind, or soul, is dependent upon matter for its expression. In other words, structure precedes function.
Example: To produce light we need to act upon a mechanism. As the striking of a match or the pressing of a button produces light, so the action upon the brain cells by the ether of the blood produces light or spirit.
Pure air and raw vegetables are rich in ether, and therefore are a necessity for a healthy mind or spirit.
Mental exercise or “thought” is necessary to convey the blood to the cell mechanism. Obstruction of blood vessels, preventing blood flow, produces death, partially or wholly.