“The spirit is not born from reasoning, but from the will.” (Ibid. 3.)
“Spirit,” in other words, is a form of Will endowed with thought; a spiritual power, neither good nor evil in itself; but which becomes good or evil according to the purpose for which it is employed. Its functions are willing, imagining, and remembering.
A great deal has been written about the power of will and imagination in Nature, by means of which the types existing in the memory of the universal mind continually find re-expression in physical visible forms;[37] in this place we have to deal only with the qualities of these three functions, and the effects which they produce in the body of man.
In the previous three divisions of this chapter we have had under our consideration causes of diseases originating in the terrestrial part of the human constitution; this and the following deals with his spiritual part.
“There are two subjects in man, one is a material, the other a spiritual being (thought-body), impalpable, invisible, subject to its own diseases (discords); one belonging to the material, the other to the spiritual world, each having its own states of consciousness, perception and memory, its own associations with beings of its kind. Nevertheless, both are one during this life, and the spirit influences the body; but not the body the spirit. Therefore if the spirit is diseased, it is of no use to doctor the body; but if the body is diseased, it can be cured by administering remedies to the spirit.” (Lib. “Paramir.,” I., iv., 4 and 7.)
This spiritual part, or the thought-body of man, is the vehicle for the reincarnating spirit, when the spiritual individuality evolves a new personality upon the earth. For the purpose of understanding what is said in the following division of this chapter, it will be necessary to understand the theory of Reincarnation, of which we can only present an outline within the space of this work. H. P. Blavatsky says that which reincarnates is:
“The Spiritual thinking Ego, the permanent principle in man, or that which is the seat of the Manas. It is not Atma, or even Atma-Buddhi, which is the individual or divine man, but Manas; for Atman is the Universal All, and becomes the Higher Self of man only in conjunction with Buddhi, its vehicle, which links IT to the individuality (or the divine Man).”[38]
The resurrection of the physical body is a modern superstition in which none of the ancient philosophers or real Christians ever believed.[39]
Will.
“Will” comes from willan, desire; but is quite distinct from that selfish desire which is the result of the fancies of the brain; the true will is a strong power which comes from the centre, the heart, and in its highest aspect it is that creative power which called the world into existence. All the voluntary and involuntary actions in nature and in the organism of man originate in the action of will, whether or not we are conscious of it.