Honolulu star-bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1912-2010, 1914-09-14


gin, as there is no other way to ac-
count for them
! Again, We are all familiar with the
/ fact that diseases and distressing
symptoms are aIleviated when fear
and worry cease and the harmonious
effects Of peace, happiness, and salts
faction prevail. Take a rubber ball,
grasp it tightly in the hand, thereby
destroying its normal outline: then
tremoye the pressure of the fingers,
and when the strain is gone, the ball
resumes its natural shape. In a SIM
| liar way, mental disturbances clamp
the body, put it under strain, dis
tort il: but when these disturbances
are removed. the body becomes nor
NAL. natural.
/ This effect Of thought on the body
/ is readily admitted even by pronounc.
ed materialists Cheerfulness, the
habit Of looking on the bright side OF
things, is generally acknowledged to
be an aid in preserving and restoring
| health. Yet he who believes in ma
terial causation will say: Il cannot
admit that malignant and organic dis
eases may be caused or cured bv
! thought. Possibly my headache will
disappear when ] stop worrying or
being angry, but how can / get rid
| of tumor or Of Bright's disease by
simply thinking about it?' -
This expresses the attitude of NOR
| tai thought, and in answer to its ques.
| lions it is we'll to bear in mind that
the marvellous healing recorded in the
Bible. much cf which is entirely above
and beyond any possible achievement
| of medical or surgical practice, was
actually accomplished through mental
or spiritual activity alone, and that
Christian Science has in the same way
healed every known disease. Admit
ting these facts, we are better pre-
pared to discuss the manner in which
this healing is accomplished.
Nature Of Existence.
In the first place, it is necessary
for us to consider what existence is,
and the relation between mind and
body. All will admit that to exist
means to be conscious. Then individ-
ual existence is individual conscious.
ness, and since consciousness is men
tai. existence is mental. From that it
follows that the character of existence
depends upon the character of con-
seriousness. 1t is also evident that
hereditary tendency and educated bias
largely determine the character Of
consciousness. and since cur mental
makeup and perceptive faculties vary
greatly, it is manifest that no two peo-
| pie can have the same consciousness
or even see the same object alike.
For example, an aeroplane viewed by
a civilized person and by savage,
awakens altogether different concepts.
A flower is very different thing to a
botanist from what it is to an engi-
neer The impression received of the
shape and size Of an object depends
upon the shape and size OF the, lens
of the eye. and individual lenses
are manifestly as different as individ-
ual physiognomies.
Again. since human consciousness
/ Is acquired largely through the five
physical senses. 1t partakes of the
nature of material sense. This sense
testimony Is always relative and never
absolute 1t is dimensional, finite, va
Iriable. inexact. Echoes do not locate
sound correctly. Distant objects are
net small because they appear so. AS
Economical phenomena are not what
they seem to be. The sun does not
move across the sky and the earth is
not stationary Color is not absolute,
neither are the reports made to US by
the senses of taste, smell, and touch.
Matter Mental Concept.
According to recent discoveries In
physical science, matter is form of
energy, instead of the indestructible
stun or entity it has been believed to
j be- It's unit. the atom, is found to be
icomposed of positive and negative
electrical corpuscles, called electrons
Or icns Through mechanical and
chemical processes material object
NAV be reduced to its ultimate theo-
retical limit. called atoms Further
separation Of these atoms into their
constituent electrons or ions, leaves
nothing CT cur material object but a
form of energy, a theoretical manifes-
taticn of force in which every vestige
Eof the characteristics Of matter or the
object has disappeared What the ma
j ture and history of separated. a
freed electron may be, is something
for the physicist to puzzle over.
Idealistic philosophy and psychol-
logv teach that material objects are
i but obiectified mental impressions or
! concerts and not substantive entities
exterior to consciousness. For exam
iEple: When we look at what we call
a material thing, we experience an i'm
4 preston made upon consciousness by
light. which is all we ever see. Light,
according to physics. is vibration. or
form of energy which impresses It
self uDon consciousness, and this i'm
ipressicn we have been educated to
nbiectify We have inherited and cul-
tivated the habit of believing il to be
matter, CT an object which we see.
whereas il is merely the experience of
a mental impression we have uncon-
seiouslv obiectified; and this is true
Ealso Of the phenomena of heraing,
taste, touch and smell.
We never really see, hear, feel.
taste. or smell matter or objects, but