MIND AND BODY/PART 4

 

CHAPTER IV

THE MENTAL BASIS OF CURE

We have seen that in each cell in the human body is embodied a part of the Subconscious Mind, sufficient in quantity and quality to enable the cell to perform its particular work in the physical community of cells. In the same manner each group of cells, large or small, is possessed of the quantity and quality of mind adapted to the successful performance of its particular function. And, rising in the scale, we find that each of the physical organs is possessed of a “composite cell-soul” or “organ-mind.” As Hudson says: “Each organ of the body is composed of a group of cells which are differentiated with special reference to the functions to be performed by that organ. In other words, every function of life is performed by groups of co-operative cells, so that the body as a whole is simply a confederation of the various groups.”

For instance, as Haeckel says: “This ‘tissue soul’ is the higher psychological function which gives physiological individuality to the compound multicellular organism as a true ‘cell commonwealth.’ It controls all the separate ‘cell souls’ of the social cells—the mutually dependent ‘citizens’ which constitute the community.... The human egg-cell, as soon as it is fertilized, multiplies by division and forms a community, or colony of many social cells. These differentiate themselves, and by their specialization, by various modifications of these cells, the various tissues which compose the various organs are developed. The developed many-celled organisms of man and of all higher animals resemble, therefore, a social civil community, the numerous single individuals of which are, indeed, developed in various ways, but which were originally only simple cells of one common structure.”

Biology shows us that there are unquestionably methods of communication between cell and cell, although it has not as yet been definitely determined just how this communication is effected. In the cell-communities of the micro-organisms there is undoubtedly present the power to communicate on the part of the several cells composing the community, and the pain or discomfort of one part is evidently felt by the whole community. Just as an army, or a congregation, has a mind common to the whole, in addition to the individual minds of its units, so has every organ of the body an “organ mind” in addition to the individual cell minds of its unit cells. The fact of the existence of “group-mind,” or “collective-mind” is recognized by the best authorities in modern psychology, and the study of its principles throws light on some hitherto perplexing phenomena.

Prof. Le Bon, in his work “The Crowd,” says of the “collective mind” of men: “The sentiments and ideas of all the persons in the gathering take one and the same direction, and their conscious personality vanishes. A collective mind is formed, doubtless transitory, but presenting very clearly marked characteristics. The gathering has become what, in the absence of a better expression, I will call an organized crowd, or, if the term be considered preferable, a psychological crowd. It forms a single being, and is subjected to the law of the mental unity of crowds.... The most striking peculiarity presented by a psychological crowd is the following: Whoever be the individuals that compose it, however like or unlike be their mode of life, their occupation, their character, or their intelligence, the fact that they have been transformed into a crowd puts them in possession of a sort of collective mind, which makes them feel, think, and act in a manner quite different from that in which each individual of them would feel, think and act, were he in a state of isolation. There are certain ideas and feelings which do not come into being, or do not transform themselves into acts, except in the case of the individuals forming a crowd.... In the collective mind the intellectual aptitudes of the individuals, and in consequence their individuality, is weakened.... The most careful observations seem to prove that an individual immerged for some length of time in a crowd in action soon finds itself in a special state, which most resembles the state of fascination in which the hypnotized individual finds himself.... The conscious personality has entirely vanished, will and discernment are lost. All feelings and thoughts are bent in the direction determined by the hypnotizer.... An individual in a crowd is a grain of sand amid other grains of sand, which the wind stirs up at will.”

In short, psychology recognizes a mental fusion between the individual minds of units composing a community of cells, insects, higher animals and even men. The “spirit of the hive” noted by all students of bee-life, and the community spirit in an ant-hill are instances serving to illustrate the general principle of “the collective mind.” As we have seen in the preceding chapter, the entire human body is a vast community of cells, each unit in the community having relations with every other unit, and all having sprung from the same original egg-cell. This great community, or nation of cells is divided into many smaller communities, chief among which are the principal organs of the body, as the stomach, the intestines, the liver, the kidneys, the spleen, the heart, etc. And, following the general rule, each of these organ-communities possesses its own “collective mind,” subordinate, of course, to the great community mind known as the Subconscious Mind. Ordinarily these communities live in peace and harmony, and in obedience to the national government. But occasionally rebellions and revolutions are started, which cause much inharmony, pain and disease. Sometimes these rebellions arise from abuse of the particular organ by its owner, or from sympathy with another abused organ, or from general abuse of the system. But, at other times, there seems to be an active discontent springing up in an organ, to the quelling of which the entire Subconscious Mind bends its energy and forces. Very often these rebellions are started by adverse auto-suggestions or fear-thoughts emanating from the conscious mind of the individual, which act according to the law of suggestion and practically hypnotize the mind of the organ in question.

This idea of each organ having a mind of its own—being practically an entity, in fact—may be somewhat startling to those who have never had the matter presented to them, but the statement is backed up by the best scientific authorities who, however, do not usually state it in so plain terms, or popular form. It is likely that the science of the future will make some great discoveries regarding this matter of the “collective mind” of the organs, and that the schools of medicine will adapt the new knowledge to the treatment of disease. In the meantime, the practitioners of Mental Healing are availing themselves of this principle, often without realizing the principle itself.

The writer has been interested in this subject of the “organ mind” for a number of years, and has conducted a number of experiments along this line, the result being that he feels more firmly convinced each year of the truth of the theory or idea. He has found that mental treatments based on this theory have been very successful, much more so in fact than those conducted in pursuance to other theories. It seems that by applying the suggestive treatment direct to the affected organ a quicker response is had. The writer is indebted to Dr. Paul Edwards, a well known mental healer, who several years ago advanced the idea that the mind or “intelligence” in the several organs differed greatly in temperament and quality. He informed us that he had proven to his own satisfaction that the heart is “very intelligent,” and quite amenable to mild, gentle, coaxing suggestions, advice or orders; while, on the other hand, the liver is a most mulish, stubborn, obstinate organ-mind, which requires one to drive it in a sharp positive manner. Investigation along these lines suggested by Dr. Edwards has convinced the writer that the theory is warranted by the facts. Experiments have shown that the heart organ-mind is gentle, mild, and easily influenced by kindly suggestion, advice and requests, and that it needs but a word directed to it to attract its attention. Likewise, the liver has been found to be brutish, stubborn and obstinate, needing the most vigorous suggestions—in short the liver-mind is a donkey and must be so treated. The liver-mind is sluggish, torpid and sleepy, and needs much prodding before it will “sit up and take notice.” The stomach has been found to be quite intelligent, especially when it has not been brutalized by “stuffing.” It will readily respond to suggestive treatment of all kinds, it being noticed that it may be easily flattered or “jollied” into good behavior, just as may certain children. The nervous system has a mind of its own, and will accept suggestions, although it is usually difficult to attract its attention, owing to its habit of concentration upon its regular work. The bowel-mind will respond to firm, kind treatment, as will also the uterus-mind and the mind controlling the other organs peculiar to women.

In another work, the writer has said regarding this form of treatment of the organs through their organ-minds: “Remember, always, that you are mind talking to mind, not to dead matter. There is mind in every cell, nerve, organ and part of the body, and in the body as a whole, and this mind will listen to your central mind and obey it, because your central mind is positive to it—the organ is negative to you. Carry this idea with you in giving these treatments, and endeavor to visualize the mind in the organs, as clearly as may be, for by so doing you get them in better rapport with you, and can handle them to better advantage. And always remember that the virtue lies not in the mere sound of the words that happen to reach the organ or cells—they do not understand words as words, but they do understand the meaning behind the words. But without words it is very hard for you to think, or clearly express the feeling—and so, by all means use the words just as if the organ-mind understood the actual meaning thereof, for by so doing you can drive in the meaning of the word—and induce the mental state and conditions necessary to work the cure.

Dr. S. F. Meacham, in a magazine article published several years ago, said: “Let me once more call your attention to that one great principle of disease and cure. It is the only medical creed I hold to-day and will bear repeating, lest we neglect it. Disease is a failure of the cells to make good their waste, or to do their full duty. This may be an individual matter with the cell, or may result from imperfect co-operation; there may be a mutiny in the co-operative commonwealth constituting the body. Apart from all mutual help, or co-operation of cells, each individual cell must either do its full duty, or suffer, and perchance die, as the result. Remember that each individual cell lives, and has an office that no other cell can fill to save it. If the other cell does the work, it will live, but the failing cell will not profit thereby. By co-operating they may lighten each other’s labors, but no cell is or can be exempt from doing its part. Any failure of this kind is disease either local or general, according to the degree and nature of the failure, or according to the importance of the mutinous or weakened cell. A cure results when the cells again do their work. Or, if a certain number die, a cure is established when other cells learn to do that particular work, which is sometimes the case. A remedy is any substance, or force, or procedure that will stimulate, or help, or remove obstacles that prevent these cells from doing their work. Keep in mind, that the life process acting through or in the cell does the work either aided, or alone. The lesson then is that all these methods do good, and that owing to the view point, mental status, or expectancy of the individual, now one and now another method will appeal to him and be accepted. No matter what we do, we aid, we assist only—we do not cure.... The process going on in each cell is an intelligent one, and all extrinsic methods are really but suggestions offered to the cell, the real worker; and the fact is that any one of these helps may be chosen, and all may be rejected....”

“The repair of a cell is as equally as intellectual a process as any other can be. If, for instance, blind force can repair one cell, it can many; if it can build one, it can all, and mind and intellect are then without causal efficacy, without spontaneity, and blind force, fatality and purposeless action reign supreme.... According to this theory the building and repairing of cells would not be intellectual, as there would be no working plan or purpose. I am aware that a purely extrinsic study of the cells and of the body will force this conclusion upon any candid, unprejudiced mind; but a study from the inside is a different matter. A cell, looked at from without, moves only when stimulated; but is this really true? The body is but a compound of cells when viewed from the outside; then if one cell moves when stimulated, why not twenty, a hundred, a thousand, a billion, the entire body? But is it true of the body? You come to me and propose some scheme, or act, which I carry out. Now is your proposition the real cause of my act, or only a condition? Do I not choose, and either do the thing or not, as determined from within? If this is true of the body, why not of the cell? May not the stimulation we see be a condition only, and the real cause of the act be within the cell itself?... The cell is not a mere machine, but a living entity, doing everything that the body does. It eats, drinks, moves, reproduces its kind, selects its food, repairs its waste, etc. These are intellectual processes, but may not be conscious....

“The cure consists in the repairing of the wasted tissue, and in the cells restoring and repairing themselves into a definite pattern, necessary to mutual work, so that the commonwealth may prosper. Air, water, sunshine, food, etc., are necessary to the performance of this work of repair. When these are furnished, even under the best conditions possible, the cells must use them to build up the waste, and this they do by their internal forces. But this process is what is called repair on the one hand, and cure on the other. External means may be essential, but that will not make them really curative.... It is well, also, to keep in mind that external in the true sense of the term as we are using it here. Any force outside of the diseased cell is an external force to that cell even if it be thought-force. Disease is always treated by external force, external as defined above, and all disease is just as surely cured by internal force—viz.: force resident in the cell itself. Here we all stand around the suffering cell, one with drug-power in his hand, another with electricity, or water, or heat, or directed attention—thought-force or more nourishment which necessitates a better circulation to that area, or some other of the thousand therapeutic measures, and we are close enough together at last to see that we are simply using different stimuli to try to aid the real worker within the cell to do his work by furnishing, not only material that is necessary, but force as well, that out of the abundance his work may be easy and rapid.”

The reader who will consider the numerous instances of cure by Suggestion or Faith-Cure, as noted in the following chapters, will be better able to understand the principle underlying these cures if he will realize the fact brought out so forcibly by Dr. Meacham, as above quoted. The attention of the patient being directed to the organ affected, in connection with the stimulating and vitalizing effect of Faith and Belief, starts into renewed activity the cell-mind of the organ in question, and arouses its reparative and recuperative energies. Each organ, and its component cells and cell-groups, is of course under the control of the Subconscious Mind, and forms a part of the material embodiment thereof. The Subconscious Mind, being stimulated by the Suggestion and Faith, and having its Expectant Attention aroused, concentrates its energies upon the reparative and recuperative processes in the organ, and the work of cure proceeds. The cure, in every case, is simply either repair work, or else the restoration of normal functioning—in either case the cells themselves doing the work.

In the consideration of the reasons underlying the cure of disease by Psycho-Therapeutics, we must first consider the question of what disease really is. And in this phase of the consideration, it will be well for us to first dispel the erroneous ideas concerning disease which we have been entertaining. Perhaps the following striking statement from Sidney Murphy, M. D., printed in the magazine “Suggestion” several years ago, may help you to form a correct idea of the nature of disease, or rather a correct idea of what disease is not. Dr. Murphy says, in the said article, among other things: “Prof. S. D. Gross, formerly of the New York University Medical School, says: ‘Of the essence of disease very little is known—indeed nothing at all.’ Nevertheless it is evident that medical men have an idea on the subject. The theory generally held, I believe, is that disease is destructive action; but just what this means, whether destructive action on the part of vitality itself, or by something acting upon the vitality, is not so clear; but we are enabled to gain some light by reference to the expression used in medical books concerning it. Thus we find that disease ‘attacks us,’ that it ‘seats itself in an organ,’ that ‘it works through us, runs its course,’ etc. It is also said to be ‘very malignant,’ or ‘quite mild,’ ‘persistently resisting all treatment,’ or ‘yielding readily’ to it. In fact, it is considered an entity, possessing character and disposition and general vital qualities—a something which domiciles itself in the vital domain, and exercises its forces to the destruction of the vital powers. It is indeed spoken of as one would speak of a rat in his granary, or a mouse in his cupboard, and efforts are made to dislodge it, or kill it, as one would dislodge or kill any other living thing. This theory of disease is beginning to be looked upon even by the medical world as untenable. Living things are always possessed of organizations having form or shape; and hence if disease were such, its form would be discerned and described; a thing which never has been done. Disease by our ancestors was considered a subtile and mysterious thing which pounced down upon us, and runs its course without any reference to causes; and language being formed to convey this idea, it has been transmitted almost unchanged from generation to generation down to the present time. And the medical profession of to-day is simply an embodiment of that idea. It is probable that the term ‘destructive action’ is generally held to mean destructive action on the part of the vitality itself.... Life in organic form is developed according to law. Slowly rising into power, organization at length reaches its zenith, and then goes down the gentle declivity, until the soul steps off into the great beyond, without pain or struggle, provided always that the conditions of life are natural and therefore favorable; but if these be unfavorable, unfavorable results must of course follow; vitality, nevertheless, doing the best it can under the circumstances to preserve the normal state of the body. Disease, we propose to show, is not antagonistic to vital action, but the opposite, a remedial effort, or vital action on the defensive. It is not a downward tendency, nor the result of a downward tendency on the part of a living organism, but is itself an upward or self-preservative tendency, the result of disobedience to natural laws. It is simply abnormal action, because of abnormal conditions.”

In considering the above revolutionary statement of Dr. Murphy, we must remember that “vitality” or “vital force” is simply the action of the Subconscious Mind operating through the sympathetic system, the organ-minds, and the cell-minds. All vital energy, at the last is mental energy. And, we must also remember that the “abnormal conditions” which Dr. Murphy speaks of as being the cause of “abnormal action” or disease, are not confined alone to physical or material conditions, but also to abnormal mental conditions, such as fear-thought, adverse suggestions, improper use of the imagination, etc. As we have seen in the preceding chapters, the causes of disease may be mental as well as material or physical.

The Subconscious Mind in its vital activities is constantly at work building up, repairing, growing, nourishing, supporting and regulating the body, doing its best to throw off abnormal conditions, and seeking to do the best it can when these conditions cannot be removed. With its source pure and unpolluted the stream of vitality flows on unhindered, but when the poison of fear-thought, adverse suggestion and false belief is poured into the source or spring from which the stream rises, it follows that the waters of life will no longer be pure and clear. Let us notice the general direction of the vital activities of the Subconscious Mind.

In the first place we find that the vital activities are primarily concerned with self-preservation, that is with the preservation of the individual and the race. One has but to notice the ever-present manifestation of the “race instinct” which draws the males and females of the several species together, that they may mate and bring forth the young needed to keep alive the species. The parental devotions, with its many sacrifices of personal pleasure for the young, are instances ever before us. And no less striking is the companion activities which make for the preservation of the individual. The instinctive tendency toward self-preservation is so strong that it overpowers the reason in the majority of cases. Men may decry the value of life, but let their life be threatened and the instinctive protective feeling causes them to fight for life against all odds. “All that a man hath will he give for his life.” And this instinctive activity is manifest not only in the individual as a whole, but in every cell of his body. Every cell is striving hard for the welfare of the community of which it forms a part. Even in disease it strives to throw off the abnormal conditions which afflict the body, and failing to do so it hobbles along doing the best it can under the circumstances.

The tiny seed sprouting in the ground, and lifting weights a thousand times that of itself, shows the self-preservative energies and activities of the mind principle within it. The healing work of the cells in the case of a wound, or of a broken bone, as described elsewhere in this book, gives us another example. The healing efforts of the organism striving to throw off the morbid substances within the body, purging them away in a flux, or burning them up with a fever, show the operations of the same principle. This, we have seen, is called the vis medicatrix naturae, or “healing power of nature,” which operates in man as well as in the case of the lower animals—but it is really but the operations of the great Subconscious Mind of the individual. As Dr. Murphy, previously quoted, says: “Certainly all experience declares and all physicians will admit that where vital power is abundant in a man he will get well from almost any injuries short of complete destruction of vital organs; but where vitality is low, recovery is much more difficult, if not impossible, which can only be explained on the principle that vitality always works upward toward life and health to the extent of its ability under the circumstances, because, if it worked downward, the less vitality, the more surely and speedily would death result.”

Following the law of self-preservation, we find that of accommodation manifesting itself in the vital activities of the Subconscious Mind. This principle or law works in the direction of adjusting the organism to conditions which it cannot remedy. Thus a sapling bent out of shape, will bend its branches upward until once more they will reach toward the sky notwithstanding the deformed trunk. Seed sprouting from a narrow crevice in a rock, and unable to split the rock, will assume a deformed shape but will hold tenaciously to life, and will thrive under these abnormal conditions. This principle of accommodation acts upon the idea of “life at any price,” and of “making the best of things.” Man and the lower animals accommodate themselves to their environment, when they are unable to overcome the unsatisfactory conditions of the latter. The study of anthropology, natural history, and botany will convince anyone that the principle of accommodation is everywhere present in connection with that of self-preservation. And the diseased conditions, and abnormal functioning, which we find in cases of chronic diseases is simply the principle of accommodation in the vital activities of the Subconscious Mind, but which it is “trying to make the best of it,” and holding on to “life at any price.”

Dr. Murphy, previously quoted, says: “Disease, in its essential nature, has a deeper significance than simply abnormal manifestations. It is really a remedial effort, not necessarily successful, but an attempt to change, or have changed existing conditions. And for this reason any improper relation of the living organism to external agents necessarily results in an injury to that organism, which by virtue of its being self-preservative, immediately sets up defensive action, and begins as soon as possible to repair the damages that have accrued. This defensive or reparative action, of course, corresponds to the conditions to be corrected, and hence is abnormal and diseased; and its severity and persistence will depend upon the damages to be repaired, and the intensity and persistence of the causes that produced it. Serious injury present or impending will demand serious vital action; desperate conditions, desperate action. But in all cases the action is vital, an attempt at restoration, and the energy displayed will exactly correspond to the interests involved and the vitality that is available.”

From the above, and from what has been shown in previous chapters, it will be seen that just as is health the result of the normal functioning of the Subconscious Mind, so is disease the result of its abnormal functioning. And it may also be seen that the true healing power must come alone from and through the Subconscious Mind itself, although the same may be aroused, awakened and directed by various outside agencies. As Dr. Thomson J. Hudson says: “Granted that there is an intelligence that controls the functions of the body in health, it follows that it is the same power or energy that fails in case of disease. Failing, it requires assistance; and that is what all therapeutic agencies aim to accomplish. No intelligent physician of any school claims to be able to do more than to ‘assist nature’ to restore normal conditions of the body. That it is a mental energy that thus requires assistance, no one denies; for science teaches us that the whole body is made up of a confederation of intelligent entities, each of which performs its functions with an intelligence exactly adapted to the performance of its special duties as a member of the confederacy. There is, indeed, no life without mind, from the lowest unicellular organism up to man. It is therefore a mental energy that actuates every fiber of the body under all its conditions. That there is a central intelligence that controls each of these mind organisms, is self-evident.... It is sufficient for us to know that such an intelligence exists, and that, for the time being, it is the controlling energy that normally regulates the action of the myriad cells of which the body is composed. It is, then, a mental organism that all therapeutic agencies are designed to energize, when, for any cause, it fails to perform its functions with reference to any part of the physical structure.”