PART VII

THE CAUSE OF DISEASE
EFFORTS OF THE EGO TO ESCAPE FROM THE BODY. EFFECTS OF LASCIVIOUSNESS
THOUGH mental disabilities, when congenital, are generally traceable to abuse of the creative function in a past life, there is at least one notable exception to this rule, namely, cases such as mentioned in the Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception and elsewhere in our literature, and described as follows: Where a spirit, who has a particularly hard life before it, comes down to rebirth and feels upon entering the womb that the panorama of the coming life then shown it marks an existence too hard for it to un- dergo, it sometimes tries to run away from the school of life. At that time the Recording Angels or their agents have already made the connection between the vital body and the sense centers of the brain in the forming foetus; therefore the effort of the spirit to escape from the mother's womb is frustrated, but the wrench that is given by the Ego deranges the con-
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nection between the etheric and physical sense cen- ters, so that the vital body is not concentric with the physical, causing the etheric head to extend above the physical cranium. Thus it is impossible for the spirit to use the dense vehicle ; it is tied to a mindless body which it cannot use, and the embodiment is practically wasted.
We also find cases where a great shock later in life causes the spirit to endeavor to run away with the invisible vehicles. As a result a similar wrench is given to the etheric sense centers in the brain, and the shock deranges the mental expression. Every- body has probably felt a similar sensation on receiv- ing a fright ; a surging as of something endeavoring to get out of the dense body; that is the desire and vital bodies, which are so swift in their motion that an express train is as a snail by comparison. They see and feel the danger and are frightened before the scare! is transmitted to the inert and slow physical body in which they are anchored, and which prevents their escape under ordinary strain.
But at times, as said, the fright and shock are suf- ficiently severe to give them such an impulse that the etheric sense centers are deranged. This most fre- quently happens to persons born under common signs, which are the weakest in the zodiac. However, as a ligament that has been stretched and torn may
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gradually regain comparative elasticity, so also, in these cases, it is easier to restore the mental faculties than in those cases where congenital insanity, brought over from past lives, has caused inadequate connection.
Hysteria, epilepsy, tuberculosis, and cancer were all found to result from the erratic propensities of a past life. It was noticed that though many of the subjects had been, in the past lives investigated, al- most maniacal in the gratification of their lascivious- ness, they were at the same time of a highly devotional and religious nature ; and in such cases, it seems that the physical body generated in the present life was normally healthy and their disability altogether men- tal ; while in other cases where the indulgence of the passional nature was coupled with a vile character and a cruel disregard of others, epilepsy together with rhachitis, hysteria and a deformed body were the present result; also, frequently, cancer, especially cancer of the liver or breast.
In this connection, however, we wish to again warn students not to draw hasty conclusions that these are hard and fast conditions. The number of investiga- tions made, though very large and an arduous task for one researcher to handle, are too few to be really conclusive in matters involving millions of human be- ings. They are, however, in line with the teachings of the Cosmo given by the Elder Brothers regarding
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the effect of materialism in bringing about rhachitis, a softening of a part of the body that should be hard, and tuberculosis, which hardens tissues that should remain soft and pliable. Cancer is essentially similar in effect; and when we consider that the sign Cancer is ruled by the moon, the planet of generation, and that the lunar sphere is under the sway of Jehovah, the God of generation, whose angels announce and preside over birth as instanced in the case of Isaac, Samuel, John the Baptist, and Jesus, we readily see that abuse of the generative functions can. cause both cancer and lunacy in the most differentiated forms.
Therefore with regard to physical abnormalities and deformities, the rule seems to be that as the phys- ical indulgence of passion reacts on the mental state, so the abuse of the mental powers in one life leads to physical disability in later existences. An occult maxim says that "A lie is both murder and suicide in the Desire World. " The teachings of the Elder Brothers given in the Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception explain that whenever an occurrence takes place, a certain thought form generated in the invisible world makes a record of the incident. Every time the event is talked about or commented upon, a new thought form is created which coalesces with the original and strengthens it, provided they are both true to the same vibration. But if an untruth is told concerning what
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happens, then the vibrations of the original and those of the reproduction are not identical; they jar and jangle, tearing each other to pieces. If the good and true thought form is sufficiently strong, it will over- come and break down the thought forms based upon a lie, and the good will overcome the evil ; but where the lies and malicious thoughts are the stronger, they may overcome the true thought form of the occurrence and thus demolish it. Afterwards they will jar among themselves, and all in turn will be annihilated.
Thus a person who lives a clean life, endeavoring to obey the laws of God and striving earnestly for truth and righteousness, will create thought forms about him of a corresponding nature; his mind will run in grooves that harmonize with truth; and when the time comes in the second heaven to create the archetype for his coming life, he will readily, intui- tively, by force of habit from the past life, align him- self with the forces of right and truth. These lines, being built into his body, will create harmony in the coming vehicles, and health will therefore be his nor- mal portion in the coming life. Those who, on the other hand, have in the past life taken a distorted view of things, displayed a disregard for truth, and exercised cunning, extreme selfishness, and disregard for the welfare of others, are bound in the second heaven to see things in an oblique manner also, be-
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cause that is their habitual line of thought. There- fore, the archetype built by them will embody lines of error and falsity ; and consequently, when the body is brought to birth, it will exhibit a weakness in va- rious organs, if not in the whole bodily organization. Again we warn students not to draw quick conclu- sions from these tentative rules. It is not our inten- tion to imply that every one that has a seemingly healthy body has been a paragon of virtue in his past life, and he who suffers from one disability or another has been a scapegrace or good-for-nothing. None of us are able to tell at the present time, "the whole truth and nothing but the truth." We are deceived because our senses are illusive. A long street seems to narrow in the distance, when, as a matter of fact, it is just as wide a mile away as where we are stand- ing. The sun and moon seem much larger when near the horizon than when at the zenith ; but, as a matter of fact, we know that they do not gain in size by descending toward the horizon, nor lose by ascending into the mid-heaven. Thus we are constantly making allowances for and correcting sense illusions; sim- ilarly, with everything else in the world. What seems to be true is not always so, and what is true today regarding conditions of life may change tomorrow. Therefore it is impossible for us to know truth in the ultimate under the evanescent and illusory conditions of physical existence.
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It is only when we enter into the higher realms, and particularly into the Eegion of Concrete Thought, that the eternal verities are to be perceived; hence we must necessarily make mistakes again and again, even despite our most earnest efforts to always know and tell the truth. On that account it is impossible for us to build a thoroughly harmonious vehicle. Were that possible, such a body would really be immortal, and we know that immortality in the flesh is not the design of God; for Paul says that " flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven."
But we know that even today only a very small percentage are ready to live as near the truth as they see it, to confess it and profess it before men by service and by righteous and harmless living. We can also understand that such must have been few and far be- tween in the by-gone ages, when man had not evolved the altruism that came to this planet with the advent of our Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus. The standards of morality were much lower then, and the love of truth almost negligible in the greater part of hu- manity, who were engrossed in their endeavors to accumulate as much wealth or gain as much power or prestige for themselves as possible. They were therefore naturally inclined to disregard the interests of others, and to tell a lie seemed in no way repre- hensible and sometimes even appeared meritorious.
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The archetypes were consequently full of weaknesses, and the organic functions of the body today are inter fered with to a serious degree as a result, particu- larly as the western bodies are becoming more high strung and more sensitive to pain on account of the spirit's growing consciousness.
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