Unity Metaphysics 2 (Tan Book)
08 The Metaphysical Basis For Health
8A CREATION:
“There are two steps in creation—mind ideates that which it later brings forth in the outer, just as a man works out in his mind his invention before he makes the model. God is the all-powerful mind. God creates first in thought, and His idea of creation is perfect, and that idea exists as a perfect model upon which all manifestation rests. The body of man must rest upon a divine body idea in Divine Mind, and it logically follows that the inner life, substance, and intelligence of all flesh is perfect.” (Keep a True Lent 19)
Charles Fillmore strongly believed and taught that the attainment of permanent health is based upon belief in a God-created perfect body IDEA as the pattern for the human physical body. He said that this perfect body idea is established in mind, and then is worked out into body manifestation under the law of mind action. The God-created perfect pattern is the fundamental basis we should always return to in our human thinking, and upon which we rest our conclusions. As we do this, Mr. Fillmore maintained, the results take care of themselves.
8B HEALTH:
“Health is the normal condition of man and of all creation. We find that there is an omnipresent principle of health pervading all living things. Health, real health, is from within and does not have to be manufactured in the without. Health is the very essence of Being. It is as universal and enduring as God.” (Jesus Christ Heals 24)
Health as the normal condition is a new idea for some persons. There is a strong tendency in human consciousness to view health as the exception, a privilege for the lucky few. This view changes as a person begins to grasp the fact that health is essentially a divine idea. All divine ideas are “normal” in the truest sense of the word. Sickness is an abnormality in the sense that it is a departure from the perfect pattern of life and order—the components of good health.
8C MIND-IDEA-EXPRESSION:
“Man’s consciousness is formed of mind and its ideas, and these determine whether he is healthy or sick. Thus to know the mysteries of his own being he must study mind and its laws.” (Jesus Christ Heals 31)
“So if we want to know the secrets of health and how right thinking forms the perfect body, we must go to the mind and trace step by step the movements that transform ideas of health into light, electrons, atoms, molecules, cells, tissues, and finally into the perfect physical organism.” (Jesus Christ Heals 40)
Mr. Fillmore has here listed the sequence of the process of a divine idea becoming a manifested experience. In this case it is the divine idea (health) becoming the experience (becoming healed). The sequence traces the process of mind into matter: (1) idea of health into (2) light into (3) electrons into (4) atoms into (5) molecules into (6) cells into (7) tissues into (8) healed organism. (NOTE: One can take this sequence and read it backward, substituting the word “from” instead of “into.” This practice helps give a real feel for this process and makes a deep impression on consciousness.)
8D PRACTICAL CHRISTIANITY:
“If I can conceive a truth, it follows that there is a way by which I can make it manifest. If I can conceive of omnipresent life as existing in the omnipresent ethers, there is a way by which I can make that life appear in my body. When once the mind has accepted this as an axiomatic truth, it has arrived at the point where the question of procedure arises.” (Jesus Christ Heals 133)
This paragraph illustrates what is meant in Unity by the term “practical Christianity.” We are first given the theoretical and idealistic side of the presentation. Then the practical side is given in the final sentence: “Once the mind has accepted this as an axiomatic truth, it has arrived at the point WHERE THE QUESTION OF PROCEDURE ARISES.” It is this “question of procedure” that makes up the practical aspect of Unity’s approach to Christianity.
8E TRINITY IN HEALING:
“Concisely stated, three great factors enter into every consciousness—intelligence, life, substance. The harmonious combination of these factors requires the most careful attention of the ego, because it is here that all the discords of existence arise.” (The Twelve Powers of Man 164)
“The one essential fact to understand is that there can be no manifestation without intelligence as a fundamental factor or constituent part. Every form in the universe, every function, all action, all substance—all these have a thinking part that is receptive to and controllable by man. Material science has observed that every molecule has three things: intelligence, substance, and action. It knows where it wants to go, it has form and it moves. This intelligent principle in all things is the key to the metaphysician’s work.” (Charles Fillmore Christian Healing 50)
The power of attention is of tremendous importance in the existence of man. The mind, through the power of attention, can make a connection with the innate intelligence of anything that is in existence, whether it be animal, vegetable, or mineral. And this is especially so with regard to the intelligence in the cells of our bodies.
8F POWER OF THOUGHT:
“That the body is moved by thought is universally accepted, but that thought is also the builder of the body is not so widely admitted.” (Charles Fillmore Christian Healing 40)
“The cells of the body are centers of force in a field of universal energy. There are no solids. That which appears solid is in reality the scene of constant activity. The eye is not keyed to the pulsations of this universal energy and is therefore deceived into believing that things are solid.” (Jesus Christ Heals 172)
The idea that thought is the builder of the body takes on new significance in the light of recent discoveries in the science of genetics. The discovery of the DNA “programming in genes, all contained within the original single fertilized cell, places Mr. Fillmore’s teaching in a new contest. The building of the body carried on by the DNA programming up to a point. After that point is reached, the individual’s own consciousness takes over. Intelligence is a divine idea. Therefore, it is omnipresent in our world. Intelligence is alive, and all living things can be communicated with. Our intelligence can communicate with intelligence in all existing things, including the very cells, molecules, and atoms of our own bodies.
8G METAPHYSICAL VS. PHYSICAL BASIS FOR HEALTH:
“The physician takes it for granted that disease germs exist as an integral part of the natural world; the metaphysician sees disease germs as the manifested results of anger, revenge, jealousy, fear, impurity, and many other mind activities. A change of mind will change the character of a germ. Love, courage, peace, strength, and good will form good character and build bodily structures of a nature like these qualities of mind.” (Atom-Smashing Power of Mind 104)
“The laborious methods of the medical profession are all for the purpose of stimulating the healing forces of nature.” (Teach Us To Pray 152)
The very nature of the physical basis for health makes it necessary for its practitioners to think in pathological terms. This is very useful for combatting existing diseases and malfunctions. But it is not the same as the creating and maintaining of stabilized perfect health. The whole direction of metaphysical thinking is creative. It does not fight or combat. It creates and sustains. This is not to criticize pathological knowledge, which is needed as long as there are accidents, diseases, malfunctions to be cured. But more importantly, we need metaphysical thinking to create and maintain the living patterns of stabilized good health.
8H REALIZATION:
“The scientific metaphysician fixes his attention powerful on the consummation of a certain idea until he has a realization, which means that the idea has nucleated a certain amount of thought substance. When this realization is had, the metaphysician rests ‘from all his work.’ Through faith and work he has fulfilled the law of mind and he rests in the conviction that his ideal of health will appear in manifestation in due season.” (Jesus Christ Heals 45)
In this paragraph Mr. Fillmore has described the process in which metaphysical thinking causes the faith faculty to “clothe the divine idea with substance.” At a certain point, the degree of attention is sufficient to cause a breakthrough from the invisible to the manifest. Mr. Fillmore adds to this the idea of “Keeping the Sabbath,” symbolizing the observing of a time of rest from external effort, and even from thinking about the case.
8I MIRACLES:
“In reality miracles are events that take place as a result of the application of a higher law to certain conditions.” (Keep a True Lent 178)
“The forces invisible are much closer than we think, and when we turn our attention in their direction the response is usually so pronounced and so swift that we cannot but feel that a miracle has been performed. A more intimate acquaintance with the divine law convinces us that under it all things are possible if we only believe, and if we at the same time conform our thoughts to its principles.” (Charles Fillmore Christian Healing 92)
Yesterday’s miracle can become today’s normal procedure. Evolution continues for us, and our evolution consists of gaining new and higher levels of insight and spiritual awareness. The more spiritual aware a person becomes the more he perceives higher levels of the laws of life. As he proceeds to work from those higher levels, the results often appear spectacular to those not yet on those levels. This is the metaphysical background for the marvelous ministry of works performed by Jesus, which can be duplicated eventually by all who follow Him.
Transcribed by Phyllis Banhan on June 23, 2016.
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