This
Substance thinks, and it assumes the form of that which it thinks about. The
thought of a form, in this substance, creates the form; the thought of a motion
institutes the motion. The visible universe, with all its forms and motions,
exists because it is in the thought of Original Substance.
Man is a
form of Original Substance, and can think original thoughts; and within
himself, man's thoughts have controlling or formative power. The thought of a
condition produces that condition; the thought of a motion institutes that
motion. So long as man thinks of the conditions and motions of disease, so long
will the conditions and motions of disease exist within him. If man will think
only of perfect health, the Principle of Health within him will maintain normal
conditions.
To be
well, man must form a conception of perfect health, and hold thoughts
harmonious with that conception as regards himself and all things. He must
think only of healthy conditions and functioning; he must not permit a thought
of unhealthy or abnormal conditions or functioning to find lodgment in his mind
at any time.
In order
to think only of healthy conditions and functioning, man must perform the
voluntary acts of life in a perfectly healthy way.
He
cannot think perfect health so long as he knows that he is living in a wrong or
unhealthy way; or even so long as he has doubts as to whether or not he is
living in a healthy way. Man cannot think thoughts of perfect health while his
voluntary functions are performed in the manner of one who is sick. The
voluntary functions of life are eating, drinking, breathing, and sleeping. When
man thinks only of healthy conditions and functioning, and performs these
externals in a perfectly healthy manner, he must have perfect health.
In
eating, man must learn to be guided by his hunger. He must distinguish between
hunger and appetite, and between hunger and the cravings of habit; he must NEVER
eat unless he feels an EARNED HUNGER. He must learn that genuine hunger is
never present after natural sleep, and that the demand for an early morning
meal is purely a matter of habit and appetite; and he must not begin his day by
eating in violation of natural law.
He must
wait until he has an Earned Hunger, which, in most cases, will make his first
meal come at about the noon hour. No matter what his condition, vocation, or
circumstances, he must make it his rule not to eat until he has an EARNED HUNGER;
and he may remember that it is far better to fast for several hours after he
has become hungry than to eat before he begins to feel hunger.
It will
not hurt you to go hungry for a few hours, even though you are working hard;
but it will hurt you to fill your stomach when you are not hungry whether you
are working or not. If you never eat until you have an Earned Hunger, you may
be certain that in so far as the time of eating is concerned, you are
proceeding in a perfectly healthy way. This is a self- evident proposition.
As to
what he shall eat, man must be guided by that Intelligence which has arranged
that the people of any given portion of the earth's surface must live on the
staple products of the zone which they inhabit. Have faith in God, and ignore
"food science" of every kind.
Do not
pay the slightest attention to the controversies as to the relative merits of
cooked and raw foods; of vegetables and meats; or as to your need for
carbohydrates and proteins. Eat only when you have an earned hunger, and then
take the common foods of the masses of the people in the zone in which you
live, and have perfect confidence that the results will be good. They will be.
Do not
seek for luxuries, or for things imported or fixed up to tempt the taste; stick
to the plain solids; and when those do not "taste good," fast until
they do. Do not seek for "light" foods; for easily digestible, or
"healthy" foods; eat what the farmers and workingmen eat. Then you
will be functioning in a perfectly healthy manner, so far as what to eat is
concerned. I repeat, if you have no hunger or taste for the plain foods, do not
eat at all; wait until hunger comes. Go without eating until the plainest food
tastes good to you; and then begin your meal with what you like best.
In deciding
how much to eat, man must be guided by reason. We can see that the abnormal
states of hurry and worry produced by wrong thinking about business and similar
things have led us to form the habit of eating too fast, and chewing to little.
Reason tells us that food should be chewed, and that the more thoroughly it is
chewed the better it is prepared for the chemistry of digestion.
Furthermore,
we can see that the man who eats slowly and chews his food to a liquid, keeping
his mind on the process and giving it his undivided attention, will enjoy more
of the pleasure of taste than he who bolts his food with his mind on something
else. To eat in a perfectly healthy manner, man must concentrate his attention
on the act, with cheerful enjoyment and confidence; he must taste his food, and
he must reduce each mouthful to a liquid before swallowing it.
The
foregoing instructions, if followed, make the function of eating completely
perfect; nothing can be added as to what, when, and how.
In the
matter of how much to eat, man must be guided by the same inward intelligence,
or Principle of Health, which tells him when food is wanted. He must stop
eating in the moment that he feels hunger abating; he must not eat beyond this
point to gratify taste. If he ceases to eat in the instant that the inward
demand for food ceases, he will never overeat; and the function of supplying
the body with food will be performed in a perfectly healthy manner.
The
matter of eating naturally is a very simple one; there is nothing in all the
foregoing that cannot be easily practiced by any one. This method, put in
practice, will infallibly result in perfect digestion and assimilation; and all
anxiety and careful thought concerning the matter can at once be dropped from
the mind. Whenever you have an earned hunger, eat with thankfulness what is set
before you, chewing each mouthful to a liquid, and stopping when you feel the
edge taken from your hunger.
The
importance of the mental attitude is sufficient to justify an additional word.
While you are eating, as at all other times, think only of healthy conditions
and normal functioning. Enjoy what you eat; if you carry on a conversation at
the table, talk of the goodness of the food, and of the pleasure it is giving
you. Never mention that you dislike this or that; speak only of those things
which you like.
Never
discuss the wholesomeness or unwholesomeness of foods; never mention or think
of unwholesomeness at all. If there is anything on the table for which you do
not care, pass it by in silence, or with a word of commendation; never
criticise or object to anything. Eat your food with gladness and with
singleness of heart, praising God and giving thanks. Let your watchword be
perseverance; whenever you fall into the old way of hasty eating, or of wrong
thought and speech, bring yourself up short and begin again.
It is of
the most vital importance to you that you should be a self- controlling and
self-directing person; and you can never hope to become so unless you can
master yourself in so simple and fundamental a matter as the manner and method
of your eating. If you cannot control yourself in this, you cannot control
yourself in anything that will be worthwhile.