Read Ebook: Occult science in medicine by Hartmann Franz

Font size: 10 px 15 px 20 px 25 px 30 px 35 px

Background color: BlackWhiteGrayLight GrayDark GrayDim Gray

Text color: BlackWhiteGrayLight GrayDark GrayDim Gray

Apply/Save settings

Ebook has 216 lines and 36489 words, and 5 pages

INTRODUCTION.

PAGE.

Definition of the term "disease." Law and order. Harmony and discords. Obedience. Man a complex being. Health. 9

THE CONSTITUTION OF MAN.

Miracles in nature. Development. The seven principles in the constitution of man. The anatomy of the "inner man." Medicine and religion. Theophrastus Paracelsus. Mysteries. Mystic science and false mysticism. The powers of the soul. 13

THE FOUR PILLARS OF MEDICINE.

THE FIVE CAUSES OF DISEASE.

THE FIVE CLASSES OF PHYSICIANS.

THE MEDICINE OF THE FUTURE.

Ancient and modern quackery. Science and wisdom. Spirituality and substantiality. Development. Self-control. Realism and idealism. The realization of the ideal. The physician of the future. Self-knowledge. The true life. The awakening of the soul. Phenomena and noumena. The higher science. Material and spiritual evolution. Intellectuality and spirituality. Periodicity. Circular motion and spiral progress. The self-recognition of truth. 86

INTRODUCTION.

"There are two kinds of knowledge. There is a medical science and there is a medical wisdom. To the animal man belongs the animal comprehension; but the understanding of divine mysteries belongs to the spirit of God in him."

Shakespeare says:--

"The heavens themselves, the planets and this centre Observe degree, priority and place, Insisture, course, proportion, season, form, Office, and custom, in all line of order." --

If we regard the order, which "is Heaven's first law," as the creation of the self-adjustment of accidentally arising circumstances, leaving out of consideration the fundamental Unity of the All and its one purpose, we would then probably find various laws of order in the universe, being essentially different from each other; and it would be difficult to know which of these laws it would be best to follow; but if we recognise in the order that rules all things a manifestation of one eternal law of order and harmony, the function of Supreme Wisdom acting in nature but not being the product of nature, it will remain for us only to know that supreme Law and obey it. The universe is only one, and is ruled by only one source of all laws; but there are many unities within the constitution of this great Unity; they constitute as many selves within Self, whose separate interests are not identical with that of the whole, and therefore the order obeyed by these temporary selves is not the same as that of the eternal whole. Thus the battle for existence, far from being the cause of the order observable in the world, is in fact the cause of the disorder existing therein.

The key to the cure of diseases is therefore in the understanding of the fundamental law which governs the nature of man, and for this purpose it is necessary that a rational system of medicine should know the constitution of man; not only that of his physical body, which is merely the lower part of the house wherein he dwells; but the whole physical, astral and mental constitution of that being called "Man," which is still the greatest mystery to science, and of which little more than the anatomy, the physiological functions and the chemical composition of the material organs and substances composing his corporeal form is either known to or taught by our modern academies.

Great progress has been made by modern science in investigating all the minor details of the shell which man occupies during his life upon this planet; but as regards the inhabitant of that house, the inner man, who is neither wholly material nor wholly spiritual, the ancient sages knew more about his true nature than is ever dreamed of in our medical schools, and it will be undoubtedly worth while to examine their views. Moreover, if the outward body of man is, as they teach, only the outward expression of the qualities and functions of a more interior and invisible human organism; then it appears that many bodily diseases, such as are not caused by direct physical injuries, are the results of disorders existing within that inner organism, and as every true physician should seek to know the causes of diseases, and not merely destroy their external effects, such a knowledge of the "causal body" of man, whose visible image is his "phenomenal form," may open a new field for pathology and therapeutics, from which a rich harvest may be gathered for the benefit of mankind.

THE CONSTITUTION OF MAN.

From times immemorial the sages have taught that we shall never know immortal truth, if we do not discover it within our own selves. Experience has long ago corroborated this theory, for in spite of all progress in scientific researches concerning the nature of Man, and which were carried on by means of researches in the external kingdom of nature, the real constitution of Man and that which constitutes his essential being has not yet been discovered. We know that from the ovum the foetus, from the foetus the child, from the child the body of man becomes developed; we know the order in which these processes take place; but we seem to know nothing about the powers that produce them. Such an alchemical trick of nature as to make a man grow out of a cell in which no man is contained would seem absurd, incredible and miraculous, and would be believed by nobody, if it were not a well-known fact, and being of daily occurrence it has ceased to appear surprising, so that it appears now strange if anyone wonders how such a thing is possible.

The ancient Indian sages compared man to a lotus flower, whose home is the water , whose roots draw their nutriment from the earth , while it raises its head to the light , from which it receives the power to unfold the powers latent in its constitution.

A great deal has already been said in Theosophical literature about the sevenfold constitution of man: but for the sake of completeness we will delineate it again.

The ancients based their science of medicine upon the recognition of a universal, eternal, self-existent, self-conscious cause, the source of universal life, where popular modern medicine recognises only the outcome of a blind force. The secret medicine of the ancients was therefore a religious science, while modern popular medicine recognises no religious element and therefore no real truth. To separate science from religious truth is to put it upon an irrational basis; for "religion" means the relation which man bears to his divine origin. To leave out of sight the source from which he originated is to ignore his true nature and to relegate medicine to the realm of the lowest plane of his existence; namely, that of his most gross and material form. This is exactly the position which modern medicine occupies at present, and there is nothing that can elevate it higher than a recognition of the higher nature in man, and a re-discovery of divine truth. Such a higher knowledge was formerly considered necessary for the purpose of constituting a real physician, and for this reason the practice of medicine was in the hands of those who were born physicians, sages and saints by the power of the true grace of God, while among popular practitioners there are, now as then, many dunces and rascals, having neither spirituality nor morality; for what the modern physician of the materialistic school requires for his success is a certain amount of memorizing of the contents of his books, so as to enable him to pass his examination, and a talent to profit by the credulity of the people.

Seen from this point of view, the "seven planets" in the constitution of man as well as in the constitution of nature as a whole, represent the following elements, powers, essences, or forms of existence:--

All this is said merely to indicate the key to this kind of science; for the combinations in which these principles may enter, and the modifications of their manifestations under different conditions are almost innumerable; neither can this spiritual science be taught to a mind unillumined by the light of the higher understanding . The practical study and application of anything requires first of all the possession of the object, and if this is true in regard to physical objects, it is no less true in regard to spiritual principles, whose nature can only be known when their presence is realised within one's own consciousness. The higher aspects of all of these powers belong to the higher nature of man, and he who desires to know and apply these laws in the practice of medicine, must first of all seek to develop his own higher nature by freeing himself from the elements that govern his lower nature; in other words, he must enter from the animal-human into the human-divine state, to which the true physician belongs.

Whether Paracelsus obtained his knowledge in the East, as has been claimed, or whether it was revealed to him by his own perception of truth, does not concern us; but there can be no doubt that he knew that sevenfold classification, for we find him speaking of the following seven aspects of man:--

There is hardly a page in the philosophical writings of Paracelsus which does not refer to the twofold nature of man, his terrestrial and celestial aspect, and of the necessity of the development of his higher nature and superior understanding.

The mysteries of the inner temple of nature are not accessible to the vulgar and the profane, because every being can realise only that which corresponds to its own nature. To penetrate into the realm of truth a true soul is required; an animal can realise only the animal side of existence.

One well known medical authority on a recent occasion said:

For this unchaining of mysticism, not Paracelsus is to blame, but the incapacity of his followers, whose animal minds were not capable of becoming illumined by the spirit of truth. Whenever the terrestrial mind seeks to grasp the spirit of wisdom, and being unable to rise to the perception of divine truth to drag it down to its own level, a wild and absolutely fruitless and foolish mysticism will be the result. With the same right we may say that the doctrines of Christ filled the world with superstition, causing the crimes of the crusades, the horrors of the inquisition, and sectarian intolerance. It is not the fault of the truth if it is misunderstood.

The vast majority of mankind seek for knowledge for the purpose of deriving from its possession some personal benefit; be it the acquisition of wealth or luxury, the gratification of ambition, the desire to parade before the world as a being in possession of something great, or for the purpose of satisfying a laudable scientific curiosity. But the acquisition of medical wisdom requires a love of the truth, and love means self-sacrifice. The acquisition of wisdom is therefore possible only if the illusive self with all its desires is sacrificed to it. The way to wisdom can be shown; but wisdom can only be taught by wisdom itself; he who loves the realm of illusions cannot see its true light. How many of the would-be followers of Jesus of Nazareth have become Christs, and who can understand the profundity of his thoughts and exercise his divine powers, but he who has become like him? None of the would-be followers of Paracelsus have grown to be like this master, none of the representatives of modern medical science have penetrated deeply into his wisdom.

"What are ye men in your own powers but nothing? If you wish to obtain strength take it from faith. If you have faith as big as a mustard seed, you will be as strong as the spirits, and although you now appear as men, your faith will make your strength and power equal to the spirits such as were also in Samson. For by means of our faith we become spirits ourselves, and whatever we accomplish that surpasses our nature is done by the power of faith acting through us as a spirit and transforming us into spirits."

Man, even if he obtains occasionally a glimpse of divine truth, is only too prone to forget it again at the next moment, as the action of his terrestrial mind is stronger in him than that of his spirit, and it seems therefore necessary to be reminded over and over again that the faith of which Paracelsus speaks is not the illusory faith of the brain, the product of speculation, but a power belonging to those few living spirits walking within this sleeping world. As physical powers belong to the physical and terrestrial man, so spiritual powers belong to the spiritual man who must be born before he can know and exercise these powers. As yet there appear to be few even among our eminent scientists and successful practitioners who have become regenerated in the spirit of truth and filled with the light of divine wisdom, and if there are any such, we would ask all the students of medicine to follow their example and by learning the great art of self-control to become masters over their own nature and over the nature of others. Humanity is only one, and the realization of this truth will open a new field for the science of medicine in the future. That part of us which lives within the heart of others is our own truest and "most profound Self." If this self, which lives in the hearts of others, has awakened to its own consciousness, it will realize its own universal existence and its own power to act within those in whom it lives. Thus the physician, having become self-conscious of his own higher nature, will become a saviour for all the rest of mankind, not only in regard to their moral evils, but also in regard to their physical ills; for the spirit and soul and body of man do not live separately; they are one organic whole, as is the body of humanity, even though the personalities constituting that body are separated from each other by the illusion of form.

THE FOUR PILLARS OF MEDICINE.

The pillars upon which the practice of modern medicine rests, are:--

All this is very well as far as it goes; but it may be seen at once that all the knowledge required of a modern practitioner refers only to the external plane of existence; the animal body of man and its physical surroundings. As to a science of "psychology," to call that which goes by that name as such at present, is a misnomer; for there can be no science of the soul as long as the existence of a soul is not recognized. The invisible, spiritual or causal body within the nature of man is entirely ignored by science, and even if any modern physician personally believes in a soul, he will almost without exception consider this subject as belonging exclusively to the Church, and as something with which science has nothing to do.

Nevertheless, if the term "religion" means the knowledge of the relation which the outward terrestrial man bears to the creative power in him, his own inner Self, which is the seat of not only his spiritual but also the indirect source of his physical life; it would seem that a knowledge of that religion which teaches the nature of this true inner and immortal being, and also the links which connect that higher nature with the physical form, would be an indispensable and most important part of a true science and system of medicine based upon the recognition of truth; and although theory precedes practice, this knowledge should not be merely of that theoretical kind which is only imaginary and not real, and which in persons who are attempting to grasp things which they are not able to realise produces a wild and absolutely fruitless mysticism; but it should be of that kind which through experience constitutes self-knowledge, and which is possible only through the realization of the possession of the ideals one wishes to know.

According to Theophrastus Paracelsus the following are the four pillars of medicine:--

The whole of nature is a manifestation of truth; but it requires the eye of wisdom to see the truth and not merely its delusive appearance. The philosophy of which Paracelsus speaks consists in the power of recognizing the truth in all things independent of any books or authorities, all of which can only serve to show us the way to avoid errors and how to remove the obstacles in our path; but which cannot make us realise that which we do not realise in ourselves. He who is not labouring under a load of misconceptions and erroneous teachings, requires no other book than the book of nature to teach him the truth. There are few who can read the book of nature in the light of nature; because having had their minds filled with perverted images and false views, they have themselves become unnatural, and the light of nature cannot penetrate into their souls; living in the false light of the moonshine of speculation and sophistry, they have lost their receptivity for the light of the truth. Such philosophers live in illusions and dreams but do not know that which is real:

"There is upon this earth nothing more noble and more capable of giving perfect happiness than a true knowledge of nature and its foundation. Such a knowledge produces a valuable physician, but it should be a part of his constitution and not an artificial fabric attached to him like a coat; he must himself be born out of the fountain of that philosophy which cannot be acquired by artificial means."

A knowledge based upon the opinion or experience of another is merely a belief, but does not constitute real knowledge. Books and lectures may serve to give us advice, but they cannot endow us with the power of knowing the truth; they may serve us as useful guides, but a belief in the statements of others should not be mistaken for self-knowledge, such as arises only from the self-recognition of truth, and which by means of a love of the truth ought to be cultivated above all else.

To this realm of Philosophy belong all the natural sciences referring to external phenomena, in the knowledge of which a great deal of progress seems to have been made since the time of Paracelsus. To this phenomenal science belongs the anatomy, physiology, the chemistry of the physical body and all that concerns the interrelations of the phenomena existing in the grand phantasmagoria of living and corporeal images called the sensual world. But behind this sensual world there is a more interior super-sensual world, ignored by popular science, of which the former is the external expression; the processes taking place in this interior light of nature, mirror themselves in the light of the external world, and those souls whose inner perceptions have become developed in consequence of an awakening of the "inner man," do not require the observation of external phenomena for the purpose of drawing inferences in regard to their internal causes, because they know the interior causes and processes and also the external appearances which they will produce. Thus there is an external and an internal medical science, a science concerning the astral and a science concerning the physical body of man. The former occupies itself with the patient, the latter, so to say, with the clothes which he wears.

To render this still more plain, let us illustrate it by an example. Let us imagine a magic lantern capable of projecting living and corporeal images upon a living screen. External science occupies itself only with these images, the relations which they bear to each other and the changes taking place between them; but it knows nothing about the slides in the lantern upon which are the types of these visible images, and it entirely ignores the light which causes their projection upon that screen; but he who sees the slides with its pictures and knows the source of the light which produces these shadow pictures does not need to study the shadows for the purposes of drawing inferences and speculating in regard to their causes. Thus there is a superficial science which is at present the object of pride of the world, and a secret science of which next to nothing is publicly known, but which is known to the wise and revealed by one's own perception of truth.

Truths must be perceived before they can be intellectually grasped, and therefore this greater and higher science cannot be learned in books, nor be taught in lectures at college, it is the result of a development of man's higher perception, belonging to his higher nature, and characterises the born physician. Without this superior faculty, known in its initial stage as the power of "intuition," a medical practitioner can find occupation only in the outer yard of the temple, picking up useful grains among the rubbish; but he cannot enter the temple in which nature herself teaches her divine mysteries. The minute details of this rubbish have been studied by modern popular science, whose attention has been so much absorbed thereby that the temple of truth itself has been forgotten and the nature of Life has become a mystery to those who only study its external manifestations.

It will hardly be necessary to say that the above is not intended to discourage the study of phenomena; for those who have not the power of reaching higher will gain nothing by remaining ignorant of external appearances; but it is intended to show that a science referring merely to the phenomena of terrestrial life and ultimate results is not the summit of all possible knowledge; for beyond the realm of visible phenomena there is a far more extensive realm open to all who are capable of entering: the realm of truth, of which only the inverted images are seen in the kingdom of external phenomena.

The natural science of the ancient mystics, owing to their deeper penetration into the so-called supersensual realm, was not limited to the world which we see with our bodily eyes; for they recognised four worlds or planes of existence within each other, each of them having its own forms of life and inhabitants, namely:--

"We will show you that we are not the only intelligent beings possessing the world, but that our possessions extend over only one-fourth of it. Not that this world were three times greater than we know it to be; but there are in it still three-fourth parts which we do not occupy, and their inhabitants are not inferior to us in intelligence; the only thing of which we may be proud, is that Christ has taken his habitation in us and clothed himself in our form, as he might have chosen another nation for that purpose."

All this, however, does not strictly belong to the present purpose of this work, and is merely mentioned so as to make room for the conception that nature is far greater than the limits assigned to it by material science, and that, as a certain philosopher said: "that which is known is only like a grain of sand on the shore of the ocean of the unknown."

"Astronomy" means the knowledge of the stars, and to the conception of the modern mind it is the science of "celestial bodies," such as are seen at night on the sky; but to the ancient philosophers all visible things were the symbols and representations of invisible powers, thoughts and ideas, and the expression "Astronomy," as used by Paracelsus, is, therefore, something quite different from the science of the star-gazers, and refers to the various states of the mind existing in the macrocosm of nature as well as in the microcosm of man. "The very word "celestial" or "heavenly," refers to something superior to our grossly material nature, and an idea of what are the "stars" with which ancient astronomy and astrology deal, may be formed by studying the signification of the planets referred to in the previous chapter on the Constitution of Man.

"You should know that the constellations of the planets and stars on the sky, with all the firmament, do not cause the growth of our body, our colour, appearance, or behaviour; and have nothing to do with our virtues and qualities. Such an idea is ridiculous; the motion of Saturn interferes with nobody's life, and makes it neither longer nor shorter, and, even if there had never been a planet called "Saturn" on the sky, there would be people born having saturnine natures. For all that the planet Mars is of a fiery nature, Nero was not its child, and although they are of the same nature neither one of them received it from the other."

It is not our purpose within the narrow limits of this work to enter into a deeper investigation of this most interesting, sublime, and elevating science, which has been discussed at length in H. P. Blavatsky's "Secret Doctrine"; we merely touch upon these points for the purpose of calling attention to it, as it represents an aspect and conception of nature immeasurably higher than the one represented by popular science, and therefore attainable only to those whose aspirations reach beyond this grossly material plane.

Modern astronomy teaches the science of the bodies of the planets and stars; the Astronomy of Paracelsus speaks of the spiritual forces represented by those planets, the counterparts of which exist in the constitution of man and as every force in nature acts upon its corresponding element in the nature of man, these universal forces produce certain effects upon those elements in man which exist upon the corresponding plane. Thus for instance it requires no argument to prove that the sun is the source of heat and light and life upon this planet, and that the physical body of man as well as that of the earth receives these energies from the radiations coming from the physical body of the sun; this being the corporeal visible centre of a power existing universally, and whose sphere of activity reaches as far as the limits of our solar system. We all live and have our being physically within the sphere of activity and consequently within the physical elements of the sun; in a similar sense we live and have our being spiritually in the spiritual body and substance of Love, and as the sun of the physical world shines upon our body; so the light of divine wisdom is all around us and ready to penetrate into our soul. Thus Paracelsus teaches that the moon corresponds to the astral body of man, and has certain effects upon it, causing certain states which may ultimately become outwardly manifested as certain moral or physical diseases, and similar correspondencies might be shown to exist between the universal powers represented by the visible planets and the corresponding elements existing in the constitution of man; but however important and interesting this subject may be it finds very little attention on the part of popular medical science, which is far too busy in investigating outward effects of a phenomenal character to find time for attending to that which produces all such phenomena and appearances.

Share on: WhatsApp @Hash Facebook Tweet