The Science of Being Well By Wallace Delois Wattles --- 01 CHAPTER 1. THE PRINCIPLE OF HEALTH

CHAPTER 1 - THE PRINCIPLE OF HEALTH

In the personal application of the Science of Being Well, as in that of the
Science of Getting Rich, certain fundamental truths must be known in the
beginning, and accepted without question. Some of these truths we state
here:
The perfectly natural performance of function results from the natural
action of the Principle of Life. There is a Principle of Life in the universe; it is
the One Living Substance from which all things are made. This Living
Substance permeates, penetrates, and fills the interspaces of the universe; it
is in and through all things, like a very refined and diffusible ether. All life
comes from it; its life is all the life there is.
Man is a form of this Living Substance, and has within him a Principle of
Health. (The word Principle is used as meaning source.) The Principle of
Health in man, when in full constructive activity, causes all the voluntary
functions of his life to be perfectly performed.
It is the Principle of Health in man which really works all healing, no matter
what "system" or "remedy" is employed; and this Principle of Health is
brought into Constructive Activity by thinking in a Certain Way.
I proceed now to prove this last statement. We all know that cures are
wrought by all the different and often opposite, methods employed in the
various branches of the healing art. The allopath, who gives a strong dose of
a counter-poison, cures his patient; and the homeopath, who gives a
diminutive dose of the poison most similar to that of the disease, also cures
it.
If allopathy ever cured any given disease, it is certain that homeopathy
never cured that disease; and if homeopathy ever cured an ailment,
allopathy could not possibly cure that ailment. The two systems are radically
opposite in theory and practice; and yet both "cure" most diseases. And
even the remedies used by physicians in any one school are not the same.
Go with a case of indigestion to half a dozen doctors, and compare their
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prescriptions; it is more than likely that none of the ingredients of any one of
them will be in the others. Must we not conclude that their patients are
healed by a Principle of Health within themselves, and not by something in
the varying "remedies"?
Not only this, but we find the same ailments cured by the osteopath with
manipulations of the spine; by the faith healer with prayer, by the food
scientist with bills of fare, by the Christian Scientist with a formulated creed
statement, by the mental scientist with affirmation, and by the hygienists
with differing plans of living.
What conclusions can we come to in the face of all these facts but that there
is a Principle of Health which is the same in all people, and which really
accomplishes all the cures; and that there is something in all the "systems"
which, under favorable circumstances arouses the Principle of Health to
action? That is, medicines, manipulations, prayers, bills of fare, affirmations,
and hygienic practices cure whenever they cause the Principle of Health to
become active; and fail whenever they do not cause it to become active.
Does not all this indicate that the results depend upon the way the patient
thinks about the remedy, rather than upon the ingredients in the
prescription?
There is an old story which furnishes so good an illustration on this point
that I will give it here. It is said that in the middle ages, the bones of a saint,
kept in one of the monasteries, were working miracles of healing; on certain
days a great crowd of the afflicted gathered to touch the relics and be
healed. On the eve of one of these occasions, some sacrilegious rascal
gained access to the case in which the wonder-working relics were kept
miracles on that day; and then they let in the waiting assemblage of the sick
and infirm.
To the intense astonishment of those in the secret, the bones of the
malefactor proved as efficacious as those of the saint; and the healing went
on as before. One of the fathers is said to have left a history of the
occurrence, in which he confessed that, in his judgment, the healing power
had been in the people themselves all the time, and never in the bones at all.
Whether this story is true or not, the conclusion applies to all the cures
wrought by all the systems. The Power that Heals is in the patient himself;
and whether it shall become active or not does not depend upon the
physical or mental means used, but upon the way the patient thinks about
these means. There is a Universal Principle of Life, as Jesus taught; a great
spiritual Healing Power; and there is a Principle of Health in man which is
related to this Healing Power. This is dormant or active, according to the
way a man thinks. He can always quicken it into activity by thinking in a
Certain Way.
Your getting well does not depend upon the adoption of some system, or
the finding of some remedy; people with your identical ailments have been
healed by all systems and all remedies.
It does not depend upon climate; some people are well and others are sick
in all climates. It does not depend upon avocation, unless in cases of those
who work under poisonous conditions; people are well in all trades and
professions. Your getting well depends upon your beginning to think - and
act - in a Certain Way.
The way a man thinks about things is determined by what he believes about
them. His thoughts are determined by his faith, and the results depend upon
his making a personal application of his faith. If a man has faith in the
efficacy of a medicine, and is able to apply that faith to himself, that
medicine will certainly cause him to be cured; but though his faith be great,
he will not be cured unless he applies it to himself.
Many sick people have faith for others but none for themselves. So, if he has
faith in a system of diet, and can personally apply that faith, it will cure him;
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and if he has faith in prayers and affirmations and personally applies his
faith, prayers and affirmations will cure him.
Faith, personally applied, cures; and no matter how great the faith or how
persistent the thought, it will not cure him without personal application. The
Science of Being Well, then, includes the two fields of thought and action.
To be well is not enough that man should merely think in a Certain Way; he
must apply his thought to himself, and he must express and externalize it in
his outward life by acting in the same way that he thinks.