“The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.”   …Buddhist Wisdom

Whom among us doesn’t desire to be healthy and happy? I don’t think that question even merits an answer, for it’s already answered. Like fire and heat, there are certain things that can’t be separated, and health and happiness are two of them. Where one is the other must be. For no one can be truly happy unless they’re healthy, nor can anyone be really healthy without being happy.

As I’ve said before, my posts don’t adhere to the normal way of thinking, for they ascribe to a Thought system that’s not of this world.  The so-called normal way of thinking has attracted all the sickness and misery that have turned this world into a place of suffering. Albert Einstein was one of those scientists who had an enormous and lasting impact upon this world. Therefore I enjoy quoting him, which I’m going to do now. He said: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”

“The body cannot heal because it cannot make itself sick. It needs no healing.”   …ACIM

As I write this short post about health and happiness, I’m going to point out some things that many may not be ready to accept. But regardless of that, if we’re ever going to depart from this road of sickness and misery then we need to find another way. The first idea that some may not be able to accept is that which the Course points out in the above quote; the body needs no healing. And to that I would add, neither can it be happy or unhappy.

In my opening quote taken from Buddhist Wisdom you’ll notice that mind comes before body. Part of the secret of health it puts forward is, not to mourn for the past. The body cannot mourn; only the mind can do that. The next one is, not to worry about the future. Again only the mind can worry; the body cannot do so. The body cannot anticipate troubles; that’s an activity of the mind. Finally, only the mind can choose to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly. The body cannot choose to do anything; it follows the instructions the mind gives it – that’s all. As the Course says: “Its health or sickness depends entirely on how the mind perceives it…”

“It is your thoughts alone that cause you pain. Nothing external to your mind can hurt or injure you in any way.”   …ACIM 

When they read quotes like this, most people will shake their heads in disbelief and probably tell themselves; how can that be? That’s just plain silly. There’s lots of things in this world that can hurt us! And depending on their point of view, they may be right. It all depends on which system of thought they believe, and whether they “See the flesh or  recognize the Spirit.” For if they see only the flesh, then it’s quite certain bodies can be hurt by many things.

But, if our intention to recognize the Spirit is strong enough then even the body will be protected for as long as it’s needed. If you realize, accept and believe you’re a Spiritual being then you know that nothing can hurt you. As the Course says: “The Children of God are entitled to perfect comfort, which comes from a sense of perfect trust.” 

The main problem most of us encounter is, we find it really, really difficult to separate the Self from the body. In other words, we see only the flesh, which makes it truly difficult to accept the truth contained in a statement such as: Nothing external to your mind can hurt or injure you in any way.  The Course also says: “It takes great learning to understand that all things, events, encounters, and circumstances are helpful.” 

Separation & Misery OR Unity & Happiness; It’s Our Choice

There are only two roads from which we can choose. One is physical, which allows us to see the flesh by choosing the ego as our source and guide. The other is spiritual, which allows us to recognize the Spirit by choosing the Holy Spirit as our Source and Guide.

In the last stanza of his poem, The Road not Taken, Robert Frost wrote: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” He didn’t find it easy in making his decision to take the road he took. For he wrote: “And sorry I could not travel both.” Like most of us he would have liked to have had it both ways. He wanted to travel both, but realized it was impossible to do so at the same time. He went on to write: “Long I stood and looked down one as far as I could.” But he did make a decision after a while, as he said: “Then took the other…” He decided to take the one less traveled by.

And we find ourselves standing, metaphorically, at the same divergence of roads. We must decide if we’re going to continue on the one that the whole world is following, which leads to old age, sickness and death; this is the physical one. Or take the one less traveled by, which leads to happiness, health and Life, which is the spiritual one. 

Jesus tells us in the Course, “There is no compromise between the two.” In other words, it’s impossible to take one a short ways, and the other a little bit. We must take one or the other all the way. Like Mr. Frost, we cannot travel both at once; we have to decide which one we want to be on. But that’s the only choice we have concerning these roads, for we must travel one; which one is our own choice.

Health and Happiness Cannot be Found

Health and Happiness do not need to be found, they need only to be allowed into your awareness, for you are already happy and healthy. That’s how God created you. He created you as Part of Himself. He created you from Love, by Love and for Love. You are a perfect and complete Idea in God’s Mind, and never will anything but true and everlasting Love be in His Mind. The Course confirms this: “What you find difficult to accept is the fact that, like your Father, you are an idea.“

Even so, you still think you can be unhappy or sick, or in any other negative condition because you think you have done the impossible. You think you have separated yourself from your Source; you think you have separated yourself from God. But it’s not true, it’s an illusion; a dream. Nothing could be separate from God and live. That’s why we must choose to recognize the Spirit, for when we make this choice we’re on our way to allowing what we really are to come into our awareness.

“Are you not sick if you deny yourself your wholeness and your health…?”   …ACIM

The above quote implies that to deny our wholeness is also to deny our health. How do we deny our wholeness? When we deny our identity as Part of our Creator we are denying that we are whole. The effect this denial has is, it causes us to derive our thoughts from the ego’s thought system of fear. We then see ourselves as separated entities apart from our Source, weak, vulnerable, frightened and either sick, or fearful of becoming sick.

“The mind is everything. What you think you become.”   …The Buddha

This is the very reason why the body needs no healing. The body follows the instructions of the mind. Only the mind can be healed, and when it’s healed the body follows. The only healing necessary for the mind is to change it and direct it to select its content from a different thought system. As long as it’s allowed to derive its thinking from the ego’s thought system of fear, so long will it be in need of healing. Thinking from this thought system is the cause of our belief that we are separated from God. It’s this separation belief that needs healing, and it’s the only healing that will ever be needed.

A belief is no more than a bunch of thoughts we keep thinking until they become true for us. Therefore by changing our thinking we can change our beliefs. As Albert Einstein said: “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.” When we begin to think from a system of Love instead of from one of fear we’re on our way to solving our problems. And the only problem we need solve is the belief that we are separate from our Source. When this one is corrected the rest will correct themselves.

I’m going to close this post with the following quote from the Course: “If you knew Who walks beside you on this way which you have chosen, fear would be impossible. You do not know because the journey into darkness has been long and cruel, and you have gone deep into it.”

 

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Remember: “The Children of God are Entitled to Perfect Comfort”

 

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