Page:Hatha yoga - or the yogi philosophy of physical well-being, with numberous excercises.djvu/24



people make the mistake of considering Disease as an entity—a real thing—an opponent of Health. This is incorrect. Health is the natural state of Man, and Disease is simply the absence of Health, If one can comply with the laws of Nature he cannot be sick. When some law is violated, abnormal conditions result, and certain symptoms manifest themselves, and to which symptoms we give the name of some disease. That which we call Disease is simply the result of Nature's attempt to throw off, or dislodge, the abnormal condition, in order to resume normal action.

We are so apt to consider, and speak of, Disease as an entity. We say that "it" attacks us—that "it" seats itself in an organ—that "it" runs it's course—that "it" is very malignant—that "it" is quite mild—that "it" persistently resists all treatment—that "it" yields readily—etc., etc. We speak of it as if it were an entity possessed of character, disposition and vital qualities. We consider it as something which takes possession of us and uses its power for our destruction. We speak of it as we would a wolf in a sheepfold—a weasel in the chicken roost—a rat in the granary—and go about fighting it as we would one of the animals above mentioned. We seek to kill it, or at least to scare it away.