Page:The Great Book of Magical Art, Hindu Magic and East Indian Occultism.djvu/501

 PURAUMRUM

483

wisdom in that light and seek for it in their own brain, will continually err.

There is nothing in man which would cause him to be a physician. He has the capacity to comprehend intellectually, but this does not con- stitute art. This faculty is like an empty box useful only to store up useful things. To make it more clear what I intend to express let us look at two examples : the glassmaker and the carpenter. The glassmaker did not learn his art for himself; he found it in the light of Nature, for Nature showed him how to melt the materials by means of the fire and discovered the glass for him ; but a carpenter who builds a house may construct it according to his own wisdom, provided he has the neces- sary materials. A physician may have the necessary materials ; i. e., the patient and the remedies, but he is not a true physician as long as he has not the true science. The glassmaker is taught by Nature, the car- penter follows his own fancy ; the former is taught by the fire, and the true physician receives from the fire of Nature his wisdom and his art; i. e., his experience. This is his true approbation.

The ignorant refuse to follow Nature, and they follow their own speculations. Wisdom is two-fold. One wisdom comes from experience, the other from aptitude ; the former again is two-fold and is based either upon the understanding of the law or upon haphazard experiment. The former is the one upon which true medicine rests, and implies the knowledge of the three substances; the latter is merely supposition and error, for an haphazard experiment may succeed once and fail in the future.

The student should not follow in the footsteps of men, but in the footsteps of Nature; he should not act on account of hearsay, but on account of his own spiritual understanding. The first man who learned anything useful was taught by Nature; let Nature teach you as she taught him. If my art is to be based upon a firm foundation, it must be based upon my own spiritual understanding, not upon that of another man. A physician should have the soul before his eyes, visibly and tangible; he should see the truth, not shadowy or as in a dream, but tangible and without any doubt. The student's knowledge should be based upon a perception of the truth, not upon mere belief or opinion. Information received from men can only assist you in forming opinions, but it con- stitutes no knowledge. True knowledge consists in a direct recognition of the truth and is taught by Nature herself.

As far as the patient is concerned, there are three things required of him to effect a cure ; his disease should be a natural one ; he should have a certain amount of will and a certain amount of vitality. If these con- ditions are not present no cure can be effected, for even Christ could not benefit those who were not receptive of His power. This power is Faith, and it should be present in the patient as well as in the physician.