treatment should
be followed; they are not contradictory. Therefore thou shouldst also
accept physical remedies inasmuch as these too have come from the mercy
and favour of God, Who hath revealed and made manifest medical science so
that His servants may profit from this kind of treatment also. Thou
shouldst give equal attention to spiritual treatments, for they produce
marvellous effects.

Now, if thou wishest to know the true remedy which will heal man from all
sickness and will give him the health of the divine kingdom, know that it
is the precepts and teachings of God. Focus thine attention upon them.

134: O THOU WHO ART ATTRACTED TO THE FRAGRANT BREATHINGS ...

O thou who art attracted to the fragrant breathings of God! I have read
thy letter addressed to Mrs. Lua Getsinger. Thou hast indeed examined with
great care the reasons for the incursion of disease into the human body.
It is certainly the case that sins are a potent cause of physical
ailments. If humankind were free from the defilements of sin and
waywardness, and lived according to a natural, inborn equilibrium, without
following wherever their passions led, it is undeniable that diseases
would no longer take the ascendant, nor diversify with such intensity.

But man hath perversely continued to serve his lustful appetites, and he
would not content himself with simple foods. Rather, he prepared for
himself food that was compounded of many ingredients, of substances
differing one from the other. With this, and with the perpetrating of vile
and ignoble acts, his attention was engrossed, and he abandoned the
temperance and moderation of a natural way of life. The result was the
engendering of diseases both violent and diverse.

For the animal, as to its body, is made up of the same constituent
elements as man. Since, however, the animal contenteth itself with simple
foods and striveth not to indulge its importunate urges to any great
degree, and committeth no sins, its ailments relative to man's are few. We
see clearly, therefore, how powerful are sin and contumacy as pathogenic
factors. And once engendered these diseases become compounded, multiply,
and are transmitted to others. Such are the spiritual, inner causes of
sickness.

The outer, physical causal factor in disease, however, is a disturbance in
the balance, the proportionate equilibrium of all those elements of which
the human body is composed. To illustrate: the body of man is a co