Art of Positive Thinking

SR No.: 006586
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Mahapragna Acharya
Publisher: Health Harmoney
Publication Year: 2010
Total Pages: 246
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 11 MB

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THE ART OF POSITIVE THINKING
may turn grey, but his heart remains young. He may enter his 70th year, yet he cannot be said to be old. The body of course grows old. That is but natural. As the years pass, one's hair turns grey. But that does not mean one has become old.
As a matter of fact, becoming old implies thc decline of one's powers. It is we ourselves who invite senility, for we never need become old. Willy-nilly we dissipate our energies and grow feeble.
Ignatia, a well-known physician-saint of Greece, was asked: "How is it possible for one to remain young and healthy throughout one's life?" He said, "Mend your mistakes, come out of your illusions, and you will remain young and healthy for ever." Indeed, it is our errors and illusions which invite old age. A man who is careful about his food and conduct never grows old too soon. Carelessness in eating and behaviour is the main cause of early decay. In the vigour of youth, one is liable to give oneself completely to the pleasures of the palate, but complete and blind surrender to gluttonous impulses constitutes the first invitation to old age.
After all the capacity of the digestive system is limited. The liver functions as far as it can. The pancreas too works within limits. So indced do all the organs of the digestive system. Somebody says, "Here is one litre of orange juice; quaff it off! It's all liquid, like water, would do you no harm." Neither the drinker nor his host knows whether his digestive system can withstand such anonslaught. The capacity of the system is essentially limited. The intestines and the stomach are capable of digesting a certain amount of proteins, carbohydrates, alkalies, salts, and vitamins; it is all settled. Nothing is indefinite. The brain may or may not be so aware, but the digestive system is fully conscious of the amount of secretions required to disgest different kinds of food. It is all an ordered process.
A proper and balanced diet keeps old age at bay for a long time. In the absence of such a diet, old age sets in early.
The physician-saint did suggest an effective resolution of the problem: To be caught in errors and illusions is to invite old age. He who comes out of them, keeps young and healthy for ever. And he keeps so even at one hundred.
The third reaction of fear is death. The fearful man does not die a natural death; he commits so to speak suicide. Natural death comes in its own time; it cannot be forced. One man may live longer than another, but death comes to both in a natural way. However, the fearful person would never die a natural death; he virtually kills himself. Ninety-five per cent of the people die an unnatural death. They fear death and in the process draw it nearer; they die before their time. What they seek to evade comes upon them early. It is as simple as that, and exact like arithmetic. This fact must not be lost sight of.