________________
THE FALL.
167
still, in glands and viscera. If these are taken into account, as well as acts which follow at some remote period, because the mental state was once there, it will be safe to lay down the general law that no mental modification ever occurs which is not accompanied or followed by a bodily change."
The effect of suggestion on spirit or soul, which is pure intelligence in essence, is even more remarkable, mere thought sufficing to produce immediate depression of spirits and the like.
So far as faith is concerned, the rule is that the completeness of the effect to be produced and the length of time necessary to produce it depend on the degree of belief in the potency of thought, the law being that whatever one believes one becomes. This is why Jesus and the other teachers of our race always insisted on faith. Without faith we may go on forming mental conceptions and images as much as we like, but they will. never be productive of any result; for faith is necessary to impart stability to thought, and stability of thought is a necessary condition to the materialization of mental ideas and conceptions.
As regards the efficacy of faith, mental healing, Christian science and other like methods are instances of the power of mind to produce wonderful phenomena. When one comes to think that the only difference between a living being and a corpse is that in respect of mind, one ceases to wonder at the seemingly incredible claims that have been made for it by the adepts of old. Christ declared that if one had as much faith in his teaching as could be thought of in connection with a mustard seed, he could perform the most astonishing of miracles. There are many passages in the Bible, containing 'pro
Jain Education International
For Private & Personal Use Only
www.jainelibrary.org