(3) And therefore for God’s love govern thee discreetly in body and in soul, and get thee thine health as much as thou mayest. And if sickness come against thy power, have patience and abide meekly God’s mercy: and all is then good enough. For I tell thee truly, that ofttimes patience in sickness and in other diverse tribulations pleaseth God much more than any liking devotion that thou mayest have in thy health.

A voice came from heaven to Moses, saying, "O Moses why didst thou not visit me when I was sick?" Moses inquired the meaning of this dark saying, and the answer was, "When one of God's saints is sick, God regards his sickness as His own; and, therefore, he who desires to hold companionship with God must not forsake the saints." This is illustrated by a story of a gardener who saw three friends walking in his garden, and making free with his fruit. Knowing he could not prevail against them while they remained united, he contrived by tricks to separate them, and then proceeded to chastise them one by one. And this caused one of them to make the reflection that he had acted very foolishly in deserting his friends.

(4) Consequently, therefore, though disease, and accident, and what is most terrible of all, death, come upon the Gnostic, he remains inflexible in soul, -knowing that all such things are a necessity of creation, and that, also by the power of God, they become the medicine of salvation, benefiting by discipline those who are difficult to reform; allotted according to desert, by Providence, which is truly good.

(51) The philosophers of all ages have taught that the visible universe was but a fractional part of the whole, and that by analogy the physical body of man is in reality the least important part of his composite constitution. Most of the medical systems of today almost entirely ignore the superphysical man. They pay but scant attention to causes, and concentrate their efforts on ameliorating effects. Paracelsus, noting the same proclivity on the part of physicians during his day, aptly remarked: "There is a great difference between the power that removes the invisible causes of disease, and which is Magic, and that which causes merely external effects [to] disappear, and which is Physic, Sorcery, and Quackery." (Translated by Franz Hartmann.)

(5) Penury and disease, and such trials, are often sent for admonition, for the correction of the past, and for care for the future. Such an one prays for relief from them, in virtue of possessing the prerogative of knowledge, not out of vainglory; but from the very fact of his being a Gnostic, he works beneficence, having become the instrument of the goodness of God.

(12) Whereas the saint is well-pleasing to God, But the sinner's hand is the hand of Satan and demons, If folly meets him, he takes it for wisdom; Yea, the learning gained by the wicked is folly. Whatever a sick man eats is a source of sickness, Ah! footman who contendest with horsemen, Thou wilt not succeed in carrying the day! The whole world is jealous for this cause, God is as a soul and the world as a body, He to whom the sanctuary of true prayer is revealed

(9) The utter contempt which Paracelsus felt for the narrow systems of medicine in vogue during his lifetime, and his conviction of their inadequacy, are best expressed in his own quaint way: "But the number of diseases that originate from some unknown causes is far greater than those that come from mechanical causes, and for such diseases our physicians know no cure because not knowing such causes they cannot remove them. All they can prudently do is to observe the patient and make their guesses about his condition; and the patient may rest satisfied if the medicines administered to him do no serious harm, and do not prevent his recovery. The best of our popular physicians are the ones that do least harm. But, unfortunately, some poison their patients with mercury, others purge them or bleed them to death. There are some who have learned so much that their learning has driven out all their common sense, and a there are others who care a great: deal more for their own profit than for the health of their patients. A disease does not change its state to accommodate itself to the knowledge of the physician, but the physician should understand the causes of the disease. A physician should be a servant of Nature, and not her enemy; he should be able to guide and direct her in her struggle for life and not throw, by his unreasonable interference, fresh obstacles in the way of recovery." (From the Paragranum, translated by Franz Hartmann.)

(52) Disease is unnatural, and is evidence that there is a maladjustment within or between organs or tissues. Permanent health cannot be regained until harmony is restored. The outstanding virtue of Hermetic medicine was its recognition of spiritual and psychophysical derangements as being largely responsible for the condition which is called physical disease. Suggestive therapy was used with marked success by the priest-physicians of the ancient world. Among the-American Indians, the Shamans--or "Medicine Men"--dispelled sickness with the aid of mysterious dances, invocations, and charms. The fact that in spite of their ignorance of modern methods of medical treatment these sorcerers effected innumerable cures, is well worthy of consideration.

(5) Those, then, are to be believed, who hold firmly to the truth. And we may broadly make use of this reply, and say to them, that physicians holding opposite opinions according to their own schools, yet equally in point of fact treat patients. Does one, then, who is ill in body and needing treatment, not have recourse to a physician, on account of the different schools in medicine?

(34) The prophets answered, "Verily God has created Some qualities in you which you cannot alter; But He has created other accidental qualities, Which, being objectionable, may be made good. Bid stone become gold that is impossible; Bid sand bloom as a rose it cannot; God has sent some pains for which there is no cure, Such, for instance, as lameness, loss of nose, and blindness. God has sent other pains for which there are cures, To wit, crooked mouth and headache. God has ordained these remedies of His mercy;

(1) Fit objects for admiration are the Stoics, who say that the soul is not affected by the body, either to vice by disease, or to virtue by health; but both these things, they say, are indifferent. And indeed Job, through exceeding continence, and excellence of faith, when from rich he became poor, from being held in honour dishonoured, from being comely unsightly, and sick from being healthy, is depicted as a good example, putting the Tempter to shame, blessing his Creator; bearing what came second, as the first, and most clearly teaching that it is possible for the gnostic to make an excellent use of all circumstances, And that ancient achievements are proposed as images for our correction, the apostle shows, when he says, "So that my bonds in Christ are become manifest in all the palace, and to all the rest; and several of the brethren in the Lord, waxing confident by my bonds, are much more bold to speak the word of God without fear," - since martyrs' testimonies are examples 'of conversion gloriously sanctified. "For what things the Scripture speaks were written for our instruction, that we, through patience and the consolation of the Scriptures, might have the hope of consolation." When pain is present, the soul appears to decline from it, and to deem release from present pain a precious thing. At that moment it slackens from studies, when the other virtues also are neglected. And yet we do not say that it is virtue itself which suffers, for virtue is not affected by disease. But he who is partaker of both, of virtue and the disease, is afflicted by the pressure of the latter; and if he who has not yet attained the habit of self-command be not a high-souled man, he is distraught; and the inability to endure it is found equivalent to fleeing from it.

An old man complained to his physician that he suffered from headache. The physician replied, "That is caused by old age." The old man next complained of a defect in his sight, and the physician again told him that his malady was due to old age. The old man went on to say that he suffered from pain in the back, from dyspepsia, from shortness of breath, from nervous debility, from inability to walk, and so on; and the physician replied that each of these ailments was likewise caused by old age. The old man, losing patience, said, "O fool, know you not that God has ordained a remedy for every malady?" The physician answered, "This passion and choler are also symptoms of old age. Since all your members are weak, you have lost the power of self-control, and fly into a passion at every word."

(25) The fourth cause of disease was what the Orientals called Karma, that is, the Law of Compensation, which demanded that the individual pay in full for the indiscretions and delinquencies of the past. A physician had to be very careful how he interfered with the workings of this law, lest he thwart the plan of Eternal justice. The fifth cause was the motion and aspects of the heavenly bodies. The stars did not compel the sickness but rather impelled it. The Hermetists taught that a strong and wise man ruled his stars, but that a negative, weak person was ruled by them. These five causes of disease are all superphysical in nature. They must be estimated by inductive and deductive reasoning and a careful consideration of the life and temperament of the patient.

(21) Tho Beloved once called the Ka'ba 'My house,' But has said to me 'O my servant' seventy times; O Bayazid, you have found the Ka'ba, You have found a hundred precious blessings." Bayazid gave heed to these deep sayings, The sick man said, "Sickness has brought me this boon. That this Prince (Muhammad) has come to me this morn, So that health and strength may return to me O blessed pain and sickness and fever! O welcome weariness and sleeplessness by night!

(31) Lo! God of His bounty and favor Has sent me this pain and sickness in my old age; He has given me pain in the back, that I may not fail To spring up out of my sleep at midnight; That I may not sleep all night like the cattle, At my broken state the pity of kings has boiled up, And hell is put to silence by their threats!" Pain is a treasure, for it contains mercies; O brother, the place of darkness and cold The spring seasons are hidden in the autumns,

(2) Besides, for the sake of bodily health we submit to incisions, and cauterizations, and medicinal draughts; and he who administers them is called saviour and healer even though amputating parts, not from grudge or ill-will towards the patient, but as the principles of the art prescribe, so that the sound parts may not perish along with them, and no one accuses the physician's art of wickedness; and shall we not similarly submit, for the soul's Sake, to either banishment, or punishment, or bonds, provided only from unrighteousness we shall attain to righteousness?

(24) Vimalakirti replied : “ A Bodhisattva who is sick should dwell upon such thoughts as these : this sickness of mine has been caused by illusions, errors and passions in my past existences, and it has no real substance. Who is the sufferer in sickness? [No man]. And why? Because the four elements are combined together, there is the combination provisionally called the body. There is no ruler of the four elements besides themselves; nor is there any self in the body. Again, this, what we call sickness comes from the attaching oneself to Self. Therefore let him not be attached to Self.

(4) And when a man falls ill, then those who sit round him, say, 'Do you know me? Do you know me?' As long as he has not departed from this body, he knows them.

(3) Now through those means he brought on himself sickness. And there came to inquire after him countless visitors headed by kings, great ministers, wealthy householders, lay-disciples, Brahman princes and other high officials. Then Vimalakirti taking the opportunity of his sickness, preached to any one who came to him, and said : “ Come, ye gentlemen, the human body is transient, weak, impotent, frail, and mortal; never trustworthy, because it suffers when attacked by disease; ye gentlemen, an intelligent man never places his trust in such a thing; it is like a bubble that soon bursts. It is like a mirage which appears because of a thirsty desire. It is like a plantain tree which is hollow inside. It is like a phantom caused by a conjurer. It is like a dream giving false ideas. It is like a shadow which is produced by Karma. It is like an echo which is produced by various relations. It is like a floating cloud which changes and vanishes. It is like the lightning which instantly comes and goes. It has no power as the earth has none. It has no individuality as the fire has none. It has no durability as the wind has none. It has no personality as the water has none. It is not real and the four elements are its house. It is empty 'when freed from the false idea of me and mine. It has no consciousness as there is none in grasses, trees, bricks or stones. It is impotent as it is revolved by the power of the wind. It is impure and full of filthiness. It is false and will be reduced to nothingness, in spite of bathing, clothing or nourishment. It is a calamity and subject to a hundred and one diseases. It is like a dry well threatened by decay. It is transient and surely to die. It is like a poisonous snake or the hateful enemies or the deserted village as it is composed of the (five) Skandhas, the (twelve) Ayatanas and the (eighteen) Dhatus.

(9) Vimalakirti replied : “ From ignorance we hold attachment, and my sickness is thus caused. Since all beings are sick, I am sick. If they are no more sick then my sickness would cease. And why ? A Bodhisattva enters [a life of] birth and death for the sake of all beings; where there are birth and death, there is always Sickness. If all beings were free from sickness, then there would be no more sickness with a Bodhisattva. Just as when the only son of a wealthy merchant becomes sick, then his parents [from their anxiety] become sick also, and when he is restored to health, then they also recover their health; even so a Bodhisattva loves all beings as parents love their only son; as long as all beings are sick he is sick, when they recover their health, he also recovers his health.