Such questions as these I am going to try to answer in the simplest language possible. I would avoid long words altogether, if I could; but some of these long words mean certain definite things, and there are no other words to serve the purpose. You do not refuse to engage in the automobile business because the carburetor and the differential are words of four syllables. Neither should you refuse to get yourself straight with the universe because it is too much trouble to go to the dictionary and learn that the word "phenomenon" means something else than a little boy who can play the piano or do long division in his head.
CONTENTS
PART ONE: THE BOOK OF THE MIND
PAGE
Chapter I. The Nature of Life 3
Attempts to show what we know about life; to set the bounds of real truth as distinguished from phrases and self-deception.
Chapter II. The Nature of Faith 8
Attempts to show what we can prove by our reason, and what we know intuitively; what is implied in the process
of thinking, and without which no thought could be. Chapter III. The Use of Reason 12
Attempts to show that in the field to which reason applies we are compelled to use it, and are justified in trusting it. Chapter IV. The Origin of Morality 17
Compares the ways of Nature with human morality, and tries to show how the latter came to be.
Chapter V. Nature and Man 21
Attempts to show how man has taken control of Nature, and is carrying on her processes and improving upon them. Chapter VI. Man the Rebel 27
Shows the transition stage between instinct and reason,
in which man finds himself, and how he can advance to
a securer condition.
Chapter VII. Making Our Morals 31
Attempts to show that human morality must change to fit human facts, and there can be no judge of it save human reason.
Chapter VIII. The Virtue of Moderation 37
Attempts to show that wise conduct is an adjustment of means to ends, and depends upon the understanding of a particular set of circumstances.
Chapter IX. The Choosing of Life 42
Discusses the standards by which we may judge what is best in life, and decide what we wish to make of it. Chapter X. Myself and My Neighbor 50
Compares the new morality with the old, and discusses the relative importance of our various duties.
Chapter XI. The Mind and the Body 53
Discusses the interaction between physical and mental things, and the possibility of freedom in a world of fixed causes.
Chapter XII. The Mind of the Body 61
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Discusses the subconscious mind, what it is, what it does to the body, and how it can be controlled and made use
of by the intelligence.
Chapter XIII. Exploring the Subconscious 67
Discusses automatic writing, the analysis of dreams, and other methods by which a new universe of life has been brought to human knowledge.
Chapter XIV. The Problem of Immortality 74
Discusses the survival of personality from the moral point of view: that is, have we any claim upon life, entitling
us to live forever?
Chapter XV. The Evidence for Survival 81
Discusses the data of psychic research, and the proofs of spiritism thus put before us.
Chapter XVI. The Powers of the Mind 91
Sets forth the fact that knowledge is freedom and ignorance is slavery, and what science means to the people.
Chapter XVII. The Conduct of the Mind 98
Concludes the Book of the Mind with a study of how to preserve and develop its powers for the protection of our lives and the lives of all men.
PART TWO: THE BOOK OF THE BODY Chapter XVIII. The Unity of the Body 105
Discusses the body as a whole, and shows that health is
not a matter of many different organs and functions, but is one problem of one organism.
Chapter XIX. Experiments in Diet 115
Narrates the author's adventures in search of health, and his conclusions as to what to eat.
Chapter XX. Errors in Diet 123
Discusses the different kinds of foods, and the part they play in the making of health and disease.
Chapter XXI. Diet Standards 134
Discusses various foods and their food values, the quantities we need, and their money cost.
Chapter XXII. Foods and Poisons 145
Concludes the subject of diet, and discusses the effect upon the system of stimulants and narcotics.
Chapter XXIII. More About Health 156
Discusses the subjects of breathing and ventilation, clothing, bathing and sleep.
Chapter XXIV. Work and Play 163
Deals with the question of exercise, both for the idle and the overworked.
Chapter XXV. The Fasting Cure 169
Deals with Nature's own remedy for disease, and how to make use of it.
Chapter XXVI. Breaking the Fast 177
Discusses various methods of building up the body after a fast, especially the milk diet.
Chapter XXVII. Diseases and Cures 182
Discusses some of the commoner human ailments, and what is known about their cause and cure.
INDEX VOLUME I PART ONE
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THE BOOK OF THE MIND CHAPTER I
THE NATURE OF LIFE
(Attempts to show what we know about life; to set the bounds of real truth as distinguished from phrases and self-deception.)
If I could, I would begin this book by telling you what Life is. But unfortunately I do not know what Life is. The only consolation I
can find is in the fact that nobody else knows either.
We ask the churches, and they tell us that male and female created He them, and put them in the Garden of Eden, and they would have been happy had not Satan tempted them. But then you ask, who made Satan, and the explanation grows vague. You ask, if God made Satan, and knew what Satan was going to do, is it not the same as if God did it himself ? So this explanation of the origin of
evil gets you no further than the Hindoo picture of the world resting on the back of a tortoise, and the tortoise on the head of a snake--and nothing said as to what the snake rests on.
Let us go to the scientist. I know a certain physiologist, perhaps the greatest in the world, and his eager face rises before me, and I hear his quick, impetuous voice declaring that he knows what Life is; he has told it in several big volumes, and all I have to do is to read them. Life is a tropism, caused by the presence of certain combinations of chemicals; my friend knows this,