Vibration

All existing things which we see or hear, which we perceive, vibrate. If it were not for vibration, the precious stones would not show us their color and their brilliance; it is vibration which makes the trees grow, the fruit ripen, and the flowers bloom. Our existence is also according to the law of vibrations, not only the existence of our physical body but also of our thoughts and feelings. If it were not for vibrations, drugs and herbs would not have any effect upon us. If any explanation of electricity can be given, it is that its mystery lies only in vibrations. Vibrations are productive and produce electricity; electricity is composed of vibrations. In other words that aspect of vibration which produces form could not do so if it could not first produce light. The Bible hints at this when it says that first there was light and that then the world was produced. Light is the first form, all other forms come afterwards.

Vibrations can be understood both as cause and as effect. Vibration causes movement, rotation, circulation; but on the other hand it is the rotation of the planets and the circulation of the blood which cause vibration. Thus the cause as well as the effect of all that exists is vibration.

It depends upon the speed of the vibrations as to whether a thing is visible or audible, perceptible or imperceptible. Everything that is visible is audible at the same time, and everything that is audible is visible also. If it does not appear so, this only signifies the limitation of our organs of perception. What our physical eyes cannot see we say is not visible; but this only means that it is not visible to us; in itself it is visible. And what we cannot hear we say is not audible; but it is only inaudible to our ears; in itself it is audible.

This means that everything has its sound and its form. Even things which are perceptible by us though not visible have a form. In the first place they could not be intelligible if they had no form; although they have no physical form they have a form just the same, and it is through that form that we can perceive them. If our physical eyes do not see that form, the eyes of our mind can see it and recognize it. This explains to us why there are things which are felt and things which are seen or heard. It is only a difference of vibrations, and of the planes on which the vibrations take place. Vibrations cause life to take form; and it is the different degrees of vibrations which make that form either visible or otherwise perceptible.

What we know about vibration is only what we perceive through man-made instruments; what is moving beyond this we do not recognize as vibration. But as there is no other word this is the only one we can use for it, for it is the same force which sets everything in motion on the physical plane, and this continues on all the other planes of existence, setting them all in motion. It also explains to us that it is vibration, a certain degree of vibration, which brings to the earth the things of the inner world, the world that is perceived though not seen; and a change of vibrations takes away the things that are seen into the unseen world.

What we call life and death are both a recognized existence within a certain degree of vibrations. For instance when a person says, “This leaf is dead”, what has made it dead is the change of vibrations. It has no longer the same vibrations that it had when it was on the tree; and yet it has not lost its vibrations, it still has them. Thus according to the vibrations it is not dead; it has only changed into a different rhythm of vibrations. If that leaf were dead then herbs would not have any effect upon a man when he takes them as medicine.

And so it is with the dead body of an animal or a man. We may say that life has gone out of it, but it is only the life which we recognize as life that has gone out of it, for we recognize as life only a certain pitch of vibrations; anything beyond it or below it we do not recognize as living. Yet it has not died; it is still vibrating. It is still going on, for nothing can exist and not vibrate, and nothing can vibrate and not be living in the real sense of the word. One might say that there is no movement in a dead body, that there is no heat in it, but do we not use fish and flesh of slaughtered animals as food? If these did not possess any life we would not be benefited by eating them, for it is only life which can help life to go on. If they were really dead, if all the property which is called life were gone from them, they would do us harm instead of good. This shows that though we call them dead there is some life left in them, and that this change is only a question of degree in the vibrations.

When a fruit has decayed, when a flower has faded, there has been a change of vibrations. It is wonderful to watch a flower when it is still a bud and to see how it grows every day, how it vibrates differently every moment of the day until it comes to such a culmination that it begins to radiate, reflecting the sun. Besides its color and form we can see something living in the flower, something sparkling. It can best be seen when the flower is still on the plant. And then, when it has reached its culmination, it begins gradually to fade, and that again is according to the law of vibrations. But even when its petals have dropped there is still a form of life left, for even in the dry leaves of the rose there is a fragrance, and from the dried rose-leaves an effective medicine can be made. This medicine has a certain action on the blood and it also nourishes the intestines; it is most purifying. In ancient Greek medicine the rose was used in many ways. It is very cooling, it cools the blood as well as being very strengthening.

There is a great difference between the eating of fresh vegetables and of preserved vegetables, a difference of vibrations. The former are nearer to our life, and the latter which have gone further from our life have less influence on us. And so it is with everything. When we begin to see life from this point of view it will appear that birth and death are only our conceptions of life, that there is no such thing as death and that all is living. It only changes from one form to the other, subject to the law of vibrations. The difference in the vibrations of dead and living bodies is a difference of their speed; it is a difference of rhythm.

Furthermore, the different stages of life such as infancy, childhood, youth, and old age, and the different tendencies arising naturally out of them, are all phenomena of vibration. Strength and weakness, the tendencies to action and repose, all come from the different speed of the vibrations. And it is no exaggeration to say that hidden behind every illness are wrong vibrations which came; vibrations are the cause, and they are also the effect. It is interesting that a scientist should have reached this conclusion too and tried his best to use it in medical science. He did not have long, but if he had he would surely have accomplished something wonderful. By this system he tried to discover the nature and character of diseases, and to treat them according to the law of vibrations. No doubt its development will be the work of perhaps hundreds of years of experiment, but even to initiate such a method is a step forward. The greater a thing is, the longer it takes to develop. Some people are already benefiting from this system, though it will be a long time before it is brought to that perfection which will make it the way of treatment, surpassing everything else.

When an object such as a fruit, a leaf, or a flower changes its color, this means that it has begun to vibrate at a different rate; and when an object changes its savoir, turning from sour to sweet or from sweet to bitter, this also means that it is changing from one rate of vibrations to another. It is a well-known fact, too, that between cold and heat all the different degrees are nothing but changes of vibrations which make things feel cold or hot to us; and it is also by the change of vibrations that the fragrance of flowers and fruit changes. A ripe fruit smells different from the fruit which is not yet ripe, and the quality of the fruit also can be distinguished by the sense of smell through the medium of vibrations. This shows that all things that we perceive through our five senses become intelligible to us, and we are able to distinguish them, by feeling the different degrees of vibrations through our senses. We give names to this phenomenon of vibration: sweet, sour, or salt; green, blue, or red; cold, warm, or hot; because the purpose of each sense is to feel that particular phenomenon of vibrations which is related to it, the eyes seeing, the ears hearing, and the nose smelling.

The five senses differ in quality, and one can look at this question from a gross point of view or from a finer point of view. The gross point of view is that of the form, which outwardly shows the difference of perception between one sense and the other; and the finer point of view is when the mechanism of the capacity which is inside every organ is distinguished. Science only approaches this question from the outside and not from the inside. It is most ethereal, it is most subtle, it is most inexplicable, and the more one thinks about it, the more one sees the skill of the Creator.

But the innermost sense in us perceives these vibrations in quite a different way; it does not perceive them in the same way as the outer senses. Thus one might ask whether the timer sense perceives for instance a color as a color, or whether it perceives a certain sensation which could be measured by numbers. The answer is that the inner sense perceives a color, but it is distinguished by the outer sense. What the inner sense perceives is the sensation it gives, its essence. And as to numbers, the further we advance in the inner life, the less we can count numbers, for numbers belong to the outer world. The physical world is more distinct, and therefore we can calculate numbers easily, whereas the inner worlds are less distinct and this makes it more difficult to calculate numbers.

For instance when we are smelling a flower, hearing a sound, or seeing a color, we distinguish this as smell perceived by the nostrils, as sound heard by the ears, or as color seen by the eyes; but that in us which perceives is the one sense that is behind the five senses. Thus outwardly everything we perceive as a sensation is distinguished as such and such, but immediately there comes a reaction, and that reaction is that our inner sense reflects what it has perceived on all the organs of the senses and on all the nerves of the body, touching each atom of our being. That is why it is not only the ears which have heard, but in its reaction the sound has echoed in the brain, in the mouth, in the throat, in the whole body. If it is a fragrance it has touched each atom of our body; and if it is a color it has not only touched our eyes, but it has spread its influence upon every atom of our being.

Although our first impression is that we have heard music, really beautiful picture, or tasted a delicious savoir, yet in we can say in general terms that we have experienced every sensation that comes to us through each atom of our body. And if that it so, then all colors and saviours and perfumes and sounds have their definite and particular effect on our health, our moods, and the condition of our mind.

It is the ever-changing condition of our physical body, caused either by outer sensations or by its particular activity, which submits our vitality to different conditions. Each person has a different rhythm. But when we say “a person” we mean a person as we generally understand this concept: the person with his body, or the person with his mind, or the person with his soul. Many will not recognize him as a mind but only as a body, and many will not recognize him as a soul but only as mind and body. This is because the rate of vibrations of his body is different from that of his mind, and the rate of vibrations of his mind is again different from that of his soul. In fact every plane of his being has a different rhythm, although all the planes of his being are in some way related to what is happening on certain of these planes. In other words, all his inner bodies are vibrating, and they are related to one another in regard to the speed of their vibrations. When we say, “I am tired” or “I feel better” or “I feel strong”, this really means that we are vibrating at a certain rate, and that it is this which caused us to say what we did.

Then, different feelings such as cheerfulness and depression very often arise in a person, producing great changes in him, and these are also caused by the rate at which his body is vibrating. This disease of depression, a depression which has no apparent cause, no reason, comes from the slowing down or stopping of the vibration of the inner centers. No doubt all such feelings as grief, wonder, passion, humor, fear, attachment, anger, cheerfulness, and indifference come from the condition created by the speed of the vibrations activating the mechanism of the body and causing the blood to circulate; but these feelings also cause the vibrations of the body to change its rhythm. In this way the feelings affect the body and the body affects the feelings.

Vibrations can be changed by understanding the vibrations of one’s own life, which means one’s own self. In the first place one can study the vibrations of the physical body. And the chief way which they can be understood and controlled is through the study and understanding of breathing, for the pulsation of the heart, head, and body, upon which circulation depends, is based upon the rhythm of breath. The next step is to understand the rhythm of the mind. People who think, “I will do this”, and then at once decide to do something else, or who begin one thing and then go on to another, show that their mind is not in its proper rhythm.

When a man is laughing one moment and shedding tears the next, when he is happy one moment and unhappy the next, his mind is not in a right rhythm. The one whose mind has a right rhythm is decided and knows what he says, what he does, what he thinks. He sticks to his decisions, he sticks to his word. That is why people in ancient times attached great importance to a man’s word. When a man has given his word, it is given; he knows what he has said. But when a person is wobbling, this shows that he has not yet learnt how to walk; and when his mind wobbles between “Shall I or shall I not?” “Will this thing be done or will it not?” it has not yet got the right rhythm, and therefore there will always be trouble with such a person.

Music which is only very skilful and technically correct cannot have a magic effect upon the listeners. It can only appeal to their curiosity, and if they do not understand music they can be easily satisfied with it. If music possesses any quality of its own which does not depend upon man-made techniques and forms, it lies in the harmonious grouping of the waves of vibrations—-how harmoniously they work. It is this which affects not only the soul of the listener but even his physical body. On each atom of his person it has a harmonious effect which penetrates all the different planes of life, touching the depths of his soul.

Also, it is not a group of colors put on a canvas which produces a harmonious painting, although this is very often done these days. It may be that someone has the idea of throwing a number of colors together, and another brings it to you saying, “Now look if you can see something in it.” And when these people make a mystery out of this the curious mind thinks, “I must say it is wonderful, though I cannot understand what it is.” Perhaps after having said, “How wonderful!” this person has gone home with a headache, but in front of the others he says that it is wonderful. What really impresses a person deeply, however, is a harmonious blending of colors which do not jar the vibrations of body and mind. Sometimes a really harmoniously painted picture or landscape gives peace through the effect of the colors.

Knowing that color has such an effect, some people have tried crude and undesirable combinations to cure the sick, but instead of curing them they have sometimes made them worse. For instance there is a system of reflecting light through colored glass upon the patient. It is the most crude way of making use of colors, and it is not thus that colors can have any effect upon a person. To produce a harmonious effect of colors they must be used artistically; and in that way they will prove to be useful in curing people.

One might ask how it is then with the blind and the deaf, if perfect harmony of vibrations is attained through color and sound. The answer is that although people thus afflicted lack one sense, they have the others to experience the world of sense with. If the deaf have not heard with the ears, the effect of the conversation has reached their inner ears just the same