Health and happiness are intertwined. That is, to have the full quota of happiness, one truly needs to have good health and the peace and contentment it provides. Likewise, many recent research studies show that one component of good health is a happy and optimistic frame of mind.

Thus, health and happiness may be achieved concurrently. To demonstrate how this may be done, we shall explore the foundation of our existence to discover the underlying reasons for ill health and unhappiness. To begin, we will examine the nature of the functioning of the physical body and attempt to determine why at times it may not serve us as well as we might like.

The human body in normal and perfect condition is the prototype of a complete and finely adjusted race car engine in combination with an electric generator for the generation of power, force, vitality - call it what you will.

To run smoothly and generate the maximum of power, several factors are essential to the highly tuned racing engine. Two of the most important requirements are the ignition spark and the intake of sufficient filtered air. If either of these is missing or defective the engine will stop.

As every automobile mechanic knows, the force of thrust in the gasoline engine is generated by the ignition of a compressed mixture of air and gasoline in the cylinder compartment of the engine. This air and gasoline mixture, drawn in by the force of suction (in a carburetor car), must be in a certain proportion for the engine to run efficiently.

The intake of both gasoline and air is continuous, and every additional igniting spark, following a certain number of revolutions of the flywheel, creates new life and power that continues as long as there is the air-gas mixture and a spark to ignite it.

While it is the gasoline that forms the foundation of the fuel mixture, it is utterly impossible to create an ignitable gas without the addition of air. The entire harmony of the engine depends upon the correctness of the air-gas mixture. Too much air and an insufficiency of gasoline causes the engine to "misfire," while too much fuel and insufficient air in the mixture will cause flooding and may stop the engine altogether.

Other conditions may likewise interfere with the running of the engine or with the generation of maximal power. T e battery may be weak, producing too weak a spark to induce proper combustion of the gas. The spark plug points may be coated with carbon, causing the missing of ignition sparks, thereby reducing the energy produced by the engine. In fact, the spark plug points may be so thickly coated that the contacts will no longer be able to produce a spark, and the engine ceases running.

In the human body we find an analogous condition to that of the gasoline engine. While many components are necessary for both the human and the race car engine to run properly, none is more essential than the igniting spark. While every modern teenager is aware of this fact in the running of the automotive engine, few teenagers (or adults for that matter) give much thought to the "spark" that is essential for the human engine to run correctly; when it does not, what we call disease is the result. This human igniting spark has been called many things over the centuries, but the favorite phrase of the ancient Initiate Philosophers was the Divine Spark, and it is this well-honored term that we will use in this text.

In all fundamental respects, the analogy between the needs of the human engine and the car engine is nearly perfect. Let it be clearly understood, however, that analogies can never be absolutely exact in all details, so the reader must not press the corresponding features too far, lest he become bewildered by a maze of irrelevant questions that may come to mind.

The Divine Spark is also the name given to the embryonic soul by ancient philosophers. While at first this may seem to be a contradiction or confusion in terms, this is not so. These ancient Arcane Philosophers knew that there was an integrating Law between the physical and the spiritual(the Divine Law) and that analogies developed in one area could be used to explain the other. Since even in today's advanced intellectual world it is difficult to find two "authorities" who agree as to exactly what the Soul is, we find that the correspondence existing between conditions on the material plane and those on the spiritual furnish a reliable basis from which to study this subject. The principle by which this can be accomplished was given to mankind thousands of years ago by the sage Hermes the Thrice Wise when he assured us: "As above, so below; as in the inner, so in the outer; and in the greater, so in the lesser."

As we described in the Introduction, there is only one Law of all universal life and activity - the Divine Law. Under this functioning Law of our being, all is utilized with the utmost efficiency. It is this Law of efficiency that is the mechanism that allows the Law of Hermes to function. In order to create the necessary efficiency, the Divine Law uses a successful functioning mechanism over and over again in many varied areas of activity - physical, mental and spiritual. It is this fact that led man to investigate many of the sciences originally. These wise men of old knew that if they could prove a principle in the world of music, art, mathematics, chemistry, physics, etc., they could use this knowledge to extrapolate to many other fields of research - even the spiritual. This procedure is used freely throughout this book, since it is the preferred method used by the Masters of the past (the Nazarene used it extensively to teach these Divine Truths.

As we continue with our analogy we will seemingly mix physical and spiritual components, but in truth this is not justified. There is no real separation between these two, although most of mankind has, to its detriment and sorrow, attempted to create an artificial one. Health, and with it happiness, is the result of a functioning harmony among all the elements that make up man - physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. When all these are in harmony we have found the desired Kingdom of Heaven within. When there is disharmony among these four we are in Hell - the extent of that Hell is in direct proportion to the extent of the disharmony. Therefore, in order to really help you to find both health and happiness in this temporal life we must, and will, address all four sides of man. The pyramids of Egypt have four equal sides pointed to the heavens to show mankind its ultimate goal. We will do our best to help direct our readers in this direction.

The Human Ignition

It has previously been noted that the condition of the spark plug's points in the cylinder of the racing engine has much to do with the generation of power. If the spark plug's points are covered with carbon or soot, the action of the engine is greatly impaired. Similarly, the condition of the Divine spark in man is the crucial test of his real fourfold power. If the embryonic Soul (Divine Spark) is covered with refuse and dross (the natural result of past attempts to circumvent the Divine Law) through ignorance or an abnormal mode of living, there can be no actual strength or enlightenment of man's fourfold nature. He may possess a certain animal vitality of the physical body, but this usually only leads him into greater and greater imbalance with his other three sides.

The racing engine or vehicle in itself may be in a satisfactory state, but if the one item - the point of ignition, the active source of the energy - is unable to deliver the ignition fire that produces the energizing combustion, there can be no power. A like situation may exist in the human organism: The body may be in perfect condition, healthy and strong and functioning properly; the vital organs, the muscular system and the network of nerves loyal each to its particular part in the intricate mechanism of the human economy; the lungs, which correspond to the air intake of the engine, may be normal and fully developed; the vital forces, corresponding to the batteries or current furnishing the spark, may be of dull strength. Yet if the Divine Spark, or the embryonic Soul in progress of awakening, is smoldering under the garbage of ignorance and carnality, the highest power is not available since this potential lies only in the soul power of the individual.

In this particular, man differs from the racing engine: the human machine continues running, at least so far as material affairs are concerned. It may even seem to do good work to all outward appearance, and it may also seem to be satisfactory in promoting various human interests. However, in actual fact, it may be producing only a minimal amount of its potential energy because it is running on low pressure, on a force that is purely material or physical. The great energizing agency of the Soul fire - the source of all real power - is missing.

When the racing engine commences to misfire and no longer generates the maximum of power, the mechanics at once proceed to an examination of the cause, and one of the first things they will do is to check the spark plugs. If found defective, they are cleaned until there is once again a pure white spark of fire, which by igniting the air-fuel mixture returns the motor to full power.

In a similar manner, the wise individual will examine the state of his own power spark plugs within himself. He will do all in his power to "clean" the debris that covers his Divine Spark, the true power source of the human organism. This he can do by not only learning more and more of the Divine Law, but also living in harmony with it. He should free himself from those emotions that by their very nature coat the Divine Spark with energy-sapping crud. These include, but, as the lawyers say, are not limited to, hate, anger, envy, jealousy, malice, resentment, self-pity, and every form of ill-will and judgment toward any creature. He should discard materialism and unbelief (they are weakening since they ignore the power of the Divine Spark) and seek for enlightenment and power of the Soul. He should develop the Divine Spark by his efforts to follow the Divine Law and recognize himself as a being of Godlike possibilities as described in the Introduction. As he succeeds in doing this, he gradually achieves the maximum of all his forces and energies, to use to help himself and then all humanity. As he continues in his efforts, he will discover that much sought after Philosopher's Stone, finally realize his Conscious Individuality and achieve Health and Happiness.
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