Bad Thoughts, the Primary Cause of Disease

The primary cause of diseases which afflict the body is bad thoughts. Whatever you hold in
your mind will be produced in the physical body. Any ill-feeling or bitterness towards another
person will at once affect the body and produce some kind of disease in the body. Intense passion, hatred, longstanding bitter jealousy, corroding anxiety, fits of hot temper actually destroy the cells of the body and induce disease of the heart, liver, kidneys, spleen and stomach. Violent fits of hot temper do serious damage to the brain cells, throw poisonous chemical products into the blood, produce general shock and depression and suppress the secretion of gastric juice, bile and other digestive juices in the alimentary canal, drain away your energy, vitality, induce premature old age and shorten life.

When the mind is agitated, then this body also is agitated. Wherever the body goes, the mind follows. When both the body and mind are agitated, the Prana flows in a wrong direction. Instead of pervading the whole body steadily and equally, it will vibrate at an unequal rate (unrhythmically). Then the food is not digested properly. Diseases originate. If the primary cause is removed, then all diseases will disappear.

The pains that afflict the physical body are called secondary diseases, whilst the Vasanas that affect the mind are termed mental or primary diseases. If bad thoughts are destroyed, all bodily diseases will vanish. Purity of mind means healthy body. Therefore, be careful in your thinking, in the selection of your thoughts. Always entertain noble, sublime, loving and kind thoughts. You will have harmony, health and beauty.

Source: pgs. 15-16, Mind, Its Mysreries and Control by Swami Sri Sivananda

"Dread of disease precipitates disease. Through the very thought of sickness you bring it on yourself. If you are constantly afraid of catching cold, you will be more susceptible to it, no matter what you do to prevent it. Do NOT paralyse your will and nerves with fear. When anxiety persists in spite of your will, you ARE helping to create the VERY experience you are dreading.

Also, it is unwise to associate more than is necessary and considerate with people who constantly discuss their own and others' ailments and infirmities; this dwelling on the subject may SOW seeds of apprehension in your mind. Those who are WORRIED, they are going to succumb to tuberculosis, cancer, heart trouble, should cast out this fear, lest it brings about the unwelcome condition.

Those who are already sick and infirm need as pleasant an environment as possible, among people who have a strong and positive nature, to encourage them in positive thoughts and feelings.

Thought has GREAT power. (pgs. 23-24, Living Fearlessly by Paramahansa Yogananda)

"(Paramahansa Yogananda) taught us that when we continually think in a certain direction, a pattern or blueprint is formed in the astral world... and if we persist in thinking in THAT way, the pattern will EVENTUALLY manifest here on earth... if you think about a particular disease all the time, that disease WILL appear in the body.... (He) always told us, 'Don't dwell on thoughts of disease, or FEAR it, because such negative concentration tends to create that condition in your body.'... Even if there are periods when things are not going well for us, if we persevere with a positive attitude, then, in time, conditions WILL change for the better." (pgs. 8-9, Applying the Power of Positive Thinking, Brother Bhaktananda)

"Every thought or emotion or word produces a strong vibration in every cell of the body and leaves a STRONG impression there...

"Intense passion, hatred, long-standing bitter jealousy, corroding anxiety, fits of hot temper actually destroy the cells of the body and induce DISEASES of the heart, liver, kidneys, spleen and stomach.

"It is a point worthy to note with care that every cell in the body SUFFERS or grows, receives a life impulse or a death impulse, from EVERY thought that enters the mind, for you tend to grow into the image of that which you think about most.

"When the mind is turned to a particular thought and dwells on it, a definite vibration of matter is set up and often, more of this vibration is caused, the more does it tend to repeat itself to BECOME a habit, to become automatic. The body FOLLOWS the mind and IMITATES its changes..." (pgs. 45, 46-47, Thought-Power by Swami Sivananda)