Great Construction


Human Beings and Disease


     Contemporary medical science considers germs to be, for the most part, the origin of disease, so the way of thinking goes that if the transmission of germs can be prevented, disease will not break out, but this approach in itself is rather superficial. It is superficial because what must be clearly understood is the reality of germs. As long as the fundamentals of how and for reason germs are generated remain unknown, germ theory has no meaning. Understanding these points within the current limits of medical science is impossible, so true healing at present is inconceivable.
No matter how infinitesimal the germ, it does not generate spontaneously out of nowhere. I will discuss this principle in more detail later, but one question in this regard that does demand consideration is that if germs really are the cause of disease and make people suffer through infection, what are germs for and why were germs considered necessary to exist in this world. Everything in all creation is necessary for human beings, and because there is nothing that is unnecessary, if there is something that does become unnecessary, it will be set apart and removed through natural selection, as is evident from observing history. What is necessary will exist only during the period it is necessary of which many examples can be seen from anthropology. The evidence of the mammoths and dinosaurs from the remote past and of beasts for which we do not even have names well account for this phenomenon. As long as germs exist, they have a purpose, but impulsively germs are held in fear because that purpose has as yet not been grasped by human learning. There is indeed important significance in the fact that the Creator, that is, God, caused to exist germs that make human beings suffer and indeed threaten human life. In spite of which, human beings to this day have not given thought to this significance, and it is problematic that with complete indifference doubts in regard to the intentions of the Creator have not arisen. Human knowledge and learning have not progressed far enough to understand this issue, and it is in this sense that I seek to provide through this book self awareness to contemporary civilized peoples and to raise the level of human intelligence.
     At this stage of the discussion I must raise an important issue. Why the Creator created the universe together with human beings is a fundamental question probably more significant than anything else and I am sure there is no other point about which all would like to know. A convincing explanation of this subject that does not entail major objections has not been offered until now, so I will present one here. God’s purpose is to create through the agency of human society an ideal world of perfect truth, virtue, and beauty, a world that will develop and improve limitlessly. This is an immutable and eternal truth. A shining future unimaginable at current levels of human knowledge lies before us, so all should devote themselves joyously to this sacred mission with hope and promise in their hearts. Human beings have been formed to carry out the purpose of the Creator, so toward this mission they should become aware to the core of their beings and as long as they have life endeavor without straying off course.
     To accomplish this divine goal nothing is more important than health, but are human beings truly healthy? It is indeed a fact that human beings are easily afflicted with disease and often lose their health. In order to maintain their health, God has endowed human beings with a natural function. The reader will probably be astonished to hear that this natural function is what is called “disease.” Disease as a natural function of the human body will be thoroughly explained.
     As the human being seeks to fulfill its role as a human being, impurities cannot help but form throughout the entire human body. I will describe how impurities are formed in more detail in subsequent chapters, but for now, in general terms, impurities are clouds on the human spirit which in the physical body is impure blood. Impurities accumulate within the body and when they reach a certain point, they can impair the ability of the human body as a whole to function. At this point, a natural purifying action, referred to earlier, occurs to remove these impurities. Because the process of this purifying function involves forms of pain and suffering, human beings interpreted the effects of pain and suffering in a negative manner and called it “disease.” Because illness has come to be understood in a manner opposite to the Creator’s purpose, that is, as “losing one’s health,” human beings fear for their lives when they get sick. Throughout the ages, various measures have been tried in the attempt to decrease if not eliminate pain and suffering, which has resulted in the present form of medical science, so quite recognizable it is how mistaken medical science has come to be.
     As this line of reasoning is pursued and considered carefully, disease as God’s great blessing for the maintenance of human health is readily apparent. Therefore, an art of healing that is based on the fundamentals of this truth should be called the true science of healing. 

Creation of Civilization, unpublished, 1952
 translated by cynndd

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It should be noted that “Ningen to Byōki” did not appear in Kekkaku no Kakumeiteki Ryōhō (Revolutionary Therapy for Tuberculosis) and, apart from occasional similar phrasing in “Byōgen to Shite no Saikin” (“Germs as the Cause of Disease”), the ninth chapter of Kekkaku no Kakumeiteki Ryōhō, was written specifically to be the eleventh chapter for the second part on healing of Bunmei no Sōzō (Creation of Civilization). “Ningen to Byōki” has appeared in translation. Citation is given below for reference.

“Men and Illness,” Creation of Civilization, 1978, page 61.