Right thought then is a preventive of disease in many ways, as well as a healer, in that it brings our minds into a state of rest and peace.
Fundamentally, the cause of all disorder is separateness from the Divine order. If we could all become perfect and in complete alignment with the Divine, then we could meet with no suffering or trouble at all. The case of our suffering is that we are not in harmony, or correspondence, with the internal perfect Divine order. God does not punish us, we punish ourselves, or, rather, our evil punishes us. Evil is its own punishment. Being separate from the Divine order accounts for it all. The prodigal son was not punished by his father, he punished himself by separating himself from his father’s house and wandering in a far country. When he returned he was forgiven and all was harmony and joy. Put into modern language we have to return from our life of separateness in thought, desire, emotions and the affections, to the Centre of all life, order and harmony, and become at-one with it. This means that, first, we must possess the desire to do so, and, secondly, that we must bring all our thoughts into line with the Divine Innermost.
