Chapter XXXVI

The Symphony of Life

Human life appears to me as a great orchestra in which we are the players.  The great composition to be performed is the “Symphony of Life,” its infinitude of dissonances and melodies blending into one colossal tone picture of harmony and grandeur.  We players must study the laws of music and the score of the Great Symphony and we must practice diligently and persistently, until we can play our part unerringly in harmony with the concepts of the Great Composer.  At the same time we must learn to keep our instrument, the body, in the best possible condition; for the greatest artist, endowed with a profound knowledge of the laws of music and possessed of the most perfect technique, cannot produce musical and harmonious sounds from an instrument with strings relaxed or overtense, or with its body filled with rubbish.

The artist must learn that the instrument, its material, its construction and its care are just as subject to law as the harmonics of the score.

In the final analysis, everything is vibration acting in and on the universal ethers, which are held to be the primordial substance.  Possibly the ethers themselves are modes of vibration.

That which is constructive is harmonious vibration.  That which is destructive is inharmonious or discordant vibration.

Against this it may be urged that devolution has its harmonics as well as evolution, that every symphony is made up of dissonances as well as of harmonies.  To this I answer:  “Unadulterated harmony may, solely for lack of change, become monotonous; but discords alone never create melody, harmony, health or happiness.”

As the artist seeks vibratory harmony between his instrument and the harmonics of the universe of sound, so the health-seeker must endeavor to establish vibratory unison between the material elements of his body and Nature’s harmonics of health in the physical universe.

The atoms and molecules in the wood and strings of the violin, as well as the sounds produced from them, are modes of motion or vibration.  In order to bring forth musical and harmonious notes, the vibratory conditions of the physical elements of the violin must be in harmonious vibratory relationship with Nature’s harmonics in the universe of sound.

The elements and forces composing the human body are also vibratory in their nature, the same as the material elements of the violin.  They also must be kept in a certain well-balanced chemical combination, mechanical adjustment and physical refinement before they can vibrate in unison with Nature’s harmonics in the physical universe and thus produce the harmonies of health and strength and beauty.

If our instrument is out of tune, or if we ignorantly or willfully insist on playing in our own way, regardless of the score, we create discords not only for ourselves, but also for our fellow artists in the great orchestra of life.