The outer, physical causal factor in disease, however, is a
disturbance in the balance, the proportionate equilibrium of all those elements
of which the human body is composed. To illustrate: the body of man is a
compound of many constituent substances, each component being present in a
prescribed amount, contributing to the essential equilibrium of the whole. So
long as these constituents remain in their due proportion, according to the
natural balance of the whole—that is, no component suffereth a change in its
natural proportionate degree and balance, no component being either augmented
or decreased—there will be no physical cause for the incursion of disease.
For example, the starch component must be present to a given
amount, and the sugar to a given amount. So long as each remaineth in its
natural proportion to the whole, there will be no cause for the onset of
disease. When, however, these constituents vary as to their natural and due
amounts—that is, when they are augmented or diminished—it is certain that this
will provide for the inroads of disease.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘Selections from the
Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’)
