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Physiognomy—the study of health and character as it is revealed in the structure and lineaments of the face and body—is an an-cient art that can provide a lifetime of health and amusement. It can literally give us new eyes—vivid, startling, instructive in-sights into ourselves and those around us. Without knowing much about physiognomy, we use it daily as our own happiness and freedom is greatly influenced by our ability to understand others. Without knowing and understanding people we cannot help them, we cannot react according to their needs and de-mands, we cannot know what to expect of them, and we cannot choose our friends properly. There is nothing more important than our ability to understand other people, and perhaps in noth-ing else do we fail so often.

Physiognomy was well known in the Orient as a valuable as-set to medicine and to judgment. Every aspect of a person's in-ternal condition and original constitution is revealed by his ap-pearance; a skillful practitioner can tell all he needs to know simply by looking at the soles of the feet! Since our disposition and character are governed by our health, a knowledge of this science can be helpful in understanding others, in determining our own health and in increasing our own self-knowledge. There is no sickness that is not revealed long before it becomes chronic.

The person who knows physiognomy well does not need to commit himself to the care of a doctor—indeed, he will be able to understand that like most people today, doctors are also suffer-ing from illness.

Before we learn to evaluate, however, we should realize that no one is without sickness. If such people existed, they would

not be worth having for friends. They would know nothing about life, for without sickness there is no health, without lower judgment there is no way to become higher. They would never have experienced the deep self-reflection that sickness gives us an opportunity for, and consequently they would neither know themselves nor others.

The sicker a person is, the greater chance he has for health;

those who have never experienced trouble will have difficulty understanding the way of life, because they are not seeking.

Jesus understood this, and expressed it well when he said, "Let him who seeks, not cease seeking until he finds, and when he finds, he will be troubled, and when he has been troubled, he will marvel and he will reign over the All." (From The Gospel According to Thomas.) Those without sickness will never under-stand the meaning of freedom, for our sickness comes directly from our own abuse of our free will. The true meaning of free-dom can only be learned through failure.

Our school is not at all like any system of education that ex-ists today. The purpose of the standard education is to fit its stu-dents into the existing social, ideological structure; our school makes real, free men. There is quite a difference. Those who are satisfied with things the way they are lack originality. People with originality are always attacked and accused—just like Jesus and Socrates—and they are worthy of our friendship. Our hap-piness depends on the number of friends we have. A true friend is someone who would be willing to give his life for you. If you have one or two such friends, you will be very happy; with one hundred you can change the whole world. Even Jesus did not have so many friends, for his own disciples could not under-stand h i m

It is our ability to think that makes us flexible and free. Those who accept the thoughts of others without thinking for them-selves are disqualified automatically. Those who do not respect their parents are unworthy of the way of life; but if they do not also follow their own dream, and learn to think for themselves, they cannot become free. This is what Jesus meant when he said,

"Whoever does not hate his father and his mother will not be able to be a disciple to Me, and whoever does not hate his brethren and his sisters and does not take up his cross in My way will not be worthy of me." (The Gospel According to Thomas.) This is not exclusivity but true love; it is not hatred that makes us turn against our parents and those of our friends who are satisfied,

who are not troubled, but a true realization of our own origin and of theirs.

To see others we must begin by seeing their dream, their idea; we must try to acquire a total view of them. When we look at a person's faults we are analyzing, and when we do this we are forgetting. Our dreams are beyond time and space, and will remain when we die. If we can see this clearly, it is enough; there is really nothing more we need to know.

Next, we should see a person's vibrations, which are mani-fested in their words, expressions, and all of their actions.

Vibrations are the embodiment of dream. If a person's voice gives us a pleasant feeling, if it is low pitched, well modulated, moderate, and flexible according to the situation, he is healthy. A high-pitched voice, on the other hand, indicates an unhealthy condition. A good speaking voice is penetrating, not loud; quiet, not weak. Loud speaking is evidence of disorderly judgment.

The sounds a person makes by his actions are also very good indications of his condition. Unnecessary noise indicates mental disturbance and low judgment. A healthy person is quick*, efficient, but quiet.

It is not necessary to study the art of graphology to be able to tell a person's character by his handwriting. A little common sense, coupled with an application of the basic principles of yin and yang, will tell us everything we need to know. In general, disorderly writing means that the person we are interested in is unhealthy, while clear, beautiful writing is a sign of good bal-ance. It need not be skillful, but it is important for it to be clear and uniform. Writing that oscillates rapidly between order and disorder indicates a mentality that is divided within. If the writ-ing is slanted upwards, the person is yang at that moment, prob-ably in active spirits; if downwards, yin.

Use your own ingenuity to discover other ways in which the unifying principle may be applied. If you become proficient, you will be able to diagnose an individual's specific diseases simply by looking at his handwriting.

The heat a person generates is also important; if it is deficient or excessive, either in general or in a particular location, it indi-cates a bad condition. Our own health must be good in order to judge this, for we must be very sensitive to changes in tempera-ture. A good doctor can judge a person's health simply by run-ning his hand over the body without touching it. It is not only in this matter that our own good health is important, for when our

judgment is low we cannot see higher. Practically speaking:

when we eat poorly, we can't see clearly and cannot judge well.

If we want to learn this art, we must first make ourselves well.

Isn't this what Jesus meant when he said, again from The Gospel According to Thomas: "When thou castest the beam out of thine eye, then thou wilt see clearly to cast the mote out of thy brother's eye"?

The proportions of the body in the relationship of its parts signify overall balance and are valuable in determining a per-son's original constitution. First we must determine a ratio of width to height, measuring the former at the widest part (this is usually the hips in women and the shoulders in men). One to five is the ideal balance; if it is more than this, yang prevails, and if less, yin. The head (yin) and the foot (yang) should be equal; if the foot is larger, the person is constitutionally yin. There are many other applications of yin and yang in bodily structure; try to discover a few of them for yourself.