If thou wouldst understand the method of the world's corruption, and the condition to which sin hath reduced the work of God, Meditate upon the aspect of a corpse; and consider the method of the putrefaction of its tissues and humours. For the secret of death is the same, whether of the outer or of the inner. The body dieth when the central will of its system no longer bindeth in obedience the elements of its substance. Every cell is a living entity, whether of vegetable or of animal potency. In the healthy body every cell is polarised in subjection to the central will, the Adonai of the physical system. Health, therefore, is order, obedience, and government. But wherever disease is, there is disunion, rebellion, and insubordination. And the deeper the seat of the confusion, the more dangerous the malady, and the harder to quell it. That which is superficial may be more easily healed; or, if need be, the disorderly elements may be rooted out, and the body shall be whole and at unity again. But if the disobedient molecules corrupt each other continually, and the perversity spread, and the rebellious tracts multiply their elements; the whole body shall fall into dissolution, which is death. For the central will that should dominate all the kingdom of the body, is no longer obeyed; and every element is become its own ruler, and hath a divergent will of its own. So that the poles of the cells incline in divers directions; and the binding power which is the life of the body, is dissolved and destroyed. And when dissolution is complete, then follow corruption and putrefaction. Now, that which is true of the physical, is true likewise of its prototype. The whole world is full of revolt; and every element hath a will divergent from God. Whereas there ought to be but one will, attracting and ruling the whole man. But there is no longer Brotherhood among you; nor order, nor mutual sustenance. Every cell is its own arbiter; and every member is become a sect. Ye are not bound one to another: ye have confounded your offices, and abandoned your functions. Ye have reversed the direction of your magnetic currents: ye are fallen into confusion, and have given place to the spirit of misrule. Your wills are many and diverse; and every one of you is an anarchy. A house that is divided against itself, falleth. O wretched man; who shall deliver you from this body of Death? (4) Concerning the Twelve Gates of Regeneration. Now, the Kingdom of God is within us; that is, it is interior, invisible, mystic, spiritual. There is a power by means of which the Outer may be absorbed into the Inner.