Eternal Ideals Empowering – Robert Bayer and Michael Davies (editors) by Robert Bayer

Eternal Ideals Empowering Editors: Robert Bayer & Michael Davies (2016)

CONTENTS INTRODUCTION 17 Abel Leighton Allen THE MESSAGE OF NEW THOUGHT The Higher Conceptions 18 Abel Leighton Allen THE MESSAGE OF NEW THOUGHT God is The Universal Ever-Present Abel Leighton Allen THE MESSAGE OF NEW THOUGHT Only Recall the Good 22 James Allen THE WAY OF PEACE Entering into The Infinite 25 James Allen ABOVE LIFEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S TURMOIL True Happiness 33 James Allen AS A MAN THINKETH Visions and Ideals 36 James Allen OUT FROM THE HEART The Heart and the Life 40 James Allen FROM PASSION TO PEACE Transmutation 41 US Andersen THREE MAGIC WORDS 2

The Kingdom Of God Is Within 47 US Andersen THREE MAGIC WORDS Follow The Heart 49 US Andersen THREE MAGIC WORDS The Adventure Of Life 51 US Andersen THREE MAGIC WORDS I Know 53 US Andersen THREE MAGIC WORDS I AM Limitless 55 US Andersen THREE MAGIC WORDS In Accord with God 57 US Andersen THE SECRET OF SECRETS Steps to Mastery 59 US Andersen THE SECRET OF SECRETS Meditation on Mystic Powers 61 William Walter Atkinson THE SECRET OF SUCCESS Developing the Use of Our Will 64 William Walter Atkinson THE SECRET OF SUCCESS Inward Power 65 3

William Walker Atkinson THOUGHT VIBRATION Tune into Good Thoughts 67 Jacob Beilhart SPIRIT FRUIT AND VOICE Faith 70 Robert H. Bitzer ALL POWER TO YOU I Have Faith 72 Robert H. Bitzer ALL POWER TO YOU God-in-Me 74 Robert H. Bitzer ALL POWER TO YOU Decide What You Desire 78 Deepak Chopra THE SEVEN SPIRITUAL LAWS OF SUCCESS Applying The Law of Pure Potentiality 80 Deepak Chopra THE SEVEN SPIRITUAL LAWS OF SUCCESS The Law of Giving 84 Deepak Chopra THE SEVEN SPIRITUAL LAWS OF SUCCESS The Law of Least Effort 88 Mabel Collins A CRY FROM AFAR Light on the Path 92

Andrew Jackson Davis PRINCIPLES OF NATURE Love, Will and Wisdom 111 Andrew Jackson Davis The Physician Natureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Power is Spiritual 119 Andrew Jackson Davis THE PHYSICIAN The Great Positive Mind 121 Andrew Jackson Davis DEATH AND THE AFTER-LIFE The Spiritual Worker of Ideas 125 Walter DeVoe HEALING CURRENTS Mother-Father Creator! 128 Walter DeVoe MYSTIC WORDS OF MIGHTY POWER The Power of The I Am 130 Walter DeVoe MYSTIC WORDS OF MIGHTY POWER The Music of The Future 133 Walter DeVoe HEALING CURRENTS Healing Peace 139 Walter DeVoe HEALING CURRENTS Ye Are Slumbering Gods! 142

Walter DeVoe HEALING CURRENTS Pray Without Ceasing 146 Walter DeVoe MYSTIC WORDS OF MIGHTY POWER The Ever Present Power 154 Walter DeVoe MYSTIC WORDS OF MIGHTY POWER The Center is Love 158 Walter DeVoe MYSTIC WORDS OF MIGHTY POWER Recognize Only Good 159 Walter DeVoe INSPIRATION Soul Strength 162 Lillian Dewaters LIGHT OF THE ETERNAL The Radiant Perfect Self 164 Patricia Eddleman INNER WORLD RITUALS Blessing with Love 168 Emmet Fox POWER THROUGH CONSTRUCTIVE THINKING. Your Heartâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Desire 171 Emmet Fox POWER THROUGH CONSTRUCTIVE THINKING The Golden Key Scientific Prayer 175 Emmet Fox POWER THROUGH CONSTRUCTIVE THINKING 6

Take Charge of Your Thoughts

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Shakti Gawain CREATIVE VISUALIZATION Three Necessary Elements 180 Shakti Gawain CREATIVE VISUALIZATION Contacting Your Higher Self 182 Shakti Gawain CREATIVE VISUALIZATION Affirmations 186 Peggy Graham WHERE IS YOUR ENERGY GOING? You Create Everything You See 189 Peggy Graham WHERE IS YOUR ENERGY GOING? The Moment of Power 191 Peggy Graham WHERE IS YOUR ENERGY GOING? Love is Always There 194 Peggy Graham WHERE IS YOUR ENERGY GOING? Choose Well What to Create 196 Charles F Haanel THE MASTER KEY SYSTEM Reborn in Spirit 200 Charles F Haanel THE MASTER KEY SYSTEM The World Within 201

Charles F Haanel THE MASTER KEY SYSTEM Becoming a Channel 209 Charles F Haanel THE MASTER KEY SYSTEM Faithful to Your Ideals 213 Charles F Haanel THE MASTER KEY SYSTEM Inexhaustible Power 218 Henry Thomas Hamblin THE LIFE OF THE SPIRIT The Love of the Whole 225 Henry Thomas Hamblin THE LIFE OF THE SPIRIT Let Go and Let the Spirit of God Henry Thomas Hamblin THE POWER OF THOUGHT Meeting the Challenge 229 Henry Thomas Hamblin THE POWER OF THOUGHT Only Service Brings Happiness 232 Henry Thomas Hamblin WITHIN YOU IS THE POWER Healing through Spiritual Harmony Henry Thomas Hamblin WITHIN YOU IS THE POWER Connecting with the Infinite 236

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Frank L. Hammer LIFE AND ITS MYSTERIES Guard Thy Thoughts 238 Frank L. Hammer LIFE AND ITS MYSTERIES Prayers are Telepathic Thoughts 240 Ernest Holmes CREATIVE MIND The Power We Have Within Us 242 Ernest Holmes CREATIVE MIND AND SUCCESS Drawing Your Own to You 243 Ernest Holmes CREATIVE MIND AND SUCCESS Destroy All Thoughts We Do Not Wish to Experience 245 Ernest Holmes CREATIVE MIND AND SUCCESS The Single Stream of Thought 247 Ernest Holmes CREATIVE MIND AND SUCCESS How To Attain Strength 250 Ernest Holmes CREATIVE MIND AND SUCCESS What We Will Attract 253 Ernest Holmes CREATIVE MIND AND SUCCESS More about The Power of Attraction 254 10

Ernest Holmes CREATIVE MIND AND SUCCESS The Control Of Thought 257 Ernest Holmes CREATIVE MIND AND SUCCESS Creating Atmosphere 260 Ernest Holmes CREATIVE MIND AND SUCCESS The Power Of Words 263 Ernest Holmes CREATIVE MIND AND SUCCESS Using the Imagination 264 Ernest Holmes CREATIVE MIND AND SUCCESS Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Be a Leaner 265 Ernest Holmes ERNEST HOLMES SPEAKS I Affirm 267 Ernest Holmes ERNEST HOLMES SPEAKS See Yourself As You Want to Be 269 Ernest Holmes ERNEST HOLMES SPEAKS Let Go 274 Ernest Holmes ERNEST HOLMES SPEAKS Spirit Creates through Mind in Action 275

Ernest Holmes THE SCIENCE OF MIND Male and Female 279 Ernest Holmes RELIGIOUS SCIENCE What I Believe 282 Gardner Hunting WORKING WITH GOD Expressing Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Attributes Gardner Hunting WORKING WITH GOD Thought is Creative Power Gardner Hunting WORKING WITH GOD Be Not Afraid 292 Brad & Jeloria Jensen DISCOVER YOUR CREATIVE MIND Principles and Laws William George Jordan THE MAJESTY OF CALMNESS Calmness Comes from Within Mary L. Kupferle GOD NEVER FAILS Accept Your Good 311 Mary L. Kupferle GOD NEVER FAILS Perfection in Action

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Mary L. Kupferle GOD NEVER FAILS Turning Completely to God 316 Gina Lake RADIANCE: EXPERIENCING DIVINE PRESENCE Being Radiant 318 Christian D. Larson YOUR FORCES AND HOW TO USE THEM The Higher Forces in Man 321 Christian D. Larson YOUR FORCES AND HOW TO USE THEM Promise Yourself 326 Christian D. Larson YOUR FORCES AND HOW TO USE THEM The Power of Love 328 Christian D. Larson YOUR FORCES AND HOW TO USE THEM Moving towards Perfect Harmony 332 Christian D. Larson YOUR FORCES AND HOW TO USE THEM Make Every Action Positive 335 Christian D. Larson YOUR FORCES AND HOW TO USE THEM The Power of Our Mind 336 Christian D. Larson YOUR FORCES AND HOW TO USE THEM The I AM 338

Christian D. Larson HOW THE MIND WORKS Our Destiny Transformed by Our Highest Ideals 340 Christian D. Larson HOW THE MIND WORKS When the Mind is on the Heights Christian D. Larson THE PATHWAY OF ROSES Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Beautiful Gift to Me 347 Christian D. Larson THE PATHWAY OF ROSES The Way to Freedom 350 Christian D. Larson THE PATHWAY OF ROSES Cosmic Consciousness 361 Christian D. Larson THE PATHWAY OF ROSES The Divine Love 363 Christian D. Larson THE PATHWAY OF ROSES How to Pray 365 Christian D. Larson THE PATHWAY OF ROSES Ascending to the Heights 368 Christian D. Larson THE PATHWAY OF ROSES The Spiritual State of Being 373 14

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Christian D. Larson JUST BE GLAD All Things Respond to Rejoicing 376 Christian D Larson HOW TO STAY WELL The Use of Positive Affirmations 379 Christian D Larson HOW TO STAY WELL The Greater Powers in Man 381 Christian D Larson HOW TO STAY WELL Important Principles 386 Christian D Larson HOW TO STAY WELL I Am Well 392 CW Leadbeater THE POWER AND USE OF THOUGHT Use Good Thoughts to Bless Others in All Realms 396 Charles Godfrey Leland THE MYSTIC WILL Be Wise as to What You Desire 400 Bruce MacLelland PROSPERITY THROUGH THOUGHT Earnest Desire for Good 404 D. Patrick Miller A LITTLE BOOK OF FORGIVENESS Forgiveness is Powerful 406 15

Prentice Mulford THOUGHTS ARE THINGS The Magic of the Infinite Mind 408 Prentice Mulford THE GOD IN YOU God in the Trees 410 Judy L. Sachse THE GREAT WEALTH PANDEMIC The Universal Laws 413 Florence Scovel Shinn YOUR WORD IS YOUR WAND Your Word is Your Wand 420 Enoch Tan THE SECRET OF POWER Control Within is The Key 422 Enoch Tan THE SECRET OF POWER The Secret of Everything 428 Elizabeth Towne. THE LIFE POWER AND HOW TO USE IT How to Reach Heaven 429 Ralph Waldo Trine THE GREATEST THING EVER KNOWN Divine Energies in Everyday Life 435 Ralph Waldo Trine THE HIGHER POWERS OF THE MIND AND SPIRIT Infinite Wisdom and Power May Be Ours 438

Ralph Waldo Trine THE HIGHER POWERS OF THE MIND AND SPIRIT A Mystic Force 441 Ralph Waldo Trine THE HIGHER POWERS OF THE MIND AND SPIRIT The Kingdom of Heaven 442 Ralph Waldo Trine THE WAYFARER ON THE OPEN ROAD A Creed of The Open Road 444 Ralph Waldo Trine THE WAYFARER ON THE OPEN ROAD To Live to Our Highest 447 Ralph Waldo Trine THE WAYFARER ON THE OPEN ROAD The Great Law of Love 450 Ralph Waldo Trine WHAT ALL THE WORLD’S SEEKING The Soul’s Awakening 450 Ralph Waldo Trine WHAT ALL THE WORLD’S SEEKING Mastering Our Thought Forces 454 Ralph Waldo Trine WHAT ALL THE WORLD’S SEEKING The Science of Thought 456 Thomas Troward THE DORE LECTURE ON MENTAL SCIENCE The Spirit as Love and Beauty 463

Thomas Troward THE EDINBURGH LECTURES ON MENTAL SCIENCE Sincere Intention 465 Ella Wilcox Wheeler THE HEART OF NEW THOUGHT Control Morning Thoughts 468 Ella Wheeler Wilcox THE HEART OF THE NEW THOUGHT You are Divine Purpose Personified 470

Introduction This remarkable book contains the finest new age thinking anywhere, but to label it as such, is to damn it with faint praise. In truth, it would be more accurate to label this collection as that of angelic thought, a book filled to overflowing with ideas that can and will change oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life for the better towards the higher heavens, if one will only discover the highest ideals that are within, and live by these. There is no doubt that all the authors presented here are willing and eager to reach out to each of us from the heavens above in order to offer guidance that will help each of us to develop soul mastery that will bring the happiness and success of the heavens into our very lives. The mind is its own place, and in itself can make heaven of Hell, a hell of Heaven. 18

(John Milton)

Abel Leighton Allen THE MESSAGE OF NEW THOUGHT The Higher Conceptions (1914) Truth is the understanding of the principles underlying the universe. Truth is as illimitable and boundless as the universe itself. Principles and laws are changeless, but our understanding of them changes as our minds gain new conceptions of truth and as they grow and develop. Only as the mind dwells on principles can it advance to a larger understanding of truth and higher conceptions of life. Principles are the landmarks to which all things are tied. When man departs from them he enters the jungle of uncertainty and confusion. To gain higher conceptions of the principles and laws underlying the universe is the real work of man. As he comes into an enlarged understanding of these principles, he directs the current of his life in accordance therewith. He grows into a closer harmony with nature, and enters a richer and more satisfying field of experience.

Abel Leighton Allen THE MESSAGE OF NEW THOUGHT God is The Universal Ever-Present (1914) Man can acquire truth only as he is mentally and spiritually prepared to receive it. New Thought is anchored to the idea of finding the good and the beautiful in life, the development of latent possibilities in man, and that law reigns supreme in the universe. Anchored to these principles, New Thought moves forward in its quest for more truth, in its search for greater light that leads upward and onward toward a unity with God. It has not come to eradicate the old, except as the old fades away before the advancing light of the new. However, we have been told that it is dangerous to put new wine into old bottles lest the bottles may break. New Thought is constructive, not destructive. It is not here to tear down, but to build up. It employs addition, not subtraction. Its symbol is plus, not minus. It recognizes that the universe is supported upon the enduring foundation of changeless principles and fixed laws, the result of an infinite and divine intelligence. It realizes also that man may grow into a knowledge and understanding of those principles and laws only as his conscious ideals grow from day to day. Its goal is the understanding of life, of man, and a conscious unity of man with God. If its adherents differ, it is only in methods and not in the end sought. It does not enjoin methods. There are 20

many avenues leading to truth. The arc-light sends out a myriad of rays, but they all lead to the one light. The adherents of New Thought worship the omnipresent God, the indwelling God, in whom we live, move, and have our being. They do not conceive of God as distant or separated from man, but as a universal Spirit permeating all nature, finding its highest expression in man. No better conception of the God of New Thought can be expressed than was given by Pythagoras to the world six centuries before the Christian era. Listen to the great message: “God is the Universal Spirit that diffuses itself over all nature. All beings receive their life from Him. There is but one only God, who is not, as some are apt to imagine, seated above the world, beyond the orb of the universe; but being Himself all in all, He sees all the beings that fill His immensity, the only principle the light of heaven, the father of all. He produces everything. He orders and disposes of all things. He is the reason, the life and motion of all things.” New Thought teaches that the revelation of God to man is a continuous process through nature, through reason, the whispering of intuition through the events and experiences of life. The objects of nature convey their message only as they awaken the divine impulse within, the desire to come into harmony with God. Molding our lives more and more into the divine likeness is the essential thought in any worthy religion; as Plato taught, the highest aspiration of man is “the free imitation of God.” To teach man to come into a conscious realization of the divinity within, and the unity of man and God, so that out of the sublimity of his 21

soul he can say with the Gentle Master, â&#x20AC;&#x153;The Father and I are one,â&#x20AC;? is the supreme purpose and meaning of New Thought.

Abel Leighton Allen THE MESSAGE OF NEW THOUGHT Only Recall the Good (1914) A good memory is essential to a well-rounded life. Without it, we cannot cultivate and practice that fine sense of gratitude that good breeding and true culture require. Memory should retain impressions of the pleasant, worthy and agreeable events of life. It should also be trained to forget those things that bring with them a train of sad and disagreeable reminiscences. Some things in life are too sacred to forget â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the memories of childhood, of family, of friends, the kindnesses and pleasantries of life. Such memories are constructive and keep alive the finer instincts of the soul. Likewise, the memories of the disagreeable experiences of life are destructive and disturb the peace and serenity of the soul. We should cultivate the art of forgetting, as well as the art of remembering. Discrimination is necessary in training the forces and powers of memory. Forgetting the unpleasant and disagreeable incidents of life, the memories of wrongs and injuries, and retaining in their place only the agreeable and pleasant, is one of the valuable arts of life. Forgetting and remembering â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the one is as fine an art as the other. A good memory is a fine forgetting. It is the ability to leave off the useless for the useful, the sad for the pleasant, hatred for love, the deformed for the beautiful. It is planting in the 23

subconscious a rose instead of a thistle, a seed of kindness instead of hatred — which, in due time, will blossom forth in the full radiance of their beauty, in the personality, life and character of the individual. We cannot live a well-rounded life, until we are able to eliminate and banish fears, anxieties, worries and frettings from our minds. These negatives do not add any strength or value to life — but, on the contrary, undermine and sap the energies and potencies of mind. They impair the judgment and unfit it for its highest duties and functions. They introduce confusion and disturbances into the mind, when calmness and strength are the primal qualities necessary for the solution of our problems. When we live in an atmosphere of serenity and calmness, we gain poise and confidence to carry with us into our daily tasks; we give our faculties opportunity to act, and bring to the solution of life’s problems the highest degree of efficiency. We live in the great present, the eternal now, the grandest epoch in all the ages. Our ideals must be great, to harmonize with the great present. We cannot live the full life by taking our standards from the past. We must feel the thrill of the present to develop the best within us. As this is the age of progress, an age of development, our lives must be kindled by the same spirit to meet life’s demands and requirements. The age gives much and requires much. It imposes a great responsibility on every actor in life’s drama. If we act well our part, we must accept the responsibilities imposed, in whatever walk of life. They give man strength, courage and wisdom properly to solve life’s problems. 24

Let us pick up these threads of philosophy, and weave them into the web and woof of the fabric of life. Let us realize that the constructive is the only life; that to create is a joy; that to build is lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s purpose and manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s function. Let us each remember that the latent possibilities of a divine soul are inherent within us, slumbering perhaps, but only waiting to be called into development and expression. Let us remember that we may create, that we may build, that we may be a positive force in the world, that we may lift the burden from some struggling life, that we may radiate joy and kindness, gratitude and love from our lives, that we may leave the world a little brighter and mankind a little better than we found them. Let us not forget that a man hears the sweet symphonies of life, only as he listens to the voice of his own soul; that he walks in the paths of peace, only as they are illumined by the light within; that he sees the facts of life aright, only as he trusts his own inner vision â&#x20AC;&#x201D; that these are the true pilots to guide us safely over the fretted seas of life. Let us build to these ideals, and the world will move forward, some life will be made a little happier, some pathway will be strewn with roses, and we shall feel the glow of a heart at peace with itself. Finally, face the end with equanimity and unfaltering step, and as you gaze across the borderland to the infinite paths that stretch away before you, inviting you to higher achievement, to greater accomplishment, may you feel the conscious joy of a life well-spent and that you have mastered the art of living. 25

James Allen THE WAY OF PEACE Entering into The Infinite (1907) From the beginning of time, man, in spite of his bodily appetites and desires, in the midst of all his clinging to earthly and impermanent things, has ever been intuitively conscious of the limited, transient, and illusionary nature of his material existence, and in his sane and silent moments has tried to reach out into a comprehension of the Infinite, and has turned with tearful aspiration toward the restful Reality of the Eternal Heart. While vainly imagining that the pleasures of earth are real and satisfying, pain and sorrow continually remind him of their unreal and unsatisfying nature. Ever striving to believe that complete satisfaction is to be found in material things, he is conscious of an inward and persistent revolt against this belief, which revolt is at once a refutation of his essential mortality, and an inherent and imperishable proof that only in the immortal, the eternal, the infinite can he find abiding satisfaction and unbroken peace. And here is the common ground of faith; here the root and spring of all religion; here the soul of Brotherhood and the heart of Love, â&#x20AC;&#x201D; that man is essentially and spiritually divine and eternal, and that, immersed in mortality and troubled with unrest, he is ever striving to enter into a consciousness of his real nature. The spirit of man is inseparable from the Infinite, and can be 26

satisfied with nothing short of the Infinite, and the burden of pain will continue to weigh upon manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heart, and the shadows of sorrow to darken his pathway until, ceasing from his wanderings in the dream-world of matter, he comes back to his home in the reality of the Eternal. As the smallest drop of water detached from the ocean contains all the qualities of the ocean, so man, detached in consciousness from the Infinite, contains within him its likeness; and as the drop of water must, by the law of its nature, ultimately find its way back to the ocean and lose itself in its silent depths, so must man, by the unfailing law of his nature, at last return to his source, and lose himself in the great ocean of the Infinite. To re-become one with the Infinite is the goal of man. To enter into perfect harmony with the Eternal Law is Wisdom, Love and Peace. But this divine state is, and must ever be, incomprehensible to the merely personal. Personality, separateness, selfishness are one and the same, and are the antithesis of wisdom and divinity. By the unqualified surrender of the personality, separateness and selfishness cease, and man enters into the possession of his divine heritage of immortality and infinity. Such surrender of the personality is regarded by the worldly and selfish mind as the most grievous of all calamities, the most irreparable loss, yet it is the one supreme and incomparable blessing, the only real and lasting gain. The mind unenlightened upon the inner laws of being, and upon the nature and destiny of its own life, clings to transient appearances, things which have in them no enduring substantiality, and so clinging, perishes, for the 27

time being, amid the shattered wreckage of its own illusions. Men cling to and gratify the flesh as though it were going to last forever, and though they try to forget the nearness and inevitability of its dissolution, the dread of death and of the loss of all that they cling to clouds their happiest hours, and the chilling shadow of their own selfishness follows them like a remorseless specter. And with the accumulation of temporal comforts and luxuries, the divinity within men is drugged, and they sink deeper and deeper into materiality, into the perishable life of the senses, and where there is sufficient intellect, theories concerning the immortality of the flesh come to be regarded as infallible truths. When a manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s soul is clouded with selfishness in any or every form, he loses the power of spiritual discrimination, and confuses the temporal with the eternal, the perishable with the permanent, mortality with immortality, and error with Truth. It is thus that the world has come to be filled with theories and speculations having no foundation in human experience. Every body of flesh contains within itself, from the hour of birth, the elements of its own destruction, and by the unalterable law of its own nature must it pass away. The perishable in the universe can never become permanent; the permanent can never pass away; the mortal can never become immortal; the immortal can never die; the temporal cannot become eternal nor the eternal become temporal; appearance can never become reality, nor reality fade into appearance; error can never become Truth, nor can Truth become error. Man cannot immortalize the flesh, but, by 28

overcoming the flesh, by relinquishing all its inclinations, he can enter the region of immortality. “God alone hath immortality,” and only by realizing the God state of consciousness does man enter into immortality. All nature in its myriad forms of life is changeable, impermanent, unenduring. Only the informing Principle of nature endures. Nature is many, and is marked by separation. The informing Principle is One, and is marked by unity. By overcoming the senses and the selfishness within, which is the overcoming of nature, man emerges from the chrysalis of the personal and illusory, and wings himself into the glorious light of the impersonal, the region of universal Truth, out of which all perishable forms come. Let men, therefore, practice self-denial; let them conquer their animal inclinations; let them refuse to be enslaved by luxury and pleasure; let them practice virtue, and grow daily into high and ever higher virtue, until at last they grow into the Divine, and enter into both the practice and the comprehension of humility, meekness, forgiveness, compassion, and love, which practice and comprehension constitute Divinity. “Good-will gives insight,” and only he who has so conquered his personality that he has but one attitude of mind, that of goodwill, toward all creatures, is possessed of divine insight, and is capable of distinguishing the true from the false. The supremely good man is, therefore, the wise man, the divine man, the enlightened seer, the knower of the Eternal. Where you find unbroken gentleness, enduring patience, sublime lowliness, graciousness of speech, self-control, self-forgetfulness, and deep 29

and abounding sympathy, look there for the highest wisdom, seek the company of such a one, for he has realized the Divine, he lives with the Eternal, he has become one with the Infinite. Believe not him that is impatient, given to anger, boastful, who clings to pleasure and refuses to renounce his selfish gratifications, and who practices not good-will and far-reaching compassion, for such a one hath not wisdom, vain is all his knowledge, and his works and words will perish, for they are grounded on that which passes away. Let a man abandon self, let him overcome the world, let him deny the personal; by this pathway only can he enter into the heart of the Infinite. The world, the body, the personality are mirages upon the desert of time; transitory dreams in the dark night of spiritual slumber, and those who have crossed the desert, those who are spiritually awakened, have alone comprehended the Universal Reality where all appearances are dispersed and dreaming and delusion are destroyed. There is one Great Law which exacts unconditional obedience, one unifying principle which is the basis of all diversity, one eternal Truth wherein all the problems of earth pass away like shadows. To realize this Law, this Unity, this Truth, is to enter into the Infinite, is to become one with the Eternal. To center oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life in the Great Law of Love is to enter into rest, harmony, peace. To refrain from all participation in evil and discord; to cease from all resistance to evil, and from the omission of that which is good, and to fall back upon unswerving obedience to the holy calm within, is to enter into the inmost heart 30

of things, is to attain to a living, conscious experience of that eternal and infinite principle which must ever remain a hidden mystery to the merely perceptive intellect. Until this principle is realized, the soul is not established in peace, and he who so realizes is truly wise; not wise with the wisdom of the learned, but with the simplicity of a blameless heart and of a divine manhood. To enter into a realization of the Infinite and Eternal is to rise superior to time, and the world, and the body, which comprise the kingdom of darkness; and is to become established in immortality, Heaven, and the Spirit, which make up the Empire of Light. Entering into the Infinite is not a mere theory or sentiment. It is a vital experience which is the result of assiduous practice in inward purification. When the body is no longer believed to be, even remotely, the real man; when all appetites and desires are thoroughly subdued and purified; when the emotions are rested and calm, and when the oscillation of the intellect ceases and perfect poise is secured, then, and not till then, does consciousness become one with the Infinite; not until then is childlike wisdom and profound peace secured. Men grow weary and gray over the dark problems of life, and finally pass away and leave them unsolved because they cannot see their way out of the darkness of the personality, being too much engrossed in its limitations. Seeking to save his personal life, man forfeits the greater impersonal Life in Truth; clinging to the perishable, he is shut out from a knowledge of the Eternal. By the surrender of self all difficulties are overcome, and 31

there is no error in the universe but the fire of inward sacrifice will burn it up like chaff; no problem, however great, but will disappear like a shadow under the searching light of selfabnegation. Problems exist only in our own self-created illusions, and they vanish away when self is yielded up. Self and error are synonymous. Error is involved in the darkness of unfathomable complexity, but eternal simplicity is the glory of Truth. Love of self shuts men out from Truth, and seeking their own personal happiness they lose the deeper, purer, and more abiding bliss. Says Carlyle — “There is in man a higher than love of happiness. He can do without happiness, and instead thereof find blessedness. Love not pleasure, love God. This is the Everlasting Yea, wherein all contradiction is solved; wherein whoso walks and works, it is well with him.” He who has yielded up that self, that personality that men most love, and to which they cling with such fierce tenacity, has left behind him all perplexity, and has entered into a simplicity so profoundly simple as to be looked upon by the world, involved as it is in a network of error, as foolishness. Yet such a one has realized the highest wisdom, and is at rest in the Infinite. He “accomplishes without striving,” and all problems melt before him, for he has entered the region of reality, and deals, not with changing effects, but with the unchanging principles of things. He is enlightened with a wisdom which is as superior to ratiocination, as reason is to animality. Having yielded up his lusts, his errors, his opinions and prejudices, he has entered into possession of the knowledge of God, having slain the selfish desire for heaven, 32

and along with it the ignorant fear of hell; having relinquished even the love of life itself, he has gained supreme bliss and Life Eternal, the Life which bridges life and death, and knows its own immortality. Having yielded up all without reservation, he has gained all, and rests in peace on the bosom of the Infinite. Only he who has become so free from self as to be equally content to be annihilated as to live, or to live as to be annihilated, is fit to enter into the Infinite. Only he who, ceasing to trust his perishable self, has learned to trust in boundless measure the Great Law, the Supreme Good, is prepared to partake of undying bliss. For such a one there is no more regret, nor disappointment, nor remorse, for where all selfishness has ceased these sufferings cannot be; and whatever happens to him he knows that it is for his own good, and he is content, being no longer the servant of self, but the servant of the Supreme. He is no longer affected by the changes of earth, and when he hears of wars and rumors of wars his peace is not disturbed, and where men grow angry and cynical and quarrelsome, he bestows compassion and love. Though appearances may contradict it, he knows that the world is progressing, and that â&#x20AC;&#x153;Through its laughing and its weeping, Through its living and its keeping, Through its follies and its labors, weaving in and out of sight, To the end from the beginning, Through all virtue and all sinning, Reeled from Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s great spool of Progress, runs the golden thread of light.â&#x20AC;?

James Allen ABOVE LIFE’S TURMOIL True Happiness (1910)

True Happiness To maintain an unchangeable sweetness of disposition, to think only thoughts that are pure and gentle, and to be happy under all circumstances, ― such blessed conditions and such beauty of character and life should be the aim of all, and particularly so of those who wish to lessen the misery of the world. If anyone has failed to lift himself above ungentleness, impurity, and unhappiness, he is greatly deluded if he imagines he can make the world happier by the propagation of any theory or theology. He who is daily living in harshness, impurity, or unhappiness is day by day adding to the sum of the world’s misery; whereas he who continually lives in goodwill, and does not depart from happiness, is day by day increasing the sum of the world’s happiness, and this independently of any religious beliefs which these may or may not hold. He who has not learned how to be gentle, or giving, loving and happy, has learned very little, great though his book-learning and profound his acquaintance which the letter of Scripture may be, for it is in the process of becoming gentle, pure, and happy that the deep, real and enduring lessons of life are learned. Unbroken sweetness of conduct in the face of all outward antagonism is the infallible indication of a self-conquered soul, 34

the witness of wisdom, and the proof of the possession of Truth. A sweet and happy soul is the ripened fruit of experience and wisdom, and it sheds abroad the invisible yet powerful aroma of its influence, gladdening the hearts of others, and purifying the world. And all who will, and who have not yet commenced, may begin this day, if they will so resolve, to live sweetly and happily, as becomes the dignity of a true manhood or womanhood. Do not say that your surroundings are against you. A manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s surroundings are never against him; they are there to aid him, and all those outward occurrences over which you lose sweetness and peace of mind are the very conditions necessary to your development, and it is only by meeting and overcoming them that you can learn, and grow, and ripen. The fault is in yourself. Pure happiness is the rightful and healthy condition of the soul, and all may possess it if they will live purely and unselfish. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Have goodwill To all that lives, letting unkindness die, And greed and wrath, so that your lives be made Like soft airs passing by.â&#x20AC;? Is this too difficult for you? Then unrest and unhappiness will continue to dwell with you. Your belief and aspiration and resolve are all that are necessary to make it easy, to render it in the near future a thing accomplished, a blessed state realised. Despondency, irritability, anxiety and complaining, condemning and grumbling- all these are thought-cankers, minddiseases; they are the indications of a wrong mental condition, and those who suffer there from would do well to remedy their thinking and conduct. It is true there is much sin and misery in the 35

world, so that all our love and compassion are needed, but our misery is not needed- there is already too much of that. No, it is our cheerfulness and happiness that are needed for there is too little of that. We can give nothing better to the world than beauty of life and character; without this, all other things are vain; this is pre-eminently excellent; it is enduring, real, and not to be overthrown, and it includes all joy and blessedness. Cease to dwell pessimistically upon the wrongs around you; dwell no more in complaints about, and revolt against, the evil in others, and commence to live free from all wrong and evil yourself. Peace of mind, pure religion, and true reform lie this way. If you would have others true, be true; if you would have the world emancipated from misery and sin, emancipate yourself; if you would have your home and your surroundings happy, be happy. You can transform everything around you if you will transform yourself. “Don’t bewail and bemoan..... Don’t waste yourself in rejection, nor bark against the bad, but chant the beauties of the good.” And this you will naturally and spontaneously do as you realize the good in yourself.

James Allen AS A MAN THINKETH Visions and Ideals (1937) The dreamers are the saviors of the world. As the visible world is sustained by the invisible, so men, through all their trials and sins and sordid vocations, are nourished by the beautiful visions of their solitary dreamers. Humanity cannot forget its dreamers; it cannot let their ideals fade and die; it lives in them; it knows them as the realities which it shall one day see and know. Composer, sculptor, painter, poet, prophet, sage â&#x20AC;&#x201D; these are the makers of the after-world, the architects of heaven. The world is beautiful because they have lived. Without them, laboring humanity would perish. He who cherishes a beautiful vision, a lofty ideal in his heart, will one day realize it. Columbus cherished a vision of another world and he discovered it. Copernicus fostered the vision of a multiplicity of worlds and a wider universe, and he revealed it. Buddha beheld the vision of a spiritual world of stainless beauty and perfect peace, and he entered into it. Cherish your visions; cherish your ideals. Cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts. For out of them will grow all delightful conditions, all heavenly environment; of these, if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built. 37

To desire is to obtain; to aspire is to achieve. Shall man’s basest desires receive the fullest measure of gratification, and his purest aspirations starve for lack of sustenance? Such is not the Law. Such a condition can never obtain: “Ask and receive.” Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become. Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil. The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps in the acorn; the bird waits in the egg. And in the highest vision of a soul a waking angle stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of realities. Your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall not remain so if you only perceive an ideal and strive to reach it. You can’t travel within and stand still without. Here is a youth hard pressed by poverty and labor. Confined long hours in an unhealthy workshop; unschooled and lacking all the arts of refinement. But he dreams of better things. He thinks of intelligence, or refinement, of grace and beauty. He conceives of, mentally builds up, an ideal condition of life. The wider liberty and a larger scope takes possession of him; unrest urges him to action, and he uses all his spare times and means to the development of his latent powers and resources. Very soon so altered has his mind become that the workshop can no longer hold him. It has become so out of harmony with his mind-set that it falls out of his life as a garment is cast aside. And with the growth of opportunities that fit the scope of his expanding powers, he passes out of it altogether. Years later we see this youth as a grown man. We find him a master of certain forces of 38

the mind that he wields with world-wide influence and almost unequaled power. In his hands he holds the cords of gigantic responsibilities; he speaks and lives are changed; men and women hang upon his words and remold their characters. Sunlike, he becomes the fixed and luminous center around which innumerable destinies revolve. He has become the vision of his youth. He has become one with his ideal. And you too, youthful reader, will realize the vision (not just the idle wish) of your heart, be it base or beautiful, or a mixture of both. For you will always gravitate toward that which you, secretly, most love. Into your hands will be placed the exact results of your own thoughts. You will receive that which you earn; no more, no less. Whatever your present environment may be, you will fall, remain, or rise with your thoughts — your vision, your ideal. You will become as small as your controlling desire; as great as your dominant aspiration. The thoughtless, the ignorant, and the indolent, seeing only the apparent effects of things and not the things themselves, talk of luck, of fortune, and chance. Seeing a man grow rich, they say, “How lucky he is!” Observing another become skilled intellectually, they exclaim, “How highly favored he is!” And noting the saintly character and wide influence of another, they remark, “How chance helps him at every turn!” They do not see the trials and failures and struggles which these men have encountered in order to gain their experience. They have no knowledge of the sacrifices they have made, of the undaunted efforts they have put forth, of the faith they have exercised so that they might overcome the apparently insurmountable and realize the vision of their heart. They do not know the darkness and the 39

heartaches; they only see the light and joy, and call it “luck.” Do not see the long, arduous journey, but only behold the pleasant goal and call it “good fortune.” Do not understand the process, but only perceive the result, and call it “chance.” In all human affairs there are efforts, and there are results. The strength of the effort is the measure of the result. Change is not. Gifts, powers, material, intellectual, and spiritual possessions are the fruits of effort. They are thoughts completed, objectives accomplished, visions realized. The vision that you glorify in your mind, the ideal that you enthrone in your heart — this you will build your life by; this you will become.

James Allen OUT FROM THE HEART The Heart and the Life (1904) AS THE HEART, SO IS THE LIFE. The heart within IS ceaselessly becoming the without. Nothing remains unrevealed. That which is hidden is but for a time; it ripens and comes forth at last. Seed, tree, blossom, and fruit are the fourfold order of the universe. From the state of a manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s heart proceed the conditions of his life. His thoughts blossom into deeds; and his deeds bear the fruitage of character and destiny. Life is ever unfolding from within, and revealing itself to the light, and thoughts engendered in the heart at last reveal themselves in words, actions, and things accomplished. As the fountain from the hidden spring, so flows forth a manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life from the secret recesses of his heart. All that he is and does is generated there. All that he will be and do will take its rise there. Sorrow and happiness, suffering and enjoyment, fear and hope, hatred and love, ignorance and enlightenment, are nowhere but in the heart. They are solely mental conditions. Man is the keeper of his heart; the watcher of his mind; the solitary guard of his citadel of life. As such, he can be diligent or negligent. He can keep his heart more and more carefully. He 41

can more strenuously watch and purify his mind; and he can guard against the thinking of unrighteous thoughtsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;this is the way of enlightenment and bliss. On the other hand, he can live loosely and carelessly, neglecting the supreme task of rightfully ordering his lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;this is the way of self-delusion and suffering. Let a man realize that life in its totality proceeds from the mind, and lo, the way of blessedness is opened up to him! For he will then discover that he possesses the power to rule his mind, and to fashion it in accordance with his Ideal. So will he elect to strongly and steadfastly walk those pathways of thought and action which are altogether excellent. To him, life will become beautiful and sacred; and sooner or later, he will put to flight all evil, confusion, and suffering. For it is impossible for a man to fall short of liberation, enlightenment, and peace, who guards with unwearying diligence the gateway of his heart.

James Allen From Passion to Peace Transmutation (1910)

MIDWAY BETWEEN the hell of Passion and the heaven of Peace is the purgatory of Transmutationâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;not a speculative purgatory beyond the grave, but a real purgatory in the human heart. In its separating and purifying fire the base metal of error is sifted away, and only the clarified gold of truth remains. When temptation has culminated in sorrow and deep perplexity, then the tempted one, strenuously striving for deliverance, finds that his moral servitude is entirely from himself. Instead of fighting against outer circumstances, he must alter inner conditions. The fight against outer things is necessary at the start. It is the only course which can be adopted at the first, because of the prevailing ignorance of mental causation. But it never, of itself, brings about emancipation. What it does bring about is the knowledge of the mental cause of temptation. This knowledge of the mental cause of temptation leads to the transmutation of thought, and the transmutation of thought leads to deliverance from the bondage of error. The preliminary fighting is a necessary stage in spiritual development, just as the crying and kicking of a helpless babe is necessary to its growth. But as the crying and kicking is not needed beyond the infant stage, so the fierce struggling with, and 43

falling under, temptation ends when the knowledge of mental transmutation is acquired. The truly wise man, he who is enlightened concerning the source and cause of temptation, does not fight against outward allurementsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;he abandons all desire for them. Thus, they cease to be allurements, and the power of temptation is destroyed at its source. But this abandonment of unholy desire is not a final process. It is the beginning of a regenerative and transforming power which, when patiently employed, leads to the clear and cloudless heights of spiritual enlightenment. Spiritual transmutation consists of an entire reversal of the ordinary self-seeking attitude of mind toward people and things, and this reversal brings about an entirely new set of experiences. Thus the desire for a certain pleasure is abandoned, cut off at its source, and not allowed to have any place in the consciousness. But the mental force which that desire represented is not annihilated, it is transferred to a higher region of thought, transmuted into a purer form of energy. The law of conservation of energy prevails universally in the mind as it does in matter, and the force shut off in lower directions is liberated in higher realms of spiritual activity. Along the Saintly Way towards the divine life, the midway region of Transmutation is the Country of Sacrifice, the Plain of Renunciation. Old passions, old ambitions and thoughts, are cast away and abandoned, but only to reappear in some more beautiful, more permanent, more eternally satisfying form. Valuable jewels, long guarded and cherished, when thrown tearfully into the melting-pot, are remolded into new and more 44

perfect adornments. Likewise, the spiritual alchemist, at first reluctant to part company with long-cherished thoughts and habits, at last gives them up to discover, a little later, to his joy, that they come back to him in the form of new facilities, rarer powers and purer joysâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;spiritual jewels newly polished, beautiful, and resplendent. In transmuting his mind from evil to good, a man comes to distinguish more and more clearly between error and Truth, and so distinguishing, he ceases to be swayed and prompted by outward things and by the actions and attitudes of others. Instead, he acts from his knowledge of truth. First acknowledging his errors, and then confronting them with a searching mind and a humble heart, he subdues, conquers, and transmutes them. The early stage of transmutation is painful but brief, for the pain is soon transformed into pure spiritual joy, the brevity of the pain being measured by the intelligence and energy with which the process is pursued. While a man thinks that the cause of his pain is in the attitude of others, he will not pass beyond it. But when he perceives that its cause is in himself, then he will pass beyond it into joy. The unenlightened man allows himself to be disturbed, wounded, and overthrown by what he regards as the wrong attitude of others towards him. This is because the same wrong attitude is in himself. He, indeed, doles out to them, in return, the same actions, regarding as right in himself that which is wrong in others. Slander is given for slander, hatred for hatred, anger for anger. This is the action and reaction of evil. It is the clash of 45

selfishness with selfishness. It is only the self, or selfish elements, within a man that can be aroused by the evil in another. The Truth, or divine characteristics, in a man cannot be approached by that evil, much less can it be disturbed and overthrown by it. It is the conversion, or complete reversal of this self or selfishness into Truth that constitutes Transmutation. The enlightened man has abandoned the delusion that the evil in others has power to hurt and subdue him, and he has grasped the profound truth that he is only overthrown by the evil in himself. He therefore ceases to blame others for his sins and sufferings, and applies himself to purifying his own heart. In this reversal of his mental attitude, he transmutes the lower selfish forces into the higher moral attributes. The base ore of error is cast into the fire of sacrifice, and there comes forth the pure gold of Truth. Such a man stands firm and unmoved when assailed by outward things. He is selfâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s master, not its slave. He has ceased to identify himself with the impulses of passion, and has identified himself with Truth. He has overcome evil, and has become merged in Good. He knows both error and Truth, and has abandoned error and brought himself into harmony with Truth. He returns good for evil. The more he is assailed by evil from without, the greater is his opportunity of manifesting the good from within. That which supremely differentiates the fool from the wise man is thisâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;that the fool meets passion with passion, hatred with hatred, and returns evil for evil; whereas the wise man meets 46

passion with peace, hatred with love, and returns good for evil. Men inflict suffering upon themselves through the active instrumentality of their own unpurified nature. They rise into perfect peace in the measure that they purify their hearts. The mental energy which men waste in pursuing dark passions is allsufficient to enable them to reach the highest wisdom when it is turned in the right direction. As water, when transmuted into steam, becomes a new, more definite and wide-reaching power, so passion, when transmuted into intellectual and moral force, becomes a new life, a new power for the accomplishment of high and unfailing purposes. Mental forces, like molecular, have their opposite poles or modes of action. Where the negative pole is, there also is the positive. Where ignorance is, wisdom is possible. Where passion abounds, peace awaits. Where there is much suffering, much bliss is near. Sorrow is the negation of joy; sin is the opposite of purity; evil is the denial of good. Where there is an opposite, there is that which is opposed. The adverse evil, in its denial of the good, testifies to its presence. The one thing needful, therefore, is the turning around from the negative to the positive; the conversion of the heart from impure desires to pure aspirations; the transmutation of passional forces into moral powers. The wise purify their thoughts. They turn from bad deeds and do good deeds. They put error behind them and approach Truth. Thus do they rise above the allurements of sin, above the torments of temptation, above the dark world of sorrow, and enter the Divine Consciousness, the Transcendent Life. 47

US Andersen THREE MAGIC WORDS The Kingdom Of God Is Within (1972) We must understand that all form and matter represent only the same intelligence that is in us. We must recognize that all of this intelligence is ours to draw upon and to understand and use. We must know that thought makes form, that thought makes things, that thought makes us what we are. We must know that our separateness is only of evolving consciousness, that basically there is complete spiritual unity in all life. We must strive constantly to expand our consciousness by identifying ourselves with everything and everyone about us. We must search in our quiet hours for contact with the Universal Subconscious Mind, where all information and all thought have been indelibly impressed, which can guide us unerringly along paths of attainment and knowledge. We must understand the invincible power of thought, how it makes us what we are, how it creates form and brings circumstance, how it underlies and moves the universe. We must guard ourselves from being exposed to negative thinking; we must refuse to accept negative circumstance. We must, in our complete and positive expansion, in our soaring knowledge of the mighty work of the mind, teach our children to control their thinking, teach our neighbors to control their thinking, teach a suffering mankind that the way out of each of its dilemmas lies in the vehicle of its own thought, that the millennium is here, that the Kingdom of God. is within 48

everyone of us..

US Andersen THREE MAGIC WORDS Follow The Heart (1972) This is a world in which the heart rules and never the head. The Conscious Mind of man has concerned itself with the frivolous ends of existence and has created a great Lock against the powers of the Subconscious Mind. The heart knows the truth of all things. It is the heart that is the seat of intuition, man’s hope to arrive back home in the midst of and encompassing all the magnificent truth of his unlimited power. Heed the voice of the heart. Close your ears against the promptings of the Conscious Mind. The heart knows the way. In the innermost depths of your being it whispers the truth every minute of every day. Intuitively it perceives. Intuitively it communicates. Leave to your Conscious Mind the doing of that which is Caesar’s; leave to your heart the doing of that which is God’s. Thus it is that as you proceed, you will find yourself being led more and more by your heart. The truth of a feeling that rises within you will ask for no argument or examination. It will come to you as a whole thing, and you will ask of no man whether it be fact or fiction, truth or fantasy, a good idea or poor. It will be a light that never was on land or sea, and you will follow it, for it will have penetrated to your soul. It will be a great deal more than that which up to this point in your life you may have termed a “hunch.” It will be a great deal more than what you might formerly 50

have thought to be a â&#x20AC;&#x153;lucky guess.â&#x20AC;? It will take root deep within your being and become one with you, and you will take the paths of your life with unshakeable vigor and faith to see that it is effected in the world about you. Thus success will come, thus health, thus love, thus peace, thus a grander purpose and sweep than ever existed on earth alone, for it will proceed from the heavens..

US Andersen Three Magic Words The Adventure Of Life (1972) One desire pervades the universe the desire for love. Through this desire all things are created our songs, our stories, our paintings, our engines and machines, our cities and schools, our churches and stores. The hunger of mankind is to know the love of the great Creator. In all lands men are supplicating God to join with them in some enterprise. Each of two warring nations calls on God to aid it in the fight. But men are beginning to realize that God doesn’t join anybody people join God. God is love moving according to law. We must move over on God’s side rather than ask him to move over on ours. God’s side is the side of love. When man moves toward love, he moves toward God, toward the foundation on earth of the brotherhood of man, peace, happiness, and knowledge. This adventure of ours, this life we live, has caught us in the miracle of all creation. We create by our thought and our desire. How precious are the chambers of thought within us. Whatever we think is visited upon us in this world. Learning how to think and how to love, how to create through the use of Universal Mind are the main businesses of our lives. According to how we learn these laws all things come to us. Every thought we think, every desire we have, every mood we invite, each emotion we undergo is projected into the great 52

creative substance of the Universal Subconscious Mind to be manifested in the world about us. What a miracle! But also what a responsibility. We as easily visit evil upon ourselves as we visit good, for according to how we think and believe so is it done to us. Every minute of every day we are using the greatest power in the universe for good or for evil. Only a fool or a madman would deliberately use this power for evil. Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s will is love, and by following love as the guiding law of life, we follow Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s will and thus have infinite power. Every thought attracted by love and accepted by faith will create good in your world.

US Andersen THREE MAGIC WORDS I Know (1972) I know that I am one with the Universal Mind. I know this mind is perfect and I may rely upon it for complete guidance in all of my daily affairs. This Universal Mind, this great Subconscious Mind, this mind of God knows no evil or limitation or lack. It simply creates in my experience that which I believe and accept. Therefore I deny all evil and all error. When my eyes and my senses are deluded with the apparent circumstance of evil, I turn away, lifting my thoughts to the perfection and abundance and love of all the universe. I know that God does not create evil; and I know that by using the power of God I am able to deny evil, which is only illusion, simply error, and will not stand before truth. For the great reality is good, which is always attempting to manifest itself. I know that error or evil is the result of my own thought, is the result of error on my part, is the result of isolating myself from the power of the Universal Mind. I know that the Universal Mind is constantly creating in my experience that which I think, and if evil is manifested, it has come from my own thought; and my own thought may as quickly deny it. I do not will anything to happen, for I am not bigger than God. I simply understand that the law of creation is bigger than I am and that I cannot help my thoughts and beliefs from becoming real in my experience. Therefore I hold my thoughts steadfastly on the 54

good. I do not do this with effort, as if I were commanding something to act. I simply relax in contemplation of the good, secure in the knowledge that everything rests with a power much greater than I am. I trust this power. I have complete faith and confidence in this power. I rely upon this power for guidance in all my daily affairs. I refuse to accept evil, and evil is gone. I accept good, and the supply and love of the universe are mine.

US Andersen THREE MAGIC WORDS I AM Limitless (1972) I listen to the voice of the universe as it speaks within me. It is the voice of truth and it guides me unerringly along the paths of my life. Somewhere deep within me, in the perfect bud of my soul, there stands an immobile universe where all things and all law lie revealed. I reach within to this place of peace and quietness. I harken to the voice of my heart. I close my eyes and sense a living, breathing universe dwelling within me, and I dwelling in it. I am one with all people and all life and all things. I move in accordance with divine law. All the limitless power of creation is mine to draw upon, for it is in me and one with me and I am a part of it. The answer comes with the question; the path is lighted with the first step; the way is cleared with the looking; the goal is in sight with the desire. I know that I am fulfilling the fondest wish of God, for I place myself in His hands, taking each step of my life boldly and strongly, for it is God who prompts me, and God moves with sureness. I see tomorrow for I know today, and this day is father of tomorrow. The things of my life are the children of my thoughts, and my thoughts of today are even now bearing the children of tomorrow. All that is good I desire; all that is evil I refuse to accept. By attaining, I do not deprive. All that is and ever will be is available to every man; he need only ask and it shall be given. I bind myself to the power for good that surges 56

heavenward all around me. The limits and inhibitions of my past are gone. Each day is a new birth of my soul. Each day is another step on my journey to a oneness with God. I do not seek, I know. I do not strive, I am guided.

US Andersen THREE MAGIC WORDS In Accord with God (1972) My body is a manifestation of my knowledge of myself, and my true self is spirit, is consciousness only, and invisible. Other people see me not; they see but my body. It is only I who know myself, and this knowledge returns to me in my health and in the things of my life. Therefore I affirm that my spirit is perfect, that I am one with the great Self of the universe. The energy of this great soul permeates my being, cleanses me of all impurities of the flesh, restores every function of my body to harmony. There is perfect elimination, perfect assimilation. My entire being is spiritual, and my body is quickened into new life with the perception of this great troth. I surrender myself to the wisdom and guidance of Universal Subconscious Mind. I become one with the purpose of God, and this mighty purpose animates my body, projects into every aspect of my life. There is no obstruction, no barrier, no limitation in my mind. I see only peace, power, vigor, and plenty. I open my heart to love, and love lows through every atom and pore of my body, energizing, molding, coordinating. By healing my mind of limitation and lack and negative thinking, I automatically heal my body. At the center of my being I perceive limitless, deathless, ageless spirit, perfect in beauty, perfect in function; this spirit becomes manifest in my body and in my affairs. When I am faced with apparent confusion, 58

I surrender it, give over each of my problems and worries to that which has the perfect solution and in which there is absolute clarity. I take my thoughts from the limitless reaches of Universal Subconscious Mind, never from the world around me. I do not think responsively, I think originally; I do not react, I act. I am never a victim of circumstances, for each thing of my life proceeds from out of my thoughts, which move always in accord with God.

US Andersen THE SECRET OF SECRETS STEPS TO MASTERY (1972)

These then are the steps in the method for mastery over life. (1.) Consecration... a complete focusing of one’s self inward and upward, an absolute concentration of the individual on his God, on his relationship with the Divine. (2.) Surrender... a complete and utter giving of one’s self, works, thought, and will to God, an absolute yielding and submission to the will of the Divine. (3.) Sacrifice... an offering to God of one’s every act, every thought, every desire, in constant reminder of the relationship that the Divine holds with each created existence. (4.) Love... abandonment of self in a longing for union with the Divine, an all-pervading and governing attraction to God in all His forms, works, and ways, a fusion, a oneness, a wholeness with the Supreme. This method applied to all works, all knowledge, all human relationships will carry the individual higher and higher in a divine self-exceeding, lead him to perform far above his normal human capabilities, develop depths of intuition and divination. The psychic being then will slowly emerge. In this psychic being will be seen the unveiled Divine in the impress of human personality. All those vast fields of consciousness hitherto hidden from us... the subconscious, 60

numberless planes of mind and being... will become apparent to the enlightened one. He will touch that secret place where the original determinant of things exists. He will understand how to call down to earth those powers and influences, and he will know that they, if called down in their entirety, could alter completely the whole of the universe and all of life.

U. S. Andersen THE SECRET OF SECRETS: Meditation on Mystic Powers (1958) Winged thoughts that are loos'd in space On planes that the eye cannot see Shape coming events, appoint time and place For the things that will happen to thee Behind the world of the senses are higher planes of consciousness where the true causes of things exist. I affirm that these higher planes are within me, that my destiny is to know them, that they will reveal themselves to me insofar as I surrender my being and will and purpose to God. I know that the truth of objects is not completely revealed by my senses, that there is hidden significance in all things. I know that in actuality there are no inanimate objects, that each thing consists of arrested consciousness. I know this consciousness proceeds out of the mind and being of God, and that in its pure form it is idea only, awareness only, similar, even identical to my own. Therefore I affirm my oneness with all things. In all I perceive the indwelling Presence. He resides in the tree, the flower, the bird, the beast, in my neighbor. He is the observer that sits in the center of each creature, who is never restricted by the restrictions of form. I am not I in a true and real sense, but my consciousness is the consciousness of God. Where I fail to expand to meet this awareness there I limit myself to the form and circumstance of ordinary life. Therefore I take refuge in the body and being of 62

God. I stand apart from my own strivings and concerns and desires and am not identified with them, but watch them. They are not me; they are the warp and woof of life's longing for itself, the inevitable result of conflict and aspiration and effort and failure, and though I exist in the midst of all and participate in all, still I am not touched, and by that very detachment there is unloosed through my nature the power and the purpose of the Divine. His vaster being, His greater consciousness manifest through me.

William Walter Atkinson THE SECRET OF SUCCESS Developing the Use of Our Will (1907)

To many a person, the term “The Will,” means merely a firm, steadfastness of mind, akin to Determination and Fixity of Purpose. To others it means something like Desire. To others, it means “the power of choice,” etc. But to occultists, the Will is something far more than these things – it means a Vital Power – an Acting Force of the Mind – capable of dominating and ruling the other mental faculties as well as projecting itself beyond the mental organs of the individual and affecting others coming within its field of influence. And it is in this sense that we use the word “Will” in this lesson. We have no desire to take the reader into the dim realms of metaphysics, or even into the lighter but still arduous paths of scientific psychology, but we must acquaint him with the fact of the existence of this thing that we call Will Power, and its relation to the “I.” Of all the mental faculties or powers, that of the Will is the closest to the “I” or Ego of the person. It is the Sword of Power clasped in the hand of the Ego. One may divorce himself in thought from the other mental faculties and states, but when he thinks of the “I” he is bound to think of it as possessing that power which we call Will. The Will is a primal, original power of the “I” which is always with it until the end. It is the force with which he 64

rules (or should rule) his mental and physical kingdom – the power of which his Individuality manifests itself upon the outside world. Desire is the great motive power inciting the Will to action in life. As we have shown you the action of Will without the motive power of Desire is unthinkable, and therefore it follows that the culture and right direction of Desire carries with it the channel of expression and manifestation of the Will. You cultivate certain Desires, in order that the Will may flow out along these channels. By cultivating the Desire along certain lines, you are making channels along which the Will may flow in its rush toward expression and manifestation. So be sure to map out your Desire channels clearly by making the proper Mental Images of what you want – be sure and make the Desire channels deep and clear-cut by the force of repeated attention and autosuggestion. History is filled with examples of men who have developed the use of the Will. We say “developed the use” rather than “developed Will,” for man does not develop his Will – his Will is always there ready for use – a man develops his ability to use the Will – perfects himself in its use. We have frequently used the following illustration, and have not been able to improve upon it: Man is like a trolley car, with the upraised trolley-pole of his mind reaching out to the live wire of Will. Along that wire is flowing the current of Will Power, which it “taps” and draws down into his mind, and by which he is able to move, and act and manifest power. But the power is always in the Wire, and his “developing” consists in the ability to raise the pole to the Wire, and thus “tap into” its energy. If you will carry this idea in your mind, you will be able to apply this truth more easily in your everyday life. 65

William Walter Atkinson THE SECRET OF SUCCESS One’s Inward Power (1907) The majority of us have little or no conception of the reserve mental energies and forces contained within our being. We jog along at our customary gait, thinking that we are doing our best and getting all out of life that there is in it – think we are expressing ourselves to our utmost capacity. But we are living only in the first-wind mental state, and behind our working mentality are stores of wonderful mental energy and power – faculties lying dormant – power lying latent – awaiting the magic command of the Will in order to awaken into activity and outward expression. We are far greater beings than we have realized – we are giants of power, if we did but know it. Many of us are like young elephants that allow themselves to be mastered by weak men, and put through their paces, little dreaming of the mighty strength and power concealed within their organisms. Those of you who have read our little manual entitled “The Inner Consciousness” will recall what we said therein regarding the regions above and below the plane of the ordinary outer consciousness. And on those hidden planes of the mind, are untold possibilities – the raw materials for mighty mental tasks and achievement – the storage batteries of wonderful accomplishment. The trouble with us is that we do not realize the existence of these faculties. We think that we are merely what we 66

manifest in our ordinary dogtrot gait. Another problem is that we have not had the incentive to take action – we have lacked the interest to do great things – we haven’t wanted to hard enough. This “want-to-hard-enough” is the great inciting power in life. Desire is the fire which rouses up the steam of Will. Without Incentive – and that means Desire – we accomplish nothing. Given the great, earnest, burning ardent Desire as an animating force – the great incentive to take action, and we are able to get up this mental “second-wind” – yes, third, fourth, and fifth winds – tapping one plane of inward power after another, until we work mental miracles.

William Walker Atkinson THOUGHT VIBRATION Tune into Good Thoughts (1907) LIKE a stone thrown into the water, thought produces ripples and waves which spread out over the great ocean of thought. There is this difference, however: the waves on the water move only on a level plane in all directions, whereas thought waves move in all directions from a common center, just as do the rays from the sun. Just as we here on earth are surrounded by a great sea of air, so are we surrounded by a great sea of Mind. Our thought waves move through this vast mental ether, extending, however, in all directions, as I have explained, becoming somewhat lessened in intensity according to the distance traversed, because of the friction occasioned by the waves coming in contact with the great body of Mind surrounding us on all sides. These thought waves have other qualities differing from the waves on the water. They have the property of reproducing themselves; in this respect they resemble sound waves rather than waves upon the water. Just as a note of the violin will cause the thin glass to vibrate and “sing,” so will a strong thought tend to awaken similar vibrations in minds attuned to receive it. Many of the “stray thoughts” which come to us are but reflections or answering vibrations to some strong thought sent out by another. But unless our minds are attuned to receive it, the thought will not 68

likely affect us. If we are thinking high and great thoughts, our minds acquire a certain keynote corresponding to the character of the thoughts we have been thinking. And, this keynote once established, we will be apt to catch the vibrations of other minds keyed to the same thought. On the other hand, let us get into the habit of thinking thoughts of an opposite character, and we will soon be echoing the low order of thought emanating from the minds of the thousands thinking along the same lines. We are largely what we have thought ourselves into being, the balance being represented by the character of the suggestions and thought of others, which have reached us either directly by verbal suggestions or telepathically by means of such thought waves. Our general mental attitude, however, determines the character of the thought waves received from others as well as the thoughts emanating from ourselves. We receive only such thoughts as are in harmony with the general mental attitude held by ourselves; the thoughts not in harmony affecting us very little, as they awaken no response in us. The man who believes thoroughly in himself and maintains a positive strong mental attitude of Confidence and Determination is not likely to be affected by the adverse and negative thoughts of Discouragement and Failure emanating from the minds of other persons in whom these last qualities predominate. At the same time these negative thoughts, if they reach one whose mental attitude is pitched on a low key, deepen his negative state and add fuel to the fire which is consuming his strength, or, if you prefer this figure, serve to further smother the fire of his energy and activity. 69

We attract to us the thoughts of others of the same order of thought. The man who thinks success will be apt to get into tune with the minds of others thinking likewise, and they will help him, and he them. The man who allows his mind to dwell constantly upon thoughts of failure brings himself into close touch with the minds of other â&#x20AC;&#x153;failureâ&#x20AC;? people, and each will tend to pull the other down still more. The man who thinks that all is evil is apt to see much evil, and will be brought into contact with others who will seem to prove his theory. And the man who looks for good in everything and everybody will be likely to attract to himself the things and people corresponding to his thought. We generally see that for which we look.

Jacob Beilhart Spirit Fruit and Voice FAITH (1926) There is no theory or doctrine you must have or hold in your mind while you pass through the death of self. You need no high degree of goodness, either of past good deeds or of present good desires. All you need is Faith in the Creator despite adverse circumstances. You experience circumstances which destroy and disintegrate the separate life called self. With this Faith is an inner peace which keeps you from struggling or resisting. To some degree you will have conscious peace. That Is, you win have peace while you are in this conscious Faith, but maybe not when you look to your environments and see them tearing down all you have built up in the self-life. This Faith is begotten by the spirit through the Word of Truth which is spoken to you by the Creator who speaks to all. Remember, this is not a religion, anymore than death and birth is a religion. Jesus did not teach a religion. Jesus taught that those who died to self entered immortal life here and now because the Life they entered as they died to self was Immortal. Spirit is impersonal and has no audible voice to speak with; 71

so neither your natural or your psychic ear can hear. Spirit is much deeper than a mortal or spirit who is personal. It is in fact impossible for one to instruct another, who has not perceived the mind of Spirit, how to perceive it. All I can do is direct you in the principles of daily living so you will grow out of self and personal interests and thus grow into the consciousness of the impersonal Spirit. How do you get the Creatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Thoughts? It is by the same process that you get conscious thoughts from your own subconscious nature. The Life and Love of Spirit is founded on Liberty. There is always an open way and that is the way of Spirit and it is best we look for that way. I use all my natural and spiritual senses to discern that open way.

Robert H Bitzer ALL POWER TO YOU I Have Faith (1940) I HAVE FAITH that the Power of God will find its active expression in everything that I do. That my good shall find its full release - That I will put more Power into every action - That Godin-me know only Success. I HAVE FAITH that Right shall triumph in my thinking. That Good shall dominate by being. That I shall stand strong in each endeavor. That I shall not slacken my pace nor digress. I HAVE FAITH that I shall fulfill all that is required of me. That I shall be weighed and found not wanting. That my Loyalty to the Right is sacred in thought, feeling, desire and intent. I HAVE FAITH that no matter where I may be sent or what I may be called upon to do, the progress of my life will be continuous. That no matter how remote my task may seem to be from my life vision, my growth and unfoldment in every experience will relate me to my soul. I HAVE FAITH that God remains the Great Creative Cause in this Universe. That the law of God will remove bondage, aggression, brutality and greed. I have faith that God’s idea of man’s relationship with man shall be established. I have faith that God knows what is taking place and that I, an integral part, will do my utmost to let God’s thought triumph. 73

The Father and I are one. I am one with this Infinite Intelligence. The One Mind of God is the Mind thinking in me and through me. I can never be less than this God-conscious Self, therefore, I know even if I seem to be asleep, dull or sluggish, this God Power within me is still the Only Power that can ever work or manifest. I am active, alert, and dynamic at all times. Where God is, THERE is peace. Where God is, THERE is immediate and instantaneous response. Where God is, THERE is inexhaustible strength. God-in-me knows only the Perfection of my being. God-in-me establishes peace in every part of my being. God-in-me is Perfect Life established in Perfect Body, manifest in Perfect Affairs, balanced in Perfect Emotions. God-inme is all complete. I rest in Peace. I am now at the point in consciousness where my acceptance is complete and full. God-in-me Is all and I know God to Be all. I know nothing other than God. God-in-me is the Perfect Self, the Perfect Health, the Infinite Wealth, Peace, Joy, Harmony and the Love of Life. This God Power within me fills my entire being. It is completely established in my body and permeates all my affairs. Everything that my thought touches is quickened. Everywhere is the God Presence, the God Power and the God Life. God-in-me is all. God-in-me does the Perfect work.

Robert H Bitzer ALL POWER TO YOU GOD-IN-ME (1940) MY ACTIVITY The activity of God is the activity in me now. I am always ready for any situation which might arise. The power within me is greater than any demand which can be made upon me. I shall be at the right place at the right time and with the right people. There is no belief in delay and all activity is on time. Being fully prepared for each experience, I act without hesitancy or delay. I am confident that the perfect right action of God is established in everything I do. Nothing but myself can affect me for God-in-me is conscious of Divine Protection at all times. I am Divinely protected in my affairs and secure under every condition. There is only the One Power of Good working harmoniously â&#x20AC;&#x201D; everywhere present. God-in-me is the Substance of everything that I desire, the Substance out of which every need is made manifest. The One Activity of God maintains Its own Infiniteness of Being in everything I do. Everything my thought touches expresses harmony. Everywhere I go there is the full consciousness of success. Everything I touch prospers. Everywhere there is an abundance for the activity of God pushes forth with Infinite might, bringing Perfection into everything that I 75

do. The One Life, the One Power is all. I am this moment aware that God-in-me is the Presence, Power and Intelligence expressed in my vision. Everything necessary to the complete fulfillment of my vision is now contained within my consciousness. Every channel everywhere is open for the perfect embodiment of my vision. I know that nothing can disturb this. I know that this Word being the creative Word is continuous in its operation. I gladly and joyously accept this vision as the perfect vision here and now. I see myself as God sees me — whole, harmonious and free. GOD-IN-ME reveals to me the clearness of my Mind and the steadfastness of my vision. My Mind is one with the One Mind of God. In God Mind is no confusion, no doubt, no uncertainty, no chaos, no mistrust. My Mind realizes my complete oneness with the One Mind of God. I see myself God’s Idea, without distortion, with every situation in its true perspective, with all conditions as the Perfect Unfoldment of my God-Conscious Self. Anything that has made it difficult for me to perceive the Truth is completely eliminated by this Treatment. I recognize there are no obstacles in my thought — nothing within my consciousness can in any way delay, distort nor confuse. My Mind is clear, positive, dynamic and alert now. Divine Intelligence guides, leads and directs me to that which I need to know. There is no loss in Divine Mind. All things exist in God’s Mind as Ideas. God’s Mind being everywhere, no person can ever be lost, for the God Mind brings to each person the full consciousness of WHO and What he is. No thing that belongs to me can ever be lost, misplaced, misappropriated nor 76

stolen because the God Mind is all revealing — knows all and uncovers all that I need to know. I do not envy, covet nor take that which belongs to someone else, and no one could covet, envy nor take that which belongs to me. My good knows where I am and nothing can hide it from me nor hold it back in any way. My own comes to me. Nothing can be lost in Divine Mind. The Mind of God KNOWS IT-SELF at every point of manifestation — in every thing, person or condition — knows Its value in my possessions and sustains Itself in my property. God’s Mind is ALL KNOWING. My God is brought to me without delay — without complications — without incriminations. The harmonious right action of God is maintained. All is made known. Instantly this Word is made manifest. I am Divinely guided and speak the Perfect Word. I draw to me those whom I can help and those who will profit by my service. They recognize what I can give, are ready to receive it, and gladly accept it. Every need is met and what is necessary to be done is being done. I recognize that the unlimited power of God motivates everything that I say, feel and do. I am receptive to every idea that establishes my Good. I know that nothing can separate me from my Creative Source or the expression of my ability. For God-in-me quickens my perception and opens all channels for the continuous release of my Good. No belief in inherited tendencies can limit me for I am the individualized expression of God. Nothing in my thought, feeling or action can resist nor deny the inevitable flow of my good. This moment I recognize my 77

Oneness with God. I joyously accept all the privileges of the sons of God. For all that the father hath belongs to me.

Robert H Bitzer ALL POWER TO YOU Decide What You Desire (1940) YOUR LIFE is a quest for Power — the power to get what you go after — the power that will heal and keep you well — the power to make money, the power to love and be loved — the power to make yourself and those you love happy. ALL YOUR LIFE you have been seeking power. YOU are the central dynamo which can release this power you have longed for. You are surrounded by limitless power. Yet this Power can do nothing until it is directed. This is just as true of Spiritual Power as of electrical or steam power. Your thought must give Spiritual power its direction. You must decide what you want to express. Your choice of ideas determines everything that comes into your life. Choose those Words which mean something to you. They will give your desire form. You must do your own thinking. FIND YOUR PLACE IN THE DIVINE PLAN: Man’s part in the Divine unfoldment is to recognize what he really is, and through claiming his own to bring it through into expression. Much of Man’s confusion, sin, sickness, or limitation has been the result of his denial of his Divine nature. His belief in an existence apart from God has created negative conditions. But his recognition, that God within him is Complete, changes his order of living and creates abundant life. 79

THE INFINITE RESPONDS TO MAN: The substance of everything that man desires, the essence of all life, fills and surrounds him. Manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s word speaks forth into form. It fulfills his idea or follows his thought pattern. It responds to his desire, completely, when he is scientific in his thinking and is convinced about the Truth upon which he meditates.

Deepak Chopra THE SEVEN SPIRITUAL LAWS OF SUCCESS Applying The Law of Pure Potentiality (1994) I will put the Law of Pure Potentiality into effect by making a commitment to take the following steps: (1) I will get in touch with the field of pure potentiality by taking time each day to be silent, to just Be. I will also sit alone in silent meditation at least twice a day for approximately thirty minutes in the morning and thirty minutes in the evening. (2) I will take time each day to commune with nature and to silently witness the intelligence within every living thing. I will sit silently and watch a sunset, or listen to the sound of the ocean or a stream, or simply smell the scent of a flower. In the ecstasy of my own silence, and by communing with nature, 1 will enjoy the lire throb of ages, the field of pure potentiality and unbounded creativity. (3) I will practice non-judgment. I will begin my day with the statement, .Today, I shall judge nothing that occurs, and throughout the day I will remind myself not to judge. For the next hour, I will experience non-judgment. Then you can extend it gradually. Through silence, through meditation, and through non-judgment, you will access the first law, the Law of Pure Potentiality. Once you start doing that, you can add a fourth component to this practice, and that is regularly spending time in 81

direct communion with nature. Spending time in nature enables you to sense the harmonious interaction of all the elements and forces of life, and gives you a sense of unity with all of life. Whether it be a stream, a forest, a mountain, a lake, or the seashore, that connection with natureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s intelligence will also help you access the field of pure potentiality. You must learn to get in touch with the innermost essence of your being. This true essence is beyond the ego. It is fearless; it is free; it is immune to criticism; it does not fear any challenge. It is beneath no one, superior to no one, and full of magic, mystery, and enchantment. Access to your true essence will also give you insight into the mirror of relationship, because all relationship is a reflection of your relationship with yourself. For example, if you have guilt, fear, and insecurity over money, or success, or anything else, then these are reflections of guilt, fear, and insecurity as basic aspects of your personality. No amount of money or success will solve these basic problems of existence; only intimacy with the Self will bring about true healing. And when you are grounded in the knowledge of your true Self, when you really understand your true nature, you will never feel guilty, fearful, or insecure about money, or affluence, or fulfilling your desires, because you will realize that the essence of all material wealth is life energy, it is pure potentiality. And pure potentiality is your intrinsic nature. As you gain more and more access to your true nature, you will also spontaneously receive creative thoughts, because the field of pure potentiality is also the field of infinite creativity and pure knowledge. Franz Kafka, the Austrian philosopher and poet, once said, .You need not leave your room. Remain sitting at your 82

table and listen. You need not even listen, simply wait. You need not even wait, just learn to become quiet, and still, and solitary. The world will freely offer itself to you to be unmasked. It has no choice; it will roll in ecstasy at your feet. The affluence of the universe, the lavish display and abundance of the universe, is an expression of the creative mind of nature. The more tuned in you are to the mind of nature, the more you have access to its infinite, unbounded creativity. But first, you have to go beyond the turbulence of your internal dialogue to connect with that abundant, affluent, infinite, creative mind. And then you create the possibility of dynamic activity while at the same time carrying the stillness of the eternal, unbounded, creative mind. This exquisite combination of silent, unbounded, infinite mind along with dynamic, bounded, individual mind is the perfect balance of stillness and movement simultaneously that can create whatever you want. This coexistence of opposites, stillness and dynamism at the same time, makes you independent of situations, circumstances, people, and things. When you quietly acknowledge this exquisite coexistence of opposites, you align yourself with the world of energy, the quantum soup, the non-material non-stuff that is the source of the material world. This world of energy is fluid, dynamic, resilient, changing, forever in motion. And yet it is also non-changing, still, quiet, eternal, and silent. Stillness alone is the potentiality for creativity; movement alone is creativity restricted to a certain aspect of its expression. But the combination of movement and stillness enables you to unleash your creativity in all directions wherever the power of your attention takes you. Wherever you go in the midst of movement and activity, carry your stillness within 83

you. Then the chaotic movement around you will never overshadow your access to the reservoir of creativity, the field of pure potentiality.

Deepak Chopra THE SEVEN SPIRITUAL LAWS OF SUCCESS The Law of Giving (1994) The Law of Giving In every seed is the promise of thousands of forests. But the seed must not be hoarded; it must give its intelligence to the fertile ground. Through its giving, its unseen energy flows into material manifestation. The more you give, the more you will receive, because you will keep the abundance of the universe circulating in your life. In fact, anything that is of value in life only multiplies when it is given. That which doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t multiply through giving is neither worth giving nor worth receiving. If, through the act of giving, you feel you have lost something, then the gift is not truly given and will not cause increase. If you give grudgingly, there is no energy behind that giving. It is the intention behind your giving and receiving that is the most important thing. The intention should always be to create happiness for the giver and receiver, because happiness is lifesupporting and life-sustaining and therefore generates increase. The return is directly proportional to the giving when it is unconditional and from the heart. That is why the act of giving has to be joyful the frame of mind has to be one in which you feel joy in the very act of giving. Then the energy behind the giving increases many times over. Practicing the Law of Giving is actually very simple: if you 85

want joy, give joy to others; if you want love, learn to give love; if you want attention and appreciation, learn to give attention and appreciation; if you want material affluence, help others to become materially affluent. In fact, the easiest way to get what you want is to help others get what they want. This principle works equally well for individuals, corporations, societies, and nations. If you want to be blessed with all the good things in life, learn to silently bless everyone with all the good things in life. Even the thought of giving, the thought of blessing, or a simple prayer has the power to affect others. This is because our body, reduced to its essential state, is a localized bundle of energy and information in a universe of energy and information. We are localized bundles of consciousness in a conscious universe. The word consciousness implies more than just energy and information. It implies energy and information which is alive as thought. Therefore we are bundles of thought in a thinking universe. And thought has the power to transform. Life is the eternal dance of consciousness that expresses itself as the dynamic exchange of impulses of intelligence between microcosm and macrocosm, between the human body and the universal body, between the human mind and the cosmic mind. When you learn to give that which you seek, you activate and choreograph the dance with an exquisite, energetic, and vital movement that constitutes the eternal throb of life. The best way to put the Law of Giving into operation to start the whole process of circulation is to make a decision that any time you come into contact with anyone, you will give them 86

something. It doesn’t have to be in the form of material things; it could be a flower, a compliment, or a prayer. In fact, the most powerful forms of giving are non-material. The gifts of caring, attention, affection, appreciation, and love are some of the most precious gifts you can give, and they don’t cost you anything. When you meet someone, you can silently send them a blessing, wishing them happiness, joy, and laughter. This kind of silent giving is very powerful. One of the things I was taught as a child, and which I taught my children also, is never to go to anyone’s house without bringing something, never visit anyone without bringing them a gift. You may say, .How can I give to others when at the moment I don’t have enough myself? You can bring a flower. One flower. You can bring a note or a card which says something about your feelings for the person you’re visiting. You can bring a compliment. You can bring a prayer. Make a decision to give wherever you go, to whomever you see. As long as you’re giving, you will be receiving. The more you give, the more confidence you will gain in the miraculous effects of this law. And as you receive more, your ability to give more will also increase. Our true nature is one of affluence and abundance; we are naturally affluent because nature supports every need and desire. We lack nothing, because our essential nature is one of pure potentiality and infinite possibilities. Therefore, you must know that you are already inherently affluent, no matter how much or how little money you have, because the source of all wealth is the field of pure potentiality it is the consciousness that 87

knows how to fulfill every need, including joy, love, laughter, peace, harmony, and knowledge. If you seek these things first, not only for yourself, but for others all else will come to you spontaneously.

Deepak Chopra THE SEVEN SPIRITUAL LAWS OF SUCCESS The Law of Least Effort (1994)

There are three components to the Law of Least Effort, three things you can do to put this principle of .do less and accomplish more into action. The first component is acceptance. Acceptance simply means that you make a commitment: Today I will accept people, situations, circumstances, and events as they occur. This means I will know that this moment is as it should be, because the whole universe is as it should be. This moment the one youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re experiencing right now is the culmination of all the moments you have experienced in the past. This moment is as it is because the entire universe is as it is. When you struggle against this moment, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re actually struggling against the entire universe. Instead, you can make the decision that today you will not struggle against the whole universe by struggling against this moment. This means that your acceptance of this moment is total and complete. You accept things as they are, not as you wish they were in this moment. This is important to understand. You can wish for things in the future to be different, but in this moment you have to accept things as they are. When you feel frustrated or upset by a person or a situation, remember that you are not reacting to the person or the situation, but to your feelings about the person or the situation. These are your feelings, and your feelings are not 89

someone elseâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fault. When you recognize and understand this completely, you are ready to take responsibility for how you feel and to change it. And if you can accept things as they are, you are ready to take responsibility for your situation and for all the events you see as problems. This leads us to the second component of the Law of Least Effort: responsibility. What does responsibility mean? Responsibility means not blaming anyone or anything for your situation, including yourself. Having accepted this circumstance, this event, this problem, responsibility then means the ability to have a creative response to the situation as it is now. All problems contain the seeds of opportunity, and this awareness allows you to take the moment and transform it to a better situation or thing. Once you do this, every so-called upsetting situation will become an opportunity for the creation of something new and beautiful, and every so-called tormentor or tyrant will become your teacher. Reality is an interpretation. And if you choose to interpret reality in this way, you will have many teachers around you, and many opportunities to evolve. Whenever confronted by a tyrant, tormentor, teacher, friend, or foe (they all mean the same thing) remind yourself, .This moment is as it should be.. Whatever relationships you have attracted in your life at this moment are precisely the ones you need in your life at this moment. There is a hidden meaning behind all events, and this hidden meaning is serving your own evolution. 90

The third component of the Law of Least Effort is defencelessness, which means that your awareness is established in defenselessness, and you have relinquished the need to convince or persuade others of your point of view. If you observe people around you, youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll see that they spend ninetynine percent of their time defending their points of view. If you just relinquish the need to defend your point of view, you will in that relinquishment, gain access to enormous amounts of energy that have been previously wasted. When you become defensive, blame others, and do not accept and surrender to the moment, your life meets resistance. Any time you encounter resistance, recognize that if you force the situation, the resistance will only increase. You donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to stand rigid like a tall oak that cracks and collapses in the storm. Instead, you want to be flexible, like a reed that bends with the storm and survives. Completely desist from defending your point of view. When you have no point to defend, you do not allow the birth of an argument. If you do this consistently, if you stop fighting and resisting, you will fully experience the present, which is a gift. Someone once told me, .The past is history, the future is a mystery, and this moment is a gift. That is why this moment is called the present. If you embrace the present and become one with it, and merge with it, you will experience a fire, a glow, a sparkle of ecstasy throbbing in every living sentient being. As you begin to experience this exultation of spirit in everything that is alive, as you become intimate with it, joy will be born within you, and you 91

will drop the terrible burdens and encumbrances of defensiveness, resentment, and hurtfulness. Only then will you become light-hearted, carefree, joyous, and free. In this joyful, simple freedom, you will know without any doubt in your heart that what you want is available to you whenever you want it, because your want will be from the level of happiness, not from the level of anxiety or fear. You do not need to justify; simply declare your intent to yourself, and you will experience fulfillment, delight, joy, freedom, and autonomy in every moment of your life. Make a commitment to follow the path of no resistance. This is the path through which natureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s intelligence unfolds spontaneously, without friction or effort. When you have the exquisite combination of acceptance, responsibility, and defenselessness, you will experience life flowing with effortless ease. When you remain open to all points of view, not rigidly attached to only one your dreams and desires will flow with natureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s desires. Then you can release your intentions, without attachment, and just wait for the appropriate season for your desires to blossom into reality. You can be sure that when the season is right, your desires will manifest. This is the Law of Least Effort.

Mabel Collins A CRY FROM AFAR Light on the Path (1905) The opening sentences of â&#x20AC;&#x153;Light on the Pathâ&#x20AC;? are the far cry from beyond the incarnations to those who are struggling in them. While man is embodied he is incapable of apprehending the state which is indicated by these sentences, for he is actually passing through the vale of tears, he is subject to pain, he is unable to live without causing pain, and it is by the power of his living heart that he attains complete experience, and unites himself consciously with the whole. The keynote to the mystery, the stupendous promise of the far future, which makes the pilgrimage endurable, is given in these first sentences. They stand at the beginning of the path, the ray of light that comes from the very end of it, where full light is; the ray of light which illumines its whole course and guides the pilgrim and cheers him on the bitter way. No human eyes can be incapable of tears, even those of the Master in life, the adept or the teacher. From the time that illusion and ignorance begin to pass away from the soul, and enlightenment takes the place of darkness, the disciple dwells in present sorrow, for he sees ignorance and consequent suffering on all sides. Tears are as the dew on the dried ground; his being would wither in the dryness of the material world, if there did not arise from himself that tenderness which is tears, and which dissolves, from within, the iron bondage of separateness. Let no 93

man look for the time when his eyes shall be incapable of tears; if that state should come upon him while he is still that which we now call man he would have become a partner in the dark company which is fighting for the ruin of the race. Infinite pity, the capacity for profound sorrow and compassion, characterize the enlightened man, are an intrinsic part pf the nature of the Saviors of the race, and are only to be laid down at the far gate of eternal life when these saviors and shepherds have guided all their flocks safely to it and though it. But it is right and necessary for the disciple to know that there is in the future an Hour when all tears shall have been wiped away never to well up again; when all sources of sorrow shall be at an end, the whole enslaved nature of man having been freed and having escaped for ever from the pangs of desire. It will then no longer be human nature, and in the condition into which it will be born that which is known now to us as sorrow will be inconceivable. None can pass that gate till all can pass it; for the purified and perfected soul which is ready to go through and enter the new life is unable to do so because of the bond of sympathy between him and all those others who are to him much dearer than himself; because of the deep yearnings of compassion, and the welling up of the tears which are a mark of humanity, and one of its chief glories. The ethereal being within manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s physical body sheds many tears of too subtle and fine a nature to be shed by the physical eyes; and the spirit weeps when it stands upon the threshold of matter and is drawn into its darkness by the laws of life and love and the bonds of kinship and association. Thus the whole being is softened and suffused with the dew of its own tenderness. All men must be thus softened and suffused ere they 94

are fitted to enter upon that state in which they are incapable of tears. Then the eyes of the pure spirit will see that which has for us now neither shape nor colour because it is invisible, and can only be apprehended by faith. The capacity for faith is the first essential quality for the disciple who has heard the far cry and would enter upon the path which shall eventually bring him to that state in which he will be able to see. That which is called the hearing of the ear of the emancipated and redeemed being is a complete consciousness of all that is, without any difficulty in separating one sound from another, or any necessity to do so. The whole makes itself known, in its living activity, to the ceaseless apprehension of the one who is able to hear. This hearing is only possible when the senses have not only been subdued but entirely laid aside, with the vestures to which they belong. The apprehension through the medium of the senses must have ceased altogether before the released and purified spirit can obtain consciousness of the whole by means of attention. The intensity of sensitiveness must be increased with every successive incarnation in order that the spirit shall acquire knowledge and experience, and so progress and ripen and make the required advance towards that condition in which direct consciousness is possible. No sound, no smallest cry, no trumpet call can be ignored or avoided with impunity; because that of which the spirit prefers to remain ignorant it will have to learn in later and more severe lessons. All teaching and experience increase in severity with the progress of the soul and the advancement of the race as we see these take place in time; only so can the race be ushered into the eternal state and induced to 95

cross the threshold of birth into complete being. The far cry from the Master to the disciple conveys an even greater command in respect to the power of speech than in respect to sight and hearing. Speech is the creative power and the spoken word can be uttered only by the perfected being which has taken on the attributes of the divine power. By the spoken word were the heavens and the earth made, for the development and the education of the soul of man, and by the spoken word will innumerable heavens and earths be made yet, for the races which need the experience of dwelling within them. The disciple who has conquered self and yielded his being to the whole, has obtained within himself the germ of each of the necessary powers of the purified and perfected being. He has that confidence which comes of the surrender of the personal desire and the consciousness of the whole; he has that hearing which brings to him the sound of many voices whether of suffering or joy; he has that sight, which shows him other men’s lives, other men’s woes and hopes, and enables him to penetrate into the heart of those with whom he associates; he has obtained such knowledge of men that his presence among them develops and attracts the creative force and develops the power of love. The disciple who has so far attained, who has beheld the wonder of his own living soul, is able to read the future of man. He knows the meaning of the “far cry” which he has heard, the voice that has come to him in the silence, from the pioneers of the race who stand at the gate of eternal life and call to him. He can enter the Hall of Learning and see written there the words which contain within them the fate and future of the race. 96

The lessons which man has to learn are there set forth, and it is those lessons which shape the future. It is only the slowness of the individual man to enter into the life of the whole and to surrender his personal desires, which hinders the progress of the whole race. The steps are set plainly before all men and each man, and have to be taken in their due course. The pioneers who have climbed to the highest must linger there for the laggards, and even descend to help them up; for the spirit of humanity is an indivisible whole. Faith, hope and love are the three first qualities essential to all who move towards the light. Faith, which is the perfect trust in that which though known, cannot be expressed; that entire confidence in the evolution of the whole which enables the disciple to stand calm amid all conflicts, and to fight unflinchingly against the heaviest odds; and that love which embraces all and forgives all. The invisible, for the recognition of which faith is essential, surrounds us and presses upon us at all points, and the man who does not recognise it dwells in a cage formed of his own personality. There is ethereal and spiritual continuity, a linking of all parts, which passes through manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s physical being in the same way that light passes through a transparent substance. It passes through it and is not arrested by it. Thought passes through other menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s minds, emotion passes through menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hearts, in such a manner as to be almost visible in their action. Faith is scarcely needed for the apprehension of the fact that thought and feeling pass through men in waves; occasions of great and universal interest have made this plain. But it is only recognized in connection with events of unusual importance such as 97

simultaneous discoveries, and religious revivals, outbreaks of rebellion or war-like demonstrations. That which is evident at these times of excitement is true at all times. Much that is supposed to be due to what is called instinct, and to be inborn, is due to the tides of thought and feeling which ceaselessly pass through the human race. Thought power is known in the present century and to a certain extent understood; but even those who consciously use it are frequently under the misapprehension that the thoughts by which they influence others originate in their own minds. This is an impossibility, as thought is a flowing tide, set in motion on the threshold of the material world and inspired by powers beyond and outside this limited condition. As the waves of light pass through all things, and each thing receives and reflects such rays as it is capable of receiving and reflecting, so with the waves of thought. They pass through all menâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s souls, and each soul apprehends that which it is capable of apprehending, and gives that to the world. They are the inspiring tide of manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s life, and they become in him that which is called good or bad, in accordance with is own capacity. The disciple who has faith opens his soul to the fullness of the tide, and his soul becomes white as do the white flowers which reflect all the rays of light instead of selecting among them. He knows that in this tide that exists which is brotherhood. Men do not need to aim at unity of thought, or to set thought forces in motion. They need to be able to apprehend the full tide of thought that sweeps ceaselessly through the collective mind of the race, and those who are capable of this have attained to that condition which places them inalienably among the White 98

Brotherhood. Then they know the power of the Brotherhood, and each leans upon the other equally, without need of speech or contact. The iron bar of separateness is for them pushed back, and the golden gate is set ajar. The disciple who has pushed this iron bar back knows that the criminal and evildoer err because of limitation, and because of inability to apprehend. He knows that there is no punishment for sin save forgiveness, because the love which gave the great opportunity that is contained in the pilgrimage through matter, desires only that every man shall so grow and develop that he shall be able to accomplish this pilgrimage, and so help to release and redeem the race and free it for ever from material conditions. The emotions of the heart appear, to the man who dwells within his separate personality, to be his own, born within himself. They are his, and they are not his, in the same sense that the air he breathes, and the winds which stir that air, are, and are not, the possession of his physical body. They pass through him, and he shares them with all others who come within their range of action. In studying his own heart the disciple obtains illumination and perceives aright the hearts of other men, because his discipleship makes him aware of the flow of emotion which passes through him and them, and enables him to understand that it is necessary to have experienced all feeling, to have responded to every wave of emotion possible to man, before it is given to him to enter the condition in which sensitiveness can be laid aside. The criminal and evil-doer are misguided by being only able to feel in a portion of their being; sensitiveness is awakened only in the lowest and most possessive part of the nature and all the divine part is numb and without sensation. 99

Thus they are not merely separated from the brotherhood of love, but separated from the race to which they physically belong. But the sensitiveness increases, following the law of growth under which man exists; and in the course of the incarnations the whole heart becomes capable of responding to the whole tide of human emotion, and that part of it which made the sinner to sin drops into its place as a part of a whole which in its completeness makes man divine. And only when this is accomplished to the uttermost can sensitiveness be laid aside, and the soul stand in the blood of its human heart, made to flow by the thrust of its own sword. For each purified spirit, when the whole race is freed and redeemed, will destroy within itself that germ which has caused it to be aware of pleasure, and God will then wipe away all his tears, and he will become incapable of shedding any more. Then will he be able to see, and be able to stand. Then will the â&#x20AC;&#x153;far cryâ&#x20AC;? have been heard and answered. The ambition which hurls the souls of men into the abysses, is not the simple form of desire for success which is called by that name in ordinary life. Until old age is reached this is a necessary spur without which a deadly apathy would fall upon the race. For this reason the disciple is told to work as those work who are ambitious, for it is necessary for him to stand side by side with the toilers and the strugglers, so long as he is in the activity of the world. He must fight in their ranks if he is to be among them. And while he is still human it is essential that he share in the desire for success which is the natural stimulant to effort. The rewards which ordinary men accept as the proof of success are of no value to him; the ordinary man looks for them because he desires possessions for himself and is willing to win them from the others 100

by his work. The disciple is in no danger of desiring such rewards, and if the loom of fate weaves them into his career, he estimates them at their true value as temporary burdens and responsibilities. The emulation in effort must be his as much as it is any other manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s; effort surpassing that which is possible to other men is expected of him whenever it is required for the advancement of the race. He works better than the ordinary man who is ambitious, just as the willing horse works better than the horse that needs the spur. It is not on the planes of mental or physical activities that the disciple has to kill out ambition. The great danger to him, throughout his pilgrimage, is lest a seed of spiritual pride shall germinate within him and stifle his higher nature before he is aware of its growth. For it grows as weeds do in rich soil. Some unexpected incident will reveal the man to himself in a new light; instead of being the humble disciple he believed himself to be, he finds himself filled with pride in his own capacities and gifts, and unable to ask for help from the divine forces that pass through him because he has permitted himself to believe that he has power within himself by right of his spiritual personality. Then ambition may seize upon him and he will endeavor to scale the heights of power and to assume prerogatives which can be given safely only by the hand of a Master to a tried and tested disciple. The attainment of power is one of the first aims of the disciple; it is aimed at continuously throughout his whole path of progress, and it is still his aim when he reaches the end of the pilgrimage and is ready to pass the threshold. The power he endeavors to obtain gives him no personal dignity or glory or position; he cannot influence men in order to secure any personal 101

ends. That possibility is taken from him at his very first step on the true path, and is never again put into his hands. The ambition which is born of spiritual pride, and which assails him when he is well advanced upon the way, does not bring personal power to him; he has surrendered that desire of man when he became a disciple; and when the lust for it returns with sevenfold force upon a much higher plane of being the sole result is that he is hurled into the abysses, from which he will have to be saved by great efforts of his own and of the Saviors of the world. But the true power, the power of the brotherhood of love, born of the brooding spirit of the Divine in man, this is to be desired most ardently from the first moment of discipleship, and that desire must never cease. This desire is what makes the disciple at once a partner in the great task of redeeming the race. His sphere of action steadily increases with his growth, until the man who has by the purity of his desire to help a single friend been enabled to do so is entrusted with the guidance of a whole nation of beings or a whole school of thought. The principle of development on this pilgrimage in which we are engaged, involves associations of men; the first form of this is the family life which is a natural condition of the natural man. Out of this arise innumerable orders, more or less selfish or unselfish according to the character of the men who belong to them. One of the tasks of the disciple is to lead and guide the associations of men into paths of effort for the good of the race. He is led to take his part in the movements which are initiated by the masters and guides, and his business is to use the power of the brotherhood to which he belongs for the purification of the motives and actions of the 102

associations of men in which he takes part. The infinite resources of the power behind him, upon which he draws ceaselessly so long as his soul is set in its true course, soon make themselves apparent, and a great impetus is given to the movement with which he has associated himself. But this does not alter his condition of personal obscurity; it will probably increase it. If he is drawn from that obscurity and attention is attracted to his personality, the effect will be to make him loved of a few but hated of many. This hatred arises from the opposition to the brotherhood of love and to the efforts of the Saviors of the world, which is an inherent part of the nature of the animal and personal man. It is, therefore, far better for the work in which he is taking part that the man himself should remain in the greatest obscurity possible. The quality of discipleship arouses the evil passions of other men, and the work is helped on more effectively if this quality is kept in abeyance on the physical plane and its power exercised in its fullness only upon the mental and ethereal natures of the men by whom a disciple is surrounded in the world. The animal nature of man will fight more fiercely now for ascendancy than in the past, for the advance and progress of the whole makes its power more insecure. It is, therefore, more necessary than in past ages that the presence of disciples among associations of men should be felt only in the general uplifting of those associations, not in the leadership of the disciples themselves. This disarms and baffles the animal part of the men who find themselves impelled to unusual actions, and guided by higher motives than habitually enter into their consciousness. The task set the disciple in thus guiding the movement in 103

which he is taking part is much more severe than if he were permitted to lead by personal influence and external guidance, as he has to affect the natures of the men amongst whom he is working, as well as their actions. The ordinary man, one who has not yet entered upon the path or even become aware of it, must experience a change in himself after being associated with a disciple in any public work or mutual effort. He is not conscious of it at the time, because the action of the invisible power is subtle; but when he looks back over his life he will perceive a time when his motives became elevated and he will recognise that this was due to a certain association; though even then he may not guess which man among those he worked with was the medium for the divine influences. When the disciple first begins to find he has this power of affecting the men amongst whom he works, without the use of physical speech, spiritual ambition (that deepest and most deadly enemy) assails him for the first time. The ordinary man, who has not yet set foot upon the path, cannot even imagine the force of this temptation. It is so strong that it intoxicates the soul; it is so insidious that it deludes the mind. Bewildered by the possibilities of his own being the disciple stands amazed and dazzled. He has desired power for good, and it has come to him; he has asked to be as the gods, and one of their qualities is his. It seems to him that now surely he may act like a god, and order the fates of men. He forgets that this power which has come to him is only one of the qualities of the gods; that in their long development by means of a suffering and pain as well as joy and splendor, a whole circlet of powers and gifts have become theirs, each tempering the others, and blending with them. The four rules which appear in 104

the opening sentences of Light on the Path indicate four qualities which must be attained by the purified spirit before it can be released, and these must be attained equally. The power of helping others (or the power of speech) is only one of them, and by itself exposes the spirit to the greatest danger. Desire of life is that which prevents the spirit from giving that sword thrust which will make the blood of the human heart pour forth. It is not the narrow craving to continue one personal career, one incarnation, because of the fear that there is nothing to replace it, a craving experienced by atheists and materialists when old age comes upon them, and which brings its own punishment with it. The certainty that by no manner of means can this desire be gratified converts it into a torture from the very first. It is no petty passion which grows in a diseased or dwarfed mind, that is referred to in the phrase “Kill out desire of life.” It is the great dominant emotion in the souls of men, which has made them into human beings, which has given them the capacity to endure incarnation after incarnation of experience in the bewildering and exhausting conditions of time and space, pleasure and pain. Animated by this overwhelming emotion the souls of men throng the threshold of the material world, eagerly looking for places of incarnation, and for bodies in which to incarnate and enter upon what man calls life — that is, human life. The angels who have perfected being, and dwell in equilibrium, freed from the vicissitudes of physical and mental sensation, gaze in awe and that is referred to in the phrase “Kill out desire of life.” It is the great dominant emotion in the souls of men, which has made them into human beings, which has given them the capacity to 105

endure incarnation after incarnation of experience in the bewildering and exhausting conditions of time and space, pleasure and pain. Animated by this overwhelming emotion the souls of men throng the threshold of the material world, eagerly looking for places of incarnation, and for bodies in which to incarnate and enter upon what man calls life â&#x20AC;&#x201D; that is, human life. The angels who have perfected being, and dwell in equilibrium, freed from the vicissitudes of physical and mental sensation, gaze in awe and wonder upon the souls that press in upon this terrible experience of human life, blinded by the passion for it which possesses them. That awe and wonder is felt in respect to the divine power which is able to impart an emotion of so stupendous a nature that it can impel a whole race of beings to enter upon a bitter and terrible path full of danger and vicissitude. The longing for physical life comes upon the souls in a wave so overpowering that all other hopes and aims are lost sight of, and in great crowds they come towards the material universe and press upon it from all sides, eager to enter, willing to take any mode of entrance rather than brook delay. This wave of emotion began to take effect as soon as the material universe was created, in order that scholars should willingly enter the school; and it has persisted from then till now, and will persist until the race approaches its release. It is that which brings souls back again and again to the threshold of material life, when again and again they have found that pain recurs and pleasure perishes. No matter how deeply they have learned this lesson they still crave with an overwhelming longing for the experience. It is only the disciples who are far advanced 106

on the path who are able to regard this emotion as a thing outside themselves, as a man regards the sea when he swims in it. They know that it is this longing for physical life which brings them into the world where the path of the pilgrimage has been laid; they know that this path must be trodden, and they submit to be brought hither again and again, yielding to the longing for sense experience, knowing that in time they will be freed from it. And while they thus yield and labor with ardor in all the fields of effort open to men they seek in their own higher nature to destroy the personal element which makes man the slave of the desire of life. Like all other passions it must be subject to the higher self, and be steadily, if slowly, eliminated from the nature. The disciple who has heard the far cry will one day be able to kill out all desire for physical experience and, without any personal craving whatsoever, will enter into physical life, or act upon it from the ethereal plane, a free spirit. These free spirits, untouched by selfishness, entering into material life solely to help others, drawn hither by links of love and pity and sympathy, are the splendor and glory of the human race, and are a source from which it obtains power. They are the links between the masses of men and the Masters who send forth the Far Cry, which is intended to draw all souls out of the darkness. It is only the disciple who hears the Far Cry; but he is given the means by which to pass it on as a message adapted to the apprehension of those with whom he comes in contact. This is his duty, more now than ever before. The whole race is more capable of attention than it has been in the past this is perceived by those who regard it from the ethereal world. That is a step taken; and the utmost has to be 107

made of every step, for the time is waning. With the passing away of Time â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the opportunity given in this especial pilgrimage will be gone. Every member of the race has to be taken through the gate at last; and all will wait at the Portal for the last laggard, who will be drawn upwards by innumerable hands of love stretched out towards him. But the manner in which this opportunity is used by man as a whole affects the status of the spirit of the race in the great future. This is a mystery, too vast for the comprehension of the disciple; but the masters and pioneers know it, and therefore the Far Cry goes forth unceasingly to those who have ears to hear. Work and strive, and live and love more intensely and persistently than other men; but in your higher nature kill out those germs of spiritual desire which make the souls of men long for activity and pre-eminence in the narrow limits of time and space, under the dominion of pleasure and pain. The stupendous effort is more possible than it seems at first sight, for the forces, visible and invisible, which surround man and hold him in his place, are all directed towards his assistance. They are his allies, given to him by the same beneficent power that gives him opportunity. In whatever direction a manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s nature leads him he finds these forces ready to give him aid. If his tendency is evil he is assisted by the very elements, which readily adapt themselves to his plan and plot. It is necessary for him that this should be so. Alone, without these helpers, he could not work either good or ill in this bewildering state of human life. So soon as he sets his feet in the path that leads to freedom, these same forces, which have helped him to garner the experience of the evildoer, or the apathetic dweller in sloth, or the seeker after pure pleasure, collect around him with renewed and redoubled power 108

to aid and hasten him on his way. As man he must stand alone, and give help; as spirit he is bound up with the whole brotherhood of love and held by up the impelling force of the spiritual life of the universe. The universe exists only that he shall obtain freedom; and the physical and material part of the world he dwells in is pledged to its Creator to assist him to that end. For this was it created in material shape. We perceive that man is surrounded by innumerable creatures and substances, all of which have their appointed place in the universe and are pursuing their appointed path, to all appearance quite independent of man. The connection between the whole material universe is a subtle one, not to be perceived by human intelligence. The dweller in the ethereal spaces is aware of it and is able to utilize his knowledge of it for the assistance of embodied man. The immense number of conscious beings who are united in the material universe, and surround man, are held together in this condition by a deep bond which has its source in the Divine Breath. Escape from this condition is very easy for them, because their bondage here is not the bondage of pilgrimage but of willing association. Not only the beings whom we recognise as conscious, but also the beings which unite to hold together the bodies in which other beings dwell, the beings which have subjected themselves to the laws which order the composition of what we call material atoms, all alike are united in the maintenance of a physical life which is the school for the souls of men. The dominion given to man over them is of a very different character from what he supposes it to be. He makes mistakes continually in his conduct in relation to them, and these errors have all to be corrected before his lesson 109

is complete. He drives from him the forces which are pledged to aid and uphold him, and increases the dreariness of his position and the sense of its insecurity, by so doing. That great passion, desire of life, brings the souls of men into intimate relationship with the beings who form the universe which enables him to gratify it. He is blind to the fact that he is indebted to them for this gratification. He fancies the elements and the substances exist without effort. Not so. There is a continuous and beneficent effort made on his behalf, and it is necessary for him to learn to acknowledge this and to repay it by right conduct. The perfected man conducts himself rightly towards all things; whether his perception enables him to perceive them as animate or not. That which he imagines to be inanimate because its consciousness is so far removed from his own, is the most necessary to him of all his surroundings, and as his development advances he becomes aware of this, and recognizes his debt. He knows then that in destroying within himself the desire of life, he is releasing legions of beings from a task undertaken by them for his benefit. When the flower has bloomed, and the silence that is peace has followed the storm, the disciple has entered that high grade which makes him an adept in life, one of the pioneers of the race. The storm of personal life is at the end for him for ever; never again will he strive for the small ends to which men devote themselves, never again will his spirit rebel against its creator because of personal deprivations or losses. For him there is peace. And in that calm comes the new commands. The disciple may not remain in the stillness of the peace he has obtained at so 110

high a price. He must take the peace with him and go forth; it is the reward he reaps for the surrender of the self. He must now go to sow the seeds of knowledge in the souls of other men. Encompassed by the peace which he has obtained he can return to the battlefield of life and fight for the great issues which hitherto he has scarcely been able to recognise, blinded as he has been by his own personality. He will thus fight as no mere man can fight, and yet stand aside in the battle. The warrior is the divine part in himself which is entirely impersonal, entirely devoted to the Supreme, entirely at the service of the whole brotherhood. The coming battle is no battle for conquest of the self; that is over and past, unless the disciple lose his footing and fall from his place. The battlefield on which he now takes his place is not that on which the souls of men struggle with the animal part that would control them, nor that on which the spirits of men fight with their own ambitious natures. It is the arena in which the spirit of the race, the indivisible spirit of Humanity, fights for the final conquest that shall raise it to the high estate for which it is destined. Sooner or later this battle must be won; the warrior is incapable of defeat. But it is the task of the adepts in life to shorten the bitterness of the way and hasten the great day of victory. The song of life is heard only when the adept is able to enter upon this great impersonal effort. Then the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;mysticâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; beauty and harmony of the whole is made plain to him, and the discords which have oppressed him while he was still only in possession of the apprehension of man disappear. The pain and darkness and confusion of mortal life arise entirely from the limited capacity and partial apprehension of mortal man; as he grows into the 111

immortal conditions and recognizes more and more of that which surrounds him, he becomes capable of perceiving hitherto invisible forms and colors, and of hearing hitherto inaudible sounds, which make all discord into harmony, all darkness into light, all incompleteness into perfection.

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Andrew Jackson Davis PRINCIPLES OF NATURE Love, Will, and Wisdom (1847) I discover, then, that the soul is composed of three distinct parts; and these are LOVE, WILL, and WISDOM. LOVE is the first or rudimental element of the human soul. It is that liquid, mingling, delicate, inexpressible element which is felt in the depths of every human spirit, because it is its germinal essence. WILL is a living force which serves as the connecting medium between Love and Wisdom, being subject to the influence and suggestions of each. It is the innate consciousness of energy, or force; and it has been supposed to be an absolutely-independent element of the mind, beyond the possibility of being influenced by external captivations. WISDOM is the perfection of Love. It is the sealing element of the human soul; it is the establishment of the soul's perfect constitution. Wisdom flows from love, is directed by experience, modified by will, and rendered perfect by knowledge. Wisdom is the thinking principle, the faculty that cogitates, investigates, searches, and explores, the fields of terrestrial and celestial existence. It is the faculty that analyzes, calculates, and imperatively commands obedience from all the subordinate possessions of Will and Love. 113

These three parts of the human soul, then, being designated, I will descend into some considerations relative to their mode of rnanifestation through the body in the outer world, in order that the great question respecting the powers and actuating principles of the human soul may become settled, and equally comprehended by all. LOVE being the first element, or the essence of the soul, is accordingly imperfect, unguided, and, like the lower forms in Nature, is developed angularly. It is the parent of eccentricity, impulse, fantasy, imagination, and inflated conceptions of all things invisible, intangible, and unreal. Also Love is the element of tenderness, kindness, affection, attachment, and of all kinds of pure and unsophisticated sentiments, such as gush spontaneously from the depths of the soul, and are expressed in music, in language, in paintings, in foliage, in embroidery, and in all the indescribable beauties that line the vaulted chambers of the expanded heavens. Love is the element that conceives of all loveliness, of gentleness, of sweetness, of fragrance, and of beauty, in all their various modes of exterior manifestation. From the faculty of Love, as the basis of the soul, flows the faculty of WILL. This then becomes the mediatorial faculty of the human mind, and is the means employed by Love to accomplish whatever end it desires. Herein are made plain the three moving principles engaged in accomplishing any end conceived of and' desired. Love perceives and conceives that which is congenial to, its affections. The end to be attained is the cause of Love's 114

prompting the Will to act upon the body in order to accomplish it. In other words, Will is employed as a means by Love to attain this end: for which it has an affection. Will in all cases is subject to the promptings of the element of Love, and its acts in all cases originate in the suggestions thence derived. Will is the faculty employed to move the body in the performance of any external work for the accomplishment: of which the Love has conceived an affection. Love conceives of the end or object which would be suited to its affection, and gratifying to its! desires; and the perception of this is the primary cause of the Love's prompting the Will to act for its accomplishment. The Will, however, is a living force, a perfect faculty, and a decided portion of the soul. By its inherent possessions and influence, the body is made to move; and all the changing attitudes of the latter are the exteriors forms and projections of the faculty of Will. In other words, Will evolves thoughts, as they are suggested by the workings of Love and Love's affections; and these thoughts of the Will are expressed in manifest forms to the outer world â&#x20AC;&#x201D; that is, in the assumed appearances and movements of the body, and in all external actions that are put forth by it. All these are the exterior forms of the thoughts evolved by Will. The latter being a means employed by Love to institute, construct, or create, any form for which the Love has conceived an affection, it is therefore a mediator and means by which all motion, all construction, and all exterior manifestations, are produced. Will has no independent action, and cannot institute a movement of itself: but it moves only as it is excited and prompted by the 115

Love. Love, therefore, is the primary cause of external action; and Will is the effect produced: and the effects of this, again, are the exterior things which it accomplishes. In other words, Will is employed by Love to develop externally the expression of its own thoughts. The third faculty of the soul is evolved from Will and Love, and is the highest and most perfect one; and this joins and pervades the others, so that the three form a perfect Whole. This faculty is WISDOM. The office of Wisdom is to listen silently to the suggestions of Love and Will, and to modify these according to reason, form, order, and perfect harmony. Love without Will would be eccentric, impulsive, disorderly, and confused, even to such an extent that the whole system of Nature would be nothing more than a vast congregation of disorganized forms. Everything would be misplaced, misformed, misconstructed, and rendered useless to the requirements of man. But Love being modified by Will, becomes at once limited as to its circle of movement, and confined in its conceptions to a definite sphere. Yet Love and Will would both be eccentric and ungoverned in their movements among material things, were it not for the presence of Wisdom, which presides over and directs them both. Wisdom is contained in the germ of the soul, which is Love â&#x20AC;&#x201D; is developed in the body, which is Will â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and perfected in the flower, which is itself. Wisdom, then, pervades, directs, modifies, and governs them all, because it is the crowning faculty of the soul, and the most perfect of all its attributes. 116

Will, then, is the perfection of Love, and hence receives, contains, and continually manifests, all the qualities, thoughts, affections, and desires of Love. And Wisdom is the perfect form of them both, because Wisdom is an ultimate progression of them; and it is a representation of all their latent qualities and unexpressed affections. Wisdom â&#x20AC;&#x201D; is that faculty of the soul which gives order and form to all things in the outer world; and Love gives to order and form light, life, taste, grace, and elegance. And Will is the executive faculty between Wisdom and Love, and obeys perpetually the suggestions of Love as these are sanctioned by Wisdom. The eccentricity of Love and Will is very much modified by the pervading and controlling influence of Wisdom, which becomes their director, governor, and lord. Were it not for Wisdom, order, form, and adaptation, would not be known, either in the natural or artificial world. So, then, the outward form of' Wisdom is the perfect order and uniformity displayed in the outer world. The perfect form of Love is the use for which all external things are designed and adapted. Love is also expressed in the life, grace, and elegance, which render every exterior form lovely and admirable. Thus it is seen that Wisdom is the great head and flower of the human soul, and that it is perpetually engaged in the evolution of thoughts which clothe themselves in material things in the outer world. The more Wisdom is permitted to act, the more its sphere of action is extended, and the more will the natural and artificial 117

world display beauty, order, and harmony. But the more it is restricted in its action, and the less its teachings are heeded, the more will Nature and the artificial creations of man become a disorganized and useless system, instead of displaying peace, order, beauty, and universal reciprocation. Love is only the life of things; Will is the means employed to obtain a desired end; but Wisdom is the order, beauty, harmony, and perfection of them all. The Great Divine Mind, in essence, is Love: this is the light and life of the Universe. The Universe itself is the Body of Love, and its perfect Form. But Wisdom is the highest attribute, and the great ultimate of eternal Design. And Wisdom gives to Light and Life a Body â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and to this Body, Order and Form. The whole is rendered thereby a harmonious System, each outward form being a perfect representative of its creative cause. The following, then, are the three Parts of the great and universal System: The Divine Mind, or Love, which is the Soul; the Universe, which is the Form, Means, Mediator, and Body; and Spirit, which is the Order, the Form, the Wisdom, and the GRAND DESIGN of the whole System of the Univercoelum. The End primarily designed to be accomplished was the individualization of the human spirit; and for the attainment of this, Cause and Effect were brought into requisition. The Divine Mind is the Cause, the Universe is the Effect, and Spirit is the ultimate Design. The truth of this is demonstrated in every department of this terrestrial sphere, and is particularly exemplified in the nature and developments of the human soul, which are in exact correspondence with the great System of the 118

Universe. Everything is perpetually displaying, in its inward and outward movements, End, Cause, and Effect; and Light and Life are Love, and Order and Form are Wisdom. And the first and most comprehensive attribute that is manifested in these forms is divine Wisdom. And their unity and harmonious reciprocation prove that Wisdom is the higher attribute flowing from the Fountain of divine Love. Love, therefore, determines the universal relationship, and Wisdom the universal adaptation. So these attributes are the highest laws of Nature, comprehending within themselves various modifications of the same principles as all flowing from the same exhaustless Fountain wherein exists infinite Intelligence. This is the Vortex from which are unfolded successively the receding waves of a united Universe. And one of these is an index to the expanding sublimities of another; and so their ceaseless flowings comprehend the whole Univercoelum. And as these are the flowings of the general materials in space, so the earth constitutes a similar vortex of power, which rolls forth succeeding waves from the mineral to the vegetable, to the animal, and to man: and the breathings of inherent qualities transcend Motion, Life, and Sensation, and form a pure and exalted Spirit. The wave of development is not arrested here, but it goes on throughout the unimaginable spheres in the interior world, until it approximates and is responded to by the Great Positive Mind. Thus are the concentric circles of material creation unfolded â&#x20AC;&#x201D; which correspond to, and absolutely prove, the 119

concentric circles of spiritual creation and spiritual, endless progression! Thus the great Vortex is a living, exhaustless Fountain, wherein dwell infinite Love and Wisdom, and from which flow the undefinable worlds which pervade the whole Univercoelum. And these are formed by succeeding and expanding waves, the same principle being distinctly manifested in every department of animated Nature. The Universe, therefore, is an ocean of activity, even as the Univercoelum is a boundless ocean of infinite Love and Wisdom.

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Andrew Jackson Davis THE GREAT HARMONIA â&#x20AC;&#x201C; THE PHYSICIAN Natureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Power is Spiritual (1850) A cold state is an electrical state, and a warm state is a magnetic state-the states and the elements are inseparable. I am impressed to affirm that these elements are mediums through which nature and Deity act upon the human body by first acting upon the vital principle; and that positive and negative forces are the agents of all motion in every department of man, of nature, and of the universe. Nature acts upon the spirit spiritually. Light, electricity, magnetism, and galvanism, are mediums through which Nature imparts her varied beauties to the soul. If the body and mind are harmoniously conjoined with nature, it is certain that every object, color, and sound, will do something toward exalting the sensibilities and refining the entire organization. The glowing and glorious sun-the splendor of its emanations, the inexpressible beauty of the influence it exerts upon vegetables, animals, and upon the nervous system â&#x20AC;&#x201D; what can more inspire the free and unblemished soul? The seasons bring forth their appropriate objects, colors, sounds, and odors; and all the harmonies of nature are imparted to, and experienced by, the unfolding spirit. There is not a budding rose, not a desert flower, not an ocean gem, not a star that gleams, nor a stream that ripples by, that does not exert its own peculiar influence upon the mind. These 121

influences may come through more living mediums â&#x20AC;&#x201D; they may be sung by birds, may be deposited in the honey of the bee, or they may be faithfully recorded upon the painterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s canvass; yet they are certain to address the human spirit and turn its sensibilities into sublimer channels. Our highest conceptions of Heaven have for their foundation the gorgeousness and magical transformations of the mid-summer season. The mountains, teeming with advancing vegetation, attract upward the human soul. The valleys, adorned with the lily and the violet, impart sweet tranquility to the contemplative mind. But when we expand our senses, and the stupendous operations of nature are reflected upon the mind, then are we exalted to walk in high places, even on heavenly heights, and quickened into a more exquisite appreciation of diviner beauties. The study of Geology, of Astronomy, and of those sciences which inform the mind of the greatness and harmony of nature, is calculated to spiritualize and harmonize the vital and physical possessions of man. It is not possible to enumerate the various means which nature employs, or is made to employ, for the purpose of developing and giving symmetry to the immortal soul. In perfect health, a state but little known to man, the spiritual principle is refined and attracted upward by the Divine Mind. This attraction and refinement is unceasing. It develops and unfolds the soul and body into inexpressible harmony, and ultimately makes man ONE with the natural and spiritual universe.

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Andrew Jackson Davis THE PHYSICIAN The Great Positive Mind (1850) But to the question how, and for what purpose, was Man created? Previous to the present structure of the Universe, the immeasurable realms of immensity were channels through which flowed seas of unformed materials. Infinitude was filled with elements of divine power, and with essences of progressive and eternal tendencies. And residing in the centre yet spreading to the unimaginable circumference was the Holy Artisan — the Divine Architect — the Great Positive Mind! This Almighty Power and Creative Principle, is called God. The eternal elements of his being, were conceiving, in their utmost depths, a sublime creation — a sacred embodiment of Celestial Principles. For there was then but two great coeternal principles in all the wide-spread universe — Mind and Matter, or, God and the elements of his physical organization. And having perfected the plan of the Universe- God said, with the full co-operation of his indwelling elements and essences of Love — “LET US MAKE MAN.” And then the first attribute of Wisdom, which is USE, said — “Man shall be a culmination of universal Nature; he shall be so organized in his body as to receive and elaborate the animating elements of nature into an eternal and unchangeable Soul; and his Soul-being constituted of those principles which are in themselves pure, everlasting, and infinite — shall possess and 123

obey the tendency to unfold and progress for ever.” And then the second attribute of Wisdom, which is JUSTICE, said — “Man shall occupy such a position in the Universe as will secure to all things, organized or unorganized, visible or invisible, a permanent equilibrium of power, possessions, and demands.” And then the third attribute of Wisdom, which is POWER, said — “Man shall be created through the mediums and instrumentalities of countless Suns and Planets, and also through the regular and harmonious development of minerals, vegetables, and animals; each of which shall correspond to, represent, and embody, some particular portion of his organism.” And then the fourth attribute of Wisdom, which is BEAUTY, said — “Man shall represent, and embrace all Suns and Planets, all minerals and vegetables; and also the energy, and strength, and symmetry, and structural beauty of all animals, in his form, organs, and functions.” And then the fifth attribute of Wisdom, which is ASPIRATION, said — “Man shall know himself to be immortal, he shall be the King, the Lord, the Crown, the Coronation of Nature; he shall aspire to be an Angel, a Seraph, a God.” Then the sixth and highest attribute of Divine Wisdom, which is HARMONY, said — “Man shall be an exact embodiment of the Great Spirit who creates him; he shall represent, in a finite degree, the elements and attributes of the Infinite; he shall desire, and be capable of, and shall enjoy, the most ineffable blessedness; he shall aspire after harmony, shall unfold it, and shall give his eternal existence to its maintenance; he shall be an embodiment of Nature, a revelation of Harmony, and an image of God.” Such is deeply impressed upon my spirit as the far shadow of the Divine plans and celestial Contemplations of the Great First Cause, previous to the creation 124

of man and the elaboration of the present illimitable universe. And immediately subsequent to this concurrence of plans and decisions in the wisdom-chambers of the Supernal Mind, there rolled forth, into the sublime depths of infinity, an endless chain of the most magnificent orbs — suns of immeasurable magnitude and unutterable grandeur. And in like manner, circle after circle of suns were unfolded from out of the deep bosom of the previous seas of unorganized materials; and thus the universe was organized and spread throughout the innumerable realms of boundless infinitude. But for what purpose were all these suns, planets and satellites unfolded. What use was this universe of moving orbs to subserve? Why create them at all? Because the great attribute of Omnipotence, in accordance with immutable principles of being and doing, hath said that “a Man shall be created through the mediums and instrumentalities of countless suns and planets; and also through the regular and harmonious development of minerals, vegetables, and animals.” From these Divine revealments we must draw the following conclusions: (I) That the stupendous universe is organized for the ultimate purpose of developing and organizing Man; and (II.) That the anatomical and physiological constructions of Man are designed to receive and elaborate the animating elements of Nature into an immortal and endlessly progressive soul. The subject under consideration is now before the mind. I will therefore proceed to a more minute examination of the proposition that Man is a culmination of universal nature. Notwithstanding the unpopularity of the philosophy which accounts for Man’s existence upon principles of progressive development, nevertheless it is the only philosophy which reason 125

can sanction and the soul cherish as its own. But it is exceedingly difficult for those minds who have been born and educated in the midst, and under the influence of mythological theology, to see its truth and understand its application. It is easier for a blind man, who never saw the light, to understand the properties and beauties of the distant landscape, than for an uneducated, or a wrongly-educated mind to comprehend the truths of this philosophy. Should the reader, therefore, have his reason clouded, or his intuition so buried beneath a superficial and dogmatic education as to cause him to shrink from the present investigation, then he should arise with manly strength to unshackle his thoughts, and to burst open the dungeon door, that his imprisoned understanding may come forth and be free. One breath of libertyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s atmosphere â&#x20AC;&#x201D; one glimpse of the serene light which emanates from truth and knowledge is sufficient to compensate the soul for years â&#x20AC;&#x201D; yea, for a life-time of intellectual and spiritual slavery.

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Andrew Jackson Davis DEATH AND THE AFTER-LIFE The Spiritual Worker of Ideas (1865) The spiritual worker is one who, impressed with the idea of fraternal love, and feeling its holy warmth in the soul, goes right out into society with healing in his wings. Such a person goes and comes as a peacemaker. Natures of this stamp are commissioned from the heaven of heavens to do unto others as they would have others do unto them, and that, too, without a thought of the golden rule. They obey it because they are as good as it. They who so live and so act are constantly dwelling in that state to which they would elevate all mankind. Man is destined to bring about in society the harmony of all the passions which are demons, and of the appetites, too, which are unclean spirits, and the balance of all the various discords of his mind, which are his ever-present satans. Demons and unclean spirits are to be vanquished, but only by the power of spiritual workers who start from the throne of Ideas. No man can conquer a passion for tobacco, or destroy the force of any appetite, by merely acting upon it from his will. The soul and body are raised by means of an inspiration, toward health and purity, which reaches and buoys up the mind until the physical passion subsides and the besetting appetite departs. Some minds attain this state by a sort of change in their physical or chemical growth; others reach it by means of what they call religious revivalism, or conversion. But the cultured way to it is through the 127

comprehension and application of Ideas. The principal idea which exalts and equalizes mankind, without filling the individual with egotism, is that each is supreme head of all the kingdoms beneath; that the high function of each is to discover the unchangeable laws which give harmony and perfection to the universe; and finally to apply the teachings of those laws to all the kingdoms, powers, functions about him not only, but also to all the passions, organs, demons, satans, or appetites and discords within the temple of private being. Mankind is destined to be "lords of creation," both materially and spiritually. What is possible to all, is possible to each, and vice versa. All may become gentle, and useful, and beautiful, loving their neighbors as themselves. None can live and work in this way, save the truly spiritual. I know that such souls are in the churches, at the bottom of all religious organizations. They are the spiritual men who first realized Ideas. John Wesley, John Murray, John Calvin â&#x20AC;&#x201D; these, and many who are visible all the way down the steps of time, wrought from the life of Ideas. Let us, therefore, concern ourselves not deeply with organizations and instruments of labor; for, with true Ideas, helpful organizations will inevitably come. Thus every wholesome organization comes up. An idea starts the principle; the principle divulges the law; the law dictates the method. An organization, consequently, is inevitable. Individual labors for mankind will bear "good fruit" when governed by the inspirations of Ideas. Such labors may be distributed and imitated throughout parts of civilization. Great philanthropists slumber here and there waiting for some occasion to resurrect them. Act well the part of a 128

spiritual being; be faithful to what is true and good; the future will take loving care of both itself and you. This is the heavenly rest that comes from true inspiration of ideas. Think not of to-morrow, or next year; work now, living nobly in your day and hour. Be true to the life of truth. The life of truth is God. Be faithful ever, and true-hearted to all who love you. Years ago men used to say to me, "Well, Mr. Davis, if God is in this work, it will succeed, and if he is not, it will come to naught." Assuredly; nothing is more certain. It is the good, wholesome, old-fashioned notion about special providences in man's life. I like it. Yes, God is always in everything, and more especially in the idea of everything. You and your God may walk together. The Divine is not afar off, looking with a great eye to see whether you are doing the fair thing or not. An Idea is from God. Work from its inspirations, and you and your God are one. Thus the inheritance of life becomes a perpetual blessing.

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Walter DeVoe HEALING CURRENTS Mother-Father Creator! (1919) I am a soul-child born from the blending of Thy divine attributes. Satisfy me with Thy love. In my soul are cradled the masculine and feminine potencies of Divinity. My soul is an organization of Thy love, wisdom and power; an image of all Thy qualities; a seed of Divinity. Through living in the glorious sunshine of Thy love, all these wonderful soul potencies are quickening. Glorify me with the illumination of Thy loving presence, that I also may glorify Thee. I am a perfect soul born from Thy perfect nature, but I need to live in the sunshine of Thy Spirit, that the power within may grow and develop as a seed of the Creator sown in an earthly body. I need to commune with Thee consciously, thinking the thoughts of Thy Mind and feeling the emotions of Thy great Heart of Love in order that this negative earth-mind and body may become filled with Thy life, making it a perfect dwelling place for the expansion of the essence of soul power within. My soul is illuminating and healing this mind and body as I commune with Thy Spirit. My soul becomes more glorious as I exercise Thy love and wisdom. I am Thy child in soul and spirit. Thy glory is transforming my body and enlightening my soul, so that in harmonious awareness I am elevated by Thy high desires 130

and holy aspirations. I am complete and satisfied in Thee. I am Thy immortal child. All Power and Glory to Thee forever, Jehovah.

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Walter DeVoe MYSTIC WORDS OF MIGHTY POWER The Power of The I Am (1905) The I is the man, the Self. This very short word has never yet been pronounced with even one-hundredth part of the force which belongs to it. I must take hold of my individuality and lift it out of the earth-mire into which it has been dragged by the earthâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s negatives. I must lift it up and establish its identity in the world. I must stamp the impress of my personality on all my environments. My I Am is the image and likeness of the great I Am. I will claim the power of the I Am. I will attain to my highest aim, which is to hold myself in God. I will hold my I at the right hand, the positive side, of the Throne of Power. I am the personality of Power. I have won the victory by my own persistent efforts, God being my strength. I have grown to my present degree of power out of latent Good or God. My I Am is Master. I Am: I have gained the mastery. I have demonstrated according to my will and wisdom. I can demonstrate more and more therefore I will not be subservient to anything. I am the highest expression of God. I am the image of divine 132

strength. I deny weakness; there is naught of it in me. I have my origin in the Central Sun. I am in the warmth or love of the life of the divine Sun. I have gained the recognition of the truth and I am positive to all things and substances that have not gained this recognition. This recognition is the key to the healing of the whole world and I hold it now within my conscious mind. Healers must recognize in all patients the power of life over death, the power of positive over negative, and thus establish this positive condition within them. As they come to recognize the power of positive thought they will see that all must be taught to overcome. Effort is necessary. Unceasing effort brings all the faculties and forces of the mind into activity. The desire to overcome must be cultivated. The seeming difficulty of overcoming lies in the way of assuming the position of mastery. The power of habit must be broken. All who wish to gain this high position must break through the habits of their old ways of believing. This should be done by and through exercising the force of the will. When one gains the true understanding of his position as a wielder of the power of the divine Will, he must remember to use his will in breaking all conditions, for the will is the I, and this I is so great, by virtue of the power of God vested in it, that the rest of the personality is nothing in comparison with it. Thus I must break the fixed habit of thought which, despite the intelligent understanding, still clings to the external part. The 133

beliefs in the power of disease held by the race, and held by the conscious mind before it became aware of its mastery, are consolidated in the surface mind. Those beliefs and the cells in which they reside are but negative intelligence. They may be brought into subjection and their tendencies redeemed through the exercise of the will. I am all mind, Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Mind. My will is supreme. My will shall cast the decisive vote in the contest between the positive and negative forces within my nature. My will is Spirit active in manifesting the power of my soul. I have climbed to a height in my evolution where I recognize that I reign supreme. I have dominion over all negative conditions. I have reached the perception of the Absolute Truth. I will not, for I need not submit to the tyranny of any negative authority. Therefore I will not permit any disease to dominate my flesh or destroy the health and peace of my nature. I reign supreme in this organization and I exact implicit obedience from every part. I deny and defy all negatives for my knowledge of absolute Truth swallows up every negative assumption. Centered in Thee all will be mine That I have failed to reach. This gives my soul a perfect joy; My heartâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s too full for speech!

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Walter DeVoe MYSTIC WORDS OF MIGHTY POWER The Music of The Future (1905) Music is a universal language, embracing in its vocabulary all possibilities of human thought, feeling or utterance, from the crudest rhythm of the natural man, the untaught savage â&#x20AC;&#x201D; to the keenest analysis of the philosopher or the deepest emotions of a soul on fire with God, wrapped in the devotional bliss engendered by direct contact with the divine Heart of Love. In the blending of musical tones there is the possibility of unimagined and unfelt emotions and revelations. The ancient seers of India did not try to convey by written scroll the revelation of things celestial attained through exaltation of the soul senses to direct perception of eternal verities. The sublimity of truth and the glory and power of the emotions awakened in the soul of the seer, while attuned to spiritual realities, could only be expressed in the language of the emotions, through the modulated intonations of the human voice. The illuminated teacher intoned his revelations to his pupils, teaching them truth in mantras, every tone of which had deep spiritual significance. When the words of the mantras were written and the tone values forgotten, their spirit was lost. The spirit of truth contained in them no longer appealed to the pupil because the emotional effect of the tones upon the soul was not felt. In other words, truth was something the soul might 135

be led to feel were the tones sounded that embodied true emotions, or the emotions of truth, and the teacher who realized truth was able to awaken the same realizations in his pupils by clothing his interior feelings in proper musical language. Modern music portrays in a large degree the dark side of mortal experience the melancholy of a Chopin or the depths of darkness and sorrow felt by Beethoven. And even when the lives of the gods are pictured, they are not the gods who have evolved to the transcendent heights of immortal love and sympathy, but common mortals cast in heroic mold, full of the petty vindictiveness, jealousy, passion and affection of beings in this mortal world. If Chopin, Beethoven and Wagner could have lived an ideal life, apart from the petty side of mortal life, with its cares and troubles, and have realized the sublime truths revealed to the souls of the ancient seers of India; if they could have heard the songs of the cherubim and seraphim and seen the glories that the prophet Isaiah and others saw through open soul vision, or have felt the heavenly truths that John the Revelator tried to picture in symbolic language, would they not be the mightiest teachers of heavenly verities to the soul and the most convincing that the world has known? Their musical revelations would be soul moving and soul convincing; Souls that would give them, selves to the sway of the heavenly emotions induced by their musical pictures of the joyous life of the Celestials would be awakened to the Divine Motive of existence, would be attuned to harmony with the divine nature and purpose. Such music would, compel the soul to feel and see God, and once a soul felt Godlike emotions, it would forever after desire to live up to that God136

like ideal. Music is but in its infancy: Musicians have been learning the language of the emotions how to express in musical terms what they felt, and, as is natural, they could not express more than they felt. But as musicians gain a deeper perception of eternal truth, which is always revealed to the searching souls of mortals, they will reveal more of Divinity and less of mortality in their music, and awaken divine emotions in their hearers. In the future the dominion of the orthodox religious beliefs of the dark ages will be cast aside, the vast processes of human evolution will be understood, the warfare and strife among nations as well as in business life will be done away with, and the necessity for competition and its concomitants â&#x20AC;&#x201D; selfishness and hatred â&#x20AC;&#x201D; will no longer exist. Man will rise above the savage in thought and action and music will not only keep pace with manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s spiritual evolution but it will be the most inspiring guide to that evolution, for, through the ability of inspired musicians to feel the nobler and higher sentiments of spiritual manhood through feeling the inspiration of high ideals musicians will make those sentiments and ideals real to their less fortunate brethren and lead them to feel and live the ideal life. Thus music will become the mightiest redeeming and transforming power in the development of character, and, through character, of the welfare of the whole race, that human evolution has produced. It is now positively proven that thoughts and feelings create poisons and tonics in the flesh. Analysis of the perspiration and breath a half hour after a fit of anger, for instance, shows that anger has created a poisonous 137

element, or vice versa, after a period of joyous emotion, the blood is enriched by aÂˇ tonic element. Some eighty different elements have been traced directly to the creative power of thoughts and feelings by Prof. Elmer Gates of Washington, D.C. The composer, who understands this wonderful fact, holds the key to a new healing art, the most magical and mystical that the world has ever heard of and also the most potent. In the emotion creating power of music we have in embryo a whole science of healing, which will yet be developed for the overcoming of discord and inharmony .and. the restoration of divine harmony and health in the nature of man. The inspired musician of the future will feel the celestial emotions of love, joy and peace, and he will weave these emotions into music like that which breathes through all the atmosphere of the heavenly spheres of eternal life. He will evolve such music as will create health compelling emotions in humanity. He will make the joyous brightness and health of heaven real to spirits clad in the vestments of mortality and awaken them to the reality of their divine nature through the use of like musical emotions. With mystical minor tones he will enter into the dark recesses of their hearts, where they brood alone in â&#x20AC;&#x153;chambers of imagery,â&#x20AC;? nursing their sorrow in selfish misery, and then, when he has reached the secret chamber of their hearts and gained dominion over their feelings, he will lead them, and compel them to follow him through the mighty magic of his music, out into the brightness of a God-lit land, in green pastures and beside still waters, away from and beyond themselves into a heavenly, atmosphere where joy perpetual reigns, where it is life to live, where living is a song of praise to the Eternal and 138

everything pulsates with goodness and health. He will lead them from the bondage and darkness of their ignorant, mortal concept of life into the freedom and joy of the eternally true and real. The time is not far distant when, through the discovery of more refined forces and more sensitive instruments, man will be convinced from the demonstrations of material science that the human spirit continues to exist as an intelligent entity after the death of its physical counterpart. Professor Crookes, F.R.S., Professor Alfred Russell Wallace, Camille Flammarion and many other savants who represent the foremost achievements in exact science have arrived at this conclusion now through private investigation and much experimentation, but as yet a method of communication between the two degrees of life, material and spiritual, that would be as convincing, say, as any chemical or electrical experiment, has not been found. But more and more are those whom the world looks to an authority in the realm of exact knowledge, giving time to investigate the occult phenomena known to exist through the different phases of human mediumship. When the scientific world seeks with unprejudiced mind for truth from the spiritual world, it will draw the attention of those scientists and philosophers among the inhabitants of the lands of Spirit who will co-operate with the seekers in this world and use their more advanced knowledge of chemistry and more developed powers of will to bring to the world such convincing evidence of the truth of progressive immortality as will leave no room for doubt. Then, when humanity are convinced that there is no death, 139

this truth will free them from the terrible burden of sorrow that they have borne for ages. When they learn from the inhabitants of heaven (as some have already learned) that there is no wrathful God sitting on a throne of judgment, waiting to damn them to everlasting punishment because they were no better than they could be, and no devil to delight in their tortures, the truth will free them from fear that fear which has enervated the manhood of the race and made humanity slaves to the authority of the priesthood. Then through the power of truth, woman will be emancipated from the slavery of ignorance born subjection to man. She will use all the powers of her will and imagination, of her affection and understanding, to create a new race through a wise understanding and compliance with the laws of heredity. When the truth reveals that there is no death, no need for fear or sorrow, or pain or poverty, that all is good even in its present degree of unfoldment and growing better forevermore, then the music of the present, with its revelation of mortal sorrow and pain, will be but a historical relic. In its place will be a music through whose every minor strain even there will run that triumphant song of the soul victorious over sin, sickness and death that is heard in the immortal worlds where truth reigns supreme and love inspires all hearts to do the will of the Good Father.

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Walter DeVoe HEALING CURRENTS Healing Peace (1919) This treatment will place you in touch with the healing streams which flow from the Celestial Presence of the Creator. Sacred names each have a spiritual quality and a relationship with a center of consciousness, and the name Jehovah, which means the Ever-Present Great Spirit, relates the mind to the holiest state of the Divine Mind. The mind becomes united through this name with the state of infinite peace wherein abide the holiest and wisest angels of the Ever-Present, and through this telepathic sympathy, receptive minds receive vibrations of holy, peaceful, healing emanations, which harmonize all mental disturbances and bring the peace that passeth mortal understanding. This name may be used effectively whenever and wherever peace is desired, for self or for others. Retire from the world when you can, and contemplate the healing power represented by the Creatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s potent Presence. When you desire to inbreathe the emanations which come from the use of this celestial name, put all mortal thought aside, and in the utmost meekness and humility of mind, bow down before the Majesty of that Mysterious Power which resides within all the angelic spheres and also within the inmost recesses of your soul, and your spiritual poverty will be supplanted by the unlimited 141

fullness and boundless love of the Creator. Praise be to Thee, Jehovah! From the meek and subtle chamber of your soul there bubbles forth the ethereal waters of peace. There is a region within you akin to that essential realm of Jehovah, where the crystal Sea of Truth is stirred by the vital breath of the Infinite One, and the murmuring waves whisper words of peace and everlasting serenity. Your soul now listens to the voice of omnipotent Peace, and the ethereal peace of the Spirit infuses your whole nature with the harmony of heaven. The crystal Sea at the root of your soul finds your mind meek, responsive, and receptive to its waters of peace which gently flow into your mind and harmonize your thoughts with heavenly rest. The ethereal potency of the peaceful Ever-Presence is now permeating your whole being, and all the atoms of your body obey this law of peace and harmony. Healing, soothing peace is the only Presence and the only Power. You are saturated with the healing glory of Jehovah, and there is no cause for mental or physical friction in the midst of that Presence. You are now in the peaceful glory of this Infinite Presence, and there cannot be anything in you or around you but boundless peace and love and harmony. In this Presence: There are no mortal minds at war. All is infinite Peace. There is no bondage to lust or love. All is eternal Harmony. 142

There is no vanity or pride, for the essential Meekness reigns supreme in all. All the cells of your nature rejoice in the free light of boundless Peace, and inbreathe the peaceful vitality of Eternity. Glory to Jehovah for the healing Peace from the exalted spheres of heavenly, harmonious Love. ALL IS PEACE!

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Walter DeVoe HEALING CURRENTS Ye Are Slumbering Gods! (1919) The essential attributes of the Great Spirit are organized in your individual soul. The Creator has organized omniscient love into a glowing sun of light and power, and this divine ego is your soul, your true self, the Power of your mind and body. The living Pearl of Divinity is the Presence of Jehovah within your nature. You can well afford to sell all your accumulations of earthly thought, even though it seems a great sacrifice, in order to attain conscious possession of this Pearl of great price. This divine individual essence of Jehovah is slumbering in the spiritual depths of your being, awaiting the quickening word to arouse Its mighty consciousness into spiritual activity and power. Spiritualize your mind and body, or your positive and negative mind, with the radiance of the Creatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s presence through prayerful devotion, for thus you will polarize to yourself the spiritual emanations of the Ever-Present, which will surround and infuse your soul with heavenly life and strength, and awaken it again to a realization of its mighty possibilities as a living son or daughter of the Creator. In fervent devotion of spirit, pour out your prayers and praises to the Great Glory Who is the sum of Almightiness within and above your soul being, and thereby you will generate the 144

quickening flame that will set your soul on fire with conscious, blissful power. Only in the zeal and purity of a devotional life, of a mind and body purified of earthly thoughts and desires and living to fulfill the purpose of the soul, which is the will of the Creator, can the soul develop, expand its immortal potentialities, and make the Ever-Presentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s power manifest in your being. Unless you are living for your soul, you have not learned to live; the great meaning and purpose of life are to you as a book that has not been opened. You are conscious in only the lowest and dreariest zone of your consciousness. All the blissful pleasures of the higher states of thought and feeling in your being, the joyous mingling of the positive and negative attributes of your spiritual nature, are hidden from you. The doors of heaven, through which streams the light of eternal consciousness, seem closed, and you seek for pleasure and peace where none are to be found. Turn to the Light that never fails, to the Love that is longing to enfold you in conscious bliss; turn from your idols of flesh, which intoxicate the mind and destroy the body; turn to the Creator! If you will worship the Eternal Presence with the same untiring zeal with which you sought transient things, you will be rewarded with the Infiniteâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unchanging Love, and your soul will awaken to immortal Life. Then, with your help, it will purify and glorify the sacred centers in your body and teach you the secret of spiritual alchemy, whereby the conserved forces of your body pass through a transmutation that refines them into a substance necessary to the soul in the expression of the Word of Power. 145

This knowledge will be useless to you unless you have proven your sincerity by overcoming the selfish and mortal desires that hold you back, and by conquering all attractions that would draw you from your devotion to your divine purpose of making the Ever-Present Spirit manifest in your life. For without absolute purity of life, the soul, which is born from the immaculate purity of the divine nature, cannot keep in correspondence with the flesh, because of the partition created by unprogressive thoughts and feelings. But when your will, coupled with the awakened will of your soul, has gained complete dominion over the desires of the flesh, your soul will express through your pure, true thought, and flood the seven sacred centers in your body with its soul consciousness. O, that all children of the Creator might learn of the holy path of regeneration, the straight and narrow path which leads to the highest mastery, and gives the greatest joy and peace to the individual. Once you see this path of immortality, its purity, its grace, and its bliss, you will be filled with a divine enthusiasm to travel it to the supreme goal, and you will see the uselessness of all mortal aims that do not help you to fulfill the object of your soulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s existence, the manifestation of the Creator in form and power. Once you place your feet on this path you will go forward steadily in a progressive way, allowing no obstacle to hinder your determination, nor any idea of time to disturb your faith. You will be filled with the conviction that you are on the Path of Life, and only by systematic effort for days, months and years can you fulfill the object of your being. 146

When all thoughts and desires of your nature are polarized toward the realization of the highest ideal, even the loss of the physical counterpart of the mind, the body, will not stop your upward progression through the eons of eternity. Your soul will continue to inhabit its pure mind-body or spirit form, and it will continue the development and regeneration of its mental forces. Thus, your soul will perfect the expression of its wisdom and power through its spiritual body in all its future progression in the objective realms of the universal heavens.

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Walter DeVoe HEALING CURRENTS Pray Without Ceasing (1919) How is the realization of the living Truth to be gained? By unceasing devotion to the Creator through daily study of divine truth and by daily prayer for more of the Spirit in heart and mind, united to mental affirmation of the love and wisdom and perfection in the soul. You are in this world for no other purpose than the development and expression of your soul, through service to your Creator by serving the needs of others. Through fulfilling this necessity of your being, you will find enduring growth and satisfaction, and in no other way. If you turn all your attention to earthly things and do not develop your immortal soul, you will not find enjoyment in the realms of light when you leave this world, and you will feel no attraction toward the realms where congregate the enlightened and wise souls of heaven. Unless you develop a love for Divine Wisdom, and express Love in helping others while here, the social life of the heavenly spheres will prove distressing and confusing to you, because there is no self-centered happiness there any more than here, except in the activity of the higher faculties of the mind and soul. So, if your love is for earthly things and affairs entirely, if your treasure is in this world, your heart will be here and you will remain in the atmosphere of earth as an earthbound spirit, 148

hovering about the marts of trade, the home, the club, or the tavern, according to your quality, in an unsettled state of weary search for the peace which earth-life cannot give you. Once we see that we are immortal minds, creating an immortal destiny by the quality of our thoughts, desires, and aspirations, we feel how important it is for us to make the building of a noble, sincere and generous character the business of life. People in the world talk about and live on the negative or inconsequential side of life. The frivolous and attractive aspects of mortal life are not endowed with eternal life and joy. They are all transient and, as far as we are concerned, must come to an end. When minds live in the contemplation of material things, apart from spiritual realities, they lose hold of their soul life and come to nothing. They die sooner than would be necessary if they had kept in tune with the life of the Creator within and above the soul. We need to magnetize our minds by daily contact with the central dynamo of Life in order to partake of the divine vitality that will enable us to overcome sickness and premature death. Life forms die when they can no longer be made to serve the purpose of Life. Those who keep their conversation and their thoughts in the light of heaven become immortalized while here; they live in heaven while here, and when their bodies tire of physical activities, they lay aside their physical forms as they would lay aside a garment no longer of use. To them, the physical and spiritual worlds have become blended into one great reality in which they live eternally, whether here or there as to visible presence. 149

After the discovery of the power of mental affirmations, New Thought students are apt to underestimate the value of prayer. This comes from a mistaken belief that the soul is all-sufficient in itself. The individual soul is as dependent upon the Creator and the invisible inhabitants of the spiritual realms for its sustenance, strength, and proper development as the personality is dependent upon mortal teachers and parents for its care and education, and upon the farm and the store for its supplies as well. Some have a vague idea of the Creator as a principle, capable of thinking without a mind, of acting without the use of form; a formless energy that is watching about everywhere, ready to do everyone a good turn without being asked. Remember that the law of cause and effect operates with the same undeviating exactitude in the spiritual realms as in this world. If you want to gain any effect, to heal a disease, to overcome a habit, you must start into activity a cause equal to that effect. The exalted consciousness of Divinity has demonstrated that It chooses to interact with material things, or with mortal minds, through the mediation of souls. The Creator has evolved souls to share in Creation by being intermediaries in the implementation of Divine Will. Souls are individualized activities of the Creator. Souls are the eyes, ears, and hands of the Creator. Souls who have awakened to the inner consciousness of the Creator feel the movement of the Infinite Spirit, and through the impulse of that inner Will of wisdom and mercy, they work from the spiritual side of life to fulfill the prayers of humanity. 150

We are co-workers with our Creator in the manifestation of Divine Will and Wisdom. The Creator needs us! The Creator has chosen to be dependent upon us to act out the Divine Will, just as we are dependent upon the Infinite for the power to act. The Ever-Present is our Power to act. We, incarnate, are also dependent upon our elder brothers and sisters in the spiritual world for many of the blessings of health and prosperity which we experience in this life. By affirmative and constructive prayer to the Creator, we set in motion an intelligent power which communicates our desire to the proper department of the Divine Mind, and when the desire has grown to sufficient strength through continual prayer, it furnishes a basis of mental energy through which Divine Intelligence may operate to bring results. If we do not pray to the Divine for what we need as the Creatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s servants, we do not make our desires known in heaven. All desires are like prayers, and all desires bring results equal to their strength and intelligence. Prayer gives our desires clarity of form and instills them with power. If we have a desire, that desire goes out from our mind and works on other minds to bring results. It does not rise above the plane of thought in which it is generated. Selfish thoughts draw attention from the realms of selfishness, while benevolent thoughts are perceived in the higher realms of Benevolence. A thought grows stronger as it is held daily; its force and ability are increased by added desire. But simple desire works single-handed. A desire formed into prayer to the Creator gains the cooperation of spiritual beings. Prayer sets in motion the Providence of the Creator, which is an organized power composed of multitudes of mighty spiritual beings. 151

Every prayer qualified by unselfish love and altruistic aspiration creates a thought-form which becomes visible to the angels of the Creator, and the Infinite Spirit of wisdom works through them to bring about conditions for the answering of the prayer. The many limitations to the answering of a prayer cannot always be overcome immediately, and so the prayer must be persisted in until the forces of heaven and earth are able to combine to bring about its fulfillment. If, through lack of faith or discouragement, the prayer ceases, co-operation from the heavenly realms may soon cease, because the angels may be dependent upon human minds for the thought force necessary for them to operate in the mind of the world. The power of the Creatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s angelic forces have, under certain circumstances, limited conscious activity on the earth plane without the assistance of mental organizations of persons on this plane. They require our faith and cooperation to provide the energy, the step-down transformer, the battery, the anchor, to induce the physical manifestation on our physical plane. One must never discount the power of unity of thought. The world is again waking up to the realization of the power of prayer. Even the most conservative orthodox journals are giving space to those who write of the health, the prosperity, and the general spiritual good that has come in answer to prayer. Prayer serves a purpose that simple desire, affirmation, or suggestion cannot serve, although these methods are very necessary for the proper development of the mind and soul. For many years, my life seemed an abject failure. I could not make a success of anything. I was sick in body and morbid in mind. I lacked individuality. But I learned that there was a Way to 152

find the Creator in our lives. I learned how to commune with the Ever-Present. Through learning how to pray, I found the power in Jehovah that gave me individuality. Through prayer I drew unto myself that essence of the Spirit which made me a conquering soul. Through prayer, my soul reached out to its Creator and received sustenance from that living World of Ever-Lasting Life. My soul drew on the Spirit and became aflame with divine glory. A material illustration may give greater clarity to the value of prayer for a human soul. There hangs from the ceiling a live wire charged with the positive electric current from a mighty dynamo. In my hands I hold the negative wire. I reach up and touch this negative wire to the positive wire, and immediately there is a blinding flash of electric light. Thus it is that humanity is glorified. The Creator is the positive Mind, the positive Spirit. Humanity is the negative mind, the negative spirit. During prayer, peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s minds reach out toward the positive Mind of the Creator, toward the Mind that is full of realized power, generated in the dynamo of Omnipotent Love. When the prayer becomes sincere and intense with love and devotion, there occurs that wondrous meeting of the human and the Divine, the negative and the positive; and the flash of immortal glory fills the negative mind with a quickening power which is the source of life and health. Many have felt in greater or lesser degree this touch of the Divine; it was a time of realization for them, and they look back to it with tender recollection, and also look forward to the future state of enlightenment in heaven as a continuous feast of spiritual communion, like that one glorious experience of the past. But why wait for heaven when heaven waits for you? Such 153

communion may be a daily fact of your experience, and its realization should be sought for daily. Let it become the dominant purpose of your life to grow spiritually in order to manifest the presence of the Creator. Gradually turn all your desires in that direction and compel all your destiny to work toward that end. Do not let any apparently limiting condition thwart your purpose. By prayer, you cultivate the cooperation of your Creator and hosts of angels, and when working with the Ever-Present as your faith and strength, all things are possible; you can become completely empowered. The All Power wills your permanent success. Pray to the Creator and your prayer will reach the most exalted plane of power, drawing to you the blessings of the highest and holiest souls in heaven. In the example of the prayer which follows, the prayerful attitude is united with the affirmation of truth, making a very powerful combination: MOTHER-FATHER CREATOR! I am a soul-child born from the blending of Thy divine attributes. Satisfy me with Thy love. In my soul are cradled the masculine and feminine potencies of Divinity. My soul is an organization of Thy love, wisdom and power; an image of all Thy qualities; a seed of Divinity. Through living in the glorious sunshine of Thy love, all these wonderful soul potencies are quickening. Glorify me with the illumination of Thy loving presence, that I also may glorify Thee. I am a perfect soul born from Thy perfect nature, but I need to live in the sunshine of Thy Spirit, that the power within may grow and develop as a seed of the Creator sown in an earthly body. 154

I need to commune with Thee consciously, thinking the thoughts of Thy Mind and feeling the emotions of Thy great Heart of Love in order that this negative earth-mind and body may become filled with Thy life, making it a perfect dwelling place for the expansion of the essence of soul power within. My soul is illuminating and healing this mind and body as I commune with Thy Spirit. My soul becomes more glorious as I exercise Thy love and wisdom. I am Thy child in soul and spirit. Thy glory is transforming my body and enlightening my soul, so that in harmonious awareness I am elevated by Thy high desires and holy aspirations. I am complete and satisfied in Thee. I am Thy immortal child. All Power and Glory to Thee forever, Jehovah.

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Walter DeVoe MYSTIC WORDS OF MIGHTY POWER The Ever Present Power (1909) What is that Mysterious Power that evolves so much of beauty and intelligence from the crude forces of nature, that finds its most perfect expression in the more refined nature of the celestial realms and there transforms every mortal crudity and imperfection into exalted beauty, every sorrow and pain into joy and peace? What is that transforming Power that redeems, regenerates and transforms spirits until they perfectly express its goodness and wisdom, and permeates even this undeveloped world with so much of its life and organizing power that we can never cease wondering as we sound the depths of its constructive wisdom and ability shown in every particle of substance? Human language is inadequate to express what that all- embracing Power is. The simple word God at once names it and does not name it, for the majesty and goodness and glory revealed to the contemplative mystic on this plane and to the angels in heaven as the sublime Reality for which that little word stands, cannot be comprehended by the intellect. But the quality that is Divinity, which heals, redeems and inspires, may be imparted from soul to soul as a ray of spiritual sunshine; as a quickening, moving tenderness, which vitalizes the nature with the very essence of Divinity. Once in a while we meet on this plane characters that live and express the purity, sweetness and 156

strength of Divinity, and we feel that they emit a healing atmosphere, a holy aura like that of angels. We are soothed and harmonized simply by their presence, for their souls emanate a healing influence truly angelic, and we are better and happier for having come in touch with them. Heaven is populated with such souls, and their charm is the Presence of Divinity, the Spirit of spirits, the Soul of souls, that is visible in heaven as a Sun of Glory, filling all the celestial abode with blissful, healing radiance. And the rays of that Divine Sun permeate all space and interpenetrate every substance as the spirit that forever moves over the â&#x20AC;&#x153;face of the deepâ&#x20AC;?, awakening life and intelligence in all substance, and in us developing a spiritual nature that enables its eternal Consciousness to become self-conscious in individualized form. Thus have we received from the EverPresent all the life and intelligence we have. He, as the impersonal Spirit, has led us all the way, according as our limited intelligence would allow. Now, if we will look to Him and recognize this mighty truth, that the Creator, the mighty Former and Lover of souls, is at present a source of unlimited life, strength and intelligence in us, we shall by this true recognition and the faith and trust in Omnipotence which evolves from it, come more directly in touch with the healing life of heaven which is made manifest to all souls that live close to heavenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Heart of Love. How shall we become attuned to the Creator so as to be healed? By affirming those truths which attune the mind to the quality of the Mind of the Creator. Affirmation of Divine Truth is the mystic method that has proved powerful in healing the sick and resurrecting into new light and joy those whom bitter 157

bereavements and cruel adversities had left crushed and brokenhearted. Affirmation is the mighty method that stirs up and awakens the latent potentialities of Divinity within the soul and develops that faith in the unity of the Ever-Present and the soul that is the most powerful healing force known to man or angels. There is no limit to the healing power souls may exercise if they cultivate a living faith in the healing Spirit as ever-present and powerful to alleviate pain and reconstruct the human body subject to the perfect law of life. Faith in the Creator and the soul is the vitalized mental force that connects the personality in this zone of mortality with the angelic realm of Divinity. We are living in a very negative and discordant mental zone, while perfected beings live in the positive mentality of the Creator, in His atmosphere, which is radiant with life and joy. By true affirmations we may make our minds more and more positive until we vibrate in unison with the positive life and joy that not only fills heaven, but interpenetrates our own atmosphere also. We come in contact mentally with whatever we think of. To think of the presence of power of the Creator as a merciful, healing life force is to come in actual mental contact with that presence. To continue this thought by study and affirmation of healing truth, will attune the mind to harmony with that beneficent power, lifting it out of the darkness and heaviness of mortal thinking into the brightness and joy that is the result of thinking the Creatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s thoughts after Him. Then we receive of the light of heaven. He who dwells in this 158

light is nearing perfection. If those who are ill will live and abide in this light, it will heal all their diseases and crown each life with Godly love.

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Walter DeVoe MYSTIC WORDS OF MIGHTY POWER The Center is Love (1905)

In the center of each atom, within the heart of all beings, and inter-penetrating every energy, is Love, the God of all, the wisest and most powerful force in the universe. The universal love of God for all beings is the vital impulse at the root of all creation, and those who will polarize love by thinking and feeling love for insects, birds or man, will develop such a harmonious healing character as will make for them and all who come into their life a heaven on earth.

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Walter DeVoe MYSTIC WORDS OF MIGHTY POWER Recognize Only Good (1905) The present duty of each one is to learn to make the most of life while on the earth, for the universe is a great school â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Gods school â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and it is a general rule that no one can attain to a high spiritual estate except through the cultivation of his mind, for the mind, is the spiritual part of the person, and in proportion as it gains knowledge from experience it becomes wise and loving and strong in the power of a perfect character. The overshadowing Mind of God is in you, and around you, holding you in its everlasting love, and in its vast embrace. It also holds all the loved ones who have passed from your sight. Nothing ever really dies in the Mind of God for in His merciful goodness everyone enjoys everlasting life and constantly progresses in intelligence. The all wise, all loving Mind is ever pouring out the living benediction of its presence upon all of its beloved humanity. It surrounds and blesses the wise and the unwise, the evil and the good alike with its life and intelligence, knowing that through this giving of itself to all, all will gradually grow in individuality, and sometime, somewhere, each and every mind will recognize from whence comes its life and power, and conform to the divine image that lies latent within. As you recognize that your mind is sustained by the unlimited life and strength of the God-mind, you will feel more of 161

life and strength, for it is the recognition of the omnipresence of God that establishes the faith which saves from disease and pain. You have believed that your life was limited, that the healing power of God was something far away in the sky, and by these beliefs you closed your mind to the mighty healing life, in you and all around you, which was able to build your nature strong and perfect with its living energy. Recognize the truth that the mighty forces of the God-mind, which produce health, happiness and prosperity, and cleanse from all sin and sickness, are focused upon you, and strengthen your faith by affirming over and over: I am Life. I am Intelligence. I am alive with the healing life of God. I am created in the perfect image and likeness of God and all the beneficent influence of the Divine Mind is working for my happiness and prosperity. Recognize only the good, for that is the dominant power in the universe, and the more you believe in the power of good, the stronger it becomes in your life and affairs. â&#x20AC;&#x153;According to your faith be it unto you.â&#x20AC;?

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Walter DeVoe INSPIRATION Soul Strength (1934)

The glorious Immortals have concentrated with us in sending blessings to you. This has created a more harmonious atmosphere around your soul, and prepared the conditions for a greater

spiritual

regeneration.

You

need

not

become

overwhelmed by the depressing mental atmosphere of the world. Feel the strengthening, inspiring Love which flows through our blessings. You know how great a help is a word of praise, appreciation or encouragement from a friend when things are going wrong. The soul also needs words of comfort, of inspiring faith and encouraging love to help it conquer all the disagreeable and destructive mental forces with which the atmosphere of the world is filled.

We want you to feel that you have found soul friends, permanent friends, friends who are consecrated to doing the Will of the Creator, and to helping others overcome their difficulties. We 163

want you to feel that you have entered the Path of spiritual progression with us, and that henceforth, we are with you, as you are with us, working to help all souls in need.

Feel that you have faced toward the glory that shines from the angelic heavens, and determine that henceforth you are going with us toward the Light and Love of the Creator. Determine that you will not grope alone in the darkness of mortal mentality in your search for the Light, but that you will unite in spirit with those who have worked to help find a way. Determine to give us your faith and cooperation, not only that you may be helped, but that all souls in your mental worlds may be given a vision of the Light, and find the way to freedom and peace. For you will get an understanding in this search for truth and freedom that we do not work for self alone, but that we work to lift minds into attunement with a Greater Mind. By working in this way to bless and help others, we gain a power that we could not have, were we to pray for a selfish goal.

Feel that you are an angel of love, feeding and strengthening other divine souls, and helping them to outgrow every mortal craving. The nobility and strength of soul that you personify and 164

radiate will make a mighty appeal to the same qualities slumbering within their souls. You, by your life of exalted thought and feeling, will become a silent source of inspiration and strength to other souls, and attract them onto the path of selfmastery.

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Lillian Dewaters LIGHT OF THE ETERNAL The Radiant Perfect Self (1950) Accepting the RADIANT PERFECT Self to be the all and the whole of us, we have found the Real God - at hand. Everyone and everything accepts the air and the sunlight in their infinite, indivisible form -available to all alike. THE RADIANT PERFECT SELF - likewise - belongs to everyone. Its infinitude and its completeness are ours, and we are It, in Wholeness, Perfection and everlasting Bliss - here and now. The One-Selfhood is INDIVISIBLE - thus it cannot be individualized. We are entitled to It as a whole, and in no other way. In It, there is no cause, effect, ignorant thought or impure thing. In It, there is no karma, error, or mortal mind. Our supreme desire should be to think as this Self, to see as this Self, express and BE this Self -and no other. Such desire comes from the Heart - full of fervor, ardor and delight. Delight in the Self! Rejoice in the Self! Magnify the Self! Any attainments made individualistically are like attainments made in dreams. When one wakens from sleep, can he find them? Liberation gained through personal, mental work is unreliable - the same as when one sleeps, regardless how successful he is at better dreaming, one dream is as useless as another. 166

FALSE IDENTIFICATION is the one obstacle in one’s way to Perfection, Wholeness, Harmony. In Revelation alone - where we identify truly - we are THE RADIANT PERFECT SELF. False identification has been abandoned. It is not the body which proclaims itself the separate ‘I’. Separateness and individualism appear because the identity does not identify himself as the Self - but as a man, idea, individual, manifestation. Sin, sickness and death appear until Absolute Identification is recognized and accepted. Cease the desperate longing to overcome something, to work out something, to rise above something or to be healed of something. Give up work, fight and warfare! In the place of your utter surrender, where you acknowledge defeat - be still. Lo! Light of Truth lifts you to heights unknown to you before. In one’s constant fight and struggle to save himself through mental treatment, he loses sight of an outstanding feature of the true teaching - precisely as follows: “He that loseth his life for my sake shall find it.” (Matthew 10:39) Only in losing his personal sense of Life can one find his true Life - Life as it REALLY is. Let yourself go - the self which is working and fighting. Why identify with it? It is the ghost which finally everyone must renounce, and cease to claim as himself. What tears are wasted upon illusion! What grief, depression and despair! Deliverance comes not while one is trying to master a belief, destroy a claim or conquer an illusion - but when he departs from such darkness. Confessing failure and futility resting for a brief second, still and alone - of a sudden, the veil is rent from top to bottom. 167

Light has illumined the darkness! No longer is he a defeated warrior or a cringing slave. Might, Majesty and Glory are now his, beyond words to tell. Like a mighty Amen, he hears the echoing, clarion words “The Lord shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.” “Be still, and know that I am God.” Exodus 14:14) (psalms 46:10) He knows now who the Lord is. The Radiant Self is his full and complete Deliverance. If only one will turn from PERSONALITIES, SYSTEMS, METHODS, to face God alone, how quick his deliverance, and powerful - as though he had attained before he started, and had reached his journey’s end before it began. One of the sayings of the illumined Lao-Tzu (6th century B.C.) is strikingly apropos to SURRENDER and ATTAINMENT. His saying is as follows: Failure is the foundation of success, and the means by which it is achieved. Success is the lurking place of failure; and who can tell when the turning point will come? He who acts, destroys; he who grasps, loses. Therefore the sage does not grasp, and so does not lose. Only he who does nothing for his life’s sake can truly be said to value his life. When disturbances arise, take refuge in your Eternal Being THE RADIANT PERFECT SELF. Do not allow yourself to be weighted down by the burden of another. Behold the Self -instead of the personality - the Self “with face shining as the sun, and raiment white as the light, transfiguring the whole earth with living triumph.” (Emma Curtis Hopkins) 168

Absolute surrender and absolute attainment are one and identical - the identity functions as the Self - I AM THAT I AM. The world one sees about him is synonymous with his Vision and Realization of the Real and the Divine, and his ability to abide in the Self alone. Receive - take - abide in That which is yours by grace - as Reality. Living in obedience to the Voice of the Heart, Illumination is natural. The Heart and the mind can never be unified. Identify yourself either with one or the other. With one - the ego mind one works to build himself a higher state of consciousness, to construct a better body and create a more harmonious human existence. With the Heart one loves the Real AS IT IS. Light pervades his whole existence. He is conscious of no difference between himself and the Light. He walks in the Kingdom of the Self where Freedom, Love and Bliss for ever abide. You - not someone or something outside of you or with you you, your-self, are THE RADIANT PERFECT SELF.

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Patricia Eddleman INNER WORLD RITUALS Blessing with Love (2005) Bless a thing and it will bless you. Curse it and it will curse you. If you bless a situation it has no power to hurt you, and even if it is troublesome for a time, it will gradually fade out, if you sincerely bless it. Emmet Fox BLESSING RITUAL: Dear one, nothing will serve you better than blessing a person, place, situation or thing. It is a way to recognize and bring forth the inherent good in all things. It is a wonderful way to bring forth the personal qualities you desire. At a designated time of the time, each day, go to a place you will be undisturbed, light a candle and/or incense to create a mood (if you desire). Sit in a comfortable position, relax and for a moment consider the attributes you desire to have or feel you need to live better, have better relationships, a better job. Some possibilities could be integrity, organization, energy maturing, self-liking, persuasion, decisiveness, foresight, faith, perseverance, or self-respect Maybe, you are shy …invoke selfassurance, confidence, ability to communicate effectively. Try to visualize yourself, smiling, happy, and contented, sitting in front of you. Smile at yourself. Be happy to see you. Send out good “vibes” to yourself. Then say, to yourself, out loud and with persuasion, something like this: (Your name), I bless 170

you and praise you. I bless and praise you for the goodness of God within you. I, bless and praise you (your name) for your (whatever attribute you would like to have/or have more of) sense of humor, I bless and praise you for your ability to laugh and enjoy life. I bless and praise you, (your name), for the goodness of God within you. I bless and praise you for your kindness and consideration. I bless and praise you for your friendliness and ability to make people comfortable in your presence. I bless and praise you, (your name.) I bless and praise you for the Goodness of God within you. I bless and praise you, (your name), I bless and praise you for your success, I bless and praise you for your creativity. I bless and praise you, (your name), for the goodness of God within you. Mean it! Feel it! Approach this with a light heart and merriment. Enjoy doing it. Use the above as a guide, but make it your own and, have fun. Now, bless your children, your husband, other family and friends. Extend yourself to them. Bless and praise them for the qualities they seem, at the moment to lack i.e.; Bless and praise them for their success. Bless and praise them for their happiness. Bless them for their health. You are calling forth the very best within them. When you go shopping bless and praise the clerks in the stores. Bless and praise them for being courteous and helpful. Bless and praise the shopping trip itself. Say, something likeâ&#x20AC;ŚI bless and praise my shopping trip for the goodness of God within. I bless and praise it for being easy and fun. I bless and praise it for the wonderful bargains I receive. 171

Bless and praise your car. Bless and praise it for transporting you safely from one place to another. Bless and praise the business meeting and the people who will be connected with it. Bless and praise it for being successful and that the outcome will be for the best of all concerned. Bless the people in your office. Bless and praise them for their efficiency, for their promptness, for their congeniality. Learn to bless and praise the people you envy or resent. Suppose there is someone, you know of, who has wealth (appearance, health, position, etc.) and you find yourself being envious and resentful; saying, “He/she doesn’t deserve that”. “No one should be that wealthy.” STOP! Instead, bless and praise that person. Bless and praise him/her for their wealth, their happiness, their health. Bless and praise him/her for their continued & greater wealth, etc. Try it…it is a great practice for releasing negative energy and restoring the positive energy required to go forth and manifest your own wealth, health, and good desire. Be happy that they have achieved, because it is true, that if one person can do, be or have, so can you, if you so desire.

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Emmet Fox POWER THROUGH CONSTRUCTIVE THINKING Your Heart’s Desire (1940) AN OLD adage says: “God has a plan for every man, and He has one for you,” and this is absolutely correct. Your real problem, therefore, in fact the only problem that you ever have, is to find your true place in life. Find that, and everything else will follow almost automatically. You will be perfectly happy; and upon happiness, health will follow. You will be really prosperous. You will have all the supply that you require to meet your needs, and this means that you will have perfect freedom; for poverty and freedom cannot go together. Until you do find your true place in life, however, you never will be really happy, no matter how much money or distinction you may acquire; and until you are happy, you will be neither healthy nor free. Whoever you are, God has not made you without a definite purpose in view. The Universe is a universe; that is, it is a unified harmony, a Divine Scheme. There can, therefore, be no such thing, as a misfit, or an unwanted or unneeded piece. It could not happen that God could create a spiritual entity such as you are, without having a special purpose in view, and this means that there is a special and particular place in it for you. God never repeats Himself, and so He has never made two people alike, and it is for this reason that no two people could ever do quite the same work, or express themselves in quite the same way. That is 173

why, rightly understood, there really need be no competition. There need be no such thing as, say, two thousand people struggling for the same place in life. Whatever the place may be, there can be only one person who can fill it perfectly; and there are one thousand, nine hundred and ninety-nine other places somewhere waiting for the other people if only they will find them. But how is one to find his true place in life? Is there any means whereby you may discover what it really is that God wishes you to do? You may feel inclined to say: “Even if it be true that God has some splendid thing that He wishes me to do, and to be, how can I possibly find out what it is?” Perhaps you may even be tempted to add: “I am a very plain, everyday sort of person; my circumstances are extremely restricted; the conditions of my life are just drab commonplace. How then can there be something wonderful, beautiful, splendid awaiting me? Or, even if there were, how could I possibly get to know about it?” And the answer is Divinely simple. Already in your past life from time to time, God Himself has whispered into your heart just that very wonderful thing, whatever it is, that He is wishing you to be, and to do, and to have. And that wonderful thing is nothing less than what is called Your Heart’s Desire. Nothing less than that. The most secret, sacred wish that lies deep down at the bottom of your heart, the wonderful thing that you hardly dare to look at, or to think about the thing that you would rather die than have anyone else know of, because it seems to be so far beyond anything that you are, or have at the present time, that you fear that you would be cruelly ridiculed if the mere thought of it were known -that is just the very thing, that God is wishing you to do or 174

to be for Him. And the birth of that marvelous wish in your soul the dawning, of that secret dream - was the Voice of God Himself telling, you to arise and come up higher because He had need of you. God is Infinite Mind, and that Mind is ever seeking for more and for new expression. â&#x20AC;&#x153;For such the Father seeketh to worship HIM.â&#x20AC;? Now, because you are a human being, you are intended to be a new point of expression for God - a focal point infinite Mind, in fact, somewhat as an electric lamp may be regarded as a focal point for the manifestation of the electric current in the circuit. A focal point for the Divine Self-expression that is what you are intended to be; and if you are willing to become that, then you will be fulfilling your destiny, and you will experience absolutely perfect and unalloyed happiness and harmony, and eternal and unrestricted development. A few people have attained to this, but they are still comparatively few. The great majority have lives full of problems of one kind or another that they have yet to work out. If one has perfect bodily health and how few have even this, really perfect health then he probably has financial difficulties; or it may be family troubles, an unhappy home life. If health, finance, and home relations are satisfactory, there can still be a sense of frustration in other directions. In any case, in the absence of all-round fullness and harmony of expression, there is frustration; and frustration means trouble. As far as God is concerned, our supply of Divine Energy is, of course, absolutely unlimited; there is no check of any kind upon the amount of it that we can appropriate, or, therefore, upon the things that we can do or be. Yet, for practical purposes, it remains that at any given time you can draw from the 175

inexhaustible Source only in accordance with the measure of your understanding, just as you can draw water from the Atlantic only in accordance with the size of the vessel that you use. If you have a pint pitcher you can get only a pint of ocean water, although the number of pints in the Atlantic runs into inconceivable figures. At the same time, it is well to remember that very few people do, ‘in fact, draw anything like as much of the Divine Energy as they could draw, even with their present understanding. Almost everyone is foolishly content to fill his pitcher, small as it may be, to somewhere very far short of the top. Remember that this call is the call of God, and when God calls you to His Service, He pays all the expenses in whatever kind of coin - “What soldier goes to war at his own charge?” Whatever you may require to answer that call, God will provide. Money, opportunity, introductions, knowledge, training, freedom, leisure, strength, and courage will He furnish, if you be about His business and not your own. Your Heart’s Desire is the Voice of God and that Voice must be obeyed sooner or later.

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Emmet Fox POWER THROUGH CONSTRUCTIVE THINKING The Golden Key Scientific Prayer (1940) The Golden Key Scientific Prayer will enable you, sooner or later, to get yourself, or anyone else, out of any difficulty on the face of the earth. It is the Golden Key to harmony and happiness. To those who have no acquaintance with the mightiest power in existence, this may appear to be a rash claim, but it needs only a fair trial to prove that, without a shadow of doubt, it is a just one. You need to take no oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s word for it, and you should not. Simply try it for yourself, and see. God is omnipotent, and man is His image and likeness, and has dominion over all things. This is the inspired teaching, and it is intended to be taken literally, at its face value. Man means every man and woman, and so the ability to draw on this power is not the special prerogative of the Mystic or the Saint, as is so often supposed, or even of the highly trained practitioner. Whoever you are, wherever you may be, the Golden Key to harmony is in your hand now. This is because in Scientific Prayer it is God who works, and not you, and so your particular limitations or weaknesses are of no account in the process. You are only the channel through which the Divine action takes place, and your treatment will really be just the getting of yourself out of the way. Beginners often get startling results at the first time of trying, for all that is absolutely essential is to have an open mind, 177

and sufficient faith to try the experiment. Apart from that, you may hold any views on religion, or none. As for the actual method of working, like all fundamental things, it is simplicity itself. All that you have to do is this: Stop thinking about the difficulty, whatever it is, and thing about God instead. This is the complete rule, and if only you will do this, the trouble, whatever it is, will presently disappear. It makes no difference what kind of trouble it is. It may be a big thing or a little thing; it may concern health, finance, a lawsuit, a quarrel, an accident, or anything else conceivable; but whatever it is, just stop thinking about it, and think of God instead - that is all you have to do. The thing could not be simpler, could it? God Himself could scarcely have made it simpler, and yet it never fails to work when given a fair trial. Do not try to form a picture of God, which is, of course, impossible. Work by rehearsing anything or everything you know about God. God is Wisdom, Truth, inconceivable Love; God is present everywhere; has infinite power; knows everything; and so on. It matter not how well you think you understand these things; go over them repeatedly. But you must stop thinking of the trouble, whatever it is. The rule is to think about God, and if you are thinking about your difficulty you are not thinking about God. To be continually glancing over your shoulder, as it were, in order to see how matters are progressing, is fatal, because that is thinking of the trouble, and you must think of God, and nothing else. Your object is to drive the thought of the difficulty right out of you 178

consciousness, for a few moments at least, substituting for it the thought of God. This is the crux of the whole thing. If you can become so absorbed in this consideration of the spiritual world that you really forget for a while all about the trouble concerning which you began to pray, you will presently find that you are safely and comfortably out of your difficulty — that your demonstration is made. In order to “Golden Key” a troublesome person or a difficult situation, think, “Now I am going to ‘Golden Key’ John, or Mary, or that threatened danger”; then proceed to drive all thought of John, or Mary, or the danger right out of your mind, replacing it by the thought of God. By working in this way about a person, you are not seeking to influence his conduct in any way, except that you prevent him from injuring or annoy you, and you do him nothing but good. Thereafter he is certain to be in some degree a better, wiser, and more spiritual person just because you have “Golden Keyed” him. A pending lawsuit or other difficulty would probably fade out harmlessly without coming to a crisis, justice being done to all parties concerned. If you find that you can do this very quickly, you may repeat the operation several times a day with intervals between. Be sure, however each time you have done it, that you drop all thought of the matter until the next time. This is important. We have said that the Golden Key is simple, and so it is, but, of course, it is not always easy to turn. If you are very frightened or worried it may be difficult, at first, to get your thoughts away from material things. But by constantly repeating some statement 179

of absolute Truth that appeals to you, such as There is no power but God, or I am the child of God, filled and surrounded by the perfect peace of God, or God is Love, or God is guiding me now, or, perhaps best and simplest of all, just God is with me — however mechanical or dead it may seem at first — you will soon find that the treatment has begun to “take,” and that your mind is clearing. Do not struggle violently; be quiet but insistent. Each time that you find your attention wandering, just switch it straight back to God. Do not try to think out in advance what the solution of your difficulty will probably turn out to be. This is technically called “outlining,” and will only delay the demonstration. Leave the question of ways and means strictly to God. You want to get out of your difficulty — that is sufficient. You do your half, and God will never fail to do his.

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Emmet Fox POWER THROUGH CONSTRUCTIVE THINKING Take Charge of Your Thoughts â&#x20AC;&#x201D; They Have Power (1940)

You own the power to choose each experience in your life. No, you cannot stop tragedies from happening but, how you look and deal with the effects of undesirable events in your life is your choice. You can choose whether to hold on or to let go of a life that is not working out for you. It does not have to be as drastic as disappearing & physically abandoning your current life, but it can be as simple as changing how you see things. Invariably, it boils down to the law of attraction. So before you criticize & complain about others, take the time to examine your thoughts. You might be sending the wrong signals that is why you always seems to be attracting the wrong people or situations. So be responsible for your thoughts, words & actions. Plant the seed of perfection in your mind & it will soon invade your whole life. It will attract more of the same & all you will ever see is the divine perfection in yourself, in others & everything around you. Such is the law.

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Shakti Gawain CREATIVE VISUALIZATION Three Necessary Elements (1975) There are three elements within you that determine how successfully creative visualization will work for you in any given situation: 1. Desire. You must have a true desire to have or create that which you have chosen to visualize. Ask yourself, “Do I truly, in my heart, desire this goal to be realized?” 2. Belief. The more you believe in your chosen goal and the possibility of attaining it, the more certain you will be to do so. Ask yourself, “Do I believe that this goal can exist?” and “Do I believe that it is possible for me to realize or attain it?” 3. Acceptance. You must be willing to accept and have that which you are seeking. Sometimes we pursue goals without actually wanting to attain them. We are more comfortable with the process of pursuing. Ask yourself, “Am I really completely willing to have this?” The sum total of these three elements is what I call your intention. When you have strong intention to create something — that is you deeply desire it, you completely believe that you can do it, and you are totally willing to have it — it is very likely to manifest in your life in one way or another. The clearer and stronger your intention, the more quickly and easily your creative visualization will work. In any given 182

situation, ask yourself about the condition of your intention. If it is weak or uncertain, look more deeply to see what your doubts, fears, conflicts, or concerns may be. Sometimes your hesitations may be an indication of feelings and beliefs that need to be acknowledged and healed. In some cases, hesitation may be an indication that this is not a truly appropriate goal for you.

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Shakti Gawain CREATIVE VISUALIZATION Contacting Your Higher Self (1975) One of the most important steps in making your creative visualization work effectively and successfully is to have the feeling of being connected with your inner spiritual source. Your spiritual source is the supply of infinite love, wisdom, and energy in the universe. For you, source may mean God, Goddess, universal intelligence, the Great Spirit, the higher power, or your true essence. However we conceptualize it, it can be found here and now within each of us, in our inner beings. You can think of contacting your source as connecting with your higher self, the wise being who dwells within you. Being in contact with your higher self is characterized by a deep sense of knowingness and certainty, of power, love, and wisdom. You know that you are creating your own experience of life and that you have the power to create the experiences most important and necessary for your own learning process. We have all had experiences of being connected with our higher selves, although we may not have conceptualized it in that way. Feeling exceptionally high, clear, strong, “on top of the world,” or “able to move mountains,” are indications of being connected with your higher self; so is the experience of “falling in love” . . . when you feel wonderful about yourself and the world 184

because your love for another human being is causing you to connect with your highest self. When you first become consciously aware of the experience of your higher self, you will find that it seems to come and go rather sporadically. At one moment you may be feeling strong, clear, and creative, the next moment you may be thrown back into confusion and insecurity. This seems to be a natural part of the process. Once you are aware of your higher self, you can call on it whenever you need it, and gradually you will find that it is with you more and more of the time. The connection between your personality and your higher self is a two-way channel, and it’s important to develop the flow in both directions. Receptive: When you quiet your personality during meditation, and come into a “being” space, you open the channel for higher wisdom and guidance to come to you through your intuitive mind. You can ask questions and wait for answers to come to you through words, mental images, or feeling impressions. Active: When you are experiencing yourself as the cocreator of your life, you make choices about what you desire to create, and channel the infinite energy, power, and wisdom of your higher self into manifesting your choices through active visualization and affirmation. When the channel is flowing freely in both directions, you are being guided by your higher wisdom, and based on that guidance, you are making choices and creating your world in the highest, most beautiful way. 185

Almost any form of meditation will eventually take you to an experience of your spiritual source, or your higher self. If you are not sure of what this experience feels like, don’t worry about it. Just continue to practice your relaxation, visualization, and affirmations. Eventually you will start experiencing certain moments during your meditations when there is a sort of “click” in your consciousness and you feel like things are really working; you may even experience a lot of energy flowing through you or a warm radiant glow in your body. These are signs that you are beginning to channel the energy of your higher self. Here’s an exercise in creative visualization that will help you tune into the feeling. You might wish to do this exercise regularly at the beginning of your meditation periods: Sit or lie in a comfortable position. Relax completely...let all tension drain out of your body and mind... breathe deeply and slowly . . . relax more and more deeply. Visualize a light within your heart — glowing radiant and warm. Feel it spreading and growing — shining out from you farther and farther until you are like a golden sun, radiating loving energy on everything and everyone around you. Say to yourself silently and with conviction, “Divine light and divine love are flowing through me and radiating from me to everything around me.” Repeat this over and over to yourself until you have a strong sense of your own spiritual energy. If you wish, use any other affirmations of your own power, light, or creative ability, such as, God is working through me now. 186

I am filled with creative energy. The light within me is creating miracles in my life here and now. Or use whatever phrase has meaning and power for you.

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Shakti Gawain CREATIVE VISUALIZATION Affirmations (1975) Affirmations can be done silently, spoken aloud, written down, or even sung or chanted. Even ten minutes a day of repeating effective affirmations can counterbalance years of old mental habits. If you become aware that you are repeating habitual negative thought patterns or attitudes, try saying an affirmation to yourself a few times right then and there. For example, if you find yourself thinking, “Oh, what’s the use, I’ll never get what I want,” you might say to yourself, “I have the ability to create what I want in my life” or “I deserve to be happy and fulfilled.” An affirmation can be any positive statement. It can be very general or very specific. There are an infinite number of possible affirmations; here are a few just to give you some ideas: Every day in every way I’m getting better and better. Everything I need is coming to me easily and effortlessly. My life is blossoming in total perfection. I have everything I need to enjoy my here and now. I am the master of my life. Everything I need is already within me. Perfect wisdom is in my heart. I am whole and complete in myself. I love and appreciate myself just as I am. 188

I accept all my feelings as part of me. I love to love and be loved. The more I love myself, the more love I have to give others. I now give and receive love freely. I am now attracting loving, satisfying relationships into my life. My relationship with ______________ is growing happier and more fulfilling every day. I now have a satisfying, well-paying job. I love doing my work, and I am richly rewarded, creatively and financially. I am an open channel of creative energy. I am dynamically self-expressive. I enjoy relaxing and having fun. I communicate clearly and effectively. I now have enough time, energy, wisdom, and money to accomplish all my desires. I am always in the right place at the right time, success - fully engaged in the right activity. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s okay for me to have everything I want! This is an abundant universe and thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plenty for all of us. Abundance is my natural state of being. Every day I am growing more financially prosperous. The more I have, the more I have to give. The more I give, the more I receive, and the happier I feel. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s okay for me to have fun and enjoy myself, and I do! I am relaxed and centered. I have plenty of time for every thing. I am now enjoying everything I do. 189

I feel happy just being alive. I am healthy and beautiful! I am open to receiving all the blessings of this abundant universe! _________ is coming to me, easily and effortlessly. I have a wonderful job with wonderful pay. I do a wonderful service in a wonderful way. The light within me is creating miracles in my life her and now. All things are now working together for good in my life. I am now attuned to my higher purpose in life. I now recognize, accept, and follow the divine plan of m life as it is revealed to me step by step. I give thanks now for my life of health, happiness, and self expression.

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Peggy Graham WHERE IS YOUR ENERGY GOING? You Create Everything You See (1990) I will talk about energy again. The energy is what you must find. If you find the energy, you can create. Be patient. If you can realize that you create everything you see around you, than you can take responsibility for your creations. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s simple. You create that which you see. No one else creates your world; only you create it. When you realize this, you will win the game. Each creation you take responsibility for is a victory in the game of life. You will create whatever you do, but you win when you take responsibility for your creation. Responsibility is what can set you free. Accept the responsibility that you create everything around you and go free. Deny your responsibility and you are trapped. You cannot get loose until you understand this truth: you are responsible for whatever you create, whether you like it or not. Like a game of any kind, you can win if you play well and learn the rules. The rules are: take responsibility for what you create; use you energy wisely; and watch what you think. Follow these rules and study the results. Awareness is the name of the game. Use your awareness and work to increase it. With your awareness study the results of 191

what you have created. Study is the watchword of the game. If you study hard, you will pass this class; if you don’t, you will fail and have to take this class over. Just learn to study. Watch your thinking at all times; study the results; see the effect your thoughts create. Responsibility means accepting the results of what you do. If you can’t accept responsibility, you lose. If you can accept responsibility, you win. Remember: life is just a game we all play; nothing more. Don’t take this game so damn seriously. This life is a game you chose to play and a game you play only for a short time — even if it does sometimes seem like forever. Responsibility is what makes you win; and if you lose, it is your own fault. So take responsibility for that too.

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Peggy Graham WHERE IS YOUR ENERGY GOING? The Moment of Power (1990) I tell you this: you will have to work these things out whether you have a body or not. Even if you drop the body, there will be no difference. So what is the excuse for not starting? I ask you now: what’s the fear of being in present time? Why is it so difficult to just exist? Does anyone understand why I ask this question? Why do I ask more questions tonight than you do? We must ask questions together. If I do all the talking, then you are simply listening. I ask you to speak also. An exchange of ideas is what I seek this evening. Please allow this to happen. Audience: Lloyd, I think the reason is that a person has so much attention on planning how to handle the future, how to live this life, how to avoid dying and how to handle the body in the meantime, that they don’t have enough time to look at the present time moment. Lloyd: This is an excellent answer. There is no time at all. Have any of you grasped this yet? No time exists anywhere. You don’t need it. Not only do you not need time, it does not exist. Time is only a consideration that we’ve put out there unnecessarily. Everything happens at the moment of power, which is the moment of the present. You focus on one moment: the moment of power. And if your energy is not totally focused on 193

that moment, how can you exist maximally? I tell you, there is only one present moment. That is this moment â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the moment of power. Audience: What do you mean by power? Lloyd: The moment of power is the moment it is possible to achieve the greatest good. Your power is focused in one moment, and that is present time. If you dilute this power, what good can you do? If you are worried about tomorrow or yesterday, where is your moment of power? . . . It does not exist. This is a new concept for many of you. There is one moment of power available to you all, and it is that present moment of which I speak. Present time, if you want to call it that, is only now and that now is no longer. Where is the energy going? If it does not go into the moment of power, that moment of power is lost. Can someone tell me about a moment of power? Tell me if you understand, so I can continue. Audience: Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not sure how exactly, but I found myself in present time a couple of times, Lloyd. What happened was that I suddenly saw what was in front of my eyes. And it was powerful! Lloyd: And what did you see in front of your eyes? Audience: Extraordinary beauty. Brilliance of colors and designs, and living paintings all around me. Not just the trees and the mountains, but everywhere I looked. Living and still-life paintings everywhere. People and everything. Lloyd: So there was nothing between you and life. You were not a part of life or apart from life; you were life. Do you see how 194

important this is? You saw what was in front of your eyes. Has anybody else felt that incredible awareness, that moment of power in present time? Would you describe it, please? Please share this; it is important. Audience: Everything seemed to come into focus; everything is concentrated right there. There’s no distraction or anything else. It’s right there. Lloyd: Were you able to accept the reality of its beauty? Can you conceive of living every moment in such a way - or would the beauty be too much for you to bear? Why are you afraid? Now that you see what it is, why do you not have it always? I ask this in jest, of course, knowing the answer already. So if you continue to follow your thoughts, you will make great strides in the direction that you wish to go. I ask you again about the concept of love. What does this have to do with being in present time? Can anyone explain? Audience: If you are in present time with no ego, just existing and perceiving the whole of everything, and you are part of it - I want to say in harmony with everything — that probably is one of your greatest expressions of love that you could have. No conflict: just going with it, a part of it. That would be my answer to your question, as I see it.

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Peggy Graham WHERE IS YOUR ENERGY GOING? Love is Always There (1990) Audience: Is there any emotion besides love that is not ego? Love is not an emotion; it is existence; love is what moves the universe. It is not separate from what you are. Love is what you are. The best way to experience love is to strip away the rest so you can be that which you already are. If you can strip yourself of the extra problems caused by all the emotions that run through your daily life, you can then be free and be who you are. Love is always there. There is no reason to look so hard for it. You have all you need now. Do you see this? If you can only strip the rest away, the love and the energy will flow. If you can eliminate all those emotions that the ego uses to save your life, you will then be left with who you are. And that is what I will help you to do here. The question is this: What is it you are doing right here and now? All of you need to ask yourselves this. You are here to learn to love and to create that which you want to have manifested for you. It sounds a bit silly, but I tell you itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the truth. What is it you all are doing here now? There is so much love right here in this room now, that I feel overwhelmed with it. I feel it go from each of you to the others. So you see, if you could only use this love always, and not the other emotions, how powerful you would all be. 196

Take a minute to just feel the love here, please. I will also flow my love to you . . . Did you feel it? I’m not being facetious with this. It is a very important concept. By love I do not mean the dictionary definition of the word. By love I mean that which holds this world, and all that exists, together. It is hard to explain the concept because there is no word for what I say or try to tell you. Love is more than affinity; it is a form of magnetism. It is what keeps the planet turning; it is what creates the body and keeps it alive. A matter of order? . . . Yes. But more even than that. There is no word for it. I wish I could give you the concept. It is creation at its highest level. There is no duality in perfect love; there is no separation. That is what you already are. It is so hidden and so difficult to attain that it is almost an impossibility. But you can achieve it. I can feel it at times, as we all can. Some of us have felt it during those moments of perfect attunement with the universe and love. That is what I seek and what you also seek. There is no separation in this love; so when I speak of emotion tonight, it is not love I’m speaking about. The question I ask you is this: What is it you are doing here — now? Are you separate or are you not? You are separate. I tell you the goal is oneness; and if you achieve this oneness, you will still be who you are. And all things are you, and yet you are still you.

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Peggy Graham WHERE IS YOUR ENERGY GOING? Choose Well What to Create (1990)

It is true that thoughts are things and you create them as you go along; but thoughts should not control you. You must learn to make your thoughts visible in your universe and to use them to make your life work for you. You can do this if you are aware of what you are thinking at all times. But not many of us can do this; it is hard to do. Increasing your awareness is the key that enables you to have that which you desire. If you can learn to monitor your thinking, you can create that which you want to manifest in your daily lives. Your thoughts are what make you who you are, and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why I tell you to be so aware of them. You can learn to control your thinking if when you sense a thought, you follow it and see where it came from and where it will lead you. If you can continually do this, you will eventually discover that thoughts are not just illusions. I am now learning to control my universe. I did not have to die to do this. You can learn to do this too while you are still in a body, if you follow what you think. You must learn to follow what you think about anything, and you will see miracles occur in front of your eyes. I see this now, although I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see it when I was alive. You can create anything 198

you want by changing your thoughts. This won’t be easy at first, but if you follow your thoughts, they will lead you to the answers about how you came to be the way you now are. Thoughts are just things; never forget this. Furthermore, it is possible to create what you want if you can learn to change your thoughts. This is so true that I will tell you what I have done here: I have changed my body to one of the most healthy bodies I could think of; I wanted to see if I could do it, and I did. I am so young and healthy now. I created this new body. I wish I could make you see me. I can’t do this yet; I’m not on your plane of awareness now. Not higher, just different; just more awareness. You don’t know how high you are. Just as high. You are all aware. You are as aware as I am if you only knew how to see with your awareness. Then you could see me because I’m right next to you now. Amazing as it may seem, you can learn to be this aware. Awareness of your thoughts will make you free. You must not give way to the thoughts that you don’t want to have. If you do, they will eventually manifest visible things in your universe that you didn’t want and never expected to create. You must also learn to differentiate thoughts that are not yours from your own. Your thoughts are so important that they can make your life heaven or hell. I am here, so where’s heaven? Heaven is wherever you want it to be, and so is hell; and I am now in neither . . . because I wish it so. 199

It is the same where you are now. You can have it any way you want. Thoughts make the difference between where you are and where you want to be. If you learn to watch your thoughts, you will have the ability to change your universes and create what is important to you at all times and everywhere. There are many other universes, and these same rules apply in all of them. Thoughts exist in all universes — ALL OF THEM. If you learn to watch your thoughts, not control them — and there is a difference — you can create the most wonderful things. Whatever you want you can have when your thoughts and energy go into creating. There is really no such thing as happiness; only awareness, as you will see. Happiness is a consideration; that’s all. Awareness and life energy is all there is; the rest are only personal considerations. Awareness and energy are the same thing with a slight difference. You can control your individual universes eventually when you learn these truths; and you will if you increase your awareness. Work to see the lies in your thoughts and you will have the key to the truth in life and in death; life and death are the same. Thoughts are just things. I know this now. You can change your thoughts like you change your clothes. I tell you this so you can learn what to do in your life; so listen. You will have to work to really learn this. “I think; therefore I am,” is not the truth. If I didn’t think I was, I would still be — but not the same way. Thoughts create an identity. I am Lloyd now; I will always be who I am whatever name I choose. If I think I am 200

not, I still am — but in a different way. I know this is difficult: “I think; therefore I am.” The sequence is the energy, then the thought — almost at once, but not quite. It’s very subtle. I am energy first, then thought. Thought creates after energy is present. Energy is always present. If you do think, you create whether you know it or not; and to progress you must become aware of this. So wake up, and know that you are creating at all times. What you create depends on your level of awareness; you create better things if you are more aware. Awareness is different than thought. Awareness is not thought; awareness IS always. And thought follows. “I think and so I exist” would be more accurate. If I chose not to think, I would still be Lloyd; but I would not be able to be here. I had to make the decision to be here. If I had not made this decision, I would not be able to do this now. If I did not think, I would only be able to be what I am — no more. That would not be much fun for me or help for you. So I thought myself here so I could be with you and teach you. Decision is the thought. Pick a decision and make it work.

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Charles F Haanel THE MASTER KEY SYSTEM Reborn in Spirit (1912) This is the process by which failure is changed to success. Thoughts of courage, power, inspiration, harmony, are substituted for thoughts of failure, despair, lack, limitation and discord, and as these thoughts take root, the physical tissue is changed and the individual sees life in a new light, old things have actually passed away, all things have become new, he is born again, this time born of the spirit, life has a new meaning for him, he is reconstructed and is filled with joy, confidence, hope, energy. He sees opportunities for success to which he was heretofore blind. He recognizes possibilities which before had no meaning for him. The thoughts of success with which he has been impregnated are radiated to those around him, and they in turn help him onward and upward; he attract to him new and successful associates, and this in turn changes his environment; so that by this simple exercise of thought, a man changes not only himself, but his environment, circumstances and conditions..

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Charles F Haanel THE MASTER KEY SYSTEM The World Within (1912) 1. That much gathers more is true on every plane of existence and that loss leads to greater loss is equally true. 2. Mind is creative, and conditions, environment and all experiences in life are the result of our habitual or predominant mental attitude. 3. The attitude of mind necessarily depends upon what we think. Therefore, the secret of all power, all achievement and all possession depends upon our method of thinking. 4. This is true because we must “be” before we can “do,” and we can “do” only to the extent which we “are,” and what we “are” depends upon what we “think.” 5. We cannot express powers that we do not possess. The only way by which we may secure possession of power is to become conscious of power, and we can never become conscious of power until we learn that all power is from within. 6. There is a world within – a world of thought and feeling and power; of light and life and beauty and, although invisible, its forces are mighty. 7. The world within is governed by mind. When we discover this world we shall find the solution for every problem, the cause for every effect; and since the world within is subject to our 203

control, all laws of power and possession are also within our control. 8. The world without is a reflection of the world within. What appears without is what has been found within. In the world within may be found infinite Wisdom, infinite Power, infinite Supply of all that is necessary, waiting for unfoldment, development and expression. If we recognize these potentialities in the world within they will take form in the world without. 9. Harmony in the world within will be reflected in the world without by harmonious conditions, agreeable surroundings, the best of everything. It is the foundation of health and a necessary essential to all greatness, all power, all attainment, all achievement and all success. 10. Harmony in the world within means the ability to control our thoughts, and to determine for ourselves how any experience is to affect us. 11. Harmony in the world within results in optimism and affluence; affluence within results in affluence without. 12. The world without reflects the circumstances and the conditions of the consciousness within. 13. If we find wisdom in the world within, we shall have the understanding to discern the marvelous possibilities that are latent in this world within, and we shall be given the power to make these possibilities manifest in the world without. 14. As we become conscious of the wisdom in the world within, we mentally take possession of this wisdom, and by taking mental possession we come into actual possession of the power 204

and wisdom necessary to bring into manifestation the essentials necessary for our most complete and harmonious development. 15. The world within is the practical world in which the men and women of power generate courage, hope, enthusiasm, confidence, trust and faith, by which they are given the fine intelligence to see the vision and the practical skill to make the vision real. 16. Life is an unfoldment, not accretion. What comes to us in the world without is what we already possess in the world within. 17. All possession is based on consciousness. All gain is the result of an accumulative consciousness. All loss is the result of a scattering consciousness. 18. Mental efficiency is contingent upon harmony; discord means confusion; therefore, he who would acquire power must be in harmony with Natural Law. 19. We are related to the world without by the objective mind. The brain is the organ of this mind and the cerebro-spinal system of nerves puts us in conscious communication with every part of the body. This system of nerves responds to every sensation of light, heat, odor, sound and taste. 20. When this mind thinks correctly, when it understands the truth, when the thoughts sent through the cerebro-spinal nervous system to the body are constructive, these sensations are pleasant, harmonious. 21. The result is that we build strength, vitality and all constructive forces into our body, but it is through this same objective mind that all distress, sickness, lack, limitation and 205

every form of discord and inharmony is admitted to our lives. It is therefore through the objective mind, by wrong thinking, that we are related to all destructive forces. 22. We are related to the world within by the subconscious mind. The solar plexus is the organ of this mind; the sympathetic system of nerves presides over all subjective sensations, such as joy, fear, love, emotion, respiration, imagination and all other subconscious phenomena. It is through the subconscious that we are connected with the Universal Mind and brought into relation with the Infinite constructive forces of the Universe. 23. It is the coordination of these two centers of our being, and the understanding of their functions, which is the great secret of life. With this knowledge we can bring the objective and subjective minds into conscious cooperation and thus coordinate the finite and the infinite. Our future is entirely within our own control. It is not at the mercy of any capricious or uncertain external power. 24. All agree that there is but one Principle or Consciousness pervading the entire Universe, occupying all space, and being essentially the same in kind at every point of its presence. It is all powerful, all wisdom and always present. All thoughts and things are within Itself. It is all in all. 25. There is but one consciousness in the universe able to think; and when it thinks, its thoughts become objective things to it. As this Consciousness is omnipresent, it must be present within every individual; each individual must be a manifestation of that Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent Consciousness. 26. As there is only one Consciousness in the Universe that 206

is able to think it necessarily follows that your consciousness is identical with the Universal Consciousness, or, in other words, all mind is one mind. There is no dodging this conclusion. 27. The consciousness that focuses in your brain cells is the same consciousness which focuses in the brain cells of every other individual. Each individual is but the individualization of the Universal, the Cosmic Mind. 28. The Universal Mind is static or potential energy; it simply is; it can manifest only through the individual, and the individual can manifest only through the Universal. They are one. 29. The ability of the individual to think is his ability to act on the Universal and bring it into manifestation. Human consciousness consists only in the ability of man to think. Mind in itself is believed to be a subtle form of static energy, from which arises the activities called â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;thought,â&#x20AC;&#x2122; which is the dynamic phase of mind. Mind is static energy, thought is dynamic energy -the two phases of the same thing. Thought is therefore the vibratory force formed by converting static mind into dynamic mind. 30. As the sum of all attributes are contained in the Universal Mind, which is Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent, these attributes must be present at all times in their potential form in every individual. Therefore, when the individual thinks, the thought is compelled by its nature to embody itself in an objectivity or condition which will correspond with its origin. 31. Every thought therefore is a cause and every condition an effect; for this reason it is absolutely essential that you control your thoughts so as to bring forth only desirable conditions. 207

32. All power is from within, and is absolutely under your control; it comes through exact knowledge and by the voluntary exercises of exact principles. 33. It should be plain that when you acquire a thorough understanding of this law, and are able to control your thought processes, you can apply it to any condition; in other words, you will have come into conscious cooperation with Omnipotent law which is the fundamental basis of all things. 34. The Universal Mind is the life principle of every atom which is in existence; every atom is continually striving to manifest more life; all are intelligent, and all are seeking to carry out the purpose for which they were created. 35. A majority of mankind lives in the world without; few have found the world within, and yet it is the world within that makes the world without; it is therefore creative and everything which you find in your world without has been created by you in the world within. 36. This system will bring you into a realization of power which will be yours when you understand this relation between the world without and the world within. The world within is the cause, the world without the effect; to change the effect you must change the cause. 37. You will at once see that this is a radically new and different idea; most men try to change effects by working with effects. They fail to see that this is simply changing one form of distress for another. To remove discord, we must remove the cause, and this cause can be found only in the world within. 208

38. All growth is from within. This is evident in all nature. Every plant, every animal, every human is a living testimony to this great law, and the error of the ages is in looking for strength or power from without. 39. The world within is the Universal fountain of supply, and the world without is the outlet to the stream. Our ability to receive depends upon our recognition of this Universal Fountain, this Infinite Energy of which each individual is an outlet, and so is one with every other individual. 40. Recognition is a mental process, mental action is therefore the interaction of the individual upon the Universal Mind, and as the Universal Mind is the intelligence which pervades all space and animates all living things, this mental action and reaction is the law of causation, but the principle of causation does not obtain in the individual but in the Universal Mind. It is not an objective faculty but a subjective process, and the results are seen in an infinite variety of conditions and experiences. 41. In order to express life there must be mind; nothing can exist without mind. Everything which exists is some manifestation of this one basic substance from which and by which all things have been created and are continually being recreated. 42. We live in a fathomless sea of plastic mind substance. This substance is ever alive and active. It is sensitive to the highest degree. It takes form according to the mental demand. Thought forms the mould or matrix from which the substance expresses. 43. Remember that it is in the application alone that the 209

value consists, and that a practical understanding of this law will substitute abundance for poverty, wisdom for ignorance, harmony for discord and freedom for tyranny, and certainly there can be no greater blessing than these from a material and social standpoint.

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Charles F Haanel THE MASTER KEY SYSTEM Becoming a Channel (1912) 20. Here is the secret of power, of mastery. To overcome does not mean to go without things. Self-denial is not success. We cannot give unless we get; we cannot be helpful unless we are strong. The Infinite is not a bankrupt and we who are the representatives of Infinite power should not be bankrupts either, and if we wish to be of service to others we must have power and more power, but to get it we must give it; we must be of service. 21. The more we give the more we shall get; we must become a channel whereby the Universal can express activity. The Universal is constantly seeking to express itself, to be of service, and it seeks the channel whereby it can find the greatest activity, where it can do the most good, where it can be of greatest service to mankind. 22. The Universal cannot express through you as long as you are busy with your plans, your own purposes; quiet the senses, seek inspiration, focus the mental activity on the within, dwell in the consciousness of your unity with Omnipotence. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Still water runs deep;â&#x20AC;? contemplate the multitudinous opportunities to which you have spiritual access by the Omnipresence of power. 23. Visualize the events, circumstances and conditions which these spiritual connections may assist in manifesting. Realize the fact that the essence and soul of all things is spiritual 211

and that the spiritual is the real, because it is the life of all there is; when the spirit is gone, the life is gone; it is dead; it has ceased to exist. 24. These mental activities pertain to the world within, to the world of cause; and conditions and circumstances which result are the effect. It is thus that you become a creator. This is important work, and the higher, loftier, grander and more noble ideals which you can conceive, the more important the work will become. 25. Over-work or over-play or over-bodily activity of any kind produces conditions of mental apathy and stagnation which makes it impossible to do the more important work which results in a realization of conscious power. We should, therefore, seek the Silence frequently. Power comes through repose; it is in the Silence that we can be still, and when we are still, we can think, and thought is the secret of all attainment. 26. Thought is a mode of motion and is carried by the law of vibration the same as light or electricity. It is given vitality by the emotions through the law of love; it takes form and expression by the law of growth; it is a product of the spiritual â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;?, hence its Divine, spiritual, and creative nature. 27. From this it is evident that in order to express power, abundance or any other constructive purpose, the emotions must be called upon to give feeling to the thought so that it will take form. How may this purpose be accomplished? This is the vital point; how may we develop the faith, the courage, the feeling, which will result in accomplishment? 28. The reply is, by exercise; mental strength is secured in 212

exactly the same way that physical strength is secured, by exercise. We think something, perhaps with difficulty the first time; we think the same thing again, and it becomes easier this time; we think it again and again; it then becomes a mental habit. We continue to think the same thing; finally it becomes automatic; we can no longer help thinking this thing; we are now positive of what we think; there is no longer any doubt about it. We are sure; we know. 29. Last week I asked you to relax, to let go physically. This week, I am going to ask you to let go mentally. If you practiced the exercise given you last week fifteen or twenty minutes a day in accordance with the instructions, you can no doubt relax physically; and anyone who cannot consciously do this quickly and completely is not a master of himself. He has not obtained freedom; he is still a slave to conditions. But I shall assume that you have mastered the exercise and are ready to take the next step, which is mental freedom. 30. This week, after taking your usual position, remove all tension by completely relaxing, then mentally let go of all adverse conditions, such as hatred, anger, worry, jealousy, envy, sorrow, trouble or disappointment of any kind. 31. You may say that you cannot â&#x20AC;&#x153;let goâ&#x20AC;? of these things, but you can; you can do so by mentally determining to do so, by voluntary intention and persistence. 32. The reason that some cannot do this is because they allow themselves to be controlled by the emotions instead of by their intellect. But those who will be guided by the intellect will gain the victory. You will not succeed the first time you try, but 213

practice makes perfect, in this as in everything else, and you must succeed in dismissing, eliminating and completely destroying these negative and destructive thoughts; because they are the seed which is constantly germinating into discordant conditions of every conceivable kind and description.

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Charles F Haanel THE MASTER KEY SYSTEM Faithful to Your Ideals (1912) 1. Thought contains a vital principle, because it is the creative principle of the Universe and by its nature will combine with other similar thoughts. 2. As the one purpose of life is growth, all principles underlying existence must contribute to give it effect. Thought, therefore, takes form and the law of growth eventually brings it into manifestation. 3. You may freely choose what you think, but the result of your thought is governed by an immutable law. Any line of thought persisted in cannot fail to produce its result in the character, health and circumstances of the individual. Methods whereby we can substitute habits of constructive thinking for those which we have found produce only undesirable effects are therefore of primary importance. 4. We all know that this is by no means easy. Mental habits are difficult to control, but it can be done and the way to do it is to begin at once to substitute constructive thought for destructive thought. Form the habit of analyzing every thought. If it is necessary, if its manifestation in the objective will be a benefit, not only to yourself, but to all whom it may affect in any way, keep it; treasure it; it is of value; it is in tune with the Infinite; it will grow and develop and produce fruit an hundred fold. On the other 215

hand, it will be well for you to keep this quotation from George Matthews Adams, in mind, “Learn to keep the door shut, keep out of your mind, out of your office, and out of your world, every element that seeks admittance with no definite helpful end in view.” 5. If your thought has been critical or destructive, and has resulted in any condition of discord or inharmony in your environment, it may be necessary for you to cultivate a mental attitude which will be conducive to constructive thought. 6. The imagination will be found to be a great assistance in this direction; the cultivation of the imagination leads to the development of the ideal out of which your future will emerge. 7. The imagination gathers up the material by which the Mind weaves the fabric in which your future is to be clothed. 8. Imagination is the light by which we can penetrate new worlds of thought and experience. 9. Imagination is the mighty instrument by which every discoverer, every inventor, opened the way from precedent to experience. Precedent said, “It cannot be done;” experience said, “It is done.” 10. Imagination is a plastic power, molding the things of sense into new forms and ideals. 11. Imagination is the constructive form of thought which must precede every constructive form of action. 12. A builder cannot build a structure of any kind until he has first received the plans from the architect, and the architect must get them from his imagination. 216

13. The Captain of Industry cannot build a giant corporation which may coordinate hundreds of smaller corporations and thousands of employees, and utilize millions of dollars of capital until he has first created the entire work in his imagination. Objects in the material world are as clay in the potterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hand; it is in the Master Mind that the real things are created, and it is by the use of the imagination that the work is done. In order to cultivate the imagination it must be exercised. Exercise is necessary to cultivate mental muscle as well as physical muscle. It must be supplied with nourishment or it cannot grow. 14. Do not confuse Imagination with Fancy, or that form of day dreaming in which some people like to indulge. Day dreaming is a form of mental dissipation which may lead to mental disaster. 15. Constructive imagination means mental labor, by some considered to be the hardest kind of labor, but, if so, it yields the greatest returns, for all the great things in life have come to men and women who had the capacity to think, to imagine, and to make their dreams come true. 16. When you have become thoroughly conscious of the fact that Mind is the only creative principle, that it is Omnipotent, Omniscient and Omnipresent, and that you can consciously come into harmony with this Omnipotence through your power of thought, you will have taken a long step in the right direction. 17. The next step is to place yourself in position to receive this power. As it is Omnipresent, it must be within you. We know that this is so because we know that all power is from within, but it must be developed, unfolded, cultivated; in order to do this we 217

must be receptive, and this receptivity is acquired just as physical strength is gained, by exercise. 18. The law of attraction will certainly and unerringly bring to you the conditions, environment, and experiences in life, corresponding with your habitual, characteristic, predominant mental attitude. Not what you think once in a while when you are in church, or have just read a good book, BUT your predominant mental attitude is what counts. 19. You can not entertain weak, harmful, negative thoughts ten hours a day and expect to bring about beautiful, strong and harmonious conditions by ten minutes of strong, positive, creative thought. 20. Real power comes from within. All power that anybody can possibly use is within man, only waiting to be brought into visibility by his first recognizing it, and then affirming it as his, working it into his consciousness until he becomes one with it. 21. People say that they desire abundant life, and so they do, but so many interpret this to mean that if they will exercise their muscles or breathe scientifically, eat certain foods in certain ways, drink so many glasses of water every day of just a certain temperature, keep out of drafts, they will attain the abundant life they seek. The result of such methods is but indifferent. However, when man awakens to the truth, and affirms his oneness with all Life, he finds that he takes on the clear eye, the elastic step, the vigor of youth; he finds that he has discovered the source of all power. 22. All mistakes are but the mistakes of ignorance. Knowledge gaining and consequent power is what determines 218

growth and evolution. The recognition and demonstration of knowledge is what constitutes power, and this power is spiritual power, and this spiritual power is the power which lies at the heart of all things; it is the soul of the universe. 23. This knowledge is the result of manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to think; thought is therefore the germ of manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s conscious evolution. When man ceases to advance in his thoughts and ideals, his forces immediately begin to disintegrate and his countenance gradually registers these changing conditions. 24. Successful men make it their business to hold ideals of the conditions which they wish to realize. They constantly hold in mind the next step necessary to the ideal for which they are striving. Thoughts are the materials with which they build, and the imagination is their mental work-shop. Mind is the ever moving force with which they secure the persons and circumstance necessary to build their success structure, and imagination is the matrix in which all great things are fashioned. 25. If you have been faithful to your ideal, you will hear the call when circumstances are ready to materialize your plans and results will correspond in the exact ratio of your fidelity to your ideal. The ideal steadily held is what pre-determines and attracts the necessary conditions for its fulfillment. 26. It is thus that you may weave a garment of spirit and power into the web of your entire existence; it is thus that you may lead a charmed life and be forever protected from all harm; it is thus that you may become.

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Charles F Haanel THE MASTER KEY SYSTEM Inexhaustible Power (1912) 1. The real secret of power is consciousness of power. The Universal Mind is unconditional; therefore, the more conscious we become of our unity with this mind, the less conscious we shall become of conditions and limitations, and as we become emancipated or freed from conditions we come into a realization of the unconditional. We have become free! 2. As soon as we become conscious of the inexhaustible power in the world within, we begin to draw on this power and apply and develop the greater possibilities which this discernment has realized, because whatever we become conscious of, is invariably manifested in the objective world, is brought forth into tangible expression. 3. This is because the Infinite mind, which is the source from which all things proceed, is one and indivisible, and each individual is a channel whereby this Eternal Energy is being manifested. Our ability to think is our ability to act upon this Universal substance, and what we think is what is created or produced in the objective world. 4. The result of this discovery is nothing less than marvelous, and means that mind is extraordinary in quality, limitless in quantity, and contains possibilities without number. To become conscious of this power is to become a â&#x20AC;&#x153;live wireâ&#x20AC;?; it has 220

the same effect as placing an ordinary wire in contact with a wire that is charged. The Universal is the live wire. It carries power sufficient to meet every situation which may arise in the life of every individual. When the individual mind touches the Universal Mind it receives all the power it requires. This is the world within. All science recognizes the reality of this world, and all power is contingent upon our recognition of this world. 5. The ability to eliminate imperfect conditions depends upon mental action, and mental action depends upon consciousness of power; therefore, the more conscious we become of our unity with the source of all power, the greater will be our power to control and master every condition. 6. Large ideas have a tendency to eliminate all smaller ideas so that it is well to hold ideas large enough to counteract and destroy all small or undesirable tendencies. This will remove innumerable petty and annoying obstacles from your path. You also become conscious of a larger world of thought, thereby increasing your mental capacity as well as placing yourself in position to accomplish something of value. 7. This is one of the secrets of success, one of the methods of organizing victory, one of the accomplishments of the Mastermind. He thinks big thoughts. The creative energies of mind find no more difficulty in handling large situations, than small ones. Mind is just as much present in the Infinitely large as in the Infinitely small. 8. When we realize these facts concerning mind we understand how we may bring ourselves any condition by creating the corresponding conditions in our consciousness, 221

because everything which is held for any length of time in the consciousness, eventually becomes impressed upon the subconscious and thus becomes a pattern which the creative energy will wave into the life and environment of the individual. 9. In this way conditions are produced and we find that our lives are simply the reflection of our predominant thoughts, our mental attitude; we see then that the science of correct thinking is the one science, that it includes all other sciences. 10. From this science we learn that every thought creates an impression on the brain, that these impressions create mental tendencies, and these tendencies create character, ability and purpose, and that the combined action of character, ability and purpose determines the experiences with which we shall meet in life. 11. These experiences come to us through the law of attraction; through the action of this law we meet in the world without the experiences which correspond to our world within. 12. The predominant thought or the mental attitude is the magnet, and the law is that â&#x20AC;&#x153;like attracts likeâ&#x20AC;?, consequently the mental attitude will invariably attract such conditions as correspond to its nature. 13. This mental attitude is our personality and is composed of the thoughts which we have been creating in our own mind; therefore, if we wish a change in conditions all that is necessary is to change our thought; this will in turn change our mental attitude, which will in turn change our personality, which will in turn change the persons, things and conditions, or, the experiences with which we meet in life. 222

14. It is, however, no easy matter to change the mental attitude, but by persistent effort it may be accomplished; the mental attitude is patterned after the mental pictures which have been photographed on the brain; if you do not like the pictures, destroy the negatives and create new pictures; this is the art of visualization. 15. As soon as you have done this you will begin to attract new things, and the new things will correspond to the new pictures. To do this: impress on the mind a perfect picture of the desire which you wish to have objectified and continue to hold the picture in mind until results are obtained. 16. If the desire is one which requires determination, ability, talent, courage, power or any other spiritual power, these are necessary essentials for your picture; build them in; they are the vital part of the picture; they are the feeling which combines with thought and creates the irresistible magnetic power which draws the things you require to you. They give your picture life, and life means growth, and as soon as it beings to grow, the result is practically assured. 17. Do not hesitate to aspire to the highest possible attainments in anything you may undertake, for the mind forces are ever ready to lend themselves to a purposeful will in the effort to crystallize its highest aspirations into acts, accomplishments, and events. 18. An illustration of how these mind forces operate is suggested by the method in which all our habits are formed. We do a thing, then do it again, and again, and again, until it becomes easy and perhaps almost automatic; and the same rule 223

applies in breaking any and all bad habits; we stop doing a thing, and then avoid it again, and again until we are entirely free from it; and if we do fail now and then, we should by no means lose hope, for the law is absolute and invincible and gives us credit for every effort and every success, even though our efforts and successes are perhaps intermittent. 19. There is no limit to what this law can do for you; dare to believe in your own idea; remember that Nature is plastic to the ideal; think of the ideal as an already accomplished fact. 20. The real battle of life is one of ideas; it is being fought out by the few against the many; on the one side is the constructive and creative thought, on the other side the destructive and negative thought; the creative thought is dominated by an ideal, the passive thought is dominated by appearances. On both sides are men of science, men of letters, and men of affairs. 21. On the creative side are men who spend their time in laboratories, or over microscopes and telescopes, side by side with the men who dominate the commercial, political, and scientific world; on the negative side or men who spend their time investigating law and precedent, men who mistake theology for religion, statesmen who mistake might for right, and all the millions who seem to prefer precedent to progress, who are eternally looking backward instead of forward, who see only the world without, but know nothing of the world within. 22. In the last analysis there are but these two classes; all men will have to take their place on one side or the other; they will have to go forward, or go back; there is no standing still in a world where all is motion; it is this attempt to stand still that gives 224

sanction and force to arbitrary and unequal codes of law. 23. That we are in a period of transition is evidenced by the unrest which is everywhere apparent. The complaint of humanity is as a roll of heavenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s artillery, commencing with low and threatening notes and increasing until the sound is sent from cloud to cloud, and the lightning splits the air and earth. 24. The sentries who patrol the most advanced outposts of the Industrial, Political, and Religious world are calling anxiously to each other. What of the night? The danger and insecurity of the position they occupy and attempt to hold is becoming more apparent every hour. The dawn of a new era necessarily declares that the existing order of things cannot much longer be. 25. The issue between the old regime and the new, the crux of the social problem, is entirely a question of conviction in the minds of the people as to the nature of the Universe. When they realize that the transcendent force of spirit or mind of the Cosmos is within each individual, it will be possible to frame laws that shall consider the liberties and rights of the many instead of the privileges of the few. 26. As long as the people regard the Cosmic power as a power non-human and alien to humanity, so long will it be comparatively easy for a supposed privileged class to rule by Divine right in spite of every protest of social sentiment. The real interest of democracy is therefore to exalt, emancipate and recognize the divinity of the human spirit. To recognize that all power is from within. That no human being has any more power than any other human being, except such as may willingly be delegated to him. The old regime would have us believe that the 225

law was superior to the law-makers; herein is the gist of the social crime of every form of privilege and personal inequality, the institutionalizing of the fatalistic doctrine of Divine election. 27. The Divine Mind is the Universal Mind; it makes no exceptions, it plays no favorites; it does not act through sheer caprice or from anger, jealousy or wrath; neither can it be flattered, cajoled or moved by sympathy or petition to supply man with some need which he thinks necessary for his happiness or even his existence. The Divine Mind makes no exceptions in favor any individual; but when the individual understands and realizes his Unity with the Universal principle he will appear to be favored because he will have found the source of all health, all wealth, and all power. 28. For your exercise this week, concentrate on the Truth. Try to realize that the Truth shall make you free, that is, nothing can permanently stand in the way of your perfect success when you learn to apply the scientifically correct thought methods and principles. Realize that you are externalizing in your environment your inherent soul potencies. Realize that the Silence offers an ever available and almost unlimited opportunity for awakening the highest conception of Truth. Try to comprehend that Omnipotence itself is absolute silence, all else is change, activity, limitation. Silent thought concentration is therefore the true method of reaching, awakening, and then expressing the wonderful potential power of the world within.

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Henry Thomas Hamblin THE LIFE OF THE SPIRIT The Love of The Whole (1922) Deeply embedded in each soul is this longing for God and for Home. It is the origin of desire. It is this desire that makes men dissatisfied. If they are in one place they wish to be in another. As soon as they arrive at the other place, which seemed from a distance to be so desirable, they are still dissatisfied and want to go elsewhere. Others seek satisfaction in sex passion and other forms of sensation, or in human loves of the purest kinds. Some seek in high things and others in low, but in none of them is satisfaction to be found. Desire is always driving man forward. Disappointed in one thing, he tries another, but in none of them does he find satisfaction. They all bring pain and suffering. Nothing is more elusive than the call of sex. It promises happiness, but gives only the ashes of disappointment. It is only when passion is replaced by the purer flame of a more spiritual love, that true and lasting domestic peace becomes possible. People sometimes write to us saying they are unhappy in their marriage, and that they love someone else. What shall they do? How can they get a divorce? How can they use occult powers (they call them New Thought!) so as to bring someone of the opposite sex to their side? Poor things! Still chasing rainbows 227

and will-o’-the-wisps. Will they never learn wisdom? They are offended when they are told that if they try to satisfy their desire they will become still more unhappy; and that if they use mind domination, they will literally destroy themselves. Let it be said here that if mind powers are used (even in the form of prayer) to alter the objective life and to change one’s circumstances, trouble and disharmony are increased thereby. Confusion is made worse confounded. Yet man’s power to love must not be repressed. It must be poured out to the utmost. A remedy for this is found in our Lord’s words of infinite wisdom: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: . . . and thy neighbor as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than this.” Not love of self, not passion (mistermed love), not even love of personalities, but love of the Whole, namely, God and our fellows. This does not mean that we are to love those near and dear to us less, but to love God and our fellows more.

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Henry Thomas Hamblin THE LIFE OF THE SPIRIT Let Go and Let The Spirit of God (1922) THE great fallacy to which we are all slaves, more or less, is the belief that we, of ourselves, have to do everything. At first we honestly think that we do have to accomplish everything ourselves, and are confident that we can do it without any help. This stage is probably necessary, for we all have to learn selfreliance and develop self-confidence, before we can pass on to the much higher stage of entire dependence upon God. But there comes a time when we are not as sure that we, of ourselves, can do everything. Indeed there comes a time when we realize that, of ourselves, we can do nothing. Most students think, when they meet with this experience, that they must have gone wrong somewhere. But this is not the case; it is all part of their normal unfoldment and initiation into higher things. Life without strain becomes possible to the extent that we realize that God is doing everything and not we. Instead of saying: ‘‘I can do this, God helping me,” we say “God is doing this thing and the most that I can do is to co-operate with Him.” The more we allow God to work through us the less strain there is in life. We do not have to plan, strive and strain to achieve, but simply allow the perfect Divine Plan concerning our life to unfold. Indeed, life becomes a process of unfoldment instead of a series of strenuous achievements. We have no fear for the future, for 229

God is looking after this. All that we have to do is to live one day at a time, dealing as faithfully as possible with each experience, every one of which we have ourselves attracted; every one of which also is necessary, and has for its aim our highest good. It is not suggested that man can work by instinct, neither is it desirable that he should do so, or be a mere puppet. But he can pass through, by degrees, the stages of achievement, first by his own will, next by enlisting the help of God; and then finally to learn to let the Spirit of God work through him, so that the Divine Will is perfectly expressed. The more he can do so, the less the worry, care, strain, and effort. Such things as nervous breakdowns become things of the past. Being led by the Spirit of God is not being controlled by spirits. Therefore, we must first develop a strong and positive condition of mind and soul. We must be sure that we make ourselves receptive to God alone. The door must be closed firmly to all but God. Therefore we have to develop a very positive attitude in every direction, except towards God.

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Henry Thomas Hamblin THE POWER OF THOUGHT Meeting the Challenge (1924) WHY is right thought so important? It is important because it influences our actions. It is important because it builds up character and a steadfast mind. It is important because upon it our well-being and the success of our whole life depend. It is important because it is by right thought that we can overcome harmful suggestion. First of all we have to realize that thought is the cause of our actions and decisions. It is largely because of this that our circumstances depend upon our thoughts. If, for instance, we do not overcome life’s difficulties in our thoughts, then we can never overcome them in actual experience. By this I mean that our difficulties must be boldly met and conquered in thought, if ever we are to hope to overcome them actually. In a way it is good advice to tell people not to dwell upon their woes but to think of pleasant things instead, but it is liable to lead to a habit of thought almost as destructive as brooding over trouble. This negative application of what is meant to be good advice is responsible for the failure of those who say: “I have tried right-thinking, but it makes no difference.” The reason “it makes no difference” is that it is not right thinking at all, but actually a form of wrong-thinking. Such people say: “I never indulge in wrong thoughts about my troubles, I refuse to think about them.” 231

Just so, and it is here where the whole trouble lies. Instead of life’s trouble being met boldly and conquered in thought. they are run away from. As soon as the mind comes up against an unpleasant thought, thought of an irksome duty that must be done or of a crisis that must be faced, or of a difficulty that has to be overcome, the mind “dodges” it and hits on to something more pleasant. The one who says: “I never think of my troubles” and who runs away from unpleasant thoughts of this kind finds that he can never overcome the actual difficulties when they arise. In fact his so-called right thinking prevents him from making decisions and from dealing firmly and sensibly with his difficulties. We must first overcome in our thoughts, if ever we are to overcome in actual experience. The world may be divided into two classes of people: (1) those who overcome life, and (2) those who are overcome by life. Those who overcome life’s difficulties are those who do so in thought. Those who are overcome by life’s difficulties, are those who do not overcome in thought. If the latter have not deliberately made a practice of “dodging” unpleasant thoughts in an unfortunate attempt to follow a form of wrong thinking which they erroneously believed to be right-thinking, they yet are passive; that is, they fail to overcome, in thought, the difficulty that must be overcome, sooner or later, in actual experience. The secret of overcoming is in thought victory. If we continually overcome in our thoughts we develop a steadfast mind. Without a steadfast mind it is impossible to be victorious in life’s battle. On the other hand, there is no difficulty, capable of human solution, that cannot be overcome by a steadfast mind. 232

Indeed, if a man’s mind is steadfastly directed towards a certain object, not only will he be truly successful, but the most remarkable things may happen or be achieved, beyond anything that might be hoped for or expected. The mind becomes powerful, growing in strength continually, through meeting a difficulty, in thought; moving forward towards the difficulty, in thought; and then putting the weight of the mind and will behind it. Then the “whole man” moves forward, going right through the difficulty to the other side, victoriously. This generates inward power, that is cumulative, which, when we come to our difficulty in actual experience, helps us through it successfully.

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Henry Thomas Hamblin THE POWER OF THOUGHT Only Service Brings Happiness (1924) It must not be forgotten that true success is based on service. It is only by our co-operative help of the world that we can ever find happiness, and this is in itself true success. Money and fame are useless if they fail to bring happiness and satisfaction. Service and co-operative helpfulness bring the truest and most lasting success. Combined with efficiency they make us indispensable in our particular branch or calling. Sooner or later quality of character tells its own story. Those who rise rapidly, laughing at such things as service, integrity, etc., generally go down later in ruin and dishonor. Therefore, our thoughts should be not merely of success and achievement, but of service and helpfulness. We should not think so much of “what shall I get out of it”, as “how helpful can I be”, for all solid success is based upon the extent of our helpfulness to the community. The more helpful we are, the more indispensable we become, therefore, the greater the reward, as a rule.

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Thomas Hamblin WITHIN YOU IS THE POWER Healing Through Spiritual Harmony (1920) Healing, then, must be of a spiritual character. Until this harmony exists there can be no overcoming of hate thoughts, fear thoughts or worry thoughts, and until these are overcome there can be no true healing. Our Lord’s healing was a gracious healing of the Spirit. It restored inward harmony by forgiving sin, by changing the heart’s desires, by bringing the will of the subject into harmony with the Divine Will of the Whole. Our Lord’s healing was not accomplished by means of suggestion, neither was it achieved by human will power; it was done by bringing into harmony of the heart and desires and will with the Divine Will. At the same time there must have been a revelation of the truth that the Will of God is love, wholeness, joy and perfection, and not disease, sickness and misery. Mental healing does not become possible until we have made our peace with God. Until we have surrendered entirely to the love principle, we cannot overcome our hate thoughts and malice thoughts or resentment thoughts, by transmuting them into thoughts of love. Until we surrender to the Divine Will and leave all our problems to the Infinite Mind, we cannot cease to worry and fear. Mental discipline and thought-control are necessary after this inward change has taken place, for we all have to work out our own salvation, but the essential thing is the 235

inward heart surrender in love and trust. So long as we hate our brother, or fear what the morrow may bring forth, or worry about the things of this life, we can never be well. When, however, we have become attuned to the Divine Harmony, and have learnt to control our thoughts and emotions and to transmute fleshly and material desires into loving service, a state of wholeness is the inevitable result. Old, deeply-seated disorders die away, and a steady improvement in the state of health takes its place. In order to regain health it is necessary to raise oneself up continually to the Divine Ideal of health, harmony and perfection. But this is useless if there still remains a clashing of the personal will with the Divine Will, or if there is any hate, malice, envy, or fear in the heart. The will must be surrendered to the greater Will (this, in reality, is our highest good, for the fulfillment of the Divine Will is the happy destiny of man): the heart must forgive and be filled with love; fear must be cast out, and replaced by confidence and complete trust, before we can enter into that happy, carefree, restful state which is necessary for healing. Health is harmony â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a delicate balance and adjustment between spirit, soul, mind and body. This harmony is dependent entirely upon the greater harmony between ourselves and God. So long as there is a conflict of will, so long as there is hate or resentment, so long as there is selfishness or while there is fear, this harmony cannot exist. Therefore, the bed-rock cause of health is spiritual harmony, all healing being a restoration of harmony between man and his Divine Source. 236

When this harmony is restored, man is no longer a kingdom divided against itself, for he becomes established in unity: he works with the Universe and the Divine Laws of his being, instead of against them. The Divine Life and Power flow through him unimpeded, promoting perfect sub-conscious functioning. His thoughts become cleansed at their source (‘Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me,’ ‘Cleanse Thou me from secret faults’). He becomes free from the hypnotic spell of the race mind: his eyes, through the influence of the Divine Spirit, become opened to the Truth; therefore he is no longer blinded by the prince of this world. In the Divine Union, he becomes free.

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Thomas Hamblin WITHIN YOU IS THE POWER Connecting with The Infinite (1920)

When man, in his search for Truth, has given up all selfish striving after unworthy things, and has ceased to use his self-will in conflict with the greater Will of the Whole, he is ready for the revelation of his oneness with the Infinite. Yielding implicitly to the Will of the Whole may seem, to the unillumined, an act of weakness, yet it is the entrance to a life of almost boundless power. Man is not separate from his Divine Source and never has been. He is, in reality, one with the Infinite. The separation which he feels and experiences is mental, and is due to his blindness and unbelief. Man can never be separated from Spirit, for he himself is Spirit. He is an integral part of one complete whole. He lives and moves and has his being in God (Universal, Omnipresent Spirit), and God (Spirit) dwells in him. The majority of people are unaware of this intimate relationship with the Divine, and, because they are unaware, or because they refuse to believe it, they are, in one sense, separated from the inner life of God. Yet this separation is only in their thoughts and beliefs, and not in reality. Man is not separated and never can be, yet so long as he believes that he is separate and alone, he will be as weak and helpless as though he actually were. As soon as man realizes the truth of his relationship to the 238

Infinite, he passes from weakness to power, from death unto life. One moment he is in the desert, afar off, weak, separate, and alone; the next, he realizes that he is nothing less than a son of God, with all a sonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s privileges and powers. He realizes, in a flash, that he is one with his Divine Source, and that he can never be separated. He awakens also to the fact that all the Power of the Infinite is his to draw upon; that he can never really fail, that he is marching on to victory. It will thus be seen how great is the power of manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s thought. While thought is not the power of the Spirit, it is the power by which man either connects himself up with the Infinite Power, opening himself to the Divine Inflow, or cuts himself off and separates himself from his Spiritual Source. Thus, in a sense, man is what he thinks he is. If he thinks he is separate from God and cut off from His Power, then it is though this were really the case, and he is just as impotent and miserable as though he actually existed apart from God. On the other hand, if he thinks and believes that he is one with the Infinite, he finds that it is gloriously true, and that he really is a son of God. If he believes and thinks that he is a mere material being, then he lives the limited life of a material being, and is never able to rise above it. But if, on the contrary, he thinks and believes that he is a spiritual being, then he finds that he possesses all the powers of a spiritual being.

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Frank L. Hammer LIFE AND ITS MYSTERIES Guard Thy Thoughts (1945) Mind, like the body, grows on the food which nourishes it, and takes on the nature of the thing it dwells upon. And the food of the mind is thought. Therefore, the mind either becomes refined, sensitive, spiritual; or gross, material and dull; determined by the nature of thoughts which constantly occupy its attention. Thoughts are reproduced on the countenance. Sensual thoughts create a sensual face; spiritual thoughts create a beautiful, spiritual expression. Not only does our youth leave us, but our face tells how it has left us. Faces are open books wherein is written the history of our thinking. How you have thought is revealed by the lines indelibly engraved in the palms of your hands, by the shape of your head and how you walk. An index to the thoughts of 13 another is to imitate his posture and walk, then observe the effect it has on your thinking. Involuntarily, you will feel and think as the person you are imitating. There are no "secret" vices or habits. They are loudly proclaimed on the countenance. Emerson truly said: "What you are speaks so loudly no one can hear what you are saying." Thoughts are the essence of heaven and hell. People say there is no hell, yet have one in their hearts and carry one around in their minds. For heaven and hell are not localities, but states of consciousness. "And what matter where I be, if I be still the 240

same?" Persecuting memories, or a condemning conscience, put a man in hades whether he lives upon this earth or elsewhere. Peace of mind and serenity of spirit are bliss. And the heaven we will find on passing over is one we have prepared by our thinking and by the service rendered to our fellow men. Few pleasures are comparable to a trained and cultivated mind. The mind is developed by thinking and not by cramming it with other people's thoughts and opinions. It is not a bucket to be filled, but a dynamo to be set into motion. There are no limits to its accomplishments, for the soul already knows all things; we only need to develop our instrument so that it can draw upon this inexhaustible storehouse of knowledge. A mind which has been strengthened by discipline can meet vicissitude and disaster with greater fortitude and courage. And it is never too late to undertake its cultivation, for, unlike the body which attains its zenith early in life, the best years for mental productivity come in the latter years after the body has lost its prime. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Guard well thy thoughts, for thoughts are heard in heaven,â&#x20AC;? is a literal truth and explains the efficacy of prayer. For thoughts are the links between invisible substance and the visible form. Thought is a tangible substance and, united with will, is a projectile.

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Frank L Hammer LIFE AND ITS MYSTERIES Prayers are Telepathic Thoughts (1945)

Telepathy is the foundation for the efficacy of prayer. If thoughts were devoid of power and locomotion, prayer would be of no avail; but we know that all prayers are heard. That prayer is answered is a fact that few will deny, as many people have received its benefits and blessings. However, mechanical mumblings and glib recitations are not prayers; these come from the lips and die on the lips. Prayers, the cry of the soul in distress, the travail of the spirit, a moan of anguish, these are heard in the highest heavens and are always answered according to the need of the individual. This earth would be a dreadful place and life an unbearable experience if our Heavenly Father ignored our needs and was impervious to our despair and affliction. God has not abandoned this world nor forsaken His children; He hears their cries and, through His emissaries, administers unto them. It is by means of telepathy that we can communicate with the dwellers on the Other side, for communion with the saints is a fact whether men ignore or deny it. We can send messages to the disembodied far more easily than to those in the flesh, because in their case we have not the heavy, physical matter to penetrate, but can contact the mind directly. Furthermore, as 242

thought is the language in the world of spirit, no misunderstandings arise. Space, not even millions of miles, is no barrier; but it is our dull unreceptivity which prevents reception of thoughts. Our loved ones “Over There” not only know what we are doing, but know what we are thinking. And the people of earth do not realize the agony and heartbreak that is experienced when they see that we no longer remember or have ceased to care. A loving thought is as welcome to the senses of the disembodied as is here a loving word or tender caress. If earthly people could only know how much comfort and happiness is derived from these thoughts of love and remembrance, surely none would be left lonely and neglected. When a soul departs from this life, he should always be accompanied by thoughts of love and peace, by aspirations for his progression. The beloved “dead” assuredly have a claim on our love and care, and should never be forgotten and ignored when our kind and loving thoughts can reach them instantly and are treasured beyond all price.

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Ernest Holmes CREATIVE MIND The Power We Have Within Us (1919)

WE have within us a power that is greater than anything that we shall ever contact in the outer, a power that can overcome every obstacle in our life and set us safe, satisfied and at peace, healed and prosperous, in a new light, and in a new life. Mind, all Mind is right here. It is God’s Mind, God’s creative Power, God’s creative Life. We have as much of this Power to use in our daily life as we can believe in and embody. The store house of nature is filled with infinite good awaiting the touch of our awakened thought to spring forth into manifestation in our life; but the awakening must be on our part and not on the side of life. We stand at the gateway of limitless opportunity in the eternal and change-less NOW. Now is the day in which to begin the new life that is to lift us up to the greater expression of all that is wonderful. The word that we speak is the Law of our life and nothing hinders but ourselves. We have through ignorance of our real nature misused the power of our word, and behold what it has brought upon us, “the very thing that we feared.” But now it shall produce a new thing, a new heaven and a new earth.

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Ernest Holmes CREATIVE MIND AND SUCCESS Drawing Your Own To You (1919) SUPPOSE that you wish to draw friends and companions to you; that you wish to enlarge your circle of friendships. This, too, can all be worked out by law, for everything can be worked out by the same law, the reason being that all is One and that the One becomes the many in expression. There are too many people in the world who are lonesome because they have a sense of separation from people. The thing to do is not to try to unify with people, but with the Principle of Life behind all people and things. This is working from the center and not the circumference; in this One Mind are the minds of all people. When you unite your thought with the whole you will be united with the parts of the whole. The first thing to do, then, is to realize that Life is your friend and companion; feel the divine companionship; feel that you are one with all life; declare that, as this thought awakens within your mind, so does it awaken within the mind of the whole race; feel that the world is being drawn to you; love the world and everyone who is in it; include all, if you would be included in all. The world seeks strength; be strong. The world loves love; embody it; see the good in all people; let go of all else. People will feel your love and will be drawn into it. Love is the greatest power in the Universe; it is at the base of all else; it is the cause of all that is. Feel your love to be like a great light lighting the pathway 245

of the whole world; it will come back to you bringing so many friends that there will not be time enough to enjoy them all. Become a real friend and you will have many friends. Be sufficient unto yourself and at the same time include all else, and people will feel your strength and will have a desire to come into the radiance of it. Never become unhappy or morbid; always be cheerful and radiate good nature and happiness; never look depressed or down in the mouth; the world is attracted to the strongest center of cheer and good fellowship. Never allow your feelings to be hurt. No one wants to hurt you, and none could, even though they did want to; you are above all that. Wherever you go know that the Spirit of Truth goes before and prepares the way, bringing to you every friend and influence that will be necessary to your comfort and well being. This is not selfishness but good sense and will surely bring to you a harvest of friends and companions. Declare unto Mind that you are now linked with all people and that all people are linked with you: see yourself surrounded with hosts of friends; mentally feel their presence and rejoice that all good is yours now. Do this no matter what seems to happen, and it will not be long before you will meet wonderful friends and will be brought into touch with the great of the world.

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Ernest Holmes CREATIVE MIND AND SUCCESS Destroy All Thoughts That We Do Not Wish to Experience (1919) WE must resolutely set our faces to the rising consciousness of the Son of Truth; seeing only the One Power we must destroy the adversary and leave the field to God or Good. All that is in any way negative must be wiped off the slate and we must daily come into the higher thought, to be washed clean of the dust and chaos of the objective life. In the silence of the soul’s communion with the Great Cause of All Being, into the stillness of the Absolute, into the secret place of the Most High, back of the din and the ceaseless roar of life, we shall find a resting place and a place of real spiritual power. Speak in this inner silence and say, “I am one with the Almighty; I am one with all life, with all power, with all presence. I AM, I AM, I AM.” Listen to the silence. From out of the seeming void the voice of peace will answer the waiting soul, “All is well.” Here we make known all our needs and wants, and here we receive first hand from the Infinite all that we shall ever need to make life healthy, happy and harmonious. Few enter here, because of the belief that conditions and circumstances control. Know that there is no law but God’s law; that the soul sets its own law in the Infinite and that our slightest wish is honored of the Father Mind. Daily practice the truth and daily die to all error-thought. Spend more time receiving and realizing the, presence of the 247

Most High and less time worrying. Wonderful power will come to the one who believes and trusts in that Power in which he has come to believe. Know that all good and all God is with you; All Life and All Power; and never again say, “I fear,” but always, “I trust, because ‘I know in whom I have believed.’”

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Ernest Holmes CREATIVE MIND AND SUCCESS The Single Stream of Thought (1919) Destiny is all in Mind and what we think into it is taken up and done unto us. This means that as we think it will be done. We cannot think one way one day and change our thought the next and hope to get the desired results. We must be very clear in our thought, sending out only such thoughts as we wish to see manifested in our condition. Here is something worth remembering. Unless we are working with people who think as we do, we had better be working alone. One stream of thought, even though it may not be very powerful, will do more for us than many powerful streams that are at variance with each other. This means that, unless we are sure that we are working with people who harmonize, we would better work alone. Of course we cannot retire from business simply because people do not agree with us, but what we can do is to keep our thoughts to ourselves. We do not have to leave the world in order to control our thought; but we do have to learn that we can stay right in the world and still think just what we want to think, regardless of what others are thinking. One single stream of thought, daily sent out into Creative Mind, will do wonders. Within a year the person who will practice this will have completely changed his conditions of life. The way to practice this is daily to spend some time in 249

thinking and in mentally seeing just what is wanted; see the thing just as it is wished and then affirm that this is now done. Try to feel that what has been stated is the truth. Words and affirmations simply give shape to thought; they are not creative. Feeling is creative and the more feeling that is put into the word the greater power it will have over conditions. In doing this we think of the condition only as an effect, something that follows what we think. It cannot help following our thought. This is the way that all creation comes into expression. It is a great help to realize mentally that at all times a great stream of thought and power is operating through us; it is constantly going out into Mind, where it is taken up and acted upon. Our business is to keep that stream of thought just where we want it to be: to be ready at any time to act when the impulse comes for action. Our action must never be negative, it must always be affirmative, for we are dealing with something that cannot fail. We may fail to realize, but the power in itself is Infinite and cannot fail. We are setting in motion in the Absolute a stream of thought that will never cease until it accomplishes its purpose. Try to feel this, be filled with a great joy as you feel that it is given to you to use this great and only power. Keep the thought clear and never worry about the way that things seem to be going. Let go of all outer conditions when working in Mind, for there is where things are made; there creation is going on, and it is now making something for us. This must be believed as never believed before; it must be known as the great reality; it must be felt as the only Presence. There is no 250

other way to obtain. Though all the Infinite may want to give, yet we must take, and, as far as we are concerned, that taking is mental. Though people may laugh at this, even that does not matter, “He laughs best who laughs last.” We know in “What we believe,” and that will be sufficient.

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Ernest Holmes CREATIVE MIND AND SUCCESS How to Attain Strength (1919) LET us see that we use the right attitude of mind in all that we do, filling ourselves with such courage and power of strength that all thought of weakness flees before us. If any thought of weakness should come, ask this question: Is life weak? If life is not weak and if God is not discouraged, then you are not, never were, and never will be. I should like to see the sickly, discouraged thought that could withstand this attitude of mind. No! Life is strong, and you are strong with the strength of the Infinite; forget all else as you revel in this strength. You are strong and can say I AM. You have been laboring under an illusion; now you are disillusioned. Now you know, and knowing is using the law in a constructive way. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I and my Father are One;â&#x20AC;? this is strength for the weak, and life for all who believe. We can so fill ourselves with the drawing power of attraction that it will become irresistible. Nothing can hinder things from coming to the man who knows that he is dealing with the same power that creates all from itself, moves all within itself, and yet holds all things in their places. I am one with the Infinite Mind. Let this ring through you many times each day until you rise to that height that, looking, sees. In order to be sure that we are creating the right kind of a mental atmosphere and so attracting what we want, we must at 252

first watch our thinking, lest we create that which we should not like to see manifest. In other words, we must think only what we wish to experience. All is mind, and mind casts back at the thinker that only which he thinks. Nothing ever happens by chance. Law governs all life, and all people come under that law. But that law, so far as we are concerned, we ourselves set in motion, and we do this through the power of our thought. Each person is living in a world of his own making, and he should speak only such words and think only such thoughts as he wishes to see manifested in his life. We must not hear, think, speak, read or listen to limitation of any kind. There is no way under heaven whereby we can think two kinds of thought and get only one result; it is impossible, and the sooner we realize it the sooner we shall arrive. This does not mean that we must be afraid to think lest we create the wrong image, but it does mean that the way most people think can produce nothing but failure; that is why so few succeed. The person who is to succeed will never let his mind dwell on past mistakes. He will forgive the past in his life and in the lives of other people. If he makes a mistake he will at once forgive it. He will know that so long as he desires any good, there is nowhere in the universe anything that opposes him. God does not damn anyone or anything; man damns everyone and everything. God does not make things by comparing His power with some other power. God knows that when He speaks it done; and if we partake of the divine nature we must know the same thing in our lives that God knows in His. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am the master of my fate, 253

I am the captain of my soul.â&#x20AC;?

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Ernest Holmes CREATIVE MIND AND SUCCESS What We Will Attract (1919) WE will always attract to us, in our lives and conditions, according to our thought. Things are but outer manifestations of inner mental concepts. Thought is not only power; it is also the form of all things. The conditions that we attract will correspond exactly to our mental pictures. It is quite necessary, then, that the successful business man should keep his mind on thoughts of happiness, which produce cheerfulness instead of depression; he should radiate joy, and should be filled with faith, hope and expectancy. These cheerful, hopeful attitudes of mind are indispensable to the one who really wants to do things in life. Put every negative thought out of your mind once and for all. Declare your freedom. Know that no matter what others may say, think or do, you are a success, now, and nothing can hinder you from accomplishing your good. All the power of the universe is with you; feel it, know it, and then act as though it were true. This mental attitude alone will draw people and things to you. Begin to blot out, one by one, all false beliefs, all idea that man is limited or poor or miserable. Use that wonderful power of will that God has given to you. Refuse to think of failure or to doubt your own power. 255

See only what you wish to experience, and look at nothing else. No matter how many times the old thought returns, destroy it by knowing that it has no power over you; look it squarely in the face and tell it to go; it does not belong to you, and you must know â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and stick to it â&#x20AC;&#x201D; that you are now free. Rise up in all the faith of one who knows what he is dealing with, and declare that you are one with Infinite Mind. Know that you cannot get away from this One Mind; that wherever you may go, there, right beside you, waiting to be used, is all the power there is in the whole universe. When you realize this you will know that in union with this, the only power, you are more than all else, you are more than anything that can ever happen to you.

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Ernest Holmes CREATIVE MIND AND SUCCESS More about The Power of Attraction (1919) ALWAYS remember that Spirit makes things out of itself; it manifests in the visible world by becoming the thing that it wills to become. In the world of the individual the same process takes place. It is given to man to use creative power, but with the using of this power comes the necessity of using it as it is made to be used. If God makes things out of His thought before they come into manifestation, then we must use the same method. You can attract only that which you first mentally become and feel yourself to be in reality, without any doubting. A steady stream of consciousness going out into creative mind will attract a steady manifestation of conditions; a fluctuating stream of consciousness will attract the corresponding manifestation or condition in your life. We must be consistent in our attitude of mind, never wavering. James says, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Ask in faith, nothing doubting, for he that doubteth is like a surge of the sea driven by the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.â&#x20AC;? We are all immersed in an aura of our own thinking. This aura is the direct result of all that we have ever said, thought or done; it decides what is to take place in our life; it attracts what is like itself and repels what is unlike itself. We are drawn towards those things that we mentally embody. Most of the inner processes of thought have been unconscious; but 257

when we understand the law all that we have to do is to embody consciously what we wish, and think of that only, and then we shall be drawn silently toward it. We have this law in our hands to do with as we will. We can draw what we want only as we let go of the old order and take up the new; and this we must do to the exclusion of all else. This is no weak man’s job but an undertaking for a strong, self-reliant soul; and the end is worth the effort. The person who can hold his thought one-pointed is the one who will obtain the best results. But this does not imply the necessity of strain or anything of a strenuous nature; on the contrary, strain is just what we must avoid. When we know that there is but one power we shall not struggle, we shall know, and in calmness we shall see only what we know must be the Truth. This means a persistent, firm determination to think what we want to think, regardless of all outer evidence to the contrary. We look not to the seen but to the unseen. The king of Israel understood this when, looking upon the advancing host of the enemy, he said, “We have no might against this great company, but our eyes are upon Thee” — upon the One Power.

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Ernest Holmes CREATIVE MIND AND SUCCESS The Control of Thought (1919) THE man who can control his thought can have and do what he wishes to have and to do; everything is his for the asking. He must remember that whatever he gets is his to use but not his to hold. Creation is always flowing by and we have as much of it as we can take and use; more would cause stagnation. We are relieved of all thought of clinging to anybody or anything. Cannot the Great Principleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; of Life create for us faster than we can spend or use? The universe is inexhaustible; it is limitless; it knows no bounds and has no confines. We are not depending on a reed shaken by the wind, but on the principle of life itself, for all that we want, have or ever shall have. It is not some power, or a great power, we affirm again; it is ALL POWER. All that we have to do is to believe this and act as though it were so, never wavering, not even once, no matter what happens. As we do this we shall find that things are steadily coming our way, and that they are coming without that awful effort that destroys the peace of the majority of the race. We know that there can be no failure in the Divine Mind, and this Mind is the Power on which we are depending. Now just because we are depending upon Divine Mind we must not think that we do not have to do our share. God will work through us if we will let Him, but we must act in the outer as 259

though we were sure of ourselves. Our part is to believe, and then to act in faith. Jesus went to the tomb of Lazarus believing and knowing that God was working through Him. Often we may have to go somewhere or do something and we must know with deep conviction that there will be a power going with us that none can gainsay. When we feel this secure place in our thought, all that we will have to do is to act. There is no doubt but that the creative power of the universe will answer; it always does. And so we need not take the worry upon ourselves, but rather we will “Make known our requests with thanksgiving.” When Jesus said, “All things whatsoever ye pray and ask for, believe that ye receive them and ye shall have them,” he was uttering one of those many deep truths that were so clear to Him and that we are just beginning to see. He knew that everything is made out of mind and that without that positive acceptance on the part of the individual there is no mold into which mind can pour itself forth into form. In the mind of God there is the correct mold, the true knowing, but in the mind of man there is not always this true knowing. Since God can do for us only by doing through us, nothing can be done for us unless we are positively receptive, but when we realize the law and how it works, then we will provide that complete inner acceptance. By so doing we permit the Spirit to do the work, to make the gift. The reason we can make our requests known with thanksgiving is because we know from the beginning that we are to receive and therefore we cannot help being thankful. This grateful attitude to the Spirit puts us in very close touch with power and adds much to the reality of the thing that we are 260

dealing with. Without it we can do but little. So let us cultivate all the gratitude that we can. In gratitude we will send our thoughts out into the world, and as it comes back it will come laden with the fruits of the Spirit.

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Ernest Holmes CREATIVE MIND AND SUCCESS Creating Atmosphere (1919) TO the student who has realized that all is mind and that everything is governed by law, there comes another thought: it is that he can create, or have created for him, from his own thinking. He can create such a strong mental atmosphere of success that its power of attraction will be irresistible. He can send his thought throughout the world and have it bring back to him whatever he wants. He can so fill his place of business with the power of success that it will draw from far and near. Thought will always bring back to us what we send out. First we must clear our thought of all unbelief. This book is written for those who believe; and to those who do believe it will come true in their lives. Without mental clearness on the part of the thinker there can be no real creative work done. As water will reach only its own level, so mind will return to us only what we first believe. We arc always getting what we believe but not always what we want. Our thought has the power to reach, in the outer form of conditions, an exact correspondence to our inner convictions. By thinking, you set in motion a power that creates. It will be exactly as you think. You throw out into mind an idea, and mind creates it for you and sets it on the path of your life. Think of it, then, as your greatest friend. It is always with you wherever you may be. It never deserts you. You are never alone. There is no 262

doubt, no fear, no wondering; you know. You are going to use the only power that there is in the universe. You are going to use it for a definite purpose. You have already fixed this purpose in your thought; now you are going to speak it forth. You are speaking it for your own good. You desire only the good and you know that only the good can come to you. You have made your unity with life, and now life is going to help you in your affairs. You are going to establish in your rooms such an atmosphere of success that it will become an irresistible power; it will sweep everything before it as it realizes the greatness and the All-Mightiness of the One. You are so sure, that you will not even look to see if it is going to happen; you KNOW. And now your word, which is one with the Infinite Life, is to be spoken in calm, perfect trust. It is to be taken up, and at once it is to be operated on. Perfect is the pattern and perfect will be the result. You see yourself surrounded by the thing that you desire. More than this, you are the thing that you desire. Your word is now establishing it forever; see this, feel it, know it. You are now encompassed by perfect life, by infinite activity, by all power, by all guidance. The power of the Spirit is drawing to you all people; it is supplying you with all good; it is filling you with all life, truth and love. Wait in perfect silence while that inner power takes it up. And then you know that it is done unto you. There goes forth from this word the power of the Infinite. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The words which I speak, they are spirit and they are life.â&#x20AC;? 263

Ernest Holmes CREATIVE MIND AND SUCCESS The Power of Words (1919) MAN’S word, spoken forth into creative mind, is endowed with power of expression. “By our words we are justified and by our words we are condemned.” Our word has the exact amount of power that we put into it. This does not mean power through effort or strain but power through absolute conviction, or faith. It is like a little messenger who knows what he is doing and knows just how to do it. We speak into our words the intelligence which we are, and backed by that greater intelligence of the Universal Mind our word becomes a law unto the thing for which it is spoken. Jesus understood this far better than we do. Indeed, He absolutely believed it, for He said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away but my words shall not pass away till all be fulfilled.” This makes our word inseparable from Absolute Intelligence and Power. Now if any word has power it must follow that all words have power. Some words may have a greater power than others, according to our conviction, but all words have some power. How careful, then, we should be what kind of words we are speaking. All this goes to prove that we really are one with the Infinite Mind, and that our words have the power of life within them; that the word is always with us and never far off. The word is within our own mouth. Every time we speak we are using power. We are one in mind with the whole universe; we are all 264

eternally united in this mind with real power. It is our own fault if we do not use this truth after we see it. We should feel ourselves surrounded by this mind, this great pulsating life, this all-seeing and all-knowing reality. When we do feel this near presence, this great power and life, then all we have to do is to speak forth into it, speak with all the positive conviction of the soul that has found its source, and above all else never fear but that it will be done unto us even as we have believed. What wonderful power, what a newness of life and of power of expression, is waiting for those who really believe. What may the race not attain to when men wake up to the real facts of being? As yet the race has not begun to live, but the time is drawing near. Already thousands are using this great power, and thousands are eagerly watching and waiting for the new day.

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Ernest Holmes CREATIVE MIND AND SUCCESS Using The Imagination (1919) JUST imagine yourself surrounded by mind, so plastic, so receptive, that it receives the slightest impression of your thought. Whatever you think it takes up and executes for you. Every thought is received and acted upon. Not some but all thoughts. Whatever the pattern we provide, that will be our demonstration. If we cannot get over thinking that we are poor then we will still remain poor. As soon as we become rich in our thought then we will be rich in our expression. These are not mere words, but the deepest truth that has ever come to the human race. Hundreds of thousands of the most intelligent thinkers and the most spiritual people of our day are proving this truth. We are not dealing with illusions but with realities; pay no more attention to the one who ridicules these ideas than you would to the blowing of the wind. In the center of your own soul choose what you want to become, to accomplish; keep it to yourself. Every clay in the silence of absolute conviction know that it is now done. It is just as much done, as far as you are concerned, as it will be when you experience it in the outer. Imagine yourself to be what you want to be. See only that which you desire, refuse even to think of the other. Stick to it, never doubt. Say many times a day, â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am that thing,â&#x20AC;? realize what this means. It means that the great 266

Universal power of Mind is that, and it cannot fail.

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Ernest Holmes CREATIVE MIND AND SUCCESS Don’t Be a Leaner (1919) NEVER lean on other people. You have strength of your own that is great enough to do all that is necessary. The Almighty has implanted genius within the soul of everyone and what we need to do is to unearth that inner genius and cause it to shine forth. We will never do this while we look to others for guidance. “To thine own self repair, wait thou within the silence dim, and thou shalt find Him there.” All the power and intelligence of the Universe is already within, waiting to be utilized. The Divine Spark must be fanned into a blaze of the living Fire of your own divinity. Self-reliance is the word to dwell on. Listen to your own voice; it will speak in terms that are unmistakable. Trust in your own self more than in all else. All great men have learned to do this. Every person, within his own soul, is in direct communication with the Infinite Understanding. When we depend on other people we are simply taking their light and trying to light our path with it. When we depend on ourselves we are depending on that inner voice that is God, speaking in and through man. “Man is the inlet and the outlet to all there is in God.” God has made us and brought us up to where we recognize our own individuality; from now on we will have to let Him express through us. If we were different we should not be individuals. “Behold I stand at the door 268

and wait.â&#x20AC;? This is a statement of the near presence of power; but we, the Individual, must open the door. This door is our thought and we are the guardian of it, and when we do open the door we will find that the Divine Presence is right.

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Ernest Holmes ERNEST HOLMES SPEAKS I Affirm (1926) I am one with the infinite and perfect Spirit, the giver of all good and perfect gifts. I open my mind and my heart, and, indeed, my body, to the inflow of this divine Presence. I know that this living Presence is in every cell of my body and every function of my being. I accept it as my health of body, here and now. I accept it as that which releases me from all that is unlike the perfect expression of life. There is no doubt or fear in my mind that could reject in any way all that God is, right here and right now. My conscious acceptance of the fullness of the presence of God flows out in joy and love to bless those whom I would help, those with whom I would share this inner joy. And I decree that the loved one I now bring into the scope of my thought is blessed and healed through the presence of good that is within. The radiance of joy in my own heart brings happiness into the lives of all those about me. The abundance that prospers me supplies everyone around me with the good things of life. The light that warms the center of my own being so shines forth that all may find guidance and warmth and comfort in its rays. This is the light that lighteth every person that cometh into the world. This is the fount from which spring the living waters. I drink, and shall not thirst again. And even as I drink, I hand the chalice of my faith to 270

all. Realizing that we are in the midst of an ever-present good, and believing that there is a law that brings everything of its nature into our lives, we should learn to think and act as though every wrong condition of yesterday were converted into something new and better today. I believe that all the mistakes I have ever made are swallowed up in a love, a peace, and a life greater than I am. Therefore I surrender all past mistakes into the keeping of this ever-present and perfect life. I affirm that love is guiding me into a real and deep cooperation with life and a sincere affection for everyone. Today is a fresh beginning, a new start, and a joyous adventure on the pathway of eternal progress. Today is bright with hope and happy with fulfillment. Therefore I affirm that this is the day that God has made, that it is good, and that I find fulfillment in it.

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Ernest Holmes ERNEST HOLMES SPEAKS See Yourself As You Want to Be (1926) There is, in the universe, a Spirit that is self-knowing, and a law that is not self-knowing, but self-propelling, which obeys Spirit. We are self-knowing centers in a law that has no volition other than to obey our impulses. We are ignorant of this and consequently bring upon ourselves, through a direct act of law, all the experiences that we suffer. Should we completely change our mode of thinking, we would completely change our environment. We are, today, the sum total of all our thoughts and acts, the objectification of our subjective states of consciousness; our subjective state of thought decides what is to happen to us objectively. Our subjective state of thought is constantly radiating into universal mental law the images of our entire belief in life, and from these images of unconscious thought spring all our outward conditions. The key, then, to success and happiness, is the conscious control of thought and a continuous radiation of constructive thinking and acting. This key will unlock the treasure house of the Infinite and reveal to us undreamed-of opportunities and experiences. We have brought upon ourselves all our troubles through ignorance of the law, which of itself is always a law of liberty, but which we have misused through misunderstanding the true meaning of life. We must reverse the entire process of our thinking and learn to 272

think of ourselves only in terms of spiritual valuation, which alone is enduring and real. Visualization means to create a mental picture of ourselves as we would like to be, to hand this picture over to the Universal Law of execution and to believe implicitly that it will act. But our present ability to visualize depends upon our present state of thought; it is limited to previous experiences and impressions. By the act of visualization, we can bring into our experience only that which we can mentally image — and we can image only that which we know. Perhaps this is why Solomon said, “With all thy getting, get understanding.” Plotinus said something to the effect that our work is always done better when we face Spirit, even though our back is turned to our work; Emerson tells us that a betterment in conditions always follows the Divine Influx; Jesus tells us to seek the upper kingdom first and that all things will be added. All the great spiritual teachers have mentioned that we need to look for higher forms of thought if we wish to experience better things. By visualization, we can only bring into our experience something we presently know about; we cannot reach beyond our mental grasp nor can we jump away from our own shadow. It is necessary, then, to find higher visions and broader vistas of thought if we are to transcend our previous experiences. This can be done only by letting the higher mind rule, by conscious contact with greater reality. Visualization is always incomplete unless the thought is first impressed with the greater possibility and made receptive to the Divine Influx. Spirit is always ready to flow through our mentality, 273

but we are individuals and must let it flow by the act of our selfchoice. Deep within our subjective mentality are imprinted the memories of previous experiences. Hidden away in the inner recesses of thought, generally unknown to us, are the silent causes of our outward conditions. But the law is always acting, and we are ever perpetuating experiences that we no longer want to have. What we need is a new outlook upon life, a broader vision, a deeper realization. This can come only from the Spirit that knows all things. The conscious use of law is for the purpose of neutralizing false images of thought and, in their stead, creating true ones. We must exchange the human for the more nearly divine; we must learn to think as we feel God must think about us. Now we know that God is perfect and a complete unit; consequently, if we would think as God thinks, we must do so from the basis of unity; the unity of Good and the perfection of being. But we cannot think from the unity of Good while we still believe in evil in any of its apparent forms, for clear thinking disavows evil and believes only in the Good. It is useless to visualize unless we bear this in mind. God is One, not two. Unity, then, must be the basis of all our thinking. Goodness must be paramount if we are to visualize correctly and effectively. We are to believe, then, that our thought operates through a field that is unconditioned and absolute, and if our thought is in alignment with reality, it will become powerful. This is more than holding thoughts and has nothing whatsoever to do with 274

suggestion in any of its forms. God does not suggest, It knows; and Its knowledge is law and this law is perfect. There is no power in holding thoughts, but there is power in knowing the Truth, and that Truth acts through the law. The will is not used in visualization, but the imagination is used. The will enables us to imagine, or image, along the lines of our selfchoice. Will holds out the mold; imagination fills the concept with spiritual realization, and the law executes the deed. Right thinking straightens out our thought for the purpose of right perception; right perception is God and God is All. God operates by self-knowing; the law acts by the impulse and outpush of Spirit. That vision which is based upon harmony and unity is complete and unconditioned. Spirit knows all things, and the law can do anything. By the conscious intelligence of the inner Spirit we set the law in motion for definite purposes. Any purpose that is constructive is legitimate and right. Spirit intends us to have and enjoy all things. We must feel and know that back of our word there is a power that is greater than the apparent consciousness that sets it in motion. When we visualize we must think in the Absolute, perceive in the Absolute, see in the Absolute, and then let the law alone to execute itself. Visualization from this standpoint is a creative act that is never bothered by any existing condition or conditions. It is absolute, because it is backed by an immutable law and power. Once we are certain that our whole thought is harmonious and unified with good, we may ask for what we want, and it shall be done unto us by the law. But it is dangerous to use this law unless we are absolutely certain of right visualization, for 275

thoughts are things and thoughts move in circles and will ultimately bring back to us exactly what we send out. We must each answer to ourselves, for ourselves, and all according to a perfect law. In visualizing, put the past entirely behind; do not think of the future, but make your thought perceive the ever-present reality. Spirit knows no past and no future, and the law knows only to do. See yourself as you would like to be, but think of no person or persons in connection with your mental picture. Think of yourself as you would like to be and calmly state that you are now in the position that you care to be in; that you are now doing the things you would like to be doing; that you now possess the things you want to possess. Look at your picture as you would view a landscape, mentally dwelling on this picture, trying to feel the reality of it, until you can sense that it is a reality; then leave the entire picture for the law to work out for you, returning to your everyday affairs with perfect confidence that something is really taking place on the invisible side of your life, and that you will experience in outward form all your inner aspirations.

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Ernest Holmes ERNEST HOLMES SPEAKS Let Go (1926) Let go of everything. Clear your thought of every impression. Do not will or wish anything. In the silence of your own thought, feel that you are surrounded by an Infinite Spirit, that there is an influx from this Spirit flowing through you. Let the Mind of this Spirit be your Mind and say: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Infinite Spirit within me, which is God, All-Knowing, All-Wise, All-Perfect One, there is no life apart from You, and You are that which I am. I am whole because you are whole; I am perfect because You are perfect; I know because You know; I Am because You are. My word is the law unto itself through the one great law of perfect liberty and perfect action.â&#x20AC;? At this point, visualize your desire, draw a complete picture of it in your thought, and realize that it Now Is.

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Ernest Holmes ERNEST HOLMES SPEAKS Spirit Creates through Mind in Action (1926) Spirit creates through law. The law is always mind in action. Mind cannot act unless intelligence sets it in motion. In the great universal mind, man is a center of intelligence, and every time he thinks he sets mind into action. What is the activity of this mind in relation to manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s thought? It has to be one of mental correspondence; that is, mind has to reflect whatever thought is cast into it. Wonderful as Universal Mind is, it has no choice but to create whatever thought is given it; if it could contradict that thought, it would not be a unit, since this would be recognizing something outside itself. This is a point in Truth which should not be overlooked. The One Mind knows only its own ability to make whatever is given It; It sees no other power and never analyzes or dissects; It simply knows, and the reason why people do not understand this is that they have not realized what mind is. The ordinary individual thinks of mind only from the limitation of his own environment. The concept he has of mind is the concept of his own thinking, which is very limited. We are surrounded by an All-Seeing, All-Knowing Mind, which is One and runs through all. The belief in the dual mind has destroyed practically all philosophies and religions of the ages, and will continue to do so until the world comes to see that there is but One. Whatever name is given it there is but One. It is this 278

One that creates for us, whatever we believe. Our thought operative through this One produces all our affairs. We are all centers in this Mind, centers of creative thought activity. There is nothing which appears in the manifest Universe other than an objectified thought, whether it be a bump on your head, a growth on your foot, or a planet. It could not be there were it not made out of Mind, for mind is all there is to make anything out of. Whatever is made is made out of it. Nothing exists or can exist without a source from which it springs. We are not dealing with a negative as well as a positive Power â&#x20AC;&#x201D; not two powers but one; a power that sees neither good nor evil as we see it. It knows only that it is all, and since it is all, it creates whatever is given it. From our limited standpoint we often think of good and evil; not realizing that, as yet, we do not know the one from the other. What we call good today, we may call evil tomorrow, and what we think to be evil today, we may tomorrow proclaim as the greatest good we have known. Not so with the Great Universal Power of Mind; It sees only Itself and Its infinite ability to create. To the thinking person this will mean much; he will see that he is no longer living in a limited universe, a world of powers, but that he is immersed in an Infinite Creative Medium which, because of Its Nature, has to create for him whatever he believes. Jesus understood this, and in a few simple words, laid down the law of life: â&#x20AC;&#x153;It is done unto all people as they believe.â&#x20AC;? This is a great thing to keep in mind. It is done unto us; we do not have to do it, for it is done unto us of a power that knows itself to be all there is. Could we even 279

believe that some material mountain would be moved, the power is there to do it. Without this belief there is no real impulse for the Creative Mind, and we do not get an affirmative answer. We must realize more clearly that this Great Power has to operate through us. Creative Mind cannot force itself upon us, because we have the power of self-choice. It recognizes us when we recognize it. When we think that we are limited or have not been heard, it must take that thought and bring it into manifestation for us. When we look about us and see nature so beautiful, so lavish, and so limitless, when we realize that something, some power, is behind all, and sees to it that plenty obtains everywhere, so that in all things manifest there is more than could be used; and when on the other hand we see man so limited, sick, sad and needy, we are disposed to ask this question: “Is God good after all? Does He really care for the people of His creation? Why am I sick? Why am I poor?” Little do we realize that the answer is in our own mouths, in the creative power of our own thought. The average person when told the Truth will still seek some other way. God has already done for us — in a mechanical way — all that He can do; and having been given the ability, we will have to do for ourselves the rest. Yet the Great Power is always near, ready at any time to help, but we must use it according to its own nature in harmony with its laws. Man should learn that he himself is the center of this Divine activity. Realizing this, he must seek more and more to utilize his own Divine nature, and by so doing he will come more fully under the protection of the great laws that govern all life, manifest and unmanifest. Whatever man is, he must find that because he is 280

made out of God, he must be of the same nature. This Infinite One cannot know anything outside of itself, anything that would be a contradiction of its Divine nature; manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ignorance of his real nature binds him with his own freedom, until he comes to see things as they really are, and not as they appear to be. In the Infinity of mind, which is the principle of all metaphysics and of all life, there is nothing but mind, and that which mind does. That is all there is in the Universe. That is all there ever was or ever will be. This mind is acted upon by our thought, and so our thought becomes the law of our lives. It is just as much a law in our individual lives as Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s thought is in the larger life of the Universe.

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Ernest Holmes THE SCIENCE OF MIND Male and Female (1926) Man, coming from Unity, is both male and female, and has, within himself, both attributes of reality. In some the male predominates; in others the female. We have two distinct types in man and woman; but they are types of one fundamental principle. There is also an intermediate sex; that is, one in which the two attributes seem to be almost equally balanced. The greatest men and women of the ages have belonged to this type, for it is a more complete balance between the two which are really one. But this is too great a topic to discuss in this course of lessons. The solution to the problem of desire is to transmute any destructive tendency into some form of action that is constructive. However, an intellectual form of expression alone will not do this, for only those things to which we may give the complete self will solve the problem. Love is the givingness of the self to the object of its adoration. We should all have something that we love to do, something that will completely express the self, something that will loose the energies of Life into action and transmute the power into creative work. We should learn to love all people and not just some people. It is very disastrous to feel that we cannot live unless we possess some one individual, body and soul. This is not love but is an idea of possession, which often becomes an obsession. No 282

soul is really complete until he feels compete within himself. This does not exclude the great human relationships which mean so much to all of us; but it does take the sting out of life and does free the individual to love all, adore some, and find happiness everywhere. To feel that love is unrequited creates a longing so intense that it tears the very heart out of life, and throws the one so feeling into a fit of despondency from which it is, indeed, hard to recover. This feeling is met in the Truth by knowing that Love is Eternal and Real and cannot be added to nor taken from. This may seem like a hard teaching; but the problems of humanity deal largely with the human relationships and until they are harmonized, there can be no lasting happiness. Happiness is from within, like all the other qualities of the Spirit. Within, Man is already complete and perfect; but he needs to realize this truth. I can imagine some one saying: “This is too impersonal a teaching.” It is not impersonal at all; this does not mean that we care less for people; indeed, we shall find that for the first time in life we shall really care; but the sting will have gone. Refuse to have the feelings hurt. Refuse yourself the pleasure and morbidity of sensitiveness. Come out of the emotional intoxication and be YOURSELF. Never allow the thought to become depressed nor morbid. Engage in some form of activity that will express the better self. Do not attempt to draw life from others; live the life that God gave you; it is ample and complete. “But,” people will say, “I believe in affinities.” If by this 283

one means that each is only one-half of a real person and must find the other half in order to be expressed, he is mistaken. Such persons usually find a second affinity as soon as the first disappears. We all have a natural affinity for each other, since we all live in One Common Mind and in One Unified Spirit. It is all right if we wish to specialize on some particular love; but the hurt will remain unless love has a broader scope than when narrowed down to one single person. Live, love and laugh! Let the heart be glad and free; rejoice in the thought of life and be happy. Realize God, in and through all, and unify with the Whole. Why take fragments when the Whole is here for the asking?

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Ernest Holmes RELIGIOUS SCIENCE What I Believe (1927)

I believe in God, the Living Spirit Almighty; one, indestructible, absolute and self-existent cause. This One manifests Itself in and through all creation but is not absorbed by Its creation. The manifest universe is the body of God; it is the logical and necessary outcome of the infinite self-knowingness of God. I believe in the incarnation of Spirit in everyone and that all people are incarnations of the One Spirit. I believe in the eternality, the immortality and the continuity of the individual soul, forever and ever expanding. I believe that Heaven is within me and that I experience It to the degree that I become conscious of it. I believe the ultimate goal of life to be a complete emancipation from all discord of every nature, and that this goal is sure to be attained by all. I believe in the unity of all life, and that the highest God and the innermost God is one God. I believe that God is personal to all who feel this indwelling Presence. I believe in the direct revelation of Truth through the intuitive and spiritual nature of the individual, and that any person may become a revealer of Truth who lives in close contact with the indwelling God. I believe that the Universal Spirit, which is God, operates through a Universal Mind, which is the Law of God; and that I am surrounded by this Creative Mind which receives the direct impress of my thought and acts upon it. I believe in the healing of 285

the sick through the power of this Mind. I believe in the control of conditions through the power of this Mind. I believe in the eternal Goodness, the eternal Loving-Kindness, and the eternal Givingness of Life to all. I believe in my own soul, my own spirit and my own destiny; for I understand that the life of all is God. Amen. And So It Is.

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Gardner Hunting WORKING WITH GOD Expressing Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Attributes (1934) By the same token, God, who is love, will teach me no lesson with intent to make it bitter. God tries to induce me to express Him and to look for His expression in everybody and in everything. Where I look for God, I find Him. Expressing God, that is my whole work in life. What is expressing God? It is letting His attributes, life, love, wisdom, power, Truth, flow through me into the visible. I am eager that God should express Himself through me as health and prosperity. Then all I have to do is to let Him express Himself as love and Truth. For God is not a group of separate attributes: He is one, all His attributes a perfect whole, inseparable, and I cannot let one attribute flow through me to expression without allowing the others to be manifested also. If I let love and Truth seep through me, health and prosperity will seep with them; if I let love and Truth gush through an unblocked channel, health and prosperity will gush with them. God Himself cannot send part of His attributes through me; He must send all or none. I cannot express Truth without expressing wisdom. If I would be well, I have but to serve and to be kind and true. If I express any attribute of God perfectly, the other attributes will be expressed proportionately. So, if it is the way of God to induce me, to encourage me to 287

express Him, how better can I express Him than by adopting His way and encouraging expression in everybody with whom I come in contact? And if I help others to express God, the instant result is that God expresses Himself again through them to me. If I want God to speak through my mouth, I must first let Him think through my intelligence. If I will let Him, God will speak for me, think for me, decide for me, act for me, pray for me. The only real speaking, thinking, deciding, living, praying, is God’s, because the only life, love, wisdom, power in me to do any of these things is God in me. Let Him? Why, all I have to do is to look inside instead of outside for everything. It is men’s feeling that supply is uncertain that makes them grasping. A sense of God’s abundant provision of everything needed for each one of His creatures, and a realization that all His creatures’ interests are common interests makes grasping not only unnecessary, but clearly absurd. The path to all my good is through recognition of the omnipresence of God, the good. If I fail to see good everywhere, in everything, all the time, I shall certainly not realize good in all my affairs. Good — God — only is for me where I recognize it — or Him. We have talked about expression; it has often been said that we know God only by expressing Him. How true this is no one can realize till he begins trying to express God consciously. Of course, I express God unconsciously continually, because “in him we live, and move, and have our being.” But consciously expressing Him in one way leads me to a consciousness of His expression through me in other ways. If I consciously express 288

love, I become aware that love is wisdom, and that I am expressing wisdom when I express love. Presently I come to see that by expressing love and wisdom I find power. And suddenly I become conscious that the expression of love, wisdom, and power is the expression of life. I see that these so-called attributes of God are inseparable, even if I do not see that they are synonymous. As I go on in my conscious experience, I shall find constantly growing a consciousness that they are synonymous. Now, as I express the attributes of God, I begin to be aware of the same attributes “expressing back” to me. I cannot be kind to a dog that he does not give me his friendship. I cannot care for a flower that it does not bloom more richly for me. I cannot deal truthfully with men that they do not begin to reciprocate by dealing honestly with me. I cannot turn a friendly face to the world that the world does not begin to be friendly to me. And suddenly again I realize that these attributes of God are elsewhere besides in me. As I deal with natural laws, I find that when I obey them they always work for my good. As I deal with mathematics, I find that if I abide by the principles, the result is always perfect. Presently I begin to see that good — God — is everywhere, in everything to which I turn in the right spirit. What is the right spirit? Why, this spirit of giving out what I want to receive. Expressing! Expressing the divine attributes to the glory of God. Every experience in life sooner or later is resolved into terms through which this principle becomes visible as its basis. So, when I reach this point, I find that if I want to realize the 289

omnipresence of God — the realization that is my salvation and my heaven — I have only to make God omnipresent in everything I give out, everything I do, say, think. That will prove God’s omnipresence to me immediately. Stated in another way, it sounds startling. I have something to do with making God omnipresent! God cannot be omnipresent without me! I have everything to do with making God omnipresent for me. “What?” you exclaim. “Do you control God?” Why yes, in degree. I am God in expression — I am that spark of God which is expressing itself in me, which is individualized in me. I find God coming back to me in every return expression that my giving brings to me! Do you doubt that, O timid one, who cringes and whimpers before the idea of a God of terror who stands apart from you, outside of you, awaiting an opportunity to smite you for daring to take Him at His word? Then let us go back and read the Bible in which the truth is unmistakably told us; and realize again that it is truths like this about you and me that make the Bible true, and that it is not the fact that they are in the Bible that makes them true! Startling thoughts, indeed! But they have brought us to the great fundamental truth of being. I am one with God, I am a spark of the divine, the same as God — His son, His heir. I am not separate from God. All that God is, I am; all that God has, I have! In limited degree? you insist. Yes; but I see no limit. I shall never see a limit. But see what a marvelous law this is, this simple little law of giving and receiving! I am perfectly sure that all I have to do is to 290

begin living by it, and it will lift me to the heights, bodily, mentally, spiritually! It will give me wings! It will transfigure and translate me! See how marvelously wise was that simple man of Nazareth when He said so simply that what we want to have done to us we have only to do to others! That was no moral epigram; it was a statement of law! How our realization of the wondrous beauties of the law of life, of the universe, expands as we come into this understanding. This is heaven. Heaven is where God is. Who is God? God is intelligence, Truth, life, love. Wherever we find God — good — is heaven. When I find God everywhere, heaven is every-where for me. But one of the little understood phases of Truth is that if I persist in finding God — good — in things nearest me, I shall begin to see Him in widening circles. It’s like starting a fire in the grass, here at my feet. It will spread and grow with everincreasing speed and power — and light! Sometimes people who do not see this vision call people who do see it fanatics. I have done so. But a fanatic is one who grows enthusiastic over something he sees — that is, as he is observed from the standpoint of one who does not see. Looking through a telescope I become enraptured with the beauty of the stars. Or looking through the microscope I become enthralled by the wonders of cells. To one who does not look through or understand my instrument, I am a fanatic. Observing merely my reactions, he easily calls me an insane fool, which is what he means when he calls me a fanatic. And looking through the lens of spiritual vision, and seeing God omnipresent — oh, yes, in the stars and in the cells alike! In my self and in you! — I grow fanatical in the eyes of my neighbor who is ignorant of the lens, or 291

ignores it! God help him! But is there anything surprising or unnatural about it? You don’t blame a miner for shouting in mad delight when he discovers gold. Well, why shouldn’t I be fanatically joyous when I look into heaven? What is heaven? The sum total of perfection — whatever you like! Wouldn’t you be a fanatic? Would you like to find it, too? Well, begin looking for the omnipresence of God; looking first to see His presence in all that you say, do, or think — in what you give out. Just do unto others as you want them to do to you. It is just as simple as that! Of course God is omnipresent; I merely become aware of it!

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Gardner Hunting WORKING WITH GOD Thought is Creative Power (1934) God never hurries. Nobody knows how long the universe has been in building. He seems to take eternity as the basis for His deliberation. Being His child in the midst of my own eternal life, why should I not be deliberate? Not that God does not move swiftly. He turns the earth at the rate of a thousand miles an hour. He sends it through space at many times that speed. He sends His sunlight traveling 186,000 miles a second. What do I know about speed? Well, there is one department in my life where I know speed — without hurry. I think swiftly. I cannot help thinking swiftly. My thought is the swiftest thing I know anything about. It is swifter than light. It can travel to the outermost frontier of the universe and back, millions of millions of miles, in less time than it takes light to travel a mere 186,000 miles. Why am I in such a hurry to act, when I can think so quickly? Can’t I afford to wait for thought? But what is thought? Thought is the creative power in me, which is God Himself within me. Pure thought that is — unclouded, unobscured by fear. Hurry is always the expression of fear — fear that I shall be late, fear that I shall miss something, fear that I shall be defeated, or humiliated. It befogs thought. That is why it is thoroughly destructive. Hurry will not wait for thought — the creative power of God in me. Hurry will not wait for God. It 293

is afraid God will be too slow in taking care of my interests, in defending me, in saving me from danger or from shame. Hurry is a mad impulse to beat the speed of light, the speed of thought, with physical action. Hurrying might be compared, then, to trying to pull “the limited” with a tortoise! Like trying to deliver the radio message in a wheelbarrow! Hurry is the slowest way of doing anything. It is the worst way in the world to deal with emergency — which is another name for what we commonly call trouble. To hurry is to blindfold the eyes to vision and stop the ears to the Voice. To wait is to listen, to think. But you can think — millions of millions of miles, across the world and back, and around and back, and across the universe and back, and straight through to God — all in the time it takes you to step on the accelerator, or utter the curse, or strike the blow. Which is better? Why not step on the brake, shut the lips, withhold the hand?

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Gardner Hunting WORKING WITH GOD Be Not Afraid (1934) Are we not all much too much concerned with activities in the material world? When we think of giving, why not think of the best things we have to give? Love, for instance. Prayer, for instance. If we remember that everything that ultimately becomes manifest in the material world begins first in thought, that removes a mountain of difficulties, doesn’t it? Perhaps we are afraid or ashamed to commit ourselves to a life of faith and trust and love. We think perhaps we may be disappointed and become ridiculous. What do we mean by committing ourselves? Telling somebody else we are going to try it? What do we mean by becoming ridiculous? In somebody else’s eyes? Well, why tell anybody what we are trying to do? Why risk the ridicule? We do not have to advertise our undertaking. We do not have to risk anything. Indeed, the less we advertise it, the better. But if we really do begin the life of “working with God,” we shall forget all about advertising and risks. To be sure, what we are doing will advertise itself — in results. Instead of ridicule, we shall promptly have large numbers of people around us asking us what has happened to us — how we do it — how they can do it too. We shall have something to give, we shall find it easy to love, we shall gain wisdom, we shall see multiform opportunities on all 295

sides of us, we shall achieve. And there shall be added unto us “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.” Because, when we begin working with God, God works with us — and God works miracles.

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Brad & Jeloria Jensen DISCOVER YOUR CREATIVE MIND Principles and Laws (1996)

You may have heard that your mind is like an iceberg, with 9/10ths of it below the level that we can see. You may also have heard that most people do not use 90% of their brain. You can learn to explore and use that portion of your mind which is out of view for most people. The inner part of your mind is a fascinating place. It holds all of your hopes and dreams, your fantasies and the seed of the future that you will create for yourself. Just as each plant has its foundation in the hidden soil of the earth, so too are your thoughts based in the inner part of yourself. By learning what the soil is made of and the process of growth that occurs in a plant, a scientist can learn how to develop richer soils and healthier plants. By learning what goes into creating within the inner part of your mind and what the process of growth is for your thoughts, you can learn how to make your thoughts stronger and healthier, and enrich your existence. As you begin to learn about creation, you will also naturally learn about your responsibility to yourself and in dealing with others. You will learn that only YOU can make the choices that really matter in your life and to expect others to choose for you is 297

to deny yourself the respect you truly deserve. THE STRUCTURE OF MIND Each thing that exists in the natural world has its own unique structure that serves to identify it from all other things. You are not likely to confuse a rabbit with an oak tree, for example, because their structures are so obviously different to your naked eye. Even rocks have different crystalline structures that help the expert tell them apart. Our greatest advances in science have come about by learning the structure or makeup of things. Even now, tremendous amounts of time and money are being spent on research into the basic structure of sub-atomic particles, in hopes of liberating new secrets about the nature of matter. Mind itself has a structure that is not immediately apparent to the untrained observer. Learning the structure of mind is the important first-step to really using your creative mind to your fullest potential. Each thing that exists is made of mind. Existence means existence in mind. When you learn how the mind is structured, you can begin to learn the cause and effect of each thing that exists. You will see that what many people call â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;psychic` senses are really just the learned ability to use the creative mind. The mind has three basic divisions. It is important to remember that most of mind is not physical. The only part of your mind which is physical is the brain. Think of the divisions of your mind as like the layers of an onion. 298

The three divisions of mind are the CONSCIOUS, SUBCONSCIOUS AND SUPER-CONSCIOUS minds. The outermost division of mind is the CONSCIOUS mind. This division houses your brain and your emotions, and of course, is the physical division. This is the part of your mind that you use to perform your regular conscious activities. You use your conscious mind most of all when you are concentrating on learning new understandings. As you learn the reasons behind a pattern of thought or activity, and practice this understanding over and over again, it gradually becomes a part of your subconscious mind. For example, remember the first time you drove a car. Remember peering over the steering wheel at the road and constantly turning the steering wheel as the car weaved back and forth down the road? Now, when you get in the car, you may drive all the way to work without a single conscious thought about how to drive. An activity that used to be conscious is now almost entirely performed by the subconscious mind at your command. Your SUBCONSCIOUS MIND is the second innermost division of mind. The subconscious mind is like the genie in the lamp of Aladdin. It will perform the most amazing services for you if you know how to ask for them. Some of the things that the subconscious mind can do for you will seem like magic at first, until you learn how they are accomplished. The subconscious mind holds all of your past understood experiences, things that you have learned by practicing them over and over again, until they have literally become a part of your mind. One of the many miracles of the subconscious mind is 299

how it keeps the physical body properly coordinated, adjusting hormone levels, respiration and heartbeat, digestions, and so forth. Your subconscious mind knows more about how to keep your body going than all the doctors in the world put together. To use your subconscious mind to its fullest advantage, you need to understand how it works. The subconscious mind exists to provide you learning experiences. The subconscious mind responds to pictures. Whatever you place your attention on, whether it is a desire or a fear, your subconscious mind will create the experience for you. The subconscious mind does not have our conscious prejudices about pleasant and unpleasant experiences. It gives us what we ask for, and it assumes we are asking for something when we think about it. Remember, thoughts are things! To create the things and experiences you desire, you need to learn to make clear mental pictures in your conscious imagination. Each picture serves as a kind of computer program for the subconscious mind. The stronger and clearer the picture, the more accurate your results will be. The subconscious mind is your servant. It is up to you to learn to program your subconscious mind to give you the things you truly desire. The innermost division of mind is the SUPERCONSCIOUS MIND. This is the part of mind that provides the energy and overall direction for the rest of mind. Your super conscious mind contains the blueprint for your expression as an individual. It is the part of your being which is closest to the Supreme Being, or God.

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USING YOUR CREATIVE MIND Your mind is always creating. In the same sense that your physical body constantly breathes, your mind constantly creates. You may not always be aware of your breathing or control the rate and depth of each breath, but your body continues to breathe from the moment you are born to the end of your physical existence. In the same way, your mind creates unceasingly. It is the natural function of the mind to create, whether you are awake or asleep. Your subconscious mind has been creating events for you throughout your life. Indeed, nothing can occur in your life without the activity of your subconscious mind causing it to happen. Your subconscious mind will do only what you consciously or unconsciously tell it to do. The most important thing to remember in using your creative mind is that nothing, I repeat, NOTHING, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;just happens` to you. Each event that occurs in your life has one cause, and that cause is YOU. It is up to you to make sure that the things you really want to happen in your life are happening. It is up to you to be sure that you are creating the things you intend to create. CREATING WITH IMAGINATION AND WILL Everything that exists in the physical began as a thought. Take a good look at your physical surroundings. Everything, from this paper you are reading, to the chair on which you sit, began as a thought in mind. Remember, thoughts are things! To create something you desire, all you need do is imagine it and then begin the necessary activity to bring it into the physical. 301

For example, let’s say you want a new car. Imagine exactly the kind of car you want, the color, the make, the style, and the cost. Imagine yourself sitting in the driver’s seat, driving down the road. Imagine the joy and satisfaction you get from driving your new car. Use all your senses to experience your new car in your imagination. The next step is to use your WILL to bring your new car to you. What this means is making the decision to get the kind of car you want and then following thru with this decision by going out to look for it. Since you know exactly what you want, your subconscious mind will take you directly to the car you are looking for. KARMA In creating with your imagination and will, it is important to remember to create EVENTS. Respect the free will of others, because if you don’t, you will not get the results you really desire. Also, you would not like someone else trying to make you do things you do not desire to do. There is a rule of the game called KARMA, which ensures that “as you sow, so shall you reap”. The intentions you are using in your creative activity are the same ones you will experience in return. Treat others as you would have them treat you. BELIEVING It is important, when creating an event, to practice ‘believing’. Again, this is when you must use your will, because it is not always easy to ‘believe’. Do not be concerned or worried as 302

to ‘how’ an event will come about. Anxiety can clog up the energy flow between the conscious and subconscious mind. This is what Jesus meant when he said “Ye must be as little children”. Children are natural believers and they have very good imagination skills. To children, anything is possible, until an adult convinces them otherwise. You must use your creative mind as a child. Believe that what you desire will become a reality. In fact, in your imagination, believe that your desire has already entered the physical. Believe that what you want to happen, has already happened. In this way, you send a complete picture of the event to your subconscious mind, for the creation process to begin. It is a good idea, while you are still new at creating what you want, to keep your thoughts and goals to yourself. It may come as a surprise to you, but many people do not want you to be creative. They want the people they know and the things they do, to be as predictable as the sunrise in the morning. They would rather live with a predictable pain than take chances on an unpredictable joy. As you become stronger, you will be able to tell others of your goals, because their negativity cannot penetrate your belief in yourself and in what you are doing. LAW OF ABUNDANCE What about all the times when you experience an unpleasant situation? You lose your job, you have no money, your mate leaves you or you have an accident. You are the creator of unpleasant experiences, as well as the pleasant ones. But how is this possible, you might say. Why would I create an 303

unpleasant situation for myself? Why would I consciously create a hardship? The answer is that your hard luck situation was created from your ‘unconscious mind’. Your unconscious mind houses all your fears, anxieties, and worries. When you place your undivided attention on a fear, that fear can become a reality. For example, you fear that you won’t have enough money to pay your bills. If you concentrate on this fear long enough, you will create the exact situation you fear. You see, whatever you place your attention on is what you get. If you dwell on a particular fear, then your subconscious mind is programmed to create the ‘fear’ for you. Your subconscious mind does not care if the situation causes you pain. It only gives you what you picture in your mind. Knowing this, would it not be better to create from desires, rather than from fears? The choice is always yours. There is a universal law called the Law of Abundance. This law states that there is always an abundance of whatever it is that you desire. There is always enough money to pay bills, always enough food to eat, fuel to burn, happiness to be shared. The energy to create whatever you desire is always there, if you will use it. Remember the story in the Bible where Jesus fed the multitudes? He may or may not have manifested food out of thin air and the arguments could go on forever. However, I believe that this is not the real issue here. I believe the real miracle of this event is that Jesus wanted us to know that there is more than enough of what we need, if we will imagine it, use our wills to believe it and then engage in the physical activity to bring it about. 304

Believe in the Law of Abundance, because it is true. This will take a lot of will power, especially in the face of need, but believe anyway. Just when you catch yourself saying, “I will not have enough”, stop right then and say, out loud, “There is always enough of what I need”. Soon, you will not only believe in abundance, you will know it is so. RESPONSIBILITY To live a truly creative life, you must first acknowledge that you are the creator of your own life. You must recognize that the CAUSE of each event in your life is YOU. You must accept responsibility for yourself. A lot of people are afraid of the idea that they have free will and can use it in any manner they wish. Many of us go through life complaining about the situation in our lives that we see as out of our control. In this way, we deny responsibility for the events that occur in our lives. There are no events or situations outside your control! You have complete freedom to change the things that are happening now in your life. Only you can choose to live a happy or satisfying life and if you are telling yourself that you have to wait even ONE MORE MINUTE before you begin, you are kidding yourself. When we pretend that we need something, outside of ourself, for our continued happiness or peace of mind, we experience what I call ‘attachment’. We attach part of our selfworth to an outside event, person or thing. Then we try to control our feelings of self-worth by attempting to control that person, event or thing. It never works! Creativity is your birthright. You have the free will to choose 305

your own life. The only catch is that if you don’t use it, someone else will. If you don’t make your own decisions, someone will make them for you, leaving you to wonder why you are always the ‘victim’. If you find yourself in a situation where you feel ‘victimized’ or ‘used’, check your memory banks. Chances are, you passed up an opportunity to make a decision so someone else made the decision for you! It is always up to you to make the life you desire for yourself. Do not wait for permission from another to unfold the real you. You have the permission with each breath you take. Use it! Remember you are the creating intelligence within yourself. Remember that your mind will create for you constantly, just like breathing, whether you want it to or not. It will create what you desire or what you fear. It is up to you to choose. If you hesitate in your choice, you choose the fear by default. Since you have a choice, wouldn’t it be better to have what you want, rather than what you don’t want? Remember, the time to choose is now, and the time to begin creating what you desire is now. If you wait until tomorrow, tomorrow will never come. MENTAL EXERCISES Your mind is a highly specialized, finely-tuned creative instrument. Scientists has worked for years to duplicate the functions of the human brain using computers. The results so far has been very primitive. Some scientists have speculated that to duplicate the functioning of one human brain, it would take computer equipment worth over one billion dollars and hundreds of programmers working together for years. Your brain is the 306

equivalent of a billion dollar computer. Think of how much you can do with so large an investment! Your mind can be programmed for more efficient activity by the use of exercises that strengthen your abilities in the areas of concentration, relaxation, imagination, will and memory. These exercises must be done on a regular basis, just as you would do physical exercises. THE TEN MOST WANTED LIST This exercise will help you develop will power, perspective, goal setting skills, concentration and visualization skills. For this exercise, you will need a small note pad. Get one small enough to carry in your purse or pocket. Here is how the exercise works: 1. Write down ten things you want, as if you already had them and were enjoying them. Now rewrite them in the order of their importance. Make sure the things on your list are specific and measurable. In other words, it is OK to want happiness, but how will you measure it, so you will know when you have it? Instead, put the things on your list which will bring you happiness. 2. Now, at least three times a day, read the list, and imagine yourself having and enjoying the items listed. See yourself using them, in the present tense. To help you remember, read your list at each meal. 3. As soon as you have gotten three things on the list, you may discuss it with someone else - not until then. Do not show the contents of your list to anyone else! It is easy to allow the doubts, fears and mental laziness of others to affect your thinking. At this point, you are making a series of mental pictures, 307

and you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want anyone else blundering around in your darkroom, perhaps double-exposing your negatives. Remember, you can use your mind, or you can let someone else use it for you. 4. When you get something on your list, take it off the list, and replace it with something else you want. If you have something on your list which is no longer important to you, again, replace it with something you do want. 5. When the list starts working for you, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t panic and shy away from it. It may seem like magic, but it is not. It is just a tool. The Ten Most Wanted List uses the exact same process you are presently using to get what you desire or fear, but the list helps you to make the control of the process more conscious. Learning to use your creative mind is similar to developing any other skill - it takes practice, patience, and persistence. But, results will come quickly once you begin to follow thru on our commitment to harness the power of your mind. Your mind is already creating - you are just learning to direct the process. Use these ideas daily and you will truly discover your creative mind!

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William George Jordan THE MAJESTY OF CALMNESS Calmness Comes from Within (1898) Calmness is the rarest quality in human life. It is the poise of a great nature, in harmony with itself and its ideals. It is the moral atmosphere of a life self-centered, self-reliant, and selfcontrolled. Calmness is singleness of purpose, absolute confidence, and conscious power, — ready to be focused in an instant to meet any crisis. The Sphinx is not a true type of calmness, — petrifaction is not calmness; it is death, the silencing of all the energies; while no one lives his life more fully, more intensely and more consciously than the man who is calm. The Fatalist is not calm. He is the coward slave of his environment, hopelessly surrendering to his present condition, recklessly indifferent to his future. He accepts his life as a rudderless ship, drifting on the ocean of time. He has no compass, no chart, no known port to which he is sailing. His selfconfessed inferiority to all nature is shown in his existence of constant surrender. It is not, — calmness. The man who is calm has his course in life clearly marked on his chart. His hand is ever on the helm. Storm, fog, night, tempest, 309

danger, hidden reefs, — he is ever prepared and ready for them. He is made calm and serene by the realization that in these crises of his voyage he needs a clear mind and a cool head; that he has naught to do but to do each day the best he can by the light he has; that he will never flinch nor falter for a moment; that, though he may have to tack and leave his course for a time, he will never drift, he will get back into the true channel, he will keep ever headed toward his harbor. When he will reach it, how he will reach it, matters not to him. He rests in calmness, knowing he has done his best. If his best seem to be overthrown or overruled, then he must still bow his head, — in calmness. To no man is permitted to know the future of his life, the finality. God commits to man ever only new beginnings, new wisdom, and new days to use the best of his knowledge. Calmness comes ever from within. It is the peace and restfulness of the depths of our nature. The fury of storm and of wind agitate only the surface of the sea; they can penetrate only two or three hundred feet, — below that is the calm, unruffled deep. To be ready for the great crises of life we must learn serenity in our daily living. Calmness is the crown of self-control. When the worries and cares of the day fret you, and begin to wear upon you, and you chafe under the friction, — be calm. Stop, rest for a moment, and let calmness and peace assert themselves. If you let these irritating outside influences get the better of you, you are confessing your inferiority to them, by permitting them to dominate you. Study the disturbing elements, each by itself, bring all the will power of your nature to bear upon 310

them, and you will find that they will, one by one, melt into nothingness, like vapors fading before the sun. The glow of calmness that will then pervade your mind, the tingling sensation of an inflow of new strength, may be to you the beginning of the revelation of the supreme calmness that is possible for you. Then, in some great hour of your life, when you stand face to face with some awful trial, when the structure of your ambition and lifework crumbles in a moment, you will be brave. You can then fold your arms calmly, look out undismayed and undaunted upon the ashes of your hope, upon the wreck of what you have faithfully built, and with brave heart and unfaltering voice you may say: “So let it be, — I will build again.” When the tongue of malice and slander, the persecution of inferiority, tempts you for just a moment to retaliate, when for an instant you forget yourself so far as to hunger for revenge, — be calm. When the grey heron is pursued by its enemy, the eagle, it does not run to escape; it remains calm, takes a dignified stand, and waits quietly, facing the enemy unmoved. With the terrific force with which the eagle makes its attack, the boasted king of birds is often impaled and run through on the quiet, lance-like bill of the heron. The means that man takes to kill another’s character becomes suicide of his own. No man in the world ever attempted to wrong another without being injured in return, — someway, somehow, sometime. The only weapon of offence that Nature seems to recognize is the boomerang. Nature keeps her books admirably; she puts down every item, she closes all accounts finally, but she does not always balance them at the end of the month. 311

To the man who is calm, revenge is so far beneath him that he cannot reach it, â&#x20AC;&#x201D; even by stooping. When injured, he does not retaliate; he wraps around him the royal robes of Calmness, and he goes quietly on his way. When the hand of Death touches the one we hold dearest, paralyzes our energy, and eclipses the sun of our life, the calmness that has been accumulating in long years becomes in a moment our refuge, our reserve strength. The most subtle of all temptations is the seeming success of the wicked. It requires moral courage to see, without flinching, material prosperity coming to men who are dishonest; to see politicians rise into prominence, power and wealth by trickery and corruption; to see virtue in rags and vice in velvets; to see ignorance at a premium, and knowledge at a discount. To the man who is really calm these puzzles of life do not appeal. He is living his life as best he can; he is not worrying about the problems of justice, whose solution must be left to Omniscience to solve. When man has developed the spirit of Calmness until it becomes so absolutely part of him that his very presence radiates it, he has made great progress in life. Calmness cannot be acquired of itself and by itself; it must come as the culmination of a series of virtues. What the world needs and what individuals need is a higher standard of living, a great realizing sense of the privilege and dignity of life, a higher and nobler conception of individuality. With this great sense of calmness permeating an individual, man becomes able to retire more into himself, away from the 312

noise, the confusion and strife of the world, which come to his ears only as faint, far-off rumblings, or as the tumult of the life of a city heard only as a buzzing hum by the man in a balloon. The man who is calm does not selfishly isolate himself from the world, for he is intensely interested in all that concerns the welfare of humanity. His calmness is but a Holy of Holies into which he can retire from the world to get strength to live in the world. He realizes that the full glory of individuality, the crowning of his self-control is, â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the majesty of calmness..

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Mary L. Kupferle GOD NEVER FAILS Accept Your Good (1958)

NOT LONG AGO a man remarked to a Truth teacher, “A few years ago the doctors told me that I would never again be able to hear, even with the best of hearing aids, and that I must learn to lip-read. Through the study of Unity teachings and now in this class work I find myself able to hear every word you speak and I am hearing better, more clearly, all the time.” This is just one example of what is constantly taking place in many Truth classes, an example seen by many Truth teachers and students throughout the world. It is one specific example of a Truth student’s hearing the Truth of Being, believing in it, and then providing the constant, steadfast receiving consciousness that accepts Truth as a tangible, living, and manifest reality. All that we desire, all that we can ever envision or hope to attain is already provided for us; it is already available and will ever be awaiting our acceptance. This is true whether it concerns the body, home, or business; whether conditions and situations seem desperate and difficult; whether circumstances seem to be hopelessly entangled and confused; or whether the attainment of the desires and visions of our hearts seem impossible, beyond hope of realization. The only condition on which this manifest good is dependent 314

for complete outer expression is the condition of consciousness. As explained by one Truth teacher and writer, “The Spirit can do for us only what it can do through us. Unless we are able to provide the consciousness, Spirit cannot make the gift.” If the consciousness is filled with impressions of negative appearances, it is not the kind of consciousness that can receive the good gifts that the Giver desires to offer to His beloved sons. If the consciousness is full of doubt and permeated by anxiety and fear, it is not the kind of consciousness that provides a free channel for the overflowing Christ heritage of goodness. There is something we can do, however, to provide the right kind of consciousness, the receiving consciousness. This something we can do is not in any way a personal manipulation of thought by so many words and phrases that are uttered repetitiously and mechanically. It is, rather, a “letting go and letting God;” that is, a letting go of all preconceived thoughts and conjectures in favor of letting God reform, reshape, and remold our consciousness according to His divine plan. This process begins when we consciously close the door on our old misconceptions and allow admittance only to beautiful ideas and words of Truth, life, love, and peace. It then continues with our willingness to become consciously impressionable, pliable, and receptive to the divine inner power that is above and beyond our human understanding. The Spirit itself will form this receiving consciousness within us, as we give it free access to our minds and hearts. The Spirit is more than eager and more than abundantly ready to remold, transform, and renew our consciousness if we will simply let it do 315

so without any human forcing of the will! Help yourself to become receptive right now by giving yourself wholeheartedly to the presence of Spirit, our FatherMother God. Speak quietly to yourself, saying, “I now give my whole being — spirit, mind, body, and affairs — to You, Father. I now let go and let You form in me the perfect receiving consciousness. Of myself I can do nothing; therefore, I willingly let You do the transforming that is needful and desirable. Mold my consciousness anew. I would be meek, lowly, humble, and pliable to Your inner working of good. I would be utterly flexible, in harmony with Your movement of love within me. Fashion me anew in mind and heart. I would be impressionable and malleable to Your desires. Express through me according to Your highest plan for me. I let You form the perfect receiving consciousness within me now.” When you have spoken these words quietly and gently with your whole heart centered upon them, be still, let go, and let God. Strive no longer to imagine what the results may be. Loose all, leave all, and let God move within your consciousness. He will remold, refashion, and re-create in you the perfect receiving consciousness for life, peace, love, joy, beauty, wisdom, and abundance of good.

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Mary L. Kupferle GOD NEVER FAILS Perfection in Action (1958) God’s perfect action is moving in and through you, in and through every circumstance of your life. Remember this when your progress seems slow, when your financial affairs seem confused, when you are tempted to doubt and fear concerning a move to be made, a stand to be taken. God’s action is always wise and loving. It is constantly moving throughout creation, a harmonizing, healing power. Without force, without strain, it moves to bless, to lift, to bring forth good. It moves through your mind to illumine you, to inspire you, to enlighten you. The right action of God now moves through your body to harmonize, to heal, and to strengthen you. The right action of God now moves through your heart to uplift, to cleanse, and to purify you. The right action of God now moves through your life to prosper, to satisfy, and to bless you. If you seek guidance and direction at this time, realize that the perfect action of the One who made the heavens and the earth now moves through your thoughts, gathering them together in spiritual order and strength, developing your true purpose, clarifying your vision. Affirm, “The perfect action of God directs every thought I think, every move I make, and all is well.” 317

If your need is for greater realization of wholeness, remember that God’s perfect activity is the great equalizer of every bodily function, the great harmonizer of every feeling and emotion. Let go of tension and anxiety through letting go of personal striving, through remembering that it is the Father within who does the work. Repeat lovingly, “The Spirit of God is active within me, promoting order, harmony, and healing.” There is no place where the activity of God is not present. There is no situation in which the activity of God is not in command, in which the activity of God is not at work. As the Spirit of success, God moves through every financial understanding, through every business venture, through every transaction. His action is never delayed; it always brings about a perfect solution and joyous progress. Affirm, “God’s perfect action directs my efforts, guides my desires, and prospers my endeavors.” There is no haste in the activity of God. If you feel pressed by circumstances, pushed by events, spend a few moments contemplating God’s action within His universe. Picture in your mind’s eye the quiet, orderly movement of the stars and planets across the heavens. There is no hurry, no confusion, no uncertainty here. God’s activity always is one of peace and order, and when we remember this it is reflected in our own lives, and our affairs are blessed accordingly. The perfect action of God illumines and inspires you; it moves through your body as renewed life, through your affairs as abundant success. You are a radiant channel, overflowing with the perfect activity of God!

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Mary L. Kupferle GOD NEVER FAILS Turning Completely to God (1958) No matter what faces you, God never fails. He will not fail you in your dilemma. He will not fail you in your challenge. The only demand He makes upon you is that you have implicit trust in Him. You are to turn wholly and completely to Him and Him only. You are not to give one smattering of attention elsewhere. Not one jot or title of your devotion is to be turned to outer things. All your heart, all your mind must be centered in just one place — God! If you will follow through with this extremely simple method of prayer and hold to it unwaveringly, you will prove for yourself that God does not fail. You will find that your faith is strengthened in the process, that your good becomes manifest in greater benefits than you even dreamed. A consciousness of light, an awareness of spiritual illumination, is the first step in the healing of any personal difficulty, even as it was the first step in the process of creation. “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” It was after this, after the coming of the light, that the other steps of creation followed, all in the divine order that is typical of God and His nature of perfection. The true spiritual light, our first step in understanding and overcoming, is worth awaiting in our silent 319

periods of prayer, worth our time and patience and application of faith, even as the dawn is worthy of all natureâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s quiet attention. The awakening of our souls anew to eternal spiritual truths and values cannot come any other way.

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Gina Lake RADIANCE: EXPERIENCING DIVINE PRESENCE Being Radiant (2006) As the lenses of perception become purified, the gateway to your soul — the Divine — is opened, and the Divine begins to shine forth. It does this through the eyes. Once what comes into the eyes is no longer being filtered and distorted by the egoic mind, the eyes become the means by which the Divine receives the world and, in turn, touches it. The Divine receives the world and everything about it with acceptance and without judgment. It loves the world. After all, it is itself, and it has no reason to reject it. It loves creation for the possibilities it provides for experience. Through creation, the Divine has the opportunity to interact with itself, which as Oneness was not possible. What a great adventure and experiment! Not even Oneness knows what its creations, who have lost touch with Oneness to some extent, will do. This love for the world can be seen in the eyes of those who are in touch with essence, and it is seen as radiance, love, peace, and joy. Those who see this in someone’s eyes are attracted to it because love, peace, and joy are all anyone really wants. All of the seeking and striving on the part of the ego is an attempt to acquire love, peace, and joy — in short, happiness. The ego just makes the mistake of looking for happiness in the wrong places. In fact, the egoic mind is the only thing in the 321

way of happiness. It is the problem, not the solution. When the egoic mind is quieted, all there is, is love, peace, and joy — happiness. That truth is apparent in the eyes of those who are in touch with essence. They convey this truth, which they have discovered, to others through their eyes. In addition, looking into their eyes can cause others to drop into essence and experience the same love, peace, contentment, and joy, which is the nature of essence. Wisdom, kindness, and good acts flow from essence as well. Once the lenses of perception become clear, you become a conduit and a catalyst for peace, love, and joy in the world. The biggest clue to the mystery of who you really are is in the eyes. The Divine gives the secret away by appearing in the eyes. Nowhere else is the Divine more apparent than in the eyes of those who have already discovered the secret: There is only one Being here! When you look into another’s eyes, you can feel your commonality with them, your Oneness. You do not have to be enlightened to have this experience, and either does the other person. Oneness shines through in the eyes of everyone. Eyes can bring you Home if you allow them to. If you allow yourself to drop the thoughts that intervene between you and another for just a moment, then there You are — right there in the other’s eyes! What a surprise. People experience this most often during sex and with others they love deeply, such as with their children and pets because their defenses and tendency to judge 322

are diminished. Gazing into anotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eyes while affirming your Oneness with them can help bring about the experience of Oneness. Often, all that is needed to experience essence is the willingness to. Essence is available in every moment. You just have to notice it and not turn away. People are much more willing to do this with those they already love, but it is possible to experience essence and essenceâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s love with anyone if you choose to see the truth about them. Even just one person who is doing this in a room full of people can change the atmosphere because essence is contagious: Essence brings out essence in others. If you align with essence, you will become a catalyst for peace, love, and joy in the world. Have you noticed how contagious anger and negativity are? sFortunately, love is equally contagious and a much more rewarding experience. Practice cultivating loving interactions with others by choosing to see their divine nature, no matter what they are doing or saying or how they look, and you will not only live in peace and joy but you will bring others to peace and joy. Just by noticing the Divine in their eyes, this transformation in you and in others can take place.

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Christian D. Larson YOUR FORCES AND HOW TO USE THEM The Higher Forces in Man (1910)

The force of an ideal is another among the finer forces that should receive constant and thorough attention. When you have an ideal and live for it every second of your existence, you place yourself in the hands of a drawing power that is immense, and that power will tend to draw out into action every force, power and faculty that you may possess, especially those forces and qualities that will have to be developed in order that you may realize that ideal. Have an ideal, and the highest that you can picture. Then worship it every hour with your whole soul. Never come down, and do not neglect it for a moment. We all know very well that it is the people who actually worship their high ideals with mind and heart and soul that finally realize those ideals. It is such people who reach the high places and the reason why is easily explained. Give your attention, or rather, your whole life to some lofty ideal, and you will tend to draw into action all the finer and higher forces of your system – those forces that can create greater ability, greater talent, greater genius – those forces that can increase your capacity, bring into action all your finer elements and give you superior power and superior worth in every sense of the term – those forces which, when aroused, cannot positively fail to do the work you wish to have done. 324

A fact well known in this connection is that when the mind is turned persistently upon a certain ideal, every power that is in you begins to flow in that direction, and this is the very thing you want. When we can get all that is in us to work for our ideals and to work towards our ideals, then we shall positively reach whatever goal we have in view. Closely connected with our ideals, we find our visions and dreams. The man without a vision will never be anything but an ordinary man, and the people who never dream of greater things, will never get beyond ordinary things. It is our visions and dreams that lift our minds to lofty realms, that make us feel that there is something greater and better to work for; and when we become inspired with a desire to work for greater and better things, we will not only proceed to carry out those desires, but will finally secure sufficient power to fulfill those desires. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The nation that has no vision shall perish.â&#x20AC;? This is a great truth that we have heard a thousand times, and we know the reason why; but the same truth is applicable to man. If he has no vision, he will go down; but if he has visions, the highest and most perfect visions he can possibly imagine, and lives constantly for their realization, he will positively ascend in the scale. He will become a greater and a greater man, and those things that were at one time simply dreams, will, in the course of time, become actual realities. The power of love is another force in this higher group that is extremely valuable, and the reason is that it is the tendency of love to turn attention upon the ideal, the beautiful and the more perfect. When you love somebody, you do not look for their faults; in fact, you do not see their faults. Your whole attention is turned upon their good qualities, and here, let us remember that 325

whatever we continue to see in others, we develop in ourselves. The power of real love always tends to draw out into expression the finer elements of mind, character and life. For that reason, we should always love, love much, and love the most ideal and the most perfect that we can discover in everybody and in everything that we may meet in life. We have all discovered that when a man really loves an ideal woman, or the woman that constitutes his ideal, he invariably becomes stronger in character, more powerful in personality, and more able in mind. When a woman loves an ideal man, or her ideal, she invariably becomes more attractive. The beautiful in her nature comes forth into full expression and many times the change is so great that we can hardly believe that she is the same woman. The power of love, if genuine, constant and strong, tends to improve everything in human life; and as this power is one of the higher forces in human nature, we readily understand the reason why. We can therefore without further comment, draw our own conclusions as to how we will use this power in the future. The last of these finer forces that we shall mention, and possibly the strongest, is that of faith; but we must remember if we wish to use this force, that faith does not constitute a belief or any system of beliefs; it is a mental action â&#x20AC;&#x201C; an action that goes into the very spirit of those things which we may think of or apply at the time we exercise faith. When you have faith in yourself you place in action a force that goes into the very depth of your being and tends to arouse all the greater powers and finer elements that you may possess. The same is true when you have faith in a certain faculty or in a certain line of action. The power of faith 326

goes into the spirit of things and makes alive, so to speak, the all that is in you. The power of faith also produces perfect concentration. Whenever you have faith along a certain line, you concentrate perfectly along that line, and you cause all the power that is in your mind or system to work for the one thing you are trying to do. It has been discovered that the amount of energy latent in the human system is nothing less than enormous, and as faith tends to arouse all this energy, we realize how important and how powerful is faith. The effect of faith upon yourself therefore is beneficial in the highest and largest sense, but this is not its only effect. The more faith you have in yourself, the more faith people will have in you. If you have no confidence in yourself you will never inspire confidence in anybody; but if you thoroughly believe in yourself, people will believe in you and in your work. And when people believe in you, you can accomplish ten times as much as when they have no confidence in you whatever. When a man has tremendous faith in himself, he becomes a live wire, so to speak. It is such a man that becomes a real and vital power wherever he may live or go. It is such a man who leads the race on and on. It is such a man who really does things, and it is people of such a type that we love the best. They invariably inspire others to love the nobler life and to attempt greater things in life, and for this reason their presence is of exceptional value to the progress of the race. To go into details, however, is not necessary. We all know and appreciate the value of faith. We all know that it is one of the highest and one of the greatest forces that man can exercise; we therefore realize how important it becomes to train ourselves to have unbounded faith 327

in everything and in everybody at all times, and under all circumstances.

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Christian D Larson YOUR FORCES AND HOW TO USE THEM Promise Yourself (1910) To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet. To make all your friends feel that there is something in them. To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true. To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best. To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own. To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future. To wear a cheerful countenance at all timed and give every living creature you meet a smile. To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you 329

have no time to criticize others. To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear; and too happy to permit the presence of trouble. To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud words but in great deeds. To live in the faith that the whole world is on your side so long as you are true to the best that is in you.

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Christian D. Larson YOUR FORCES AND HOW TO USE THEM The Power of Love (1910)

Closely connected with our ideals, we find our visions and dreams. The man without a vision will never be anything but an ordinary man, and the people who never dream of greater things, will never get beyond ordinary things. It is our visions and dreams that lift our minds to lofty realms, that make us feel that there is something greater and better to work for; and when we become inspired with a desire to work for greater and better things, we will not only proceed to carry out those desires, but will finally secure sufficient power to fulfill those desires. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The nation that has no vision shall perish.â&#x20AC;? This is a great truth that we have heard a thousand times, and we know the reason why; but the same truth is applicable to man. If he has no vision, he will go down; but if he has visions, the highest and most perfe ct visions he can possibly imagine, and lives constantly for their realization, he will positively ascend in the scale. He will become a greater and a greater man, and those things that were at one time simply dreams, will, in the course of time, become actual realities. The power of love is another force in this higher group that is extremely valuable, and the reason is that it is the tendency of love to turn attention upon the ideal, the beautiful and the more perfect. When you love somebody, you do not look for their 331

faults; in fact, you do not see their faults. Your whole attention is turned upon their good qualities, and here, let us remember that whatever we continue to see in others, we develop in ourselves. The power of real love always tends to draw out into expression the finer elements of mind, character and life. For that reason, we should always love, love much, and love the most ideal and the most perfect that we can discover in everybody and in everything that we may meet in life. We have all discovered that when a man really loves an ideal woman, or the woman that constitutes his ideal, he invariably becomes stronger in character, more powerful in personality, and more able in mind. When a woman loves an ideal man, or her ideal, she invariably becomes more attractive. The beautiful in her nature comes forth into full expression and many times the change is so great that we can hardly believe that she is the same woman. The power of love, if genuine, constant and strong, tends to improve everything in human life; and as this power is one of the higher forces in human nature, we readily understand the reason why. We can therefore without further comment, draw our own conclusions as to how we will use this power in the future. The last of these finer forces that we shall mention, and possibly the strongest, is that of faith; but we must remember if we wish to use this force, that faith does not constitute a belief or any system of beliefs; it is a mental action â&#x20AC;&#x201D; an action that goes into the very spirit of those things which we may think of or apply at the time we exercise faith. When you have faith in yourself, you place in action a force that goes into the very depth of your being and tends to arouse all the greater powers and finer elements 332

that you may possess. The same is true when you have faith in a certain faculty or in a certain line of action. The power of faith goes into the spirit of things and makes alive, so to speak, the all that is in you. The power of faith also produces perfect concentration. Whenever you have faith along a certain line, you concentrate perfectly along that line, and you cause all the power that is in your mind or system to work for the one thing you are trying to do. It has been discovered that the amount of energy latent in the human system is nothing less than enormous, and as faith tends to arouse all this energy, we realize how important and how powerful is faith. The effect of faith upon yourself therefore is beneficial in the highest and largest sense, but this is not its only effect. The more faith you have in yourself, the more faith people will have in you. If you have no confidence in yourself you will never inspire confidence in anybody; but if you thoroughly believe in yourself, people will believe in you and in your work. And when people believe in you, you can accomplish ten times as much as when they have no confidence in you whatever. When a man has tremendous faith in himself, he becomes a live wire, so to speak. It is such a man that becomes a real and vital power wherever he may live or go. It is such a man who leads the race on and on. It is such a man who really does things, and it is people of such a type that we love the best. They invariably inspire others to love the nobler life and to attempt greater things in life, and for this reason their presence is of exceptional value to the progress of the race. To go into details, however, is not necessary. We all know and appreciate the value of faith. We all know that it is one of the highest and one of the 333

greatest forces that man can exercise; we therefore realize how important it becomes to train ourselves to have unbounded faith in everything and in everybody at all times, and under all circumstances.

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Christian D Larson YOUR FORCES AND HOW TO USE THEM Moving towards Perfect Harmony (1910)

The two fundamental essentials, therefore, to the development of character are to know the right and to desire the right, but the term â&#x20AC;&#x153;rightâ&#x20AC;? as employed here must not be confounded with that conception of right which includes only a few of the moral laws. To be right according to the viewpoint of completeness, is to be in harmony with all the principles of life, and all the laws of the present sphere of human existence. To know the right, it is necessary not simply to memorize rules that other minds have formulated, but to inwardly discern what life is for, and what mode of thought and action is conducive to the realization of that which is in life. To desire the right, according to this view of the right, the mind must actually feel the very soul of right action, and must be in such perfect touch with the universal movement of right action, that all lesser and imperfect desires are completely swallowed up in the one desire â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the desire that desires all that is in life, and all that is in perfect harmony with that which is in life. It is the truth, that when we come into perfect touch with the greater, we cease to desire the lesser, and the closer we get to the one real desire, the less we care for our mistaken desires. Therefore, to remove an undesirable desire, the course is not to 335

resist that desire, but to cultivate a greater and a better desire, along the same line. In this connection, we must remember that the adoption of a greater desire does not compel us to sacrifice those things that we gain from the lesser desires. He who adopts the greater loses nothing, but is on the way to the gaining of everything. To know the right and to desire the right, according to the complete significance of the right we must interiorly discern the very right itself. We cannot depend upon anotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s definition of the right, but must know fully the spirit of the right with our own faculties. That faculty that knows and feels the right, and that naturally knows and desires the right is character. Therefore, it is through the development of character that each individual will know for themselves how to live, think and act in perfect harmony with the laws of all life. When the consciousness of right action has been attained, a clear mental picture should be deeply impressed upon mind and every desire should be focused upon that picture. This concentration should be made as strong as possible, so that all the energies of the system are not only aroused, but caused to move towards the ideal of right action. And by right action, we mean that action that is thoroughly constructive, that builds for greater things and greater things only. Everything is right that builds for greater things. If it were not right, it could not produce the greater. To clearly picture upon the mind the image of right action, and to concentrate with strong desire the whole attention upon that mental image, will cause all the tendencies of mind to move in the same direction. There will therefore be perfect harmony of mental action, and that action will be right action, because 336

everything that moves towards the right must be right. This mental picture of right action should always be complete; that is, oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mental conception of the right should not be confined to certain parts of the system only, but should include every action conceivable in the being of man.

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Christian D. Larson YOUR FORCES AND HOW TO USE THEM Make Every Action Positive (1910)

The principle is to direct the power of mind upon the very highest, the very largest and the very greatest mental conception of that which we intend to achieve. The first essential therefore, is to direct the full power of mind and thought upon the goal in view, and to continue to direct the mind in that manner every minute, regardless of circumstances or conditions. The second essential is to make every mental action positive. When we desire certain things or when we think of certain things we wish to attain or achieve, the question should be if our mental attitudes at the time are positive or negative. To answer this we only have to remember that every positive action always goes toward that which receives its attention, while a negative action always retreats. A positive action is an action that you feel when you realize that every force in your entire system is pushed forward, so to speak, and that it is passing through what may be termed an expanding and enlarging state of feeling or consciousness.

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Christian D Larson YOUR FORCES AND HOW TO USE THEM The Power of Our Mind (1910)

Generally speaking, we may say that the power of mind is the sum-total of all the forces of the mental world, including those forces that are employed in the process of thinking. The power of mind includes the power of the will, the power of desire, the power of feeling, and the power of thought. It includes conscious action in all its phases and subconscious action in all its phases; in fact, it includes anything and everything that is placed in action through the mind, by the mind or in the mind. To use the power of the mind, the first essential is to direct every mental action toward the goal in view, and this direction must not be occasional, but constant. Most minds, however, do not apply this law. They think about a certain thing one moment, and about something else the next moment. At a certain hour their mental actions work along a certain line, and at the next hour those actions work along a different line. Sometimes the goal in view is one thing, and sometimes another, so the actions of the mind do not move constantly toward a certain definite goal, but are mostly scattered. We know, however, that every individual who is actually working themselves steadily and surely toward the goal they have in view, invariably directs all the power of their thought upon that goal. In their mind not a single mental 339

action is thrown away, not a single mental force wasted. All the power that is in them is being directed to work for what they wish to accomplish, and the reason that every power responds in this way is because they are not thinking of one thing now and something else the next moment. They are thinking all the time of what they wish to attain and achieve. The full power of mind is turned upon that object, and as mind is the ruling power, the full power of all their other forces will tend to work for the same object. In using the power of mind as well as all the other forces we possess, the first question to answer is what we really want, or what we really want to accomplish; and when this question is answered, the one thing that is wanted should be fixed so clearly in thought that it can be seen by the mindâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eye every minute. But the majority do not know what they really want. They may have some vague desire, but they have not determined clearly, definitely and positively what they really want, and this is one of the principal causes of failure. So long as we do not know definitely what we want, our forces will be scattered, and so long as our forces are scattered, we will accomplish but little, or fail entirely. When we know what we want, however, and proceed to work for it with all the power and ability that is in us, we may rest assured that we will get it. When we direct the power of thinking, the power of will, the power of mental action, the power of desire, the power of ambition, in fact, all the power we possess on the one thing we want, on the one goal we desire to reach, it is not difficult to understand why success in a greater and greater measure must be realized. 340

Christian D. Larson YOUR FORCES AND HOW TO USE THEM The I AM (1910)

We understand therefore, that it is absolutely necessary to associate all thought, all, feeling and all actions of mind or personality with the ego, or what we shall hereafter speak of as the “I Am.” The first step to be taken in this connection, is to recognize the I AM in everything you do, and to think always of the I AM, as being you — the supreme you. Whenever you think, realize that it is the I AM that originated the thought. Whenever you act, realize that it is the “I AM” that gives initiative to that action, and whenever you think of yourself or try to be conscious of yourself, realize that the I AM occupies the throne of your entire field of consciousness. Another important essential is to affirm silently in your own mind that you are the “I AM,” and as you affirm this statement or as you simply declare positively, I AM, think of the I AM as being the ruling principle in your whole world, as being distinct and above and superior to all else in your being, and as being you, yourself, in the highest, largest, and most comprehensive sense. You thus lift yourself up, so to speak, to the mountain top of masterful individuality; you enthrone yourself; you become true to yourself; you place yourself where you belong. Through this practice you not only discover yourself to be the master of your 341

whole life, but you elevate all your conscious actions to that lofty state in your consciousness that we may describe as the throne of your being, or as that centre of action within which the ruling IAM lives and moves and has its being. If you wish to control and direct the forces you possess, you must act from the throne of your being, so to speak or in other words, from that conscious point in your mental world wherein all power of control, direction and initiative proceeds; and this point of action is the centre of the “I Am.” You must act, not as a body, not as a personality, not as a, mind, but as the “I Am,” and the more fully you recognize the lofty position of the “I Am,” the greater becomes your power to control and direct all other things that you may possess. In brief, whenever you think or act, you should feel that you stand with the “I Am,” at the apex of mentality on the very heights of your existence, and you should at the same time, realize that this I AM is you — the supreme you. The more you practice these methods, the more you lift yourself up above the limitations of mind and body, into the realization of your own true position as a masterful individuality; in fact, you place yourself where you belong, over and above everything in your organised existence.

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Christian D. Larson HOW THE MIND WORKS Our Destiny Transformed by Our Highest Ideals (1912)

The destiny of every individual is determined by what he is and by what he is doing. And what any individual is to be or do is determined by what he is living for, thinking for, or working for, be those objects great or small, superior or inferior. Man is not being made by some outside force, nor is the fate of man the result of causes outside of himself. Man is making himself as well as his future with what he is working for and in all his efforts he invariably follows his ideals. It is therefore evident that he who lives, thinks and works for the superior becomes superior while he who works for less becomes less. And also that any individual may become more, achieve more, secure more and create for himself a better future and a greater destiny by beginning to think, live and work for a superior group of ideals. To have low ideals is to give the creative forces of the system something ordinary to work for. To have high ideals is to give those forces something extraordinary to work for. And the fate of man is the result of what those forces are constantly producing. Every force in the human system is producing something and that something will become a part both of the individual and his external circumstances. It is therefore evident that any individual can improve the power, the quality and the 343

worth of his being by directing the forces of his system to produce something that has quality and worth. Those forces, however, are not directed or controlled entirely by the will, because it is their nature to produce what the mind desires, wants or needs. And the desires of any mind are determined directly by the leading ideals entertained in that mind. The forces of the system will begin to work for the superior when the mind begins to entertain superior ideals. And since it is the product of those creative forces that determine both the nature and the destiny of man it is evident that a superior nature and a greater destiny may be secured by any individual who will adopt, and live up to, the highest and the most perfect system of idealism that he can possibly comprehend. To entertain superior ideals is to picture in the mind, and to hold constantly before the mind, the highest conceptions that can be formed of everything of which we may be conscious. To dwell mentally in those higher conceptions at all times is to cause the predominating ideals to become superior ideals. And it is the ruling ideals for which we live, think and work. When the ruling ideals of any mind are superior the creative forces of that mind will produce the superior in every element, faculty, talent or power in that mind. Thus the greater will be developed in that mind, and the great mind invariably creates a better future and a greater destiny. To entertain superior ideals is not simply to desire some larger personal attainment, nor is it to dwell mentally in some belief that is different from the usual beliefs of the world. To entertain superior ideals is simply to think the best thought about 344

everything and to try to improve upon that thought every day. Superior idealism therefore is not mere dreaming of the great and beautiful. It is also the actual living in mental harmony with the very best we know in all things, in all persons, in all circumstances and in all expressions of life. To live in mental harmony with the best we can find anywhere is to create the best in our own mentalities and personalities. And as we grow steadily into the likeness of that which we think of the most we will in this manner increase our power, capacity and worth, and in consequence be able to create a better future and a more worthy destiny. For it is the law under every circumstance that the man who becomes much will achieve much, and great attainments are invariably followed by a greater future. To think of anything that is less than the best or to dwell mentally with the inferior is to neutralize the effect of those superior ideals that we have begun to entertain. It is therefore absolutely necessary to entertain superior ideals only, and to cease all recognition of inferiority or imperfection if we want to secure the best results along these lines. The true idealist therefore gives conscious recognition only to the power of good. And he lives in the conviction that all things in his life are working together for good. But this conviction is not mere sentiment with him because he knows that all things will work together for good when we recognize only the good, think only the good, desire only the good, expect only the good and live only for the good. To apply the principle of superior idealism in all things, that is, to live, think and work only for the highest ideals that we can comprehend means advancement in all things. To follow the superior ideal is to move towards the higher, the greater and the 345

superior. And no one can continue very long in that mode of living, thinking and acting without creating for himself a new world, a better environment and a fairer destiny. We understand therefore that in order to create a better future we must begin now to select a better group of ideals, for it is our ideals that constitute the cause of the future we expect to create. And as the cause is so will also be the effect.

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Christian D. Larson HOW THE MIND WORKS When Mind is on The Heights (1912) When the great soul transcends the world of things it invariably begins to dream of that which is greater, finer, more perfect, more beautiful and more sublime than what the life of present experience has been able to produce. But those dreams are not mere dreams; they are actually glimpses of what is possible or what may be near at hand; that is, prophetic visions of what is to be. The dreams of the small soul are usually temporary creations of an unguided imagination. But the dreams of the great soul are flashes of light emanating from the realms of supreme light, revealing secrets that man shall someday be able to make his own. What the great soul discerns in his visions and dreams is nothing less than that greater life and those greater things into the possession of which he is being prepared to enter. But if we would gain those greater things which are in store we must proceed to claim our own, and not simply continue to dream. The prophetic vision of the great soul does not reveal what will come to pass of its own accord, but what such a soul is now competent to bring to pass, provided he will use the powers that 1% are in his possession now. In brief, a prophetic vision does not reveal something that is coming to you, but reveals something that you now have the power to bring to yourself if you will. The soul that can transcend the world of passing things and 347

dream of the world of better things is now in possession of the necessary power to make his dreams come true. For the fact is, we cannot discern the ideal until we have the power to make it real, nor can the mind arise into worlds sublime until it has gained the power to make its own life sublime. Therefore the soul that can look into the mystic future and discern a more beautiful life is prepared for such a life, has found the secret path to such a life, has the power to create such a life, though not merely in ages to come, but now. For what we see in our visions today we have the power to bring to pass in the present. This is indeed a great truth, and than this, nothing could possibly bring greater joy to the soul of man. If we can see better days while our minds are on the heights we can rest assured that we have the power to create better days. But we must proceed to use that power if we would enter into the pastures green that are before us. The law is that what we see in the ideal we must work for in the actual, for it is in this way alone that our dreams can come true without fail. The dreams of the great soul always appear when the mind is on the heights. And it is such dreams alone that can contain the prophetic vision. What we dream of while on the low lands of life has no value. The fact is that if we would know the next step; if we would know what today can bring forth; if we would know what is best now; if we would know what we are able to attain and achieve now; if we would know those greater things that are now in store for us, we must rise to the mountain top of the soul's transcendent existence. It is there, and there alone, that these things are made known. And every mind can at times ascend to 348

those sublime heights. The great soul can readily rise to these mountain tops; in brief, such a soul has no other visions than those that appear on the mountain tops. Therefore the dreams of the great soul are not mere dreams; they are positive indications of what can be done, of what will be done; they are glimpses of the splendors of a greater day. The soul that can rise to the mountain tops and see the splendor of greater things can indeed rejoice with great joy for such a soul is not destined for an ordinary life. Greater things are at hand and a wonderful future will positively be realized. But such a future, with its richer possibilities and its more worthy attainments, will not come back to us where we now stand. We must move forward and work for what we have seen in the vision. That which is greater does not come back to that which is lesser. We must press on into the life of the greater if we would realize such a life. And if we dreamed the dreams of the great soul those dreams will indicate that we can. What we have seen on the heights reveals what we can do if we will. We have gained the power; the gates are ajar, and in the beautiful somewhere our own is waiting.

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Christian D Larson THE PATHWAY OF ROSES Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Beautiful Gift to Me (1913) The great goal is cosmic consciousness, and every soul that endeavors to live according to the highest light that is known in the world, is daily drawing nearer and nearer to that sublime state. To such a soul the heavens may be opened at any time, and the splendors of the cosmic world revealed. Then everything will change. Life will not be the same any more. The meaning of it all will be discerned, and no fault can be found anywhere. When we look at life from the heights of the cosmic realm we can see only the divine side of existence; we therefore can see no evil; in brief, when we are in the cosmic we have absolutely forgotten everything about evil; we do not know that there is such a thing as evil because we are in that exalted world where we can be conscious only of the good. And here is the real evidence of cosmic consciousness. When you have entered the peace that passeth understanding and the joy that can only be described as a million heavens in one, you are in the cosmic state, providing Thou have forgotten every ill and every wrong you ever knew. In the cosmic world everything is as God made it; nothing has been changed in any way; absolute perfection and absolute divinity reign supremely, and the glory of it all no power in man can ever attempt to picture. It is beyond all the powers of the personal man; it is for the soul only to understand and enjoy. 350

When we enter the cosmic state we transcend that part of man that takes cognizance of the imperfect and incomplete; we enter a realm that never knew anything less than absolute, divine perfection, and therefore when we are in that realm we can know no evil. In the cosmic state our eyes are too pure to see evil, and the mind too high in divine consciousness to even think of evil. We are thinking the thoughts of the Infinite and everything we are conscious of is manifesting the shining glory of the Most High. In the cosmic state we think the truth, the absolute truth, because in that state everything is the expression of absolute truth. Therefore, the more frequently we enter into the realization of cosmic consciousness the more fully will the mind discern the truth, and the more readily can we think the truth whatever the field of our thought may be. There are many minds that think that they have frequent experiences in cosmic consciousness, but not all of these have judged those experiences correctly. The great within is filled with wonderful realms of every description, and some have mistaken one or more of these realms for the home of the soul when the body has been removed. Many have thought they have seen heaven after beholding the gorgeous splendor of these inner realms, while others, after meeting the beautiful thoughts that take human shape in the great within, believe they have conversed with angels. But this is not the cosmic world. Though we may find peace and joy and ecstasy without measure in many of these beautiful interior realms, still we also find imperfection in one or more of its many forms. We do not 351

forget evil while we are in the ecstasy of the great within; nor do we become unconscious of everything but that which is pure shining divinity. This, however, is precisely what happens when we are in the cosmic state; we meet only that which is wholly in the likeness of God, and our joy at times becomes so great that our feelings cannot contain themselves. Our cup overflows and the person bursts forth in tears. We have found that for which we have waited and prayed so long; we are inwardly moved as never before, and it is but natural that the person should weep for joy.

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Christian D. Larson THE PATHWAY OF ROSES The Way to Freedom (1913) There is only one will in the universe just as there is only one mind. The one mind is the mind of God, the one will is the will of God. The mind of individual man is an individual or differentiated expression of the Infinite mind and the largeness of this human mind depends upon how much of the one mind man may decide to appropriate. Man has the freedom to incorporate in his own individual consciousness as much of the Infinite mind as he may desire; and as the mind of the Infinite is limitless, the mind of man may continue to become larger and larger without any end. The will of the individual mind is a partial expression of the will of God, just as the force of growth that is in each branch is a part of the same force that is in the vine, and the power of the individual will depends upon how perfectly the individual mind works in harmony with the Infinite mind. There is no limit to the power of the will of God, the divine will; therefore, when the human will is as large a part of the divine will as the individual mind can appropriate and apply, the human will necessarily becomes immensely strong; and since the individual mind can appropriate a larger and a larger measure of the divine will, there is no limit to the power of will that can be developed in the mind of man. 353

To develop the true will, the first essential is to realize that there is but one will, and that we will with the one will just as we live the one life and think with the one mind, though in our thinking, living and willing, we do not, as a rule, do justice to that part of the whole which it is our privilege to use. We think, live and will too much as isolated entities instead of as divine beings eternally united with the Supreme. The second essential is to realize that the divine will works only for better things and greater things. The path of the divine will is upward and onward forever, and its power is employed exclusively in building more lofty mansions for the soul. Therefore the will of God does not produce sickness, adversity or death; on the contrary, the will of God eternally wills to produce wholeness, harmony and life. The ills of personal life are not produced by divine will; they are produced by manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inability to properly use that part of divine will that is being expressed in his mind, and his inability comes because man does not always apply his will in harmony with divine will. When man uses his will as his own isolated power, he separates his mind more and more from the source of his power; in consequence, the power of his will becomes weaker, and he necessarily fails to accomplish what he has in view. He also falls apart from the one ascending current of life; he gets out of harmony with the true order of things, and sickness, trouble, adversity and want invariably follow. The true use of the will is to apply the will in the full recognition of the oneness of the human will with the divine will. 354

My will is as much of the divine will as I am using now, and it is my privilege to use as much of the divine will as I may desire. To constantly think of my will and the divine will as the same will, is to place my mind in such perfect harmony with limitless power of divine will that I can appropriate this power in larger and larger measure, and the more I appropriate, the stronger becomes the power of will in me. When the individual mind is in such perfect harmony with the Supreme mind that the divine will can be given free and full expression, the will of the individual mind becomes invincible; the secret therefore of developing a powerful will is found here, and here alone. The true will is never domineering nor antagonistic; neither does it ever apply the force of resistance. If you are antagonistic or have a tendency to resist everything that is not to your liking, it is proof conclusive that you are not in harmony with divine will. You are misdirecting your power, and are forming obstacles and pitfalls for yourself. The divine will does not attempt to overcome evils and obstacles with antagonistic or domineering forces; the divine will does not fight wrong, it transforms wrong. It works in silence and serenity, but goes so deeply into the elements of things that it undermines the very first causes of all adverse or detrimental conditions. It does not resist the surface, but goes calmly beneath the surface and transforms those undercurrents from which surface conditions proceed. 355

The divine will, by going into the deeper life of all things, transforms all things into harmony with itself; and can transform all things because its power is supreme. Therefore when we are in the midst of adversity, we should not rail against fate nor antagonize those conditions that seem to work against us. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have within us the power of divine will, and this will can change everything for good. But it not only can, it will. It is not the will of God to keep any person in adversity. It is the will of God to set every person free, and every person will be set free when he places his life completely in the hands of divine will. When the individual mind can say, from the heart, Thy will be done, the individual life has been placed in the power of divine will and that life will at once begin to pass out of adversity, sickness, trouble and want, into the world of freedom. However, we do not give up our individuality when we give our mind over to divine will; we do not become automatons in the hands of some superior power; on the contrary, we open our minds to that power that alone can produce individuality. The individuality we now possess has been formed by whatever measure of divine will that we have incorporated in our own conscious existence, and by opening our minds completely to divine will, we shall gain sufficient power to make our individuality infinitely stronger and superior to what it now is. Our purpose is not to be used by the Supreme, but to use the power of the Supreme. To live the life of God, think the thought of God, and will with the will of God that is the secret path to the highly developed 356

individuality; and it is such an individuality that becomes a master mind, a Son of the Most High. When the individual mind declares, Thy will be done, consciousness must fully recognize the presence of Supreme power, and must realize, with depth of thought and feeling, that Supreme power invariably leads to higher ground the world of freedom and superior existence. When the mind gives up to divine will in an indifferent, submissive, self-surrendering attitude, it is not giving up to divine will; it is simply giving up to the surrounding forces of fate. Such a mind will permit the forces of adversity to have their way, thinking that it is the will of God that much suffering must still be endured, and will consequently drift with circumstances, accepting whatever comes as a necessary chastisement. This method, however, weakens the mind, and places the individual more out of harmony with God than ever before. We always place ourselves out of harmony with God when we accept evil as coming from Him, and we weaken our own ability to use divine will when we permit adversity to exist thinking that it was sent from God. To give the mind over to divine will is not to give up at all, in the ordinary sense of that term; we simply place ourselves in that position where we can use the power of the one true will instead of a mere imitation. We blend our own desires and aims with that power that we know can see us through, and we work in the realization that whatever is detrimental in our plans will be eliminated as we press on towards the great goal in view. The mind that is aimless, waiting for the will of God to take 357

him where he belongs, will drift with fate. He is not in the hands of divine will, he is in the hands of circumstances because he has not given divine will something to do. God does not tell us what to do; He has given us the wisdom to know our own desires and our own tendencies, and He has given us the power to fulfil those desires, but we must take individual action; this is why we have individuality and free individual choice. However, when we do take individual action, God will work with us if we enter into harmony with Him, and when He is with us, failure is impossible. To use divine will, we must first have a lofty purpose in view; we must have something high and something definite that we wish to attain; we must have something upon which to apply the limitless power of divine will, and we must desire to reach that goal with the very deepest and strongest desires of heart and soul. Then we must will to press on, knowing that we are using divine will, the Supreme will of the Most High, because this is the only will in the universe. It is the will that eternally wills the higher, the greater and the better the will that is invincible, and always does what it wills to do. To the minds of the many the true meaning of the will of God has not been made perfectly clear; therefore the majority, even among those who have strong spiritual tendencies, hesitate to give up to the absolute direction of higher power. There is a slight dread in the mind of the average person whenever he thinks of entering the uncertainty and the mysteriousness of the seeming 358

void, and as long as things are reasonably well he does not care to give up to some power he knows nothing of. And as a true understanding of higher power can not be found among the many, there are, accordingly, but few who can actually declare, with the whole heart, “Thy will be done.” We frequently pray for His will to guide us, nevertheless we inwardly expect to use our own wills in mostly everything we do. But such prayers are not true to the spirit, and therefore they prevent the soul from actually discerning the real meaning of God’s will; and also prevent the mind from becoming a perfect channel for the expression of His will. The universe is orderly from center to circumference, and everything is established upon the firm foundation of eternal right and universal good. There is a power that lives and moves throughout this vast immensity, and all those things that have a permanent place in the cosmos, or that are instrumental in any way, in promoting the purpose of life, have their source in this one power. All the laws and forces in existence spring originally from this power; it is therefore the center and source of all that lives and moves; and this power is the will of God. Accordingly, to do the will of the Father is to enter into harmony with the universal order and promote the great eternal plan. The laws of life are all expressions of Supreme will. God wills eternally the right and the true, and the act of His willing originates and perpetuates the sublime plan of life that harmoniously thrills the entire cosmos during endless eternities. God’s will is constant and changeless; therefore all the laws and principles in existence remain ever the same, as they are all the expression of the One Will. All that we see in the life of the 359

universe is the eternal coming forth of Divine Will, and the perpetual returning to the One Source. The true will in every soul is an individualization of Infinite Will, and the true use of the individual will means the doing of the will of God. The Infinite Will does not seek to control things, but seeks eternally to give itself to things. And here lies the secret in correctly using the human will, and in placing the human will in perfect harmony with God’s will. When you can say with the whole heart, “Thy will be done,” you are not giving up your own will, but you are placing your own will and the whole of your life in oneness with God and in harmony with the universal order. Therefore, when you do the will of God your own will becomes right, and becomes infinitely stronger than it ever was before. When we act in perfect accord with the laws of life on all the planes of being, we are doing the will of God because what we call law in life is the will of God in expression in life. He who lives in perfect harmony with nature, who fully appreciates her grandeur and her beauty, and who daily seeks to be inspired by the loveliness of her presence is doing the will of God in the natural world. He who rightly employs all the elements of mind and body, and who furthers the purpose of his own being in constant growth and unfoldment is doing the will of God in the human world. He who searches the deep things of God and enters into that high state where God becomes “closer than breathing, nearer than hands and feet;” he who lives and moves and has his being in the infinite sea of divine light, and ever ascends higher and higher into the greater glories of God’s kingdom, is doing the will of God in the spiritual world. 360

Whoever can say with his whole heart “Thy will be done,” has placed the whole of his life in perfect accord with God; and henceforth he will seek to live in perfect harmony with all that is, because all is of God. To do the will of God is not only to place one’s life in the hands of God, but to be at peace with all the world, and to give one’s whole life to all the world. The will of God seeks eternally to give itself to things all things; the will of man, to be in harmony with the will of God, must do the same. However insignificant a law may seem to be, it is God working in that part of His universe; and as He is everywhere, manifesting His power everywhere, we must live and work with Him in all things, even the most trivial, if we would be in perfect accord with His life and always do His will. A law in life is a path to greater things; in truth, an open door through which we may pass more closely into His presence. We can meet God at every expression of life, and whenever we are in the highest state of harmony with our expression of life, we have met God in that place. And also, when we use that expression of life in entering into a larger measure of life, we do the will of God in that place. Therefore, whoever meets God everywhere, and does His will in every place, will realize the fullness of life at all times and under every circumstance. And to realize the fullness of life is to realize the allness of the good. The incompleteness of human life, in general, is caused by our failure to enter into perfect accord with all the laws in our sphere of existence. We may be wholly right in some things while the very opposite in other things. We may be scrupulous in regard to the right use of some laws, and at the same time continually negligent in regard to others. There are many who 361

take perfect care of their bodies, and comply most rigidly with all known physical laws, yet they violate the laws of mind nearly every hour of their existence. Others are very careful so as to think only the truth, and do their best to remain continually in the most beautiful states of mind; but while aiming to live in mental ideals they are wholly indifferent to the welfare of the body. Not infrequently we find people who live in perfect accord with intellectual laws but violate daily the moral laws. Also, too many who are the reverse. In brief, the majority do the will of God in some realms while living entirely at variance with His laws in other realms. And here we find the simple answer to many perplexing questions. When some misfortune conies to you that you do not think you deserve, do not think that God is unjust or that fate is unkind. You have simply failed to do His will in all things. Do not blame others, do not blame fate, do not even blame yourself; simply proceed to readjust your life so that you may become one with Him in all things. Then all ills shall disappear, and you shall not only regain what you have lost but you shall, in addition, receive much more. Live in accord with all the laws of life physically, mentally and spiritually; do all things in the consciousness of God; do all things to the glory of God, and follow the light of His spirit in every thought and deed; then you will always do the will of God. Though you may jump upon the mountain tops of the spirit, though you may glory in the splendors of the cosmic realm, though your mind may go out upon the vastness of the limitless and your soul ascend to empyrean heights, still, do not for a 362

moment deprive the body of anything that is rich and beautiful in physical existence. The great goal is the spiritual life, and in the spiritual life all the joys of sense, all the joys of Intellect and all the joys of the highest heavens are divinely blended into one. The physical life is sacred. The earth is the foot-stool of the Most High. God lives in His heaven, but every atom in the visible universe thrills with the glory of His radiant presence.

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Christian D. Larson THE PATHWAY OF ROSES Cosmic Consciousness (1913)

To develop cosmic consciousness, place yourself in the hands of higher power. Depend upon higher power in all things; do nothing without first calling upon higher power; and so live that every thought, word and action is inspired by the spirit of higher power. Feel that higher power is always with you; deeply desire higher power to direct you, and open consciousness so completely to the limitless life of higher power that you actually realize that you live, move and have your being in the infinite power of the Most High. To enter the cosmic state you must transcend all belief in limitations; you must enter the universal where you clearly discern that all things are possible, for God is everywhere; and when your life is filled through and through with the presence of higher power you are lifted to the mountain tops of this lofty state. You rise above personal conditions and enter the limitless where life is limitless, where power is limitless, where truth is limitless, where light is limitless, where the good is limitless, where love is limitless where everything is limitless; and that is the cosmic world. To live by faith is another supreme essential in the attainment of this sublime state. It is the very nature of faith to go out upon the limitless, and wherever faith may go, better things, 364

higher things and greater things are found than were ever known before. Faith invariably leads upward and onward; faith always inspires the soul to ascend; while the spirit of faith illumines the way. To enter into the true spirit of faith, have faith in the innermost life of faith. There is a hidden power in faith; this power is the power of the Infinite; it is the soul of faith, the spirit of faith, and is eternally one with the spirit of the Most High. To enter into the spirit of faith is to enter into the spirit of the Most High, and thus be filled through and through with the power of the Most High. And this is the reason why all things are possible to him who has faith. When you use the power of faith, have faith with the spirit of faith. You thus enter into the real power of faith and the illumined world of faith. In consequence, you not only gain the power to make all things possible, but you also enter into the spiritual light, and in the spiritual light the shining glory of the cosmic is revealed. To have faith with the spirit of faith, think of that supreme spiritual life and power that is in faith. Mentally dwell upon this inner life of faith, and whenever you use your faith, which should be every moment of existence, enter into the spirit of faith with all the power of feeling, thought and soul. You thus place yourself in perfect spiritual touch with the world of celestial light, with the world of divine wisdom, with the world of eternal life, with the world of limitless power, with the world of shining purity, with the world of that love that loves everything and everybody with the most touching tenderness of the Most High.

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Christian D Larson THE PATHWAY OF ROSES The Divine Love (1913) The greater number of those who are spiritually inclined are almost constantly on the verge of the cosmic state, and at intervals they receive glimpses of that wondrous world. Could they but see themselves at such moments, they would discover that their faces are also shining as the sun, for their minds are illumined with radiant glory from on high. But such moments do not usually come when the senses expect them, nor can they be produced at will. We gain glimpses of the cosmic only when the soul occupies the supreme state in consciousness, and we begin to live within the pearly gates of the cosmic when the soul has gained full supremacy in every domain in consciousness. Therefore, to attain cosmic consciousness, we must give the spiritual life the first place in everything; we must do everything to the glory of God, and follow the light of the spirit in everything we may think or do. The eye must be single, and to see and to know only that which is wholly divine must be the one supreme desire. When you are in the cosmic state you are in the universal; all life is divine to you; all life is beautiful, all life is precious, all life is sacred; your sympathy is as large as the universe and as touching as the innermost tenderness of the soul. To love everybody, no matter what they are or what they have done, is a part of your own life. You are above personal conditions; you are 366

above personal deeds; you can see through the imperfect and behold the shining glory that reigns supremely in all that is. You see the divine reality in all things and you love it with all the tenderness of heart and soul. This divine loveliness in all things is the all in all in all things; to you it is beautiful, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;fairer than ten thousand to the soul.â&#x20AC;? To love in the spirit of the universal is not to disregard the person. You love the person infinitely more because when you are in the cosmic every atom in the person is glorified with the presence of Him who is closer to life than breathing, nearer than hands and feet. You love the person because all that is true in that person is the coming forth of the divine. That which may not be true you do not see; your eyes are too pure to behold iniquity; besides, the imperfect in any person is insignificant and does not belong to the real person himself. Even in the most sinful of persons the evil is but a fragment compared with the good that is inherent in every fiber of his being. Take the worst person in the world and you will find the good and the right in him a thousand times greater than the wrong. When you are awakened to the truth you know this; therefore it becomes so easy to love; and since your heart is simply overflowing with love, you must love love everything and everybody. And what a supreme joy is found in such a love.

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Christian D. Larson THE PATHWAY OF ROSES How to Pray (1913)

To simply affirm that we are what we wish to be, or that we have what we wish to possess, is not sufficient. Our spiritual possessions do not express themselves unless there is a strong, positive, personal desire for expression. We must pray for that which we wish to realize, but our prayer should not be mere asking. The prayer that asks in the feeling of uncertainty as to whether the thing prayed for is for us or not, is not a prayer of faith; and it is only the prayer of faith that is answered. To pray in the feeling that knows that what we pray for is, even now, ready to be given to us, is to combine the desire for expression with the realization of possession, and we thus comply fully with the law of supply. In this attitude we have faith, and it is only through faith that we can enter into the spirit of that which we desire to actually possess. We must awaken the spiritual cause before we can secure the physical effect, but it is only through faith that we enter into the world of spiritual cause. Faith produces spiritual unity, and when we are one with the spirit we become conscious of the life, the richness and the power of the spirit. In consequence, we cause that which is in the spirit to be brought forth in the body, because what we gain 368

consciousness of in the within we invariably express in the without. When we simply affirm that we have what we wish to possess, the mental action is quite liable to be merely intellectual or even mechanical; and we do not touch our interior, spiritual possessions in the least. But when the affirmation is animated with prayer and desire the mental action becomes so deep that the spiritual life is reached. Or, to express the same truth in another manner, when our prayer for that which we desire is strengthened by the positive faith that we have already received it, we remove all doubts and barriers and enter at once into actual and conscious possession. To use affirmations alone is to ignore the great possibilities of Infinite assistance. Any person may, for a while, build himself up mentally and personally with affirmations alone, but the structure is artificial; it is built upon the sand and will surely fall when the storms of environments and changing circumstances become a trifle too strong. Without the conscious and continuous assistance of the Infinite no man can travel very far on the upward path nor go very high in the scale of true being. But any man who takes God with him can overcome any obstacle in the world, scale the highest heights in existence, and what he builds today he is building for eternity. The proper course to pursue is to ask God for everything you desire; ask Him to be with you in everything you wish to accomplish; pray without ceasing, and while you pray and work and press on to the great goal you have in view, affirm with 369

positive faith that God is with you, that He has given you everything you can possibly desire or need. Believe that you have what you pray for, believe that you are what you wish to become; then ask God to enlarge your realization, to give perpetual increase to your faith, and to be constantly with you in working out these great supreme convictions. The true prayer is a high spiritual communion with God, but it is not an inactive state. True prayer is oneness with God and a strong living desire for the full realization of all that is in the life of God. Therefore, the true prayer is the perfect way to God. If we wish to be with God we must pray. If we wish God to be with us we must pray. Live in constant prayer to God and you secure the constant and conscious assistance of God in everything you do. But a prayer is not a prayer unless it incorporates the affirmation of the truth upon which the prayer or desire is based. To simply affirm that God is with you will not give you the assistance of God. When you affirm a truth you are talking to yourself; when you pray you are talking to God, and God listens only to what we say to Him. If we want God to go with us we must ask Him, we must talk to Him consciously if we wish His personal assistance and power. To affirm the truth is absolutely necessary because affirmations will train, our own minds in right thinking, will remove doubt and will develop in us the power to know that all that we can pray for or desire is ours now. But in order to enter into the actual realization of our own we must enter the kingdom of God, because all things that are in store for man are now in the kingdom. And it is true prayer the prayer that goes to God that 370

constitutes the â&#x20AC;&#x153;gates ajarâ&#x20AC;? to the riches and glory of that wonderful kingdom.

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Christian D. Larson THE PATHWAY OF ROSES Ascending to the Heights (1913)

To enter the cosmic world is to ascend to the heights and live the spiritual life. The living of the spiritual life means the overcoming of spiritual death, and it is spiritual death that must be overcome before man can receive his inheritance, here or hereafter. The phenomena of physical death need not concern ns; its coming produces no permanent effect upon real existence, nor is anything gained by prolonging personal existence so long as the soul is dead to spiritual existence. It is spiritual life that gives real worth to personal life, and it is the life of the living soul that prolongs indefinitely the life of the living body. When the soul is not awakened, consciousness lives in a condition of spiritual death and mental darkness. The mind is deprived of the guidance of the spirit, and therefore follows blindly the changing desires of the flesh, those desires that are suggested by the world of things. In consequence, the person is almost buried in materiality, and goes wrong more frequently than otherwise, usually not knowing the reason why. The result is sickness, trouble and adversity, or the sum total of the ills of life. The real cause of all these ills is spiritual death, and the great, infallible remedy is the spiritual life. 372

The ills of life are produced by the mind going wrong, but the mind will not go wrong when it is led by the spirit, and the mind invariably is led by the spirit when we live in the life of the spirit. The higher we ascend in the true light of the spiritual life the more clearly we can see how to so live that we may be in perfect harmony with all the principles and laws of life. Our sins will cease, our mistakes will diminish, and consequently, ill effects will become more and more insignificant until we can truthfully say that we have gained complete emancipation. When we live in the spirit we live in the light, and when we live in the light we will not go wrong. We can then see where to find the greatest good, and no person will seek the lesser after having learned where to find the greater. When consciousness acts almost entirely in conditions of spiritual death, nearly every action is at variance with the true order of things; in consequence, confusion, darkness and the downfall of the person follows. We always go down when darkness becomes our only guide, and as the spiritual light is the only guiding light, we will continue to go down so long as the spirit is not awakened. When spiritual death begins, downfall begins, not only in the lives of individuals, but also in the lives of nations, races and systems of thought. Therefore, the overcoming of spiritual death is the great hope of the world. It is this alone that can lead us out of the Egypt of sin, sickness, adversity and pain, into the promised land of peace, wholeness, happiness, freedom, power and truth. It is the awakening of the spirit that will take men and nations out of the powers of darkness, and place the whole of mankind upon those sublime heights where we shall live a life that is befitting the Sons of God. 373

The spiritualization of the world means the real salvation of the world; not salvation for the future alone but also salvation from sin, sickness and adversity now. When spiritualization begins, the mind is given a light, and that light invariably leads upward and onward into better things. To spiritualize the mind, the soul must be awakened, and to awaken the soul is to overcome and eliminate the conditions of spiritual death. Then real life begins the life of an emancipated personal existence harmoniously blended with the life of an exalted spiritual existence. To awaken the soul, every act of consciousness must be animated with a strong, deeply felt desire to reach the heights; the eye must be kept single upon the supreme spiritual goal, and very thought must be formed by the highest spiritual understanding that can possibly be realized. To live must be the one ruling purpose, and that purpose must be inspired by the spiritual touch of that life that we know to be eternal life. To awaken the soul and illumine the mind with the light of the spirit, one of the great essentials is to live by faith. To live by faith is to place your entire life, and everything that pertains to your life, in the hands of Supreme Power. This means that your life will be drawn towards the heights, because Supreme Power is ever ascending towards greater and greater heights. It also means that all things that pertain to your life will work together for the greatest good, because it is the purpose of Supreme Power to produce the greatest good. Whatever is placed in the hands of this power will be inspired and guided by this power, and consequently will do what this power is doing, that is, working in harmony with everything to produce the greatest good. The secret of faith is therefore simple, and we can readily 374

understand why all things become possible to him who has real faith. Supreme Power can do all things, and he who has faith places his life, his purpose, his plans, his desires everything, in the hands of Supreme Power. That he should fail is impossible. When the Supreme is with us nothing can be against us, and the Supreme is with us when we place ourselves absolutely in the hands of His power. When we live by faith, we are constantly on the verge of the great spiritual world, because the power into which we have given everything, is the power of the spiritual world. We are living, thinking and acting in constant recognition of the Supreme Power of the spirit, and are therefore constantly being touched by the spirit, and there is nothing that is more conducive to spiritual awakening than this tender touch of the spirit. To feel, through and through, that His presence is closer than breathing, nearer than hands and feet, is to arouse every spiritual element in our nature, and the soul will come forth into life clothed with the sublime glory of its own inherent divinity. Then we shall ascend into Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own beautiful world, and the life on the heights will begin. When the soul discerns that My Father and I are One, the door to the kingdom of heaven within will be opened. To be with God is to be in heaven, and this is a privilege that any soul may enjoy now while yet in personal form. To simply hope for health and freedom is to remain in our present condition however adverse that condition may be. But when we have faith in that power that can give us health and freedom we enter into the very life of that power, and we are 375

healed at once. Faith moves on and on and enters directly into the very condition that is desired; it never ceases to press on until it is in the presence of that which is wanted, and therefore we can never fail. Hope stands on the outside; faith walks in; hope waits to be guided; faith trusts its own light and proceeds; hope waits for the right opportunity; faith creates its own opportunity; hope waits to see the solid rock appearing from out the seeming void; faith goes out upon the seeming void and finds the solid rock; hope stands upon the earth eagerly looking towards the heavens; faith mounts upon the wings of the spirit and ascends to the highest heavens.

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Christian D. Larson THE PATHWAY OF ROSES The Spiritual State of Being (1913)

Though a person may be thoroughly religious, as far as he knows, and may believe everything that sacred literature may say about things spiritual, if he cannot comprehend the spiritual except as it is expressed in physical acts, physical ideas, physical rites or physical symbols, he is still a materialist; he is living in the world of tangible things, and has no consciousness of that higher power that produces things. To be spiritual he must discern the spirit that is within things, back of things, above things; while his senses admire the outer symbol, his spiritual discernment must understand the interior significance of that symbol, otherwise he has not found real religion or real spirituality. The mind that has not entered into real spirituality, is living in materiality, and to live in materiality is to be in bondage to the ills of this world; therefore true existence cannot be realized so long as life is established in the physical plane. To establish life in the psychical plane is to be guided almost entirely by feeling and emotion; but no feeling is absolutely true unless it originates in the soul, and our feelings cannot originate in the soul unless we have established life in the spiritual plane. Therefore, the person who is living in the psychical plane, is 377

living in a world of feelings, emotions, desires and sensations that are more or less abnormal. His mental world is artificial, composed principally of imaginations that are patterned after things from without instead of the understanding of absolute truth from within. The imagination is always influenced a great deal by the play of the emotions; and when the emotions are the results of external suggestions, as they always are unless when we live in the spirit, the imagination will likewise be under the control of things, good and otherwise. This means that our thinking will be worldly, materialistic and more or less disordered, because as we imagine, so we think. Therefore, to live in the psychical world is to live in a world of abnormal feeling and misdirected imagination; but true being cannot find its foundation in such a world. True being can be established only in the consciousness of truth, and the consciousness of truth can be gained only in the spirit. When life is established in the spiritual state, the physical ceases to be materialistic, and the psychical ceases to be a troubled sea of conflicting emotions. Instead, the physical becomes an orderly expression of the pure, wholesome life of the soul, and the psychical becomes a world of the richest thought, the most sublime feeling and the highest mental enjoyment. The spiritual state of being is the true foundation of being, because the spiritual alone has the necessary qualities. To establish life in any other state or upon any other plane is to act 378

contrary to the true order of things, and trouble must necessarily follow. There is only one place for man to live, and that is in the soul. When he tries to live elsewhere, in mind or body, he separates himself from his great inheritance and does not receive what he has the right and the privilege to receive. When there seems to be nothing in life, the fault lies with the man himself, not with the laws of his being. Instead of living in the spirit, where he could receive everything, he has gone to live in the emptiness of the material, where there is nothing to be had but the undesirable consequences of wrong-doing; and wrongdoing is the direct result of wrong-going, going away from the true state of being. To live in the spiritual state is to give expression to everything that is in the spirit, because what we actually live we bring out into tangible existence; and the spirit contains everything that may be required to perfect the whole of existence physical, mental and spiritual. The belief that the spiritual life is apart from the mental and physical is not true; it is the spiritual alone that can make the physical and the mental complete; in brief, we do not begin to enjoy the body and the mind until we begin to live in the soul. We cannot attain the most perfect physical health and the most perfect physical development until we can begin to draw upon the inexhaustible life of the spirit, nor can we attain the greatest intellectual power and the highest mental brilliancy until our minds are opened to real spiritual illumination.

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Christian D. Larson JUST BE GLAD All Things Respond to Rejoicing (1912)

ALL things respond to the call of rejoicing; all things gather where life is a song. This is the message of the new order, the new life and the new time. It is the golden text of the great gospel of human sunshine. It is the central truth of that sublime philosophy of existence, which declares that the greatest good is happiness, and that heaven is here and now. To live in the spirit of this wonderful message; to be a living example of this great gospel, to work out in everyday life the principle of this inspiring philosophy, the first and most important thing to do, is to lay aside our sorrows and glooms, and just be glad. Wherever you are, or whatever has happened, just be glad. Be glad because you are here. You are here in a beautiful world; and all that is beautiful may be found in this world. It is a world wherein all that is rich in life may be enjoyed beyond measure; a world wherein happiness may overflow eternally in every human heart; a world wherein all the dreams of life may be realized, and all the visions of the soul made true. Then why should we not be glad; first of all, that we are here; that we are in this world; that we may stay here for a long time if we so desire, and enjoy every minute to the full. The real truth is that this world is nothing less than a limitless sea of happiness, the vastness and glory of which we are just 380

beginning to know. And life itself is a song, while time is one eternal symphony. To be in tune with life, therefore, and to be in harmony with the endless music of time, we must of necessity be glad. But after we have learned to be glad, under every circumstance, it is no longer a necessity; it is a privilege, and has become a part of our active, living, thinking self. Just be glad, and you always will be glad. You will have better reason to be glad. You will have more and more things to make you glad. For great is the power of sunshine, especially human sunshine. It can change anything, transform anything, remake anything, and cause anything to become as fair and beautiful as itself. Just be glad and your fate will change; a new life will begin and a new future will dawn for you. All things that are good and desirable will begin to come into your world in greater measure, and you will be enriched far beyond your expectations, both from the without and from the within. And the cause of the change is this, that all things respond to the call of rejoicing; all things gather where life is a song. When you are tempted to feel discouraged or disappointed, be glad instead. Know that you can, say that you will, and stand uncompromisingly upon your resolve. Be strong and be glad. For when strength and rejoicing combine in your soul, every trace of gloom or despair must disappear; because such conditions can exist only where weakness is the rule and mastery the exception. Combine strength with rejoicing and you will exercise a magic power and you will possess a secret that will serve you royally no matter what your difficulties or obstacles may be. All 381

joy is light; and it is the light that dispels the darkness. When things are not to your liking, be glad nevertheless, for the glad heart can cause all things to be as we wish them to be. When things do not give you pleasure, proceed instead to create pleasure in your own heart and soul. And you can if you will always be glad. Besides, things will soon change for the better if you continue in the spirit of rejoicing. It is the law that all good things will sooner or later come and be where the greatest happiness is to be found. Therefore, be happiness in yourself, regardless of times, seasons or circumstances. When things do not please you, resolve to please yourself by being glad, and you can add immeasurably to your happiness in this simple manner. Then you must remember that the fountain of joy within your own soul is infinitely greater than all external sources of joy combined. But as far as we can, we should add the joys from without to the joys from within, and in all things be glad.

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Christian D. Larson HOW TO STAY WELL The Use of Positive Affirmations (1912) Affirmations should be used daily, but we should not permit them to become mere mechanical repetitions of words. Every statement of truth should be deeply felt as truth and should be affirmed as absolute truth. When we employ an affirmation as a mere suggestion its greatest power is lost, because it is the conviction that a statement of truth is a truth that causes the thought of that truth to be impressed deeply and thoroughly upon the mind. The more deeply we feel that the affirmation is the truth the more firmly we establish the thought of that truth. When we impress the subconscious with some vital truth the subconscious will respond with mental states that are created in the likeness of that truth. The result will be the expression of true conditions in the entire system. Another matter of importance is to express the statements of truth in the present tense. IT IS TRUE NOW, should be the soul of every affirmation, and this â&#x20AC;&#x153;soulâ&#x20AC;? should be deeply felt in every fiber of our being. When you think or say that you are going to get certain things you desire, you impress the subconscious with the idea that those things can be secured in the future but do not exist for you in the present. The result is that the subconscious will not produce those things for you at the present time. When you impress the subconscious with the idea that any particular 383

condition or quality does not exist in the present, or that it is expected to appear only in the future, the subconscious can only respond with nothing for the present. When you think or affirm that you are now sick but hope to get well, you impress the subconscious with the idea that you are now sick, and the subconscious will accordingly respond by producing more sickness for the present. This fact will be a new thought to many, but it is a thought of extreme importance.

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Christian D. Larson HOW TO STAY WELL The Greater Powers in Man (1912) Whatever the methods may be that we employ in any system of metaphysical, mental or spiritual healing, the power of thought is the power that heals. The great essential, therefore, in metaphysical therapeutics is to apply every conceivable process through which the power of thought may become as strong as possible, as wholesome as possible, and as conducive as possible both to the production of health and the maintenance of health. To increase the power of thought, live in the realization of the fact that there is any amount of power within you that has never been used before; and impress, more and more deeply, upon your inner convictions the idea that you can draw upon this power for as much as you may require, no matter how great the occasion or how extensive the needs may be. To live constantly in the conviction that you have within yourself all the power that you may require for any purpose whatever, will in itself increase the power of your thought to a remarkable degree because you will constantly be thinking more power, and to think more power is to charge every thought with more power. Place the mind in the closest possible touch with this inner power; try to feel the real living expression of this power, and try to feel that every thought you think is created in the very life of 385

this power. Live mentally in the consciousness of all the power that you can imagine as existing within you, and desire, from the very deepest depths of your being, to appropriate more and more of this power according to the ever-growing needs of your advancing life. The more you think of the greater power within you the more power you think into your thought, provided you think with feeling, faith, and deep soul conviction. This law works on the same principle as the well-known law the more you believe in yourself, the more you develop in yourself, and the more you become accordingly. To continue to give full, conscious attention to that vast realm of life, energy and power that is within you, is therefore most important. You not only charge your every thought with more and more power in this manner, but you also enlarge perpetually your own life, you own capacity and your own permanent possession of an ever-increasing measure of power. But your thinking must have depth; you must believe in the greater power within, and live so close to the great interior world of power that you can feel its supreme existence every moment. Realize more and more that the supreme life within you is greater by far than any disease in existence, and that this life, when aroused can remove absolutely every disease that can possibly enter your system. The more this great truth is realized the stronger becomes your thought, and the more effectively you can apply the power of your thought, either in healing yourself or in building up within yourself a greater measure of health, life and energy. When you are thoroughly convinced of the fact that the 386

supreme life within you is greater than any disease that you can possibly meet, you charge all your thought with this supreme life; and, therefore, in like manner, the power of your thought becomes greater than any disease that you can possibly meet. That which is born in supreme life will possess the power of supreme life; and all your thoughts will be born in supreme life so long as you live in the deep soul-consciousness of such a life. To consciously and continuously live in harmony with the Infinite will increase the power of thought to a greater degree than anything else that we can do. To learn how to connect with the life and the power of the Supreme is one of the greatest of secrets, not only in the healing of disease with mental and spiritual means, but also in the living of a greater and a greater life. To establish this sublime unity between the human mind and the Infinite mind, the first essential is to continue to think, under every circumstance, that we are with the Infinite and the Infinite is with us. And as we enter more and more deeply into the inner conscious of this supreme thought, we should place ourselves in perfect harmony with the spirit of that thought; that is, we should inwardly feel that we are in harmony with the very spirit of the Supreme. When we feel that our minds are connected with the life and the power of the Infinite, we can feel supreme power in every thought; in fact, every thought becomes the vehicle of supreme power, transmitting that power to every atom in the system. Any disease can be removed at once, or almost at once, with the power of thought, provided this power is sufficiently strong; and the power of thought always is sufficiently strong when we connect our minds with the Infinite before we begin to think. This 387

being true, and any one can prove it to be true, we should never proceed to use mind or thought for any purpose whatever until this supreme harmony with the Infinite has first been established. Undertake nothing until you feel that you are with the Infinite and that the Infinite is with you. This is the greatest secret in the world; and he who never fails to apply the principle of this secret shall never fail in anything, no matter what may be his goal in view. To have faith in the power of thought; to have faith in the greater power within; and to have faith in the power of the Supreme working in man this is most important. In fact, there is no increase in the power of thought unless there is an increase of faith in every power that can enter into thought; and the more faith we have in every power that does enter thought, the greater becomes the power of thought. The reason why is found in the fact that faith awakens the finer and the more powerful forces of mind. Faith breaks bounds; it expands the mind in every direction, and thus gives mind the possession of a greater world of life, force and power. The more faith you have in everything that is within you, the more fully you arouse everything that is within you; and, in consequence, the larger, the stronger and the more powerful you become in every state of your being. And the more strength and power there is alive in you, the stronger becomes your thought. The finer forces of mind those forces that are awakened through faith invariably give soul and spirit to thought, and, therefore, not only cause the power of thought to become immensely strong, but also cause that power to become so penetrating in its actions that it undermines completely every 388

physical condition that is not in harmony with the true order of things. When these finer and more penetrating forces are fully awakened, all that is necessary is to concentrate the mind upon that part of the body that is not in health, and to deeply desire health; the finer forces of thought will penetrate that part of the body and absolutely consume everything that is wrong. What you deeply desire the power of thought to do, the power of thought will do; and if you have unbounded faith in your own greater power within, and in your sublime unity with Supreme power, you will give your thought sufficient power to do whatever you may wish to have done. The true faith is not a mere belief, but a higher order of consciousness a state of consciousness that actually connects the mind with the limitless power of the Supreme. Such a faith awakens all that is large, all that is great, all that is superior, and all that is masterful in man; and, in consequence, gives man the power to banish from his life everything that is adverse, inferior, detrimental or wrong. And such a faith any one can attain by thoroughly believing in the great truth that the power that is within things, back of things, above things, is infinitely greater than anything that can ever happen or appear in the world. To steadily grow in this faith, however, it is necessary to have faith in faith; that is, to enter into the soul of faith, the spirit of faith, the hidden secret of faith, whenever we think of faith, or, in any manner, exercise the power of faith. When you are healed by faith you are healed by the power of thought, because it is only the power of thought that does heal; but your faith has so increased the power of thought that the power has become sufficiently strong to fully banish every ill from 389

your system. When you have faith in the healing power of something that exists outside yourself you are, through that faith, giving more power to your thought; faith always increases the power of thought, no matter what the faith may be or the object of the faith may be; and it is the increased power of your thought that removes the ailment. When you actually believe that you will be healed by a certain element or power, you animate your own mind with healing power; your own thought becomes charged with this greater power that is aroused by faith; and if this greater power is sufficiently strong, you will become perfectly well. To have faith in anything whatever is to increase the power of mind and thought, because the actions of faith invariably expand the mind and arouse the more powerful forces of the mind. Indirect faith, however, is limited, and does not always arouse all the power that the occasion may demand; but when we express direct faith in the real, the true and the limitless that exists in all life, and have faith in faith, we shall so increase the power of thought that every ailment in the system must positively disappear the very moment our thought is directed, with the desire to heal, toward that place in the body where the ailment may happen to be.

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Christian D Larson HOW TO STAY WELL Important Principles (1912) To secure the best results from the application of the many methods presented herewith, the following principles should be observed: (1) Live a Natural Life. The laws of nature, physical and mental, should be observed with the greatest of care in all things and under all circumstances. Gain as clear an understanding as possible of what it means to be natural; then make it a point to be as natural as present conditions will permit. Become fully familiar with those laws of nature that operate in body and in mind; then live, think and act at all times in harmony with those laws. Violate no natural law, neither in action nor in thought, but aim to apply more and more of the laws of nature in everything you think or do, and you are on the way to the living of a natural life. (2) Think Wholesome Thoughts. Train the mind to think and entertain only such thoughts as are conducive to health, harmony and well-being. Think of the good, the true and the perfect; think of the larger, the greater, and the better; think of the worthy, the strong and the superior; think of the pure, the beautiful and the ideal. Give attention to those things that build, that elevate, that make for a richer state of existence, and create only such thoughts as have a rising, growing and expanding tendency. Give health and wholeness to every thought, by thinking health into every thought. Use the power of thought to 391

produce health and direct every mental action to add to the quality and the measure of health. (3) Believe Yourself Well. If you are perfectly well, continue to believe with all your mind and heart and soul that you always will be well. If you are not perfectly well, believe with the same absolute certainty that you are getting well; believe that the conditions you desire are being produced for you now; believe in the possibilities of your own power to produce any condition that you may desire, and make that belief as strong as the limitless strength of your own soul. (4) Feel Yourself Well. Aim to live and think constantly in the consciousness of health, and enter as far as possible into the deepest feeling of health; try to feel well at all times, and try to impress that feeling upon your deepest feelings. Permit every feeling of health to sink into a deeper feeling of health until you consciously realize that perfect health that forever abides in the purity, the wholeness, the strength and the divinity of your own soul. Know that perfect health is always within you, always existing in the depths of your real being; then try to feel this perfect health by training yourself to feel health at all times, and by permitting that feeling to enter at once those depths of life and consciousness where perpetual health may always be found. What we feel we express, and what we become conscious of in our deeper life we gain possession of in our external life. (5) Imagine Yourself Well. The imaging faculty should constantly picture before the mind the perfect health that is desired. What we imagine we think, and as we think we become. See yourself well in your own imagination and claim the actual 392

possession of what you have thus seen. Know that when you imagine yourself being in perfect health you cause all the powers of your system to produce perfect health. What you imagine becomes the pattern, and the mental workmen always build in the likeness of that pattern that stands out most clearly and most distinctly. Therefore, picture yourself well in your imagination and make that picture strong, positive, clear and distinct. (6) Be Morally Clean. Live a clean life both in thought and in action. A clean life means a strong life, and a strong life means health, vigor, endurance and power. Entertain only such states of mind as are clean, wholesome, and uplifting, and encourage only such actions of mind and body as are directly conducive to higher attainments and greater achievements. Be true to the best that you know, the best that you are and the highest that you aim to realize. Train your ambitions to seek that richer life which is found by acting in harmony with purity, and that greater greatness that he alone can reach who has mastered those finer elements that exist in the world of virtue. (7) Maintain The Masterful Attitude. In all things and at all times be your own master, think your own thoughts, feel the way you want to feel and act the way you know you should act. Permit no condition in yourself or in your environment to influence your mind or determine your conduct. Know that you can control your own life your own body and your own mind; and be determined to exercise that control for the complete emancipation of every atom in your being. Master yourself for the attainment of better health, greater strength and a higher state of physical, mental and spiritual well-being. Know that you can then proceed with all the life and power that is in you, to do what you know you can do. 393

(8) Have Faith in All Things. To have faith is to enter into conscious touch with the best that exists in that in which we have faith. We can have faith only in that which is worthy of faith; therefore, to have faith in all things is to live in mental contact with the worthy in all things; and when the mind comes in contact with greater work it invariably ascends, and to ascend is to gain freedom. We always become free from the lesser, or that which we do not want, when we rise into the realization of the greater, or that which we do want. Have faith in your own power to produce and maintain perfect health and you place your mind in possession of that very power. That power is already within you. To have faith in that power is to enter into its very life and action and thereby gain, personally, the possession of it for actual use. Have faith in the perfect health that is in you, and have faith in faith; thus you enter into that health, and accordingly all will be well. (9) Depend Upon Higher Power. Recognize at all times the presence of higher power; know that you are surrounded with higher power; that you are filled with higher power, and that this power will work with you in everything you may wish to do. Whatever the condition of your mind or body, know that this higher power can restore all things. Depend upon that power, have faith in that power, enter into the spirit of that power, permit every atom in your being to become alive with the active presence of that power, and complete emancipation will be realized instantly. (10) Live On The Heights. All is well on the heights. Go up and live in the perpetual sunshine of truth, in that smile of God which has the power to change everything. Transcend the world 394

of things and dwell constantly upon the mountain tops of supreme spiritual existence. Learn to work with things and to master things, but live always above things. Ascend to the heights and you take mind and body out of weakness and limitations up into the freedom of greater strength and perfect health. You also refine the entire personality, thus making the personal man a more perfect instrument for the expression of the richer life and the greater powers of mind and soul. Live above conditions. Live in the real, the perfect, the true, the sublime. Live with the Infinite, in conscious unity with the Supreme and feel at all times that you are living, walking and working with God. There is immense power in such a realization a power that can never fail whatever it may be that we wish to have done.

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Christian D Larson HOW TO STAY WELL I Am Well (1912) I am strong and well. I am a soul. I have a body. I am master over myself. I can be what I will to be. I will be what I will to be. All good things are within me. I am one with the Infinite. I am pure spirit, and spirit is perfect. I am filled with the fullness of life. I am filled with the spirit of health. I am perfectly free and always shall be. I have perfect health in abundance. I have life and power in abundance. I am well, I am well, I am well. I am strong, I am strong, I am strong. I am perfect in being, through and through. I am peace, I am joy, I am harmony. Nothing but the good shall come to me. I desire nothing but that which is good. I am pure and clean in thought and speech. I shall seek only the right in every action. My life is filled with the beautiful and the true. I love everybody and desire everybody to love me. I am in harmony with every creature in existence. 396

Spirit is in perfect health, and I am a spiritual being. I am always happy, for I am living the life beautiful. Peace, power and plenty are my constant companions. My body is real and good, and all its functions are good. The blessings of health, happiness and harmony are forever mine. I am the real man, and the real man is always well. I know the truth and the truth has made me free. I am strong in the spirit, for invincible power is mine. Infinite power is in me, for I am one with the Supreme. I can do what I will to do, for my life is my own. I am living the life of the spirit, the life of infinite good. Every thought that I think, I think in oneness with divine wisdom. Every word that I speak, I speak in oneness with divine truth. I live and move and have my being in the infinite sea of divine spirit. The future is mine. I have the power to determine what it shall be. I have faith in God, I have faith in man, I have faith in myself. My whole life is in my own hands, I can do with it whatsoever I will. Within me dwell infinite possibilities. My future is wonderful. I rejoice eternally that I am blessed with the precious gift of existence. I am filled with the fullness of health and shall always be perfectly well. I am living the one life and that life is infinite, perfect, divine. With God all things are possible, and I am eternally one with 397

God. I live and move and have my being in the infinite sea of omnipresent good. I am filled and surrounded with infinite power, infinite wisdom, infinite love. I have found the true life, and I have learned how to live. I am able to do whatsoever I will to do, for I am spirit, and spirit is above limitations. I am loving, tender and sympathetic; just, truthful and sincere; patient, gentle and kind. Whatsoever I will is good, for my will is divine will, and divine will is infinite will. Whatsoever belongs to God belongs to me, for I am a child of the Supreme and heir to His Kingdom. Whatsoever is in God is in me, for I am created in His image and likeness. All good is in the spirit, and the spirit is in me; therefore all good is in me. I now realize the perfect health that is in me, and in that health I shall ever live. The real substance of my being is always wholesome, always clean, always in health, strength and harmony. I am perfectly well through and through, for I am made of that substance that is always in perfect health. I am living forever in the kingdom of good. Therefore I shall always have abundance of everything that is good. Limitless supply is mine. I am a spiritual being. The spirit is the everlasting home of joy. Therefore my ways are ways of pleasantness and all my 398

paths are peace. I am free from all disease, all misfortune, all sorrow, all want, all ignorance, all evil. I am living in the truth and am perfectly free. I forgive everybody to the utmost for what they might have done against me, and ask everybody to forgive me for what I might have done against them. All the souls of the universe are my brothers and sisters; we are all children of the one God; we are all rays of the one Great Light; and in this spiritual unity I shall ever live. Peace is mine, freedom is mine, health is mine, power is mine, strength is mine, abundance is mine, wisdom is mine, joy is mine, love is mine all good things are mine.

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C.W. Leadbeater THE POWER AND USE OF THOUGHT Use Good Thoughts to Bless Others in All Realms (1911) A man will often say that he cannot control his thought or his passion, that he has often tried to do so, but has constantly failed, and has therefore come to the conclusion that such effort is useless. This idea is wholly unscientific. If an evil quality or habit possesses a certain amount of strength within us, it is because in previous lives we have allowed that strength to accumulate â&#x20AC;&#x201D; because we have not resisted it in the beginning, when it could easily have been repressed, but have permitted it to gather the momentum which makes it difficult now to deal with it. We have in fact, made it very easy for ourselves to move along a certain line, and correspondingly difficult to move along another line â&#x20AC;&#x201D; difficult, but not impossible. The amount of momentum or energy accumulated is necessarily a finite amount; even if we have devoted several lives entirely to storing up such energy (an unlikely supposition), still the time so occupied has been a limited time, and the results are necessarily finite. If we have now realized the mistake we made, and are setting ourselves to control that habit and to counteract that impetus, we shall find it necessary to put forth exactly as much strength in the opposite direction as we originally spent in setting up that momentum. Naturally we cannot instantly produce sufficient force entirely to counteract the work of many years, but every effort 400

which we make will reduce the amount of force stored up. We ourselves as living souls can go on generating force indefinitely; we have an infinite store of strength on which to draw, and therefore it is absolutely certain that if we persevere we must eventually succeed. However often we may fail, each time something is withdrawn from that finite store of force, and it will be exhausted before we shall, so that our eventual success is simply a matter of mechanics. You may have seen a railway porter, by steady and continuous pushing, set a big wagon or carriage in motion. Having brought it where he wishes, how does he stop it? It is quite impossible for him, even by the exertion of his utmost strength, to check it instantaneously; so he puts himself in front of it and pushes vigorously against it, walking backwards as its advance forces him along, but never ceasing to exert his force against that advance. Thus by degrees he counterbalances the momentum which he has himself produced in it, and so at last wins his victory and brings it to rest. A good object-lesson in the neutralization of previous karma! The knowledge of the use of these thought-currents makes it possible for us always to give assistance when we know of some case of sorrow or suffering. It very often happens that we are unable to do anything for the sufferer in the physical world; our physical presence may not be helpful to him; his physical brain may be closed to our suggestions by prejudice or by religious bigotry. But his astral and mental bodies are far more easily impressible than the physical, and it is always open to us to approach these by a wave of helpful thought or of affection and soothing feeling. 401

We must not forget that the law of cause and effect holds good just as certainly in finer matter as in denser, and that consequently the energy which we pour forth must reach its goal and must produce its effect. There can be no question that the image or the idea which we wish to put before a man for his comfort or his help will reach him; whether it will present itself clearly to his mind when it arrives, depends first upon the definiteness of outline which we have been able to give to it, and secondly upon his mental condition at the time. He may be so fully occupied with thoughts of his own trials and sufferings that there is little room for our idea to insert itself; but in that case our thought-form simply bides its time, and when at last his attention is diverted, or exhaustion forces him to suspend the activity of his own train of thought, assuredly ours will slip in and will do its errand of mercy. There are so many cases where the best will in the world can do nothing physically for a sufferer; but there is no conceivable case in which in either the mental or the astral world some relief cannot be given by steady concentrated loving thought. The phenomena of mind-cure show how powerful thought may be even in the physical world, and since it acts so much more easily in astral and mental matter we may realize vividly how tremendous the power really is, if we will but exercise it. We should watch for an opportunity of being thus helpful; there is little doubt that plenty of cases will offer themselves. As we walk along the street, as we ride in a tram-car or a railway train, we may often see someone who is obviously suffering from depression or sadness; there is our opportunity, and we may immediately take advantage of it by trying to arouse and to help him. Let us try to 402

send him strongly the feeling that in spite of his personal sorrows and troubles the sun still shines above all, and there is still much for which to be thankful, much that is good and beautiful in the world. Sometimes we may see the instant effect of our effort â&#x20AC;&#x201D; we may actually watch the man brighten up under the influence of the thought which we have sent to him. We cannot always expect such immediate physical result; but if we understand the laws of nature we shall in every case be equally sure that some result is being produced. It is often difficult for the man who is unaccustomed to these studies to believe that he is really affecting those at whom his thought is aimed; but experience in a great number of cases has shown us that anyone who makes a practice of such efforts will in time find evidence of his success accumulating until it is no longer possible for him to doubt. Each man should make it part of his life thus to try to help all whom he knows and loves, whether they be what is commonly called living or what is commonly called dead; for naturally the possession or the absence of the physical body makes no difference whatever to the action of forces which are leveled at the mental and astral bodies. By steady regular practice, great good will be done, for we gain strength by using it, and so while we are developing our own powers and ensuring our progress the world will be helped by our kindly efforts.

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Charles Godfrey Leland THE MYSTIC WILL Be Wise as to What You Desire (1907) I read lately, in a French novel, a description of a young lady, by herself, in which she assumed to have within her two souls, one good, of which she evidently thought very little, and another brilliantly diabolical, capricious, vividly dramatic and interesting esprit â&#x20AC;&#x201D; to which she gave a great deal of attention. He who will begin by merely imagining that he has within him a spirit of beauty and light, which is to subdue and extinguish the other or all that is in him of what is low, commonplace, and mean, may bring this idea to exert a marvelous influence. He can increase the conception, and give it reality, by treating it with forethought and will, by suggestion, until it gives marvelous result. This better self may be regarded as a guardian angel, in any case it is a power by means of which we can learn mysteries. It is also our Conscience, born of the perception of Ideals. The Ideal or Spirit thus evolved should be morally pure, else the experimenter will find, as did the magicians of old, that all who dealt with any but good spirits, fell into the hands of devils, just as ALLAN KARDEC says is the case with Spiritualists. But to speak as clearly as I can, he who succeeds in winning or creating a higher Self within himself, and fascinating it by sympathy, will find that he has, within moral limits, a strange power of fascinating those who are in sympathy with him. 404

Whereupon many will say “of course.” Like and like together strike. Birds of a feather flock together. Similis similibus. But it often happens in this life, though they meet, they do not pair off. Very often indeed they meet, but to part. There must be, even where the affinity exists, consideration and forethought to test the affinity. It requires long practice even for keen eyes to recognize the amethyst or topaz, or many other gems, in their natural state as sea-worn pebbles. Now, it is not a matter of fancy, of romance, or imagination, that there are men and women who really have, deeply hidden in their souls, or more objectively manifested, peculiar or beautiful characteristics, or a spirit. I would not speak here merely of naiveté or tenderness — a natural affinity for poetry, art, or beauty, but the peculiar tone and manner of it, which is sympathetic to ours. For two people may love music, yet be widely removed from all agreement if one be a Wagnerian, and the other of an older school. Suffice it to say that such similarities of mind or mood, of intellect or emotion do exist, and when they are real, and not imaginary, or merely the result of passional attraction, they suggest and may well attract the use of Fascination. Those who actually develop within themselves such a spirit, regarding it as one, that is a self beyond self, attain to a power which few understand, which is practical, positive, and real, and not at all a superstitious fancy. It may begin in imagining or fancy, but as the veriest dream is material and may be repeated till we see it visibly and can then copy it, so can we create in ourselves 405

a being, a segregation of our noblest thoughts, a superb abstraction of soul which looks from its sunny mountain height down on the dark and noisome valley which forms our worldly common intellect or mind, or the only one known to by far the majority of mankind, albeit they may have therein glimpses of light and truth. But it is to him who makes for himself, by earnest Will and Thought, a separate and better Life or Self that a better life is given. Those who possess genius or peculiarly cultivated minds of a highly moral caste, gifted with pure integrity, and above vulgarity and worldly commonplace habits, should never form a tie in friendship or love without much forethought. And then if the active agent has disciplined his mind by self-hypnotism until he can control or manage his Will with ease, he will know without further instruction how to fascinate, and that properly and legitimately. Those who now acquire this power are few and far between, and when they really possess it they make no boast nor parade, but rather keep it carefully to themselves, perfectly content with what it yields for reward. And here I may declare something in which I firmly believe, yet which very few I fear will understand as I mean it. If this fascination and other faculties like it may be called Magical (albeit all is within the limits of science and matter), then there are assuredly in this world magicians whom we meet without dreaming that they are such. Here and there, however rare, there is mortal who has studied deeply â&#x20AC;&#x201D; but â&#x20AC;&#x153;Softened all and tempered into beauty; And blended with lone thoughts and wanderings, 406

The quest of hidden knowledge, and a mind To love the universe.â&#x20AC;?

Such beings do not come before the world, but hide their lights, knowing well that their magic would defeat itself, and perish if it were made common. Any person of the average worldly cast who could work any miracles, however small, would in the end bitterly regret it if he allowed it to be known. Thus I have read ingenious stories, as for instance one by HOOD, showing what terrible troubles a man fell into by being able to make himself invisible. Also another setting forth the miseries of a successful alchemist. The Algonquin Indians have a legend of a man who came to grief and death through his power of making all girls love him. But the magic of which I speak is of a far more subtle and deeply refined nature, and those who possess it are alone in life, save when by some rare chance they meet their kind. Those who are deeply and mysteriously interested in any pursuit for which the great multitude of all-alike people have no sympathy, who have peculiar studies and subjects of thought, partake a little of the nature of the magus. Magic, as popularly understood, has no existence, it is a literal myth â&#x20AC;&#x201D; for it means nothing but what amazes or amuses for a short time. No miracle would be one if it became common. Nature is infinite, therefore its laws cannot be violated â&#x20AC;&#x201D; ergo, there is no magic if we mean by that an inexplicable contravention of law.

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Bruce MacLelland PROSPERITY THROUGH THOUGHT Earnest Desire for Good (1904) If one sees all the faults in another, it is because those same faults are in oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s self. If not, the qualities of mind would attract the attention to the better side of the criticized nature. There is no one so low but there remains some good qualities, and if the critic were absolutely pure, those good qualities would occupy such a prominent position that the imperfections would escape his notice. If, therefore, you gossip, putting in circulation the element of ill will and literally destroying the mentality of your neighbor as well as building up through the reaction of your own thought those very defects in your character, would it not be well for you to cultivate good will to all, when all desire to find defects in others would disappear? Then build up peace, justice and love in yourself in order to be able to see them in others. The simple desire in your soul will start you on the road, for know you that desire is prayer. Long set forms of words, repeated hurriedly, on your knees, in a cold room, in conformity to duty as laid down by some sect, as outlined in their creed, is not prayer, and will bring no response. But the warm soul pulse of earnest desire starts in vibration all those qualities desired, and builds up the individual through their inflow. We hold that all nature prays. Trees, flowers, birds, all animals, inclusive of man, send out their desires for life, love and happiness, and such prayer is answered. 408

Learn to control yourself that your desires may be entirely for love, peace, purity, strength, justice, decision, force, and these things will be added to you.

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D. Patrick Miller A LITTLE BOOK OF FORGIVENESS Forgiveness is Powerful (1994) It might seem a lot easier to forgive someone if only he or she would show signs of changing. The paradox is that we are unlikely to see signs of change in others until we have forgiven them. This is true for two reasons. First, resentment is blinding. It limits our perception of what is real (and changing) in the present, and shuts down our capacity to envision a happier future. Second, a subtle but crucial function of forgiveness is that it tacitly gives others “permission” to change. We are not nearly so separate from each other as we generally experience ourselves to be. We think that we grow and change only within ourselves, but we also grow and change partly within others, and they within us. Some people may find very little space within themselves to change, and need others to let them into a psychic territory of forgiveness, where they can feel free to try a new way of living. Soon after I had begun forgiving my parents for all the wrongs I thought they had done to me — without saying anything to them about it — it seemed that they suddenly became more open and frank about their personal history, everything that had influenced them to become who they were. At certain moments the extent of their revelations was stunning to me, and I wasn’t sure of exactly what was happening. Had I heard these things 410

before without paying attention, because of my resentments at the time? Or did my parents subconsciously feel permitted to tell me more about themselves because I was showing them subtle signs of greater acceptance than I ever had before? Now I believe that both kinds of change were occurring, and this evolution has continued. I’m no longer concerned about which was their change and which was mine. We all change together if we change at all. This overlapping of each other is easiest to experience in a couple, family, or other close relationship, but I suspect that it’s true of the family of humanity as well. That’s what makes forgiveness so powerful. Anyone can initiate the changes we all need by opening up new territories within his or her mind — our one mind, really — where others can find the room to take a deep breath, start telling the truth, and shake off the cloak of guilt they have so long mistaken for their own skin.

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Prentice Mulford THOUGHTS ARE THINGS The Magic of the Infinite Mind (1889) The more you get into the thought current coming from the Infinite Mind, making yourself more and more a part of that mind (exactly as you may become a part of any vein of low, morbid, unhealthy mind in opening yourself to that current), the quicker are you freshened, and renewed physically and mentally. You become continually a newer being. Changes for the better come quicker and quicker. Your power increases to bring results. You lose gradually all fear as it is proven more and more to you that when you are in the thought current of Infinite good there is nothing to fear. You realize more and more clearly that there is a great power and force which cares for you. You are wonderstruck at the fact that when your mind is set in the right direction all material things come to you with very little physical or external effort. You wonder then at man’s toiling and striving, fagging himself literally to death, when through such excess of effort he actually drives from him the rounded-out good of health, happiness and material prosperity all combined. You will see in this demand for the highest good that you are growing to power greater than you ever dreamed of. It will dawn on you that the real life destined for the awakened few now, and the many in the future is a dazzling dream–a permanent realization that it is a happiness to exist – a serenity and 412

contentment without abatement – a transition from pleasure to pleasure, and from the great to the greater pleasure. You find as you get more and more into the current of the Infinite Mind that exhausting toil is not required of you, but that when you commit yourself in trust to this current and let it bear you where it will, all things needful will come to you. When you are getting into the right thought current, you may for a time experience more of uneasiness, physical and mental than ever. This is because the new element acting on you makes you more sensitive to the presence of evil. The new is driving the old out. The new thought current searches and detects every little error in your mind before unnoticed, and repels it. This causes a struggle, and mind and body are for a time unpleasantly affected by it. It is like house-cleaning, a process usually involving a good deal of dust and disturbance. The new spirit you call to you is cleaning your spiritual house. There is no limit to the power of the thought current you can attract to you nor limit to the things that can be done through the individual by it. In the future some people will draw so much of the higher quality of thought to them, that by it they will accomplish what some would call miracles. In this capacity of the human mind for drawing a thought current ever increasing in fineness of quality and power lies the secret of what has been called “magic.”

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PRENTICE MULFORD THE GOD IN YOU God in The Trees; or, The Infinite Mind in Nature (1918)

YOU are fortunate if you love trees, and especially the wild ones growing where the Great Creative Force placed them, and independent of man’s care. For all things we call “wild” or “natural” are nearer the Infinite Mind than those which have been enslaved, artificialized and hampered by man. Being nearer the Infinite they have in them the more perfect Infinite Force and Thought That is why when you are in the midst of what is wild and natural–in the forest or mountains, where every trace of man’s works is left behind you feel an indescribable exhilaration and freedom that you do not realize elsewhere. You breathe an element ever being thrown off by the trees, the rocks, the birds and animals and by every expression of the Infinite Mind about you. It is healthfully exhilarating. It is something more than air. It is the Infinite Force and Mind as expressed by all these natural things, which is acting on you. You cannot get this force in the town, nor even in the carefully cultivated garden. For there the plants and trees have too much of man’s lesser mind in them–the mind which believes that it can improve the universe. Man is inclined to think that the Infinite made this world in the rough, and then left it altogether for him to improve. 414

Are we really doing this in destroying the native forests, as well as the birds and animals, which once dwelt in them? Are our rivers, many of them laden with the filth of sewage and factory, and our ever expanding cities and towns, covering miles with piles of brick and mortar, their inhabitants crammed into the smallest living quarters, honeycombed with sewers below, and resounding with rattle and danger above·– are these really “improvements” on the Divine and natural order of things? You are fortunate when you grow to a live, tender, earnest love for the wild trees, animals and birds, and recognize then all as coming from and built of the same mind and spirit as your own, and able also to give you something very valuable in return for the love you give them. The wild tree is not irresponsive or regardless of a love like that. Such love is not a myth or mere sentiment. It is a literal element and force going from you to the tree. It is felt by the spirit of the tree. You represent a part and belonging of the Infinite Mind. The tree represents another part and belonging of the Infinite Mind. It has its share of life, thought and intelligence. You have a far greater share, which is to be greater still–and then still greater. Love is an element which though physically unseen is as real as air or water. It is an acting, living, moving force, and in that far greater world of life all around us, of which physical sense is unaware, it moves in waves and currents like those of the ocean. There is a sense in the tree which feels your love and responds to it. It does not respond or show its pleasure in our way or in any way we can now understand. Its way of so doing is the way or the Infinite Mind of which it is a part. The ways of God 415

are unsearchable and past finding out. They are not for us to fathom. They are for us only to find out and live out, in so far as they make us happier. There is for all in time a serenity and â&#x20AC;&#x153;peace of mind which passeth all understanding;â&#x20AC;? but this peace cannot be put through a chemical analysis or the operation of the dissecting room. As the Great Spirit has made all things, is not that All Pervading Mind and wisdom in all things? If then we love the trees, the rocks and all things as the Infinite made them, shall they not in response to our love give us each of their peculiar thought and wisdom? Shall we not draw nearer to God through a love for these expressions of God in the rocks and trees, birds and animals?

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Judy L. Sachse THE GREAT WEALTH PANDEMIC The Universal Laws (2007) What are the Universal Laws? The Universal Laws are all inter-related and are founded on the understanding that everything in the universe is energy, including us, and that energy moves in a circular fashion. At the microscopic level, we are a whirling mass of electrons and energy atoms spinning rapidly. In fact, everything in the world is comprised of energy and we are intimately connected with this sea of energy, this sea of whirling electrons. Our thoughts, feelings, and actions are all forms of energy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a frequency of energy. What we think, feel, and do in each moment comes back to us to create our realities. Energy moves in a circle. So, what goes around comes around. (Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s that circle again) The combined thoughts, feelings, and actions of everyone on the planet creates our collective consciousness. It creates the world we see before us. Because our thoughts, feelings, actions create the world around us, we have the power to create a world of peace, harmony and abundance. In order to do this, it is essential that we learn to control our thoughts, emotions and actions, our frequency. A good understanding of the Universals Laws is a must for learning to create the life you desire. 417

1. The Law of Divine Oneness: The Law of Divine Oneness helps us to understand that we live in a world where everything is connected to everything else. Everything we do, think, feel and believe affects others and the universe around us.

2. The Law of Vibration or Frequency: This Universal Law states that everything in the Universe moves, vibrates, and travels in circular patterns. (Circles, they really are everywhere!) The same principles of vibration in the physical world apply to our thoughts, feelings, actions, and our desires, and wills it in the Etheric world. Everything – sound, smell, light, you, me; everything including thought – has its own vibrational frequency, unique unto itself. Everything is Frequency!

3. The Law of Action: The Law of Action must be applied in order for us to manifest our desires into our experience. Therefore, we must engage in actions that support our thoughts, emotions and desires.

4. The Law of Correspondence: This Universal Law states that the principles or laws of physics that explain the physical world – energy, Light, vibration, and motion – have their corresponding principles in the etheric or universe. The inner determines the outer. Or, as some like to say, “As above, so below.”

5. The Law of Cause and Effect: This Universal Law states 418

that nothing happens by chance or outside the Universal Laws. Every action has a reaction or consequence and we “reap what we have sown.”

6. The Law of Reciprocation. If it is something you desire, give it away. It’s been told to us for ages you get what you give; what are you giving now? By giving this book away in your first action step you practiced the law of reciprocation. And what is that you gave away so freely? Wealth! You could have just given somebody a million dollars and it still wouldn’t have been as powerful as giving this book away. Like the old saying goes: if you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day, if you teach a man to fish you feed him for a lifetime. So basically you have taken action and freely given away a lifetime of wealth, and what you give comes back to you. It is law! “It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson 7. The Law of Reciprocity: A reciprocal condition or relationship. This law states that there is a mutual or cooperative interchange of favors or privileges. In the act of giving, for it to be complete, there must be a receiver. It creates a circular flow where one is both giving and receiving. (There’s that circle again.) 8. The Law of Compensation: This Universal Law is the Law of Cause and Effect applied to blessings and abundance that are provided for us. The visible effects of our deeds are given 419

to us in gifts, money, inheritances, friendships, and blessings.

9. The Law of Attraction: This Universal Law demonstrates how we create the things, events, and people that come into our lives. Our thoughts, feelings, and actions produce energies or frequencies which, in turn, attract like energies or frequencies. Negative energies attract negative energies and positive energies attract positive energies. That which is like itself unto it is drawn. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s all about frequency.

10. The Law of Expectation: Energy follows thought. We move toward, but not beyond, what we can imagine. What we assume, expect, or believe, colors and creates our experience. By changing our expectations, we change our experience of every aspect of life.

11. The Law of Faith: The Law of Faith is founded upon the recognition that we know more than we have read, heard, or studied. We Know more because we Are a part of the ALL. We have a direct link to universal wisdom. We only have to look within, listen, discern, then trust. We need to develop more trust in our own deepest intuition and wisdom as the final arbiter and source of our decisions.

12. The Law of Perpetual Transmutation of Energy: This Universal Law states that all persons have within them the power 420

to change the conditions in their lives. Higher vibrational frequencies consume and transform lower ones; thus, each of us can change the energies or frequency in our lives by understanding the Universal Laws and applying the principles in such a way as to effect change.

13. The Law of Relativity: This Universal Law states that each person will receive a series of problems (Tests of Initiation) for the purpose of strengthening the Light within. We must consider each of these tests to be a challenge and remain connected to our hearts when proceeding to solve the problems. This law also teaches us to compare our problems to othersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; problems and put everything into its proper perspective. No matter how bad we perceive our situation to be, there is always someone who is in a worse position. It is all relative.

14. The Law of Polarity: This Universal Law states that everything is on a continuum and has an opposite frequency. We can suppress and transform undesirable thoughts and frequencies by concentrating on the opposite pole. It is the law of mental vibrations.

15. The Law of Rhythm: This Universal Law states that everything vibrates and moves to certain rhythms. These rhythms establish seasons, cycles, stages of development, and patterns. Each cycle reflects the regularity of Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s universe. Masters know how to rise above negative parts of a cycle by never getting 421

too excited or allowing negative things to penetrate their consciousness.

16. The Law of Gender: This Universal Law states that everything has its masculine (yang) and feminine (yin) principles and that these are the basis for all creation. The spiritual Initiate must balance the masculine and feminine energies within herself or himself to become a Master and a true co-creator with the original creator.

17. The Law of Forgiveness: This law works with the energy or frequency of allowingness and seeing all as love so one may dispense with the unnatural feeling of getting even. The old energy of an eye for an eye keeps the vibrational frequency of a person very low. To forgive, to release old anger, allows the law of grace to intercede and dispense with amounts of karma an individual has stored in his or her akasha.

Non-violence is the natural outgrowth of the law of forgiveness and love. All good comes from forgiveness. It is a truth that the continuation of the human species is due to manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s being forgiving. Forgiveness is holiness. By forgiveness the universe is held together. Forgiveness is the might of the mighty; forgiveness is quiet of mind. Forgiveness and gentleness are the qualities of the self-possessed, and represent eternal virtue and strength.

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18. The Law of Free Will, or the Law of Choice: We in third dimension have the right to expand or contract, to bring our creative and expressive energy frequencies out into the world in positive or negative ways. This is our ultimate decision. Not all of existence lives with this law as it carries with it both the possibility of great soul growth and the ability to loose soul growth and create evil or negativity. No matter what our circumstances, we have the power to choose our direction. We also choose to be under the influence of others or choose to be an example for others. We do it with a hundred actions which lead to the circumstances we find ourselves in today. Thoughts are things and the mind is the builder. The Free Will we use to create mixes with our ability to love profoundly, and therefore this path reflects the duration of the time spent in attempting to merge with the Great Soul of all Creation. The Christ warned of that which could destroy the soul (not Spirit) so there is always a possibility that a soul entity on its journey could become a God hater with diminished light and be absorbed back into the Spirit of God to become just spirit and no longer a soul with separate awareness. A goal of our higher selves is to voluntarily and willingly surrender our egos to be a perfected spirit, hanging up the Soul-Overcoat of manifestation regardless of how many lifetimes it takes.

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Florence Scovel Shinn YOUR WORD IS YOUR WAND Your Word is Your Wand (1928) The decks are now cleared for Divine Action and my own comes to me under grace in a magical way. I give thanks for my whirlwind success. I sweep all before me for I work with the Spirit and follow the Divine Plan of my life. My Spiritual Sporting blood is up! I am more than equal to this situation. I am awake to my good, and gather in the harvest of endless opportunities. I am harmonious, poised and magnetic. I now draw to myself my own. My power is Gods power and is irresistible! I make friends with hindrances and every obstacle becomes a stepping-stone. Every-thing in the Universe, visible and invisible, is working to bring to me my own. The Divine Plan of my life now takes shape in definite, concrete experiences leading to my heartâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s desire. I now draw from the Universal Substance, with irresistible power and determination, that which is mine by Divine Right. I do not resist this situation. I put it in the hands of Infinite Love and Wisdom. Let the Divine idea now come to pass. I do not limit God by seeing limitation in myself. With God and myself all things are possible. 424

God cannot fail, so I cannot fail. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The warrior within meâ&#x20AC;? has already won. Thy Kingdom come in me, Thy will be done in me and my affairs. I am harmonious, happy, radiant; detached from the tyranny of fear. I am at peace with myself and with the whole world. I love everyone and everyone loves me.

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Enoch Tan THE SECRET OF POWER Control Within is the Key (2005) Everyone that possesses the power to think has the power to overcome ignorance and evil. The pain that we suffer from doing evil are but the lessons of experience, and the object of the pain is to make us realize our ignorance. You can’t think of everything and produce all knowledge yourself as fast as you can by using other people’s minds, thinking and knowledge. Unifying knowledge of others and your own is the best way to achieve greater awareness in the most efficient way. It is the fastest possible way to gain power. It’s all about speed and power. The Secret of Power - All Power Is Mental. The greatest power in the universe is psychic power. Mind controls everything. Think power and you manifest power. All power is from within, and is absolutely within your control. No power is without. Everything that happens without is happening within. All of reality is in your mind. The Magic is in Believing. Belief is power. All game is inner game. All control is self-control. When you are in control of your inner world, you are in control of your outer world. If all power is mental, then the greatest knowledge is mental 426

knowledge. Knowledge is power, therefore mental knowledge is mental power. What people need is a helping mind rather than a helping hand. Since your mind is the stronger one, choose to lead instead of follow. You follow only when you are passive. There is only one Force, Mental Force. There is only one Power, Mental Power. There is only one Influence, Mental Influence. Mind is force, Energy is force. Use the Mind to direct the Energy with the Will. Force directing force directing force. That is the Chain of Influence. Mind is the most changeable aspect in any environment. A thought or idea always precedes form. Things at higher frequency are more easily changed than at lower rates of vibration. Because it is the most changeable, it has the greatest power to change everything else. The same characteristics it possess is the same characteristics of its power. The nature of its being is the nature of its power. Power and Being are one. Mind is the most responsive medium to thought waves. All of us are affected by the mental forces of our environment. There is no one that can remain neutral to influences. If the environment you are in is not helpful, it will be harmful. That is why a change of position will often do a person a great deal of good. You can mentally change the vibrations of a place from heavy and discordant to harmonious ones if it is of enough importance to you to alter it rather than to endure or escape it. 427

The Great Secret of Mental Power is Concentration. The difference in concentration explains the difference in the manifestation of mental power among men. The Most powerful fighter, is an ordinary man with laser precision focus. The highest forms of energy, force or power are manifested by bringing the force to a focus, center, or common point thereby directing to that point the entire energy employed, instead of allowing it to become dissipated over a larger area. The power of steam, which manifests great power by being forced to discharge itself through a small point or opening instead of being permitted to spread itself widely in the air. The same law applies to gunpowder, which manifests force by its gases being compelled to escape through the small gun-barrel instead of spreading in all directions, which it would do if unconfined. Mental Force operates best when it is concentrated. The secret of Mental Concentration lies in the control of the Attention. And the control of the Attention lies in the exercise of the Will. The Will is mind force or mental assertion. When you will something, you mentally assert it. You have the mindset that commands and demands that it must be so, and that it will. Your will gives power to your intention. Will is the outward manifestation of Spirit. People are normally focused on their problems. Problems are simply unmet desires. The Will is the ruling faculty of the mind. Only the conscious mind has the ability to assert the will. He who has no will has no mind. His mind is not his own but is being used by another. 428

Unless we control thought, it will control us. The Secret of the Will â&#x20AC;&#x201C; The Will is directed by Desire. The trouble with us is that we do not want to do the thing enough to make us exert our Will Power. We donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to hard enough. Strong Will follows strong Desire. The person that never wants anything gets little. To demand resolutely is the first step toward 4 getting what you want. All operations of the mind are based on desires. Your beliefs about your desires form the characteristics of your will. It is most important to have the right beliefs about your desires. Concentration is focus of energy. Energy is infinite. The more you focus energy, the more it is intensified and the more powerfully it is applied. Will is the faculty of concentration. Concentration requires interest. The relation between concentration and interest is the relation between Will and Desire. It is certain that you can do what you want to do. The desire to do it is proof that you have within you the power which can do it. Desire is power seeking to manifest. Deep down inside you know you can do it, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s why you want to do it. Every desire is possibility seeking expression through life. The desire to play music is the power which can play music seeking expression and development. The desire to speak before millions is the power which can inspire the world seeking expression and development. The key is development. When there is no power, either developed or undeveloped to do a thing, there is never any desire to do that thing. Power is the 429

ability to do or the capacity to act. When there is strong desire to do a thing, it is certain proof that the power to do it is strong. The more unbreakable a desire is, the more unbreakable the power present is. Power comes from purpose. It is God that works in us both to will and to do. Desire is based on Purpose. In your strongest desires, you feel a definite sense of purpose which is undeniable within you. Purpose is what defines us and binds us to our design and destiny. Purpose is the Will of the Divine. The stronger the Motive, the greater the concentration. Motive is Purpose Driven Desire for moving forces towards the attainment of a thing. Desire Force is Attracting Power. The power of your desire pulls what you want towards you and pulls you towards what you want. The Will never acts in a direction, which the mind believes impossible. The disbelief acts as a brake on the Will. Belief removes the barrier for the Will to act. When you have the realization that there are others out there doing what you are thinking of, it gives you the permission to go totally into it without holding back. The Will and Desire are already operating at full blast. It is belief that releases or unleashes their power. The more you believe, the stronger your will and desire will be. Belief is belief in Purpose. Belief realizes Purpose. Belief unleases your Desire and Will power according to Purpose. 430

Belief connects your Will and Desire with the Universal Will Power and Infinite Desire. Imagination is the faculty of belief. A personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s free will always yields to the imagination. This secret of the Will is the magic key which opens all doors of mental power. Your will is powerless to make you advance, if you imagine that you cannot, it is absolutely impossible for you to do so. You can use the Will by using the Imagination. As you imagine, your will acts automatically. The mental picture is the mental force. Where you focus is where your Will will act. Your Will does not need training - but your Mind does. The mind is the instrument and the supply of Will Power is proportionate to the fineness of the instrument through which it manifests. The Will is Feeling Force. Since All Sense is One Sense, to feel is to imagine, to imagine is to feel. Will and Imagination are One. A personâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s free will always yields to the imagination. This secret of the Will is the magic key which opens all doors of mental power. All mind power is one mind power. Everything can be resolved into the Will-Imagination. Although the Will is directed by Desire and Desire is influenced by Belief, it is still the Will that chooses the Belief. So it is ultimately the Will directing itself. The reason why this is so is because God created each of us as a Free Will Entity. We have a self-regulating Will. You develop your faculties of self-mastery in proportion to the extent you succeed in developing your powers of 431

concentration.

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Enoch Tan THE SECRET OF POWER The Secret of Everything (2005) The secret of everything â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Everything Is Mental. All talent, skill, power, speed, ability is mental. Nothing is impossible. Anything is possible. There is nothing you cannot Be, Do or Have. You can Be, Do and Have anything you want as long as you have the mind for it. You create your own reality and everything in it with your beliefs, your will, your desires and intentions. Think confidence and you manifest confidence. Think anything and you manifest that thing. Everything is Mind. Mind is Everything. The Universe is Mind. Mind Controls Everything. Mind is Reality. Reality is Mind. The Master of Mind is Master of Everything.

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Elizabeth Towne. THE LIFE POWER AND HOW TO USE IT How to Reach Heaven (1906) The subjective or emotional self is the best of servants but the worst of masters. All the evil in the world results from transposing authority from objective to subjective, from letting emotion run away with conscience and reason. All unpleasant reactions are due to the waste of energy which results from this transposition of authority. The emotional or subjective self is the storehouse of personal power; the objective self is the director of that power. Happy results come from intelligent use of power. To give unbridled rein to the emotional self is like turning on the power of an automobile and then lying back and laughing — or weeping — whilst the auto runs its pace and kills or maims what comes in its way. The loud, hysterical giggle betrays that emotion is running away with the directing power, and that personal power is ebbing below the point of safety. And the waste of power — the letting loose of more emotion than the occasion really calls for — is bound to produce its after effects of depression. Depression of this sort is due to depletion of emotional energy, and disappears as the system recuperates — as more 434

energy is stored. Nearly all “blues” are caused by such reaction; energy is wasted in mental or physical agitation due to anger or fretting, or “righteous indignation,” or excess of sympathy, or “having a good time”; and then we wonder why we are so blue. We go off and have a “good cry,” which relaxes us, fall asleep after it, and wake up without the blues — and wonder why. More energy has been generated — that is all. The secret of real enjoyment, of the kind from which there is no unpleasant reaction, lies in perfect control of the emotional nature; in so conserving your emotional power that it shall never be depleted beyond a certain definite point of poise, the point where there is plenty in well-controlled reserve. When one first begins to find and maintain this state of poise he feels that he can never “have a good time” again — that he must repress all the fun and be glum and steady. But this is a mistaken idea, which will disappear as he gains control. There are heights and depths and breadths of fun and joy which can never be touched except by the poised, controlled person. It takes emotional energy to enjoy, and the greater the store of energy the deeper the enjoyment, and the less of it is wasted in boisterous movements and noises. One does not suppress his enjoyment of an incident; he suppresses unnecessary expressions of his enjoyment; and every such motion inhibited leaves him with that much more energy on hand with which to enjoy. In proportion as he ceases to slop his emotional power in loud laughs and unnecessary movements he deepens his power of enjoyment. 435

Laughs are on the surface; real enjoyment is in the deeps of being. It is the surface slopping one must suppress, the waste of power, that he may become conscious of the real depths of enjoyment. Impulsiveness and nervousness are due to depleted emotional energy, and are invariably caused by letting the subjective, emotional self-rule. So much energy is wasted in unnecessary emotionalism that there is not enough left to enjoy with — there are no depths. There comes to be a habitual waste of emotion over the most trivial things, and there is no reserve for the greater things which occasionally come. All due to excessive expression of emotion. People who have not learned to control their expressions of emotion have never even tasted full enjoyment. The one cure for nervousness, impulsiveness, boisterous emotionalism of all sorts is to be still; cut off all unnecessary waste and let the reservoirs fill. There are two kinds of “lively dispositions.” One is the result of hysterical slopping over of energy without regard to the fact that the reservoirs of personal power are dangerously near the point of utter depletion. This sort of liveliness often ends in tears, nearly always in depression. The other sort of “lively disposition” is the surface expression of full reservoirs. One is like the slopping of water from a shallow bowl, by shaking the bowl; the other is like the rippling of a clear lake — the depths are clear, still and happy, whilst the surface answers brightly and without waste, to the passing breezes of fun. The bowl of water is exhausted by its expressions of fun; the 436

clear lake enjoys its ripples of laughter without wasting itself. The larger the lake the larger the waves. The same breeze which causes a pond to ripple will cause Lake Michigan to toss in white-capped glee. The greater the length, breadth and depth, the greater the waves; the greater the personal reservoir of emotional power; the bigger the laugh of which it is capable. The loud laugh sometimes betrays the vacant mind and reservoirs; sometimes it betrays wide and deep and full ones; and by its ring the hearer can tell which. Who has not rippled in response to the musical, full, contagious loud laugh? And cringed at the sharp, hysterical loud laugh? The musical laugh loud or soft, invariably indicates well stored reservoirs of emotional power and real enjoyment. The shrill unmusical laugh, the nervous laugh, loud or soft, invariably means nervous or emotional depletion, shallow reservoirs, and shallow enjoyment or none at all. Musical and unmusical speaking voices are other indications of these states of personal power. Smooth, graceful, intelligent gesticulations are yet other indications of full reservoirs; rough, jerky unnecessary motions indicating depletion. The curtailing of wasteful laughs and motions is one of the most important things in life. Emotion is soul force, that which accomplishes all the great things of life as well as all the little things. Every human being has access to unlimited soul force, which is constantly flowing into him from the Universal Reservoir. But if he uses it as fast as it flows in â&#x20AC;&#x201D; uses it in overdoing the small and least necessary things of life, â&#x20AC;&#x201D; he has no power for 437

the greater things every soul longs to do. How much power would the world get from the Niagara River if it were not for the great natural dam and reserve power at the falls? If you would do the great things you must see that your energy is not wasted in a steady stream of little things. Every movement, every thought, uses a definite amount of emotional energy. Every inhibition of a movement or thought stream permits the higher rising of your reservoir; just as every stone added to a dam increases the reservoir and power behind it. There are enough good things to do and think in this beautiful world without dissipating our power in thoughtless activities, such as tapping our feet or fingers, rocking to and fro, giggling shrilly, and so on. Yes, we learn to do things by doing them; but do we want to do these useless things? Of course not. They are wasteful, unbeautiful. And we can learn to stop them by stopping them; and have so much deeper power with which to do the useful, beautiful things. A half hour a day used in simply being still, will add almost incredibly to the depth of our reservoirs. And every time we remember to inhibit an unnecessary rock or tap or fidget we add another depth to our power. This is all easily proved by a little practice. Our energy is soul power, which is also wisdom. As our energy deepens our wisdom deepens also, and our sense of humor deepens. Soul power is love and wisdom, the One and Only Substance of which the individual is an inlet â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a small or large inlet according as he lets the energy run out fast, or 438

conserves it for large uses; according as he lets it run, or dams it for personal use. There is plenty of soul power for everything — yes. But it takes time to build a dam; and the man who lets loose his whole Niagara Falls of emotion upon trivial occasions will have to spend most of his time in patching his dam. And the man who dribbles all his power in thoughtless and useless acts has no power behind his Niagara. Do you see that self-control is the key of heaven? And the time to use it is now, the place here. “Earth’s crammed with heaven” waiting to be conserved to individual uses. Love, power, wisdom is flowing through you into expression — don’t let it flow too fast — don’t waste it in thoughtless, foolish expression. Cut off the wastes; use the power in wise directions, and let the tide rise within you. Thus shall you come to the great things you would do, and behold within you shall be the power to do them with joy; and there shall be no aftermath of depression. This is heaven — the highest heaven for the deepest soul. And the door is open for everybody. Vital energy is soul energy — love-power and wisdom mixed — L 2W 2. The body is a generator of vital or soul energy. Heaven and hell are states of bodily being. The body full of vital or soul energy — L2W2 — experiences heaven. The body depleted of its soul energy lives in hell — -carried 439

there by riotous living, by wasting its vital or soul energy.

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Ralph Waldo Trine THE GREATEST THING EVER KNOWN Divine Energies in Everyday Life (1898) NOW what, let us ask, is the result and hence the value of this realization? For unless it is of value in the affairs of everyday life, it is then a mere dead theory, and consequently of no real value. Use must be the final test of everything, and if it has no actual use, or if no visible results follow its use, we had better not spend time with it, for it is then not founded upon Truth. First, let it be said, it is not the mere intellectual recognition, merely the dead theory, but the conscious vital and living realization of this great truth, that makes it of value, and that makes it show forth in the affairs of everyday life. This it is, and this alone, that gives true blessedness, for this is none other than the finding of the kingdom of God, and when this is once found and lived in, all other things literally and necessarily follow. Through this the qualities and powers of the Divine Life are more and more realised and actualized, and through their leading we are led into the possession of all other things. Those who come into this full and living realization of oneness with the Divine Life are brought at once into right relations with themselves, with their fellow-man, and with the laws of the universe about them. They live now in the inner, the real life, and whatever is in the interior must necessarily take form in the exterior, for all life is from within out. There is no true life in 441

regard to which this law does not hold. And if the will of God is done in the inward life, then is it necessarily done in all things of the outward life, and the results are always manifest. Thus and thus alone it is that individuals have become prophets, seers, and saviors; they have become what the world calls the “elect” of God, because in their own lives they first elected God and lived their lives in His life. And thus it is that today people can become prophets, seers, and saviors, for the laws of the Divine Life and the relations of what we term the human life to it are identically the same today as they have been in all time past and will be in all time to come. The Divine Being changes not; it is man alone who changes. It is solely by virtue of man’s leaving the inner life of the Spirit and thus departing from God, or by virtue of his not yet finding this real life, that sin and error, pain and disease, fears and forebodings, have crept as naturally and as necessarily as that effect follows cause into his life; only by closing his eyes to the inner light, by shutting his ears to the inner voice, that, although he has eyes to see, yet he sees not, and, although he has ears to hear, yet he hears not. It is only by uniting one’s life with the Divine Life, and thus living again the life of the Spirit, that these things will go, even as they have come. All the evil, unhappiness, misery, and want in the world are attributable to man, and are the direct results of his taking his life, either consciously or unconsciously, either directly or indirectly, out of harmony with the Power that works for righteousness and consequently for wholeness and perfection. And when our life is lived in the life of God, and God’s will therefore becomes our will, all is and necessarily must be well with us, for contrary to His will 442

it is impossible that anything should ever come to pass. And thus it is that he who seeks first the kingdom of God and His righteousness shall have all other things added unto him. The soul, the real life, is Divine, and by allowing it to become translucent to Infinite Spirit by living continually in this conscious union with Divine Being it reveals all things to us. Things become hidden, mysteries fill and uncertainties pervade life only as we turn away from the inner light and life; there is nothing that is hidden of itself; to God all things are known, and he who consciously lives his life in the life of God sees with the Divine vision that reveals all things to him. He who lives continually under this Divine guidance enters thereby into the realm of the highest wisdom, and even in the most trivial things of everyday life he never finds himself in a state of doubt or perplexity, for he always knows what to do and how to do it.

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Ralph Waldo Trine THE HIGHER POWERS: MIND AND SPIRIT Infinite Wisdom and Power May Be Ours (1917)

To establish one’s centre aright is to make all of life’s activities and events and results flow from this centre in orderly sequence. A modern writer of great insight has said: “The understanding that God is, and all there is, will establish you upon a foundation from which you can never be moved.” To know that the power that is God is the power that works in us is knowledge of transcendent import. To know that the spirit of Infinite wisdom and power which is the creating, the moving, and the sustaining force in all life, thinks and acts in and through us as our own very life, in the degree that we consciously and deliberately desire it to become the guiding and the animating force in our lives, and open ourselves fully to its leadings, and follow its leadings, is to attain to that state of conscious oneness with the Divine that Jesus realised, lived and revealed, and that he taught as the method of the natural and the normal life for all men. We are so occupied with the matters of the sense-life that all unconsciously we become dominated, ruled by the things of the senses. Now in the real life there is the recognition of the fact that the springs of life are all from within, and that the inner always leads and rules the outer. Under the elemental law of Cause and Effect this is always done whether we are conscious of it or not. 444

But the difference lies here: The master of life consciously and definitely allies himself in mind and spirit with the great central Force and rules his world from within. The creature of circumstances, through lack of desire or through weakness of will, fails to do this, and, lacking guiding and directing force, drifts and becomes thereby the creature of circumstance. One of deep insight has said: “That we do not spontaneously see and know God, as we see and know one another, and so manifest the God-nature as we do the sense-nature, is because that nature is yet latent, and in a sense slumbering within us. Yet the God nature within us connects us as directly and vitally with the Being and Kingdom of God within, behind, and above the world, as does the sense-nature with the world external to us. Hence as the sense-consciousness was awakened and established by the recognition of and communication with the outward world through the senses, so the God-consciousness must be awakened by the corresponding recognition of, and communication with the Being and Kingdom of God through intuition the spiritual sense of the inner man. . . . The true prayer the prayer of silence is the only door that opens the soul to the direct revelation of God, and brings thereby the realisation of the God-nature in ourselves.” As the keynote to the world of sense is activity, so the keynote to spiritual light and power is quiet. The individual consciousness must be brought into harmony with the Cosmic Consciousness. Paul speaks of the “sons of God.” And in a single sentence he describes what he means by the term “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.” An older prophet has said: “The Lord in the midst of thee is mighty.” 445

Jesus with his deep insight perceived the identity of his real life with the Divine life, the indwelling Wisdom and Power, the “Father in me.” The whole course of his ministry was his attempt “to show those who listened to him how he was related to the Father, and to teach them that they were related to the same Father in exactly the same way.” There is that within man that is illumined and energised through the touch of His spirit. We can bring our minds into rapport, into such harmony and connection with the infinite Divine mind that it speaks in us, directs us, and therefore acts through us as our own selves. Through this connection we become illumined by Divine wisdom and we become energised by Divine power. It is ours, then, to act under the guidance of this higher wisdom and in all forms of expression to act and to work augmented by this higher power. The finite spirit, with all its limitations, becomes at its very centre in rapport with Infinite spirit, its Source. The finite thereby becomes the channel through which the Infinite can and does work.

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Ralph Waldo Trine THE HIGHER POWERS: MIND AND SPIRIT A Mystic Force (1917)

There is a mystic force that transcends any powers of the intellect or of the body, that becomes manifest and operative in the life of man when this God-consciousness becomes awakened and permeates his entire being. Failure to realise and to keep in constant communion with our Source is what causes fears, forebodings, worry, inharmony, conflict, conflict that downs us many times in mind, in spirit, in body failure to follow that Light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world, failure to hear and to heed that Voice of the soul, that speaks continually clearer as we accustom ourselves to listen to and to heed it, failure to follow those intuitions with which the soul, every soul, is endowed, and that lead us aright and that become clearer in their leadings as we follow them. It is this guidance and this sustaining power that all great souls fall back upon in times of great crises.

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Ralph Waldo Trine THE HIGHER POWERS OF THE MIND AND SPIRIT The Kingdom of Heaven (1917) The prophet is he who so orders his life that he can adequately listen to the voice, the revelations of the over soul, and who truthfully transcribes what he hears or senses. He is not a follower of custom or of tradition. He can never become and can never be made the subservient tool of an organization. His aim and his mission is rather to free men from ignorance, superstition, credulity, from half truths, by leading them into a continually larger understanding of truth, of law and therefore of righteousness. It was more than a mere poetic idea that Lowell gave utterance to when he said: The thing we long for, that we are For one transcendent moment. To establish this connection, to actualize this Godconsciousness, that it may not be for one transcendent moment, but that it may become constant and habitual, so that every thought arises, and so that every act goes forth from this centre, is the greatest good that can come into the possession of man. There is nothing greater. It is none other than the realization of Jesus’ injunction “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” It is then that he said “Do not worry about your life. Your mind and your will are under the guidance of the Divine mind; your every 448

act goes out under this direction and all things pertaining to your life will fall into their proper places. Therefore do not worry about your life.” When a man finds his centre, when he becomes centered in the Infinite, then redemption takes place. He is redeemed from the bondage of the senses. He lives thereafter under the guidance of the spirit, and this is salvation. It is a new life that he has entered into. He lives in a new world, because his outlook is entirely new. He is living now in the Kingdom of Heaven. Heaven means harmony. He has brought his own personal mind and life into harmony with the Divine mind and life. He becomes a coworker with God. It is through such men and women that God’s plans and purposes are carried out. They not only hear but they interpret for others God’s voice. They are the prophets of our time and the prophets of all time. They are doing God’s work in the world, and in so doing they are finding their own supreme satisfaction and happiness. They are not looking forward to the Eternal life. They realize that they are now in the Eternal life, and that there is no such thing as eternal life if this life that we are now in is not it. When the time comes for them to stop their labors here, they look forward without fear and with anticipation to the change, the transition to the other form of life but not to any other life.

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Ralph Waldo Trine THE WAYFARER ON THE OPEN ROAD A Creed of The Open Road (1919) To be observed today, to be changed tomorrow, or abandoned, according to tomorrows light. To live to our highest in all things that pertain to us, and to lend a hand as best we can to all others for this same end. To aid in righting the wrongs that cross our path by pointing the wrong-doer to a better way, and thus aid him in becoming a power for good. To turn toward and to keep our faces always to the light, knowing that we are then always safe, and that we shall travel with joy the open road. To love the fields and the wild flowers, the stars, the far-open sea, the soft, warm earth, and to live much with them alone; but to love struggling and weary men and women and every pulsing, living creature better. To do our own thinking, listening quietly to the opinions of others, but to be sufficiently men and women to act always upon our own convictions. To do our duty as we see it, regardless of the opinions of others-seeming gain or loss, temporary blame or praise. To remain in nature always sweet and simple and humble and therefore strong. To play the part of neither fool nor knave by attempting to judge another, but to give that same time to living more worthily 450

ourselves. To get up immediately when we stumble, face again to the light, and travel on without wasting even a moment in regret. To love and to hold due reverence for all people and all things, but to stand in awe or fear of nothing save our own wrong doing. To recognize the good lying at the heart of all people, of all things, waiting for expression all in its own good way and time. To know that it is the middle ground that brings pleasure and satisfaction, and that excesses have to be paid for always with heavy and sometimes with frightful costs. To know that work, occupation, something definite and useful to do, is one of the established conditions of happiness in life. To realize always clearly that thoughts are forces, that like creates like and like attracts like, and that to determine oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s thinking therefore is to determine his life. To take and to live always in the attitude of mind that compels gladness, looking for and thus drawing to us continually the best in all people and all things, being thereby the creators of our own good fortunes. To know that the ever-conscious realization of the essential oneness of each life with the Divine Life is the Greatest of all knowledge, and that to open ourselves as opportune channels for the Divine Power to work in and through us is the open door to the highest attainment, and to the best there is in life. In brief, to be honest, to be fearless, to be just, joyous, kind. This will make our part in lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s great and as yet not fully understood play one of greatest glory, and we need then stand in fear of nothing - life nor death; for death is life. Or rather, it is the 451

quick transition to fife in another form; the putting off of the old coat and the putting on of the new; a passing not from light to darkness, but from light to light according as we have lived here; a taking up of life in another form where we leave it off here; a part in life not to be shunned or dreaded or feared, but to be welcomed with a glad and ready smile when it comes in its own good way and time.

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Ralph Waldo Trine THE WAYFARER ON THE OPEN ROAD To Live to Our Highest (1919) To live to our highest in all things that pertain to us, and to lend a hand as best we can to all others for this same end. DOES it pay? Are there any real, substantial reasons that we live to our highest? The fact that we have ideals and aspirations, and that we always feel better the more fully we follow them, indicates that it pays. That we are conscious that something is not right, and that we suffer when we do violence to that which we know or which we feel to be the better thing, indicates that there is a law written in the universe through the inexorable operation of which we are pushed onward and upward, unless we are wise enough to go of our own accord. As excessive eating or drinking, as excesses of every nature bring with them something that convinces an ordinarily bright mind that they donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t pay, is an indication that there is a law of moderation, the observance of which brings good, the violation of which brings its opposite, pain and loss; as to live in discord with, in hatred or envy or jealousy of oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s fellows brings its own peculiar destructive results, indicating that there is a law of love, of kindness, of mutuality, that will admit of no violation without striking home its punishments and inflicting its losses, so the lack of self-respect, the sense of loss, the general feeling that we have missed the higher and the satisfying in pursuing or being 453

contented with the lower and the transient, indicates that the higher, the better, really pays, and that to follow it is a manifestation of simply good everyday common sense. We shall come to our own sometime, and our own is the highest and best that we know; we shall come by being led in that we voluntarily follow our highest ideals and aspirations, our dreams, if you please, or we shall come by being pushed through suffering and loss and even anguish of soul, until we find all too concretely that the better pays, and more, that it will have obedience. The thing that pays, and that makes for a well-balanced, useful, and happy life, is not necessarily and is not generally a somber, pious morality, or any standard of life that keeps us from a free, happy, spontaneous use and enjoyment of all normal and healthy faculties, functions, and powers, the enjoyment of all innocent pleasures â&#x20AC;&#x201D; use, but not abuse, enjoyment, but enjoyment through self-mastery and not through license or perverted use, for it can never come that way. Of great suggestive value to us all should be this thought of Thoreau: â&#x20AC;&#x153;Do not be too moral. You may cheat yourself out of much life so. Aim above morality. Be not simply good; be good for something.â&#x20AC;?

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Ralph Waldo Trine THE WAYFARER ON THE OPEN ROAD The Great Law of Love (1919)

As there is, moreover, the great law of love, of service, of mutuality, written at the very core of human life, then in the degree that we are wise we will lend the hand whenever and wherever we can to all others in their strivings for the same life that we find is the better part, and as the influence, the help of example, is greater always than the kind intentions of precept, every strong though struggling life becomes the greatest possible help to every other.

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Ralph Waldo Trine WHAT ALL THE WORLDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S SEEKING The Soulâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Awakening (1896) Have you sorrows or trials that seem very heavy to bear? Then let me tell you that one of the best ways in the world to lighten and sweeten them is to lose yourself in the service of others, in helping to bear and lighten those of a fellow-being whose, perchance, are much more grievous than your own. It is a great law of your being which says you can do this. Try it, and experience the truth for yourself, and know that, when turned in this way, sorrow is the most beautiful soul-refiner of which the world knows, and hence not to be shunned, but to be welcomed and rightly turned. There comes to my mind a poor widow woman whose life would seem to have nothing in it to make it happy, but, on the other hand, cheerless and tiresome, and whose work would have been very hard, had it not been for a little crippled child she dearly loved and cared for, and who was all the more precious to her on account of its helplessness. Losing herself and forgetting her own hard lot in the care of the little cripple, her whole life was made cheerful and happy, and her work not hard, but easy, because lightened by love and service for another. And this is but one of innumerable cases of this kind. So you may turn your sorrows, you may lighten your burdens, by helping bear the burdens, if not of a crippled child, 456

then of a brother or a sister who in another sense may be crippled, or who may become so but for your timely service. You can find them all about you: never pass one by. By building upon this principle, the poor may thus live as grandly and as happily as the rich, those in humble and lowly walks of life as grandly and as happily as those in what seem to be more exalted stations. Recognizing the truth, as we certainly must by this time, that one is truly great only in so far as this is made the fundamental principle of his life, it becomes evident that that longing for greatness for its and for one’s own sake falls away, and none but a diseased mind cares for it; for no sooner is it grasped than, as a bubble, it bursts, because it is not the true, the permanent, but the false, the transient. On the other hand, he who forgetting self and this kind of greatness, falsely so called, in the service of his fellow-men, by this very fact puts himself on the right track, the only track for the true, the genuine; and in what degree it will come to him depends entirely upon his adherence to the law. And do you know the influence of this life in the molding of the features, that it gives the highest beauty that can dwell there, the beauty that comes from within, — the soul beauty, so often found in the paintings of the old masters. True beauty must cone, must be grown, from within. That outward veneering, which is so prevalent, can never be even a poor imitation of this type of the true, the genuine. To appreciate fully the truth of this, it is but necessary to look for a moment at that beautiful picture by Sant, the “Soul’s Awakening,” a face that grows more beautiful each time one looks at it, and that one never tires of looking at, and compare with it the fractional parts of apothecary shops we see 457

now and then â&#x20AC;&#x201D; or so often, to speak more truly â&#x20AC;&#x201D; on the streets. A face of this higher type carries with it a benediction wherever it goes. A beautiful little incident came to my notice not long ago. It was a very hot and dusty day. The passengers on the train were weary and tired. The time seemed long and the journey cheerless. A lady with a face that carries a benediction to all who see her entered the car with a little girl, also of that type of beauty that comes from within, and with a voice musical, sweet, and sparkling, such as also comes from this source. The child, when they were seated, had no sooner spoken a few words before she began to enlist the attention of her fellowpassengers. She began playing peek-a-boo with a staid and dignified old gentleman in the seat behind her. He at first looked at her over his spectacles, then lowered his paper a little, then a little more, and a little more. Finally, he dropped it altogether, and, apparently forgetting himself and his surroundings, became oblivious to everything in the fascinating pleasure he was having with the little girl. The other passengers soon found themselves following his example. All papers and books were dropped. The younger folks gave way to joyous laughter, and all seemed to vie with each other in having the honor of receiving a word or a smile from the little one. The dust, the heat, the tired, cheerless feelings were all forgotten; and when these two left the car, the little girl waving them good-by, instinctively, as one person, all the passengers waved it to her in return, and two otherwise dignified gentlemen, leaving their seats, passed over to the other side, and looked out 458

of the window to see her as long as they could. Something as an electrical spark seemed to have passed through the car. All were light-hearted and happy now; and the conditions in the car, compared to what they were before these two entered, would rival the work of the stereopticon, so far as completeness of change is concerned. You have seen such faces and have heard such voices. They result from a life the kind we are considering. They are but its outward manifestations, spontaneous as the water from the earth as it bursts forth a natural fountain.

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Ralph Waldo Trine WHAT ALL THE WORLD’S SEEKING Mastering Our Thought Forces (1896) Again, as has been said, the great law operating in connection with the thought-forces is one with that great law of the universe, — that like attracts like. We can, by virtue of our ignorance of the powers of the mind forces and the prevailing mental states, — we can take the passive, the negative, fearing, drifting attitude, and thus continually attract to us like influences and conditions from both the seen and the unseen side of life. Or, by a knowledge of the power and potency of these forces, we can take the positive, the active attitude, that of mastery, and so attract the higher and more valuable influences, exactly as we will to. We are all much more influenced by the thought-forces and mental states of those around us and of the world at large than we have even the slightest conception of. If not self-hypnotized into certain beliefs and practices, we are, so to speak, semihypnotized through the influence of the thoughts of others, even though unconsciously both on their part and on ours. We are so influenced and enslaved in just the degree that we fail to recognize the power and omnipotence of our own forces, and so become slaves to custom, conventionality, the opinions of others, and so in like proportion lose our own individuality and powers. He who in his own mind takes the attitude of the slave, by the 460

power of his own thoughts and the forces he thus attracts to him, becomes the slave. He who in his own mind takes the attitude of the master, by the same power of his own thoughts and the forces he thus attracts to him, becomes the master. Each is building his world from within, and, if outside forces play, it is because he allows them to play; and he has it in his own power to determine whether these shall be positive, uplifting, ennobling, strengthening, success-giving, or negative, degrading, weakening, failure-bringing. Nothing is more subtle than thought, nothing more powerful, nothing more irresistible in its operations, when rightly applied and held to with a faith and fidelity that is unswerving, â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a faith and fidelity that never knows the neutralizing effects of doubt and fear. If one have aspirations and a sincere desire for a higher and better condition, so far as advantages, facilities, associates, or any surroundings or environments are concerned, and if he continually send out his highest thought-forces for the realization of these desires, and continually water these forces with firm expectation as to their fulfillment, he will sooner or later find himself in the realization of these desires, and all in accordance with natural laws and forces.

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Ralph Waldo Trine WHAT ALL THE WORLDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S SEEKING The Science of Thought (1896) Of all known forms of energy, thought is the most subtle, the most irresistible force. It has always been operating; but, so far as the great masses of the people are concerned, it has been operating blindly, or, rather, they have been blind to its mighty power, except in the cases of a few here and there. And these, as a consequence, have been our prophets, our seers, our sages, our saviors, our men of great and mighty power. We are just beginning to grasp the tremendous truth that there is a science of thought, and that the laws governing it can be known and scientifically applied. The man who understands and who appropriates this fact has literally all things under his control. Heredity and its attendant circumstances and influences? you ask. Most surely. The barriers which heredity builds, the same as those environment erects, when the awakened interior forces are considered, are as mud walls standing within the range of a Krupp gun: shattered and crumbled they are when the tremendous force is applied. Thought needs direction to be effective, and upon this effective results depend as much as upon the force itself. This brings us to the will. Will is not as is so often thought, a force in itself; will is the directing power. Thought is the force. Will gives direction. Thought scattered gives the weak, the uncertain, the 462

vacillating, the aspiring, but the never-doing, the I-would-like-to, but the get-no-where, the attain-to-nothing man or woman. Thought steadily directed by the will, gives the strong, the firm, the never-yielding, the never-know-defeat man or woman, the man or woman who uses the very difficulties and hindrances that would dishearten the ordinary person, as stones with which he paves a way over which he triumphantly walks, who, by the very force he carries with him, so neutralizes and transmutes the very obstacles that would bar his way that they fall before him, and in turn aid him on his way; the man or woman who, like the eagle, uses the very contrary wind that would thwart his flight, that would turn him and carry him in the opposite direction, as the very agency upon which he mounts and mounts and mounts, until actually lost to the human eye, and which, in addition to thus aiding him, brings to him an ever fuller realization of his own powers, in other words, an ever greater power. It is this that gives the man or the woman who in storm or in sunny weather, rides over every obstacle, throws before him every barrier, and, as Browning has said, finally “arrives.” Take, for example, the successful business man, — for it is all one, the law is the same in all cases, — the man who started with nothing except his own interior equipments. He has made up his mind to one thing, — success. This is his ideal. He thinks success, he sees success. He refuses to see anything else. He expects success: he thus attracts it to him, his thought-forces continually attract to him every agency that makes for success. He has set up the current, so that every wind that blows brings him success. He doesn’t expect failure, and so he doesn’t invite it. He has no time, no energies, to waste in fears or forebodings. He is 463

dauntless, untiring, in his efforts. Let disaster come to-day, and tomorrow — ay, even yet to-day — he is getting his bearings, he is setting forces anew into operation; and these very forces are of more value to him than the half million dollars of his neighbor who has suffered from the same disaster. We speak of a man’s failing in business, little thinking that cue real failure came long before, and that the final crash is but the culmination, the outward visible manifestation, of the real failure that occurred within possibly long ago. A man carries his success or his failure with him: it is not dependent upon outside conditions. Will is the steady directing power: it is concentration. It is the pilot which, after the vessel is started by the mighty force within, puts it on its right course and keeps it true to that course, the pilot under whose control the rudder is which brings the great ocean liner, even through storms and gales, to an exact spot in the Liverpool port within a few minutes of its scheduled time, and at times even upon the very minute. Will is the sun-glass which so concentrates and so focuses the sun’s rays that they quickly burn a hole through the paper that is held before it. The same rays, not thus concentrated, not thus focused, would fall upon the paper for days without any effect whatever. Will is the means for the directing, the concentrating, the focusing, of the thought-forces. Thought under wise direction, — this it is that does the work, that brings results, that makes the successful career. One object in mind which we never lose sight of; an ideal steadily held before the mind, never lost sight of, never lowered, never swerved from, — this, with persistence, determines all. Nothing can resist the power of thought, when thus directed by will. May not this power, then, be used for base as well as for 464

good purposes, for selfish as well as for unselfish ends? The same with this modification, â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the more highly thought is spiritualized, the more subtle and powerful it becomes; and the more highly spiritualized the life, the farther is it removed from base, ignoble, selfish ends. But, even if it can be thus used, let him who would so use it be careful, let him never forget that that mighty, searching, omnipotent law of the right, of truth, of justice, that runs through all the universe and that can never be annulled or even for a moment set aside, will drive him to the wall, will crush him with a terrific force if he so use it. Let him never forget that whatever he may get for self at the expense of some one else, through deception, through misrepresentation, through the exercise of the lower functions and powers, will by a law equally subtle, equally powerful, be turned into ashes in his very hands. The honey he thinks he has secured will be turned into bitterness as he attempts to eat it; the beautiful fruit he thinks is his will be as wormwood as he tries to enjoy it; the rose he has plucked will vanish, and he will find himself clutching a handful of thorns, which will penetrate to the very quick and which will flow the very life-blood from his hands. For through the violation of a higher, an immutable law, though he may get this or that, the power of true enjoyment will be taken away, and what he gets will become as a thorn in his side: either this or it will sooner or later escape from his hands. Godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s triumphal-car moves in a direction and at a rate that is certain and absolute, and he who would oppose it or go contrary to it must fall and be crushed beneath its wheels; and for him this crushing is necessary, in order that it may bring him the more quickly to a knowledge of the higher laws, to a realization of the higher self. 465

This brings to our notice two orders of will, which we may term, for convenience’ sake, the human and the divine. The human will is the one just noticed, the sense will, the will of the lower self, that which seeks its own ends regardless of its connection with the greater whole. The divine will is the will of the higher self, the god-self, that that never makes an error, that never leads into difficulties. How attain to its realization? How call it into a dominating activity? Through an awakening to and a living in the higher, the god-self, thus making it one with God’s will, one with the will of infinite intelligence, infinite love, infinite wisdom, infinite power; and when this is done, no mistakes can be made, any more than limits can be set. It is thus that the Infinite Power works through and for us — true inspiration — while our part is simply to see that our connection with this power is consciously and perfectly kept. And, when we come to a knowledge of the true nature, a knowledge of the true self, when we come to a conscious realization of the fact that we are one with, a part of, this spirit of infinite life, infinite love, infinite wisdom, infinite power, and infinite plenty, do we not see that we lack for nothing, that all things are ours? It is then ours to speak the word: desire induces and gives place to realization. If you are intelligence, if you are power, if you are that all-seeing, all-knowing, all-doing, all-loving, all-having, that eternal self, that eternal one without beginning and without end, the same yesterday, to-day, and forever, then all things are yours, and you lack for nothing; and, when you come consciously to know and to live this truth, then the whole of life for you is summed up in the one word realization. The striving, the pulling, the running hither and thither to accomplish this or that, that takes 466

place on all planes of life below this highest plane, gives place to this realization; and you and your desire become one. And what does this mean? Simply this: that you have found and have literally entered into the kingdom of heaven, and heaven means harmony, so that you have entered into the kingdom of harmony,—harmony or oneness with the Infinite Life, the Infinite God. And do we not, then, clearly see the rational and scientific basis for the injunction—Seek ye first the kingdom of heaven, and all these other things shall be added unto you? Than this there is nothing in all the wide universe more scientific, nothing more practical; and in the light of this can we not also see how readily follows the injunction—Take ye no thought for the things of the morrow, for the things of the morrow will take care of themselves? This realization gives you that care-less attitude, free from care. The Infinite Power does the work for you, and you are relieved of the responsibility. Your responsibility lies in keeping yourself in a faithful and a never-failing connection with this Infinite Source. Why, I know a few lives that have come into such a conscious oneness with the Infinite Life, and who so continually live in its realization, that all things that have just been said are absolutely true in their cases. The solution of all things they thus put into the law, so that, when the time comes, the difficulty is solved, the course is clear, the way is opened, or the means are at hand. When one knows whereof he speaks, of this he can speak with authority. When this realization comes, fear goes, hope attends, faith dominates,—the faith of to-day which gives place to the realization of tomorrow. We then have nothing to do with the past, nothing to do with the future; for the whole of life is 467

determined by the ever-present to-day. As my life to-day has been determined by the way I lived my yesterday, so my tomorrow is being determined by the way I live my to-day. Let me then live in this eternal now, and realize that I am at this very moment living the eternal life as much as I ever shall or can live it. I will then waste no time with the past, except perhaps occasionally to give thanks that its then seeming trials, sorrows, errors, and stumblings have brought me all the sooner into harmony with the laws of the higher life. Let me waste no time with the future, no time in idle dreaming, neither in fears nor forebodings, thus inviting and opening the door for the entrance of their actualizations; but rather let me, by the thoughts and so by the deeds of to-day, make the future exactly what I will. Every act is preceded and given birth to by a thought, the act repeated forms the habit, the habit determines the character, and character determines the life, the destiny,â&#x20AC;&#x201D;a most significant, a most tremendous truth: thought on the one hand, life, destiny, on the other. And how simplified, when we realize that it is merely the thought of the present hour, and the next when it comes, and the next, and the next! so life, destiny, on the one hand, the thoughts of the present hour, on the other. This is the secret of character-building. How wonderfully simple, though what vigilance it demands!

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Thomas Troward THE DORE LECTURES ON MENTAL SCIENCE The Spirit as Love and Beauty (1909) What then can this original feeling of the Spirit be? Since the Spirit is Life-in-itself, its feeling can only be for the fuller expression of Life â&#x20AC;&#x201D; any other sort of feeling would be selfdestructive and is therefore inconceivable. Then the full expression of Life implies Happiness, and Happiness implies Harmony, and Harmony implies Order, and Order implies Proportion, and Proportion implies Beauty; so that in recognizing the inherent tendency of the Spirit towards the production of Life, we can recognise a similar inherent tendency to the production of these other qualities also; and since the desire to bestow the greater fullness of joyous life can only be described as Love, we can sum up the whole of the feeling which is the original moving impulse in the Spirit as Love and Beauty â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the Spirit finding expression through forms of beauty in centers of life, in harmonious reciprocal relation to itself. This is a generalized statement of the broad principle by which Spirit expands from the innermost to the outermost, in accordance with a Law of tendency inherent in itself. It sees itself, as it were, reflected in various centers of life and energy, each with its appropriate form; but in the first instance these reflections can have no existence except within the originating Mind. They have their first beginning as mental 469

images, so that in addition to the powers of Intelligence and Selection, we must also realize that of Imagination as belonging to the Divine Mind; and we must picture these powers as working from the initial motive of Love and Beauty. Now this is the Spirit that we need to enter into, and the method of doing so is a perfectly logical one. It is the same method by which all scientific advance is made. It consists in first observing how a certain law works under the conditions spontaneously provided by nature, next in carefully considering what principle this spontaneous working indicates, and lastly deducing from this how the same principle would act under specially selected conditions, not spontaneously provided by nature.

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Thomas Troward THE EDINBURGH LECTURES ON MENTAL SCIENCE Sincere Intention (1909) We are dealing with the great principles of our subjective being, and our misuse of them in the past can never make them change their inherent law of action. If our method of using them in the past has brought us sorrow, fear and trouble, we have only to fall back on the law that if we reverse the cause, the effects will be reversed also; and so what we have to do is simply to reverse our mental attitude and then endeavor to act up to the new one. The sincere endeavor to act up to our new mental attitude is essential, for we cannot really think in one way and act in another; but our repeated failures to fully act as we would wish, must not discourage us. It is the sincere intention that is the essential thing, and this will in time release us from the bondage of habits which at present seem almost insuperable. The initial step, then, consists in determining to picture the Universal Mind as the ideal of all we could wish it to be, both to ourselves and to others, together with the endeavor to reproduce this ideal, however imperfectly, in our own life; and this step having been taken, we can then cheerfully look upon it as our ever-present Friend, providing all good, guarding from all danger, and guiding us with all counsel. Gradually as the habit of thus regarding the Universal Mind grows upon us, we shall find that in accordance with the laws we have been considering, it will 471

become more and more personal to us, and in response to our desire its inherent intelligence will make itself more and more clearly perceptible within as a power of perceiving truth far beyond any statement of it that we could formulate by merely intellectual investigation. Similarly if we think of it as a great power devoted to supplying all our needs, we shall impress this character also upon it, and by the law of subjective mind it will proceed to enact the part of that special providence which we have credited it with being; and if, beyond the general care of our concerns, we would draw to ourselves some particular benefit, the same rule holds good of impressing our desire upon the Universal Subjective Mind. And if we realize that above and beyond all this we want something still greater and more enduring, the building-up of character and unfolding of our powers so that we may expand into fuller and yet fuller measures of joyous and joy-giving Life, still the same rule holds good: convey to the Universal Mind the suggestion of the desire, and by the law of relation between subjective and objective mind this too will be fulfilled. And thus the deepest problems of philosophy bring us back to the old statement of the Law: â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you. This is the summing-up of the natural law of the relation between us and the Divine Mind. It is thus no vain boast that Mental Science can enable us to make our lives what we will. We must start from where we are now, and by rightly estimating our relation to the Divine Universal Mind we can gradually grow into any conditions we desire, provided we first make ourselves in habitual mental attitude the person who corresponds to those conditions: for we can never get over the law of correspondence, 472

and the externalization will always be in accord with the internal principle that gives rise to it. And to this law there is no limit. What it can do for us to-day it can do tomorrow, and through all that procession of to-morrows that loses itself in the dim vistas of eternity. Belief in limitation is the one and only thing that causes limitation, because we thus impress limitation upon the creative principle; and in proportion as we lay that belief aside our boundaries will expand, and increasing life and more abundant blessing will be ours. But we must not ignore our responsibilities. Trained thought is far more powerful than untrained, and therefore the more deeply we penetrate into Mental Science the more carefully we must guard against all thoughts and words expressive of even the most modified form of ill-will. Gossip, tale-bearing, sneering laughter, are not in accord with the principles of Mental Science; and similarly even our smallest thoughts of good carry with them a seed of good which will assuredly bear fruit in due time. This is not mere â&#x20AC;&#x153;goodie, goodie,â&#x20AC;? but an important lesson in Mental Science, for our subjective mind takes its colour from our settled mental habits, and an occasional affirmation or denial will not be sufficient to change it; and we must therefore cultivate that tone which we wish to see reproduced in our conditions whether of body, mind, or circumstance.

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Ella Wilcox Wheeler THE HEART OF NEW THOUGHT Control Morning Thoughts (1902) WHAT do you think about the very first thing in the morning? Your thoughts during the first half-hour of the morning will greatly influence the entire day. You may not realize this, but it is nevertheless a fact. If you set out with worry, and depression, and bitterness of soul toward fate or man, you are giving the keynote to a day of discords and misfortunes. If you think peace, hope and happiness, you are sounding a note of harmony and success. The result may not be felt at once, but it will not fail to make itself evident eventually. Control your morning thoughts. You can do it. The first moment on waking, no matter what your mood, say to yourself: “I will get all the comfort and pleasure possible out of this day, and I will do something to add to the measure of the world’s happiness or well-being. I will control myself when tempted to be irritable or unhappy, I will look for the bright side of every event.” Once you say these things over to yourself in a calm, earnest way, you will begin to feel more cheerful. The worries and troubles of the coming day will seem less colossal. Then say: “I shall be given help to meet anything that comes today. Everything will be for the best. I shall succeed in whatever I undertake. I cannot fail.” Do not let it discourage you if the moment you leave your room you encounter a trouble or a disaster. This usually happens. When we make any boast, 474

spiritually or physically, we are put to the test. The occult forces about us are not unlike human beings. When a schoolboy boasts of his strength, and says he can “lick any boy in school,” he generally gets a chance to prove it. When we declare we are brave enough to overcome any fate, we find our strength put to the test at once. But that is all right. Prove your words to be true. Regard the troubles and cares you encounter as the “punching bags” of fate, given you to develop your spiritual muscle. Go at them with courage and keep to your morning resolve. By and by the troubles will lessen, and you will find yourself master of Circumstances.

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Ella Wheeler Wilcox THE HEART OF THE NEW THOUGHT You are Divine Purpose Personified (1902) Every thought, word and deed is helping decide your next place in the Creator’s magnificent universe. You will be beautiful or ugly, wise or ignorant, fortunate or unfortunate, according to what use you make of yourself here and now. Unselfish thoughts, training your mind to desire only universal good, the cultivation of the highest attributes, such as love, honesty, gratitude, faith, reverence and good will, all mean a life of usefulness and happiness in another incarnation, as well as satisfaction and self-respect in this sphere. Even if you escape the immediate results of the opposite course of action here, you must face the law of cause and effect in the next state. It is inevitable. God, the maker of all things, does not change His laws. “As you sow you reap.” “As a man thinketh so is he.” There is no “revenge” in God’s mind. He simply makes His laws, and we work our destinies for good or ill according to our adherence to them or violation of them. Each one of us is a needed part of His great plan. Let each soul say: “He has need of me or I would not be. I am hero to strengthen the plan.” Remember that always in your most discouraged hours. The Creator makes no mistakes. There is a divine purpose 476

in your being on earth. Think of yourself as necessary to the great design. It is an inspiring thought. And then consider the immensity of the universe and how accurately the Maker planned it all. Do not associate with pessimists. If you are unfortunate enough to be the son or daughter, husband ox wife of one, put cotton wool (either real or spiritual) in your ears, and shut out the poison words of discouragement and despondency. No tie of blood or law should compel you to listen to what means discomfort and disaster to you. Get out and away, into the society of optimistic people. Before you go, insist on saying cheerful, hopeful and bright things, sowing the seed, as it were, in the mental ground behind you. But do not sit down to see it grow. Never feel that it is your duty to stay closely and continuously in the atmosphere of the despondent. You might as well think it your duty to stay in deep water with one who would not make the least effort to swim. Get on shore and throw out a life-line, but do not remain and be dragged under. If you find anyone determined to talk failure and sickness and misfortune and disaster, walk away. You would not permit the dearest person on earth to administer slow poison to you if you knew it. Then why think it your duty to take mental potions which paralyze your courage and kill your ambition? Despondency is one phase of immorality. It is blasphemous and an insult to the Creator. You are justified in avoiding the people who send you from their presence with less hope and force and strength to cope with 477

lifeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s problems than when you met them. Do what you can to change their current of thought. But do not associate intimately with them until they have learned to keep silent â&#x20AC;&#x201D; at least, if they cannot speak hopefully. Learn how to walk, how to poise your body, how to breathe, how to hold your head, how to focus your mind on things of universal importance. Believe your tender, loving thoughts and wishes for good to all humanity have power to help the struggling souls of earth to rise to higher and better conditions. No matter how limited your sphere of action may seem to you and how small your town appears on the map, if you develop your mental and spiritual forces through love thoughts you can be a power to move the world along. Rise up and realize your strength. Not only will you be more useful and happy, but you will grow more beautiful and keep your youth. THE END

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