Part Eight
In this Part you will find that you may freely choose what you
think but the result of your thought is governed by an immutable
law! Is not this a wonderful thought? Is it not wonderful to know
that our lives are not subject to caprice or variability of any
kind? That they are governed by law. This stability is our
opportunity, because by complying with the law we can secure the
desired effect with invariable precision.
It is the Law which makes the Universe one grand paean of
Harmony. If it were not for law, the Universe would be a Chaos
instead of a Cosmos.
Here, then, is the secret of the origin of both good and evil,
this is all the good and evil there ever was or ever will be.
Let me illustrate. Thought results in action, if your thought is
constructive and harmonious, the result will be good; if your
thought is destructive or in harmonious, the result will be evil.
There is therefore but one law, one principle, on cause, one
Source of Power, and good and evil are simply words which have been
coined to indicate the result of our action, or our compliance or
non-compliance with this law.
The importance of this is well illustrated in the lives of
Emerson and Carlyle. Emerson loved the good and his life was a
symphony of peace and harmony, Carlyle hated the bad, and his life
was a record of perpetual discord and inharmony.
Here we have two grand men, each intent upon achieving the same
ideal, but one makes use of constructive thought and is therefore in
harmony with Natural Law, the other makes use of destructive thought
and therefore brings upon himself discord of every kind and
character.
It is evident therefore that we are to hate nothing, not even the
"bad," because hatred is destructive, and we shall soon find that by
entertaining destructive thought we are sowing the "wind" and in
turn shall reap the "whirlwind."
PART EIGHT
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 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.
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 potter'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
daydreaming in which some people like to indulge. Daydreaming 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
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 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 man's ability to think;
thought is therefore the germ of man'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 workshop. 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 a positive force whereby conditions of opulence
and harmony may be attracted to you.
27. This is the leaven which is gradually permeating the general
consciousness and is largely responsible for the conditions of
unrest which are everywhere evident.
28. In the last Part you created a mental image, you brought it
from the invisible into the visible; this week I want you to take an
object and follow it back to its origination, see of what it really
consists. If you do this you will develop imagination, insight,
perception, and sagacity. These come not by the superficial
observation of the multitude, but by a keen analytical observation
which sees below the surface.
29. It is the few who know that the things which they see are
only effects, and understand the causes by which these effects were
brought into existence.
30. Take the same position as heretofore and visualize a
Battleship; see the grim monster floating on the surface of the
water; there appears to be no life anywhere about; all is silence;
you know that by far the largest part of the vessel is under water;
out of sight; you know that the ship is as large and as heavy as a
twenty-story skyscraper; you know that there are hundreds of men
ready to spring to their appointed task instantly; you know that
every department is in charge of able, trained, skilled officials
who have proven themselves competent to take charge of this
marvelous piece of mechanism; you know that although it lies
apparently oblivious to everything else, it has eyes which see
everything for miles around, and nothing is permitted to escape its
watchful vision; you know that while it appears quiet, submissive
and innocent, it is prepared to hurl a steel projectile weighing
thousands of pounds at an enemy many miles away; this and much more
you can bring to mind with comparatively no effort whatever. But how
did the battleship come to be where it is; how did it come into
existence in the first place? All of this you want to know if you
are a careful observer.
31. Follow the great steel plates through the foundries, see the
thousands of men employed in their production; go still further
back, and see the ore as it comes from the mine, see it loaded on
barges or cars, see it melted and properly treated; go back still
further and see the architect and engineers who planned the vessel;
let the thought carry you back still further in order to determine
why they planned the vessel; you will see that you are now so far
back that the vessel is something intangible, it no longer exists,
it is now only a thought existing in the brain of the architect; but
from where did the order come to plan the vessel? Probably from the
Secretary of Defense; but probably this vessel was planned long
before the war was thought of, and that Congress had to pass a bill
appropriating the money; possibly there was opposition, and speeches
for or against the bill. Whom do these Congressmen represent? They
represent you and me, so that our line of thought begins with the
Battleship and ends with ourselves, and we find in the last analysis
that our own thought is responsible for this and many other things,
of which we seldom think, and a little further reflection will
develop the most important fact of all and that is, if someone had
not discovered the law by which this tremendous mass of steel and
iron could be made to float upon the water, instead of immediately
going to the bottom, the battleship could not have come into
existence at all.
32. This law is that, "the specific gravity of any substance is
the weight of any volume of it, compared with an equal volume of
water." The discovery of this law revolutionized every kind of ocean
travel, commerce and warfare, and made the existence of the
battleship, aircraft carriers, and cruise ships possible.
33. You will find exercises of this kind invaluable. When the
thought has been trained to look below the surface everything takes
on a different appearance, the insignificant becomes significant,
the uninteresting interesting; the things which we supposed to be of
no importance are seen to be the only really vital things in
existence.
Look To This Day For it is Life, the very Life of
Life. In Its brief course lie all the Verities and Realities of your
existence; The Bliss of Growth; The Glory of Action; The Splendor of
Beauty; For Yesterday is but a Dream, And tomorrow is only a Vision:
But Today well lived makes every Yesterday a Dream of Happiness, and
Every Tomorrow a Vision of Hope. Look well, therefore, to This Day!
From the Sanskrit |