Part Four
Enclosed herewith I hand you Part Four. This part will show
you why what you think, or do, or feel, is an indication of what you
are.
Thought is energy and energy is power, and it is because all the
religions, sciences and philosophies with which the world has
heretofore been familiar have been based upon the manifestation of
this energy instead of the energy itself, that the world has been
limited to effects, while causes have been ignored or misunderstood.
For this reason we have God and the Devil in religion, positive
and negative in science, and good and bad in philosophy.
The Master Key reverses the process; it is interested only in
cause, and the letters received from students tell a marvelous
story; they indicate conclusively that students are finding the
cause whereby they may secure for themselves health, harmony,
abundance, and whatever else may be necessary for their welfare and
happiness.
Life is expressive and it is our business to express ourselves
harmoniously and constructively. Sorrow, misery, unhappiness,
disease and poverty are not necessities and we are constantly
eliminating them.
But this process of eliminating consists in rising above and
beyond limitation of any kind. He who has strengthened and purified
his thought need not concern himself about microbes, and he who has
come into an understanding of the law of abundance will go at once
to the source of supply.
It is thus that fate, fortune, and destiny will be controlled as
readily as a captain controls his ship, or an engineer, his train.
PART FOUR
1. The "I" of you is not the physical body; that is simply an
instrument which the "I" uses to carry out its purposes; the "I"
cannot be the Mind, for the mind is simply another instrument which
the "I" uses with which to think, reason, and plan.
2. The "I" must be something which controls and directs both the
body and the mind; something which determines what they shall do and
how they shall act. When you come into a realization of the true
nature of this "I", you will enjoy a sense of power which you have
never before known.
3. Your personality is made up of countless individual
characteristics, peculiarities, habits, and traits of character;
these are the result of your former method of thinking, but they
have nothing to do with the real "I."
4. When you say "I think" the "I" tells the mind what it shall
think; when you say "I go" the "I" tells the physical body where it
shall go; the real nature of this "I" is spiritual, and is the
source of the real power which comes to men and women when they come
into a realization of their true nature.
5. The greatest and most marvelous power which this "I" has been
given is the power to think, but few people know how to think
constructively, or correctly, consequently they achieve only
indifferent results. Most people allow their thoughts to dwell on
selfish purposes, the inevitable result of an infantile mind. When a
mind becomes mature, it understands that the germ of defeat is in
every selfish thought.
6. The trained mind knows that every transaction must benefit
every person who is in any way connected with the transaction, and
any attempt to profit by the weakness, ignorance or necessity of
another will inevitably operate to his disadvantage.
7. This is because the individual is a part of the Universal. A
part cannot antagonize any other part, but, on the contrary, the
welfare of each part depends upon a recognition of the interest of
the whole.
8. Those who recognize this principle have a great advantage in
the affairs of life. They do not wear themselves out. They can
eliminate vagrant thoughts with facility. They can readily
concentrate to the highest possible degree on any subject. They do
not waste time or money upon objects which can be of no possible
benefit to them.
9. If you cannot do these things it is because you have thus far
not made the necessary effort. Now is the time to make the effort.
The result will be exactly in proportion to the effort expended. One
of the strongest affirmations which you can use for the purpose of
strengthening the will and realizing your power to accomplish, is,
"I can be what I will to be."
10. Every time you repeat it realize who and what this "I" is;
try to come into a thorough understanding of the true nature of the
"I"; if you do, you will become invincible; that is, provided that
your objects and purposes are constructive and are therefore in
harmony with the creative principle of the Universe.
11. If you make use of this affirmation, use it continuously,
night and morning, and as often during the day as you think of it,
and continue to do so until it becomes a part of you; form the
habit.
12. Unless you do this, you had better not start at all, because
modern psychology tells us that when we start something and do not
complete it, or make a resolution and do not keep it, we are forming
the habit of failure; absolute, ignominious failure. If you do not
intend to do a thing, do not start; if you do start, see it through
even if the heavens fall; if you make up your mind to do something,
do it; let nothing, no one, interfere; the "I" in you has
determined, the thing is settled; the die is cast, there is no
longer any argument.
13. If you carry out this idea, beginning with small things which
you know you can control and gradually increase the effort, but
never under any circumstances allowing your "I" to be overruled, you
will find that you can eventually control yourself, and many men and
women have found to their sorrow that it is easier to control a
kingdom that to control themselves.
14. But when you have learned to control yourself you will have
found the "World Within" which controls the world without; you will
have become irresistible; men and things will respond to your every
wish without any apparent effort on your part.
15. This is not so strange or impossible as it may appear when
you remember that the "World Within" is controlled by the "I" and
that this "I" is a part or one with the Infinite "I" which is the
Universal Energy or Spirit, usually called God.
16. This is not a mere statement or theory made for the purpose
of confirming or establishing an idea, but it is a fact which has
been accepted by the best religious thought as well as the best
scientific thought.
17. Herbert Spender said: "Amid all the mysteries by which we are
surrounded, nothing is more certain than that we are ever in the
presence of an Infinite and Eternal Energy from which all things
proceed."
18. Lyman Abbott, in an address delivered before the Alumni of
Bangor Theological Seminary, said: "We are coming to think of God as
dwelling in man rather than as operating on men from without."
19. Science goes a little way in its search and stops. Science
finds the ever-present Eternal Energy, but Religion finds the Power
behind this energy and locates it within man. But this is by no
means a new discovery; the Bible says exactly the same thing, and
the language is just as plain and convincing: "Know ye not that ye
are the temple of the living God?" Here, then, is the secret of the
wonderful creative power of the "World Within."
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. "Still water runs
deep;" 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 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 "I", 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
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 "let go" 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
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.
There is nothing truer than that the quality of
thought which we entertain correlates certain externals in the
outside world. This is the Law from which there is no escape. And it
is this Law, this correlative of the thought with its object, that
from time immemorial has led the people to believe in special
providence/p>
Wilmans |