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
Wilmans
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