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
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