MENTAL
SCIENCE
Key to The Inner Kingdom of Mind
The first phase of Man's
Evolution has been to do with creating free thinking beings capable of
controlling their surroundings by purely physical means.
The next great step in Man's Evolution is concerned with enabling these free thinking beings to control their surroundings and experiences by mental methods as well as physical. This website is devoted to teaching the True Art of Living, and is for the interested but non-scientific. The Conditions
The Substance
WHAT do we mean by the Spirit of a thing? One frequently hears the expression "He enters into the spirit of a thing" and it will be of value to us to examine the phrase carefully and try to arrive at its exact meaning. The simplest way to achieve our object is to take a hypothetical case. Let us suppose that some man realises that there is an immense need for supplying the unemployed with free meals, and proceeds to organise a movement to achieve this object. Unable to do the whole job single handed, he enlists the aid of other people and asks them "to enter into the spirit" of the thing. In actual fact, he asks them to share his attitude of mind towards the object he has in view. In other words he endeavours to reproduce in them that quality of life which inspired him to bring his movement and organization into existence. That is precisely the object in introducing to you very briefly the whole fascinating subject of Mental Science. It is intended that you should share the creative attitude of mind, which originated the Universe and its inhabitants. There are certain Universal Laws in constant and evident operation all around us, and, by attaining some grasp of their principles, we may use the power inherent in them to help ourselves through our daily troubles and perplexities. We can, metaphorically speaking, bring our water wheel into appropriate contact with the main stream and cause it to turn our particular mill. If then, we examine the course of the world around us, we find that continuous Progress or Movement is being manifested, and we must try to trace to its source that Power which causes the evolution that is so obviously inherent in everything. Scientists have made it very clear to us that it is no use to look for that Power in the physical world, for they have reduced all material things to nothing more or less than "changed space." And here, I expect, you pull up with a jerk and say "I don't quite understand that last sentence," Right, let us re-state it. Scientists have proved to us that there must have been, at the beginning of all creation, a Universal Substance which, by the action of some Outside Force (the identity of which we will examine later), set in motion a process of change. This process consisted of the gradual building up of the universe and its inhabitants by successive stages of evolution. In other words, the universe and its beings are nothing more than Universal Substance which has undergone transformation. There, therefore, remains that essential basic factor to be remembered that, quite literally, "Ye are all One." So much for the Physical and Material Substance. The Spirit IN the last section we were brought face to face with the realisation that there was a Motive Power which acted on the Universal Substance to produce the chain of change which is known to us as Evolution. Let us examine this Power or Life Principle in action on our own bodies and in the natural world around us. So long as a flower is animated by the Life Force, or, as we say, as long as it is alive, there is growth and increase. As soon as the Life Force commences a self-withdrawal, then disintegration sets in and the flower decays and dies. Our own bodies are reducible to a chemical formula and, without the Life Force, they also proceed with change and decay. In fact, we find that all "things" are in a process of disintegration unless the Life Force is present. The Life Force therefore can be summed up as a Power which organises matter and arrests the natural process of matter which is Disorganization and Disintegration. But Life is an Organizing Force sufficiently selective and discriminating in its action to originate and maintain a recognizable Cosmic Plan. In other words it is a Spirit-Intelligence of limitless capacity. The object of our study must therefore be to realise that we ourselves and all things around us are merely the expressions or manifestations on the material plane of the All Originating Spirit. Or to put it more simply, we are all formed from the same original Universal Substance by the action of the Same Intelligence upon that Substance. We can at once decide that the characteristic of Spirit-Intelligence is Thought, so let us see, by means of a simple illustration, where we are now heading. I am typing these words at a desk on which there is a bowl of flowers. In examining these flowers I find that my knowledge of them is limited, entirely, to my own physical capacity for perception. I know their form only through my eyesight. I know their colour by the same means. I know their scent by my sense of smell, and therefore I am entirely dependent on my physical fitness and completeness for my appreciation of their Beauty. But if I am to find the everlasting all-Beautiful, all-Perfect, and all-Good, it is to the infinite capacity of my Mind and Thought that I am compelled to turn. Exactly the same principle is found in the work of any creative artist. If we examine the case of a painter of a picture, we find that his finished work may fall far short of its original mental image which he first conceived in his imagination. But if that picture stirs up in the beholder a realisation of that primal mental picture, then it has reproduced in him the spirit that was the essence of causation of the picture. Take the instance of our own bodies. If there is the perfect Body on the psychic plane whilst the physical Body is diseased, the reason for that disease lies in the mind which is the only conceivable channel between the psychic and the physical planes. On this fact the whole principle of mental healing is built up and the complete success in dealing with widely diversified diseases of many spiritual and mental healers is a fully adequate proof of the correctness of the principle. Here is a rough summary of the facts at which we have arrived at so far, and which, if you wish, you may accept without worrying yourself unduly in an effort to completely understand all that I have found it necessary to say to arrive at them. The Universe and its inhabitants can be treated as a single entity made from the same special ether by a Process of Change as the result of a definite Cosmic Law of Evolution. The physical world as we know it is not the Ultimate Reality, but is a materialisation of what first exists on the psychic plane, i.e. in the immaterial realm of thought. Nothing can exist on the physical plane that is not first conceived on the psychic plane. Evolution and change is controlled by Spirit which is all-Pervading. Spirit acts through individualised man and through all life forms by the Principle or Law of Attraction which will be explained in detail further on. The
Machine
The Mind
EVERYONE has heard of the conscious mind and the subconscious mind, and there is a tendency to regard them as two completely separate units. This is an entirely misleading view. They are no more separate than two different parts of the same room. In fact, that is an analogy which we can pursue rather further, and liken the mind to a huge room with a light in only one end of it, so that only a small portion is illuminated with any degree of brightness, and beyond its immediate rays there is a space of shadows and twilight, and further still we find absolute darkness. We may imagine a steady progression of people into the brightly-lighted area. Some come from the dark shadows of the room, whilst others come in from outside, but they all go the same way in the end—into the shadows and into the darkness. Here is the key to the analogy. The brightly-lighted area is the conscious mind and contains those thoughts (people) which we are at this moment thinking. They may be new thoughts and impressions which have come in from outside or they may be old thoughts which have been stored up in the darkness but which we have recalled to the light. Where the light is not good, but vision is still possible, we find those thoughts which are within immediate recall, i.e., memory; or thoughts in some way related to those in full light. What is in the darkness or subconscious mind we will deal with in a moment. Let me, with another illustration, try to make the matter clearer to you. Supposing you were in a hall listening to a lecture. The speaker and his matter would be in your conscious mind. Just beyond its range you would find other matters of which you might be partially conscious. For instance, that the seats were hard or that the hall was too cold. And a little further still from the centre of complete consciousness, we would find those thoughts which might, at an instant, be called to the centre by some remark of the speaker's which, momentarily, made you think of something else. For instance, the mention of food might conceivably bring to the centre of consciousness the thought that you were going to be late for your dinner. Finally, we find the complete darkness or subconscious mind with which this section is primarily designed to deal. A man lives in accordance with his beliefs, and his beliefs are the result of the credit or debit balance of the contents of his subconscious mind. As it is so much simpler to drive home a point by means of an illustration, let us continue the analogy of the dark part of the room and its inhabitants. If we penetrate the darkness we find that the room is large enough to accommodate every person (thought) that comes in. There is ample space for all and not a single one gets suffocated. But on closer examination we find that they are not pushed in anyhow, but are carefully grouped according to the interest they may have in common, and are labelled with the name of that interest, and even if their views on their common interest are totally opposed to each other, they nevertheless join the group. Now let us take a hypothetical case and see the subconscious mind at work. Suppose you, reader, have never in your life seen a dog. Then in your subconscious mind there will be a label with the word "Dog" on it but with, so far, no group of thoughts to which to attach it. Then one day you hear a noise and someone says that it is a dog barking. Immediately the thought that a dog is something that barks goes down and takes its place under the label "Dog." And so on as your information about dogs grows, so the group of thoughts under that label gradually increases. Then perhaps someone says that a dog has five legs. Down goes that thought and takes its place in the group even though you may have seen a dog and so know that the though is a false one. No thought or impression entering the mind is ever lost. Every thought or impression you have ever received, even from pre-natal existence, right through your life, is stored under its appropriate label in your subconscious mind until your death—and after. In the first section above, we decided that the Psychic Life-Giving Urge is an organising force when brought into association with matter, and, as scientists have shown us, we find therein the greatest proof of survival after death, because it is surely common sense to state that that Force which organises and controls the indestructible, is itself Eternal. When Death takes place, therefore, the mind shakes itself free of all that is physical and limited, and the Real You, which is the sum total, on balance, of your subconscious mind, emerges, untrammelled any longer by a consciousness of physical conditions and surroundings, to complete freedom of action for further experience on other less material planes. To return to our illustration of the "Dog-Group" of thoughts as given above. If you are asked whether a dog has four legs or five, your answer is the result of a balance of the thoughts contained in that group. So are your actions all through your life. So the health of your subconscious mind is of primary importance to you and is certainly worthy of still further consideration. A great truth lies in the analogy of the mind as a room of Darkness and Light, for the subconscious mind works completely "in the dark," whilst the conscious mind works completely "in the light." The conscious mind, because it works in the light, is able to check up or reason about any information given to it, and need not react to that information, but the subconscious mind accepts as literal and complete truth every statement made to it and immediately sets to work to act upon it. For instance, if a man is seated in a chair and hypnotised—by which we mean that his conscious mind is temporarily put to sleep—and then he is told that he is swimming in a rough sea, the subconscious mind will proceed to make the man go through all the motions of swimming or even of exhaustion. But an un-hypnotised man, in full possession of his conscious faculties, will immediately reject the suggestion that he is in the sea—he knows that he is safely in a chair and that is all there is to it as far as he is concerned. The habitual liar does actually begin to believe his or her own lies, because he or she has told them so often and lived them so consistently that on balance in their subconscious mind they are the Realities. To cure him or her and straighten them out, therefore, there must be given them an adequate number of truth-thoughts to ensure the balance working out on the right side. What else does the subconscious mind do beside contain our beliefs? It also directly controls all those actions of the body which we regard as automatic whether they be glandular, muscular or nervous. All our functional activities are guided by the subconscious mind. Creative Power This section is of great importance and I ask you to realise it to the full, as it is on these foundations that the whole structure of the Practice of Mental Science is built. We have seen that the only conceivable Primary Source of the Creation lies in Thought and that everything created is therefore a manifestation of the Originating Thought. Now we go a step further, in linking ourselves to the Powers that Be, when we realise that our own mind is therefore the manifestation of the originating Thought. In other words, our mind is a distributing centre for the entire Power-in-Action of the originating Thought. But we have the God-given Liberty of Volition, and we can therefore sum up our discovery by saying that, through our mind, we have at our disposal all the Power and Resource of the originating Spirit, which created all things seen and unseen. Herein, students of the Bible will find the real meaning of the statement that we are created in the image and likeness of God. Immediately following the appreciation of the foregoing sentences it becomes reasonable to ask "why then, with all this Power at our disposal, do we remain hindered and repressed by antagonistic environment? Or why, indeed, does antagonistic environment exist?" To answer these questions effectively we must consider carefully what is known as "suggestion." In dealing with the subconscious mind we saw that the habitual liar comes to believe in their own lies. We decided that this was so because he or she had told the lie so often that it became a reality to them. This is what is meant by suggestion. A "suggestion" is a statement so repeated and enforced that it becomes for the subconscious mind a truth. Now we can see the vicious circle in which we are. We look at the adverse conditions around us and give our subconscious mind a strong suggestion of limitation. People around us are suffering from poverty and disease and our subconscious mind assimilates the suggestion that such conditions constitute reality, and proceeds to evolve those conditions for us, unless we are strong enough to counter the negative suggestion with a sufficiently strong affirmative suggestion. By adequate affirmative suggestion, we can alter our surroundings and a realisation of this fact is summed up in the phrase ''Nothing succeeds like success.'' This simply means that the first small success acted as an affirmative suggestion which led to the next and perhaps slightly larger success. And so on, ad infinitum. Having read all that has gone before we should be in possession of all those facts which will provide the means to an effective practice of Mental Science on our own lives. An Interpolation
MANY of the older books on practical Psychology were written in terms that savour of religion. The phraseology is ecclesiastical in tone and the words "God" "Christ," "Heaven," appear regularly and as an integral part of the teaching expounded. This type of phraseology has all but disappered in this modern secular, materialistic age though, sadly. So far, on this website, I have purposely avoided all direct reference to the Deity, but it could not be completed satisfactorily on those lines. Rightly understood the greatest handbook on Mental Science is the Christian Bible and the Grand Master of Mental Science is Jesus Christ. Those who criticize the teachings and stories in the Bible do so mainly out of ignorance of the true, inner or spiritual meaning of them. Perhaps the most well know of all is also the most misunderstood of all, and that is the story of Adam and Eve. For centuries both believers and non-believers have entirely missed the purpose and meaning of this most wonderful allegory. They have continually interpreted it in such a way that the walking, talking serpent figure seems to be the truth teller and the Jehovah God figure seems to be the deceiver who resorts to trickery in order to punish his offspring for doing the very thing he made them to do by giving them freedom of choice in the first place! Not only that but he "punishes" the serpent for telling the truth by removing it's legs also!! This is all patently absurd, obviously, and as a result of this misunderstanding of the true meaning many thinking people disregard the story entirely and regard it as complete and utter nonsense. To set the record straight, therefore, I will now endeavour to explain what the purpose and meaning of this beautiful allegory really is in the light of Mental Science. The Jehovah God figure symbolizes the man-made idea of an anthropomorphic or human-like god - one of many such deities. These ideas of deity are rendered in the plural therefore in the allegory. The serpent represents the lie or untruth as there has obviously never been a walking, talking serpent in Nature. The tree of Life represents Eternal Life, i.e. the absolute. The tree of knowledge of good and evil represents the relative, i.e. the tree of human life which we are currently experiencing with all its cares and woes and hardships as well as pleasures, all eventually leading to death. The serpent tempts Adam and Eve to partake in a human experience in which they will become God-like, knowing good and evil. This is the lie of all lies. What we should be thinking of when we refer to God is not a humanly circumscribed personal being, or any personal being at all come to that - The universal cannot be the personal. Instead we should be thinking of and contemplating a wonderful, natural universal, intelligent substance manifesting Itself as personal beings of all kinds and varieties on this material plane. As the Originating Life Force and Substance infinite Spirit exists forever in the absolute i.e. timelessness. In order to have time there must first be motion as time is a measurement of that which moves from one measurable point to another. Infinite Mind is omnipresent in its entirety, meaning that it is everywhere simultaneously, not only within the known Universe but transcending it infinitely, i.e. without end. I fully realize that this may be an extremely difficult concept to get one's head around, but nevertheless the reader must endeavour to do so in order to come to understand the true nature of being, which is the whole purpose of Mental Science afterall. As Infinite Intelligence subsists eternally in a timeless state Its knowledge never changes. It is the same yesterday, now and forever more. All thought forms within Infinite Mind exist as eternal ideas and never change therefore. A tree, for example, is a grande idea which on this planet is expressed as a protective organism which affords not only protection for us human beings but also shelter, food, warmth, and numerous other things, depending on what type of tree. Note now that in the Adam and Eve narrative it says at the beginning "This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens. Now no shrub had yet appeared on the earth and no plant had yet sprung up, for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earth and there was no one to work the ground, but streams came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground." It should be very clear to the reader that the creation spoken of was the outer physical expression of the thought forms that already existed in eternal Mind, for it clearly says they were created BEFORE they physically appeared. Look around you for a moment. Aside from that which exists as a part of Nature, everything you can see first existed as a thought form in the mind of the person who thought of it first. It is impossible for us to even conceive of anything man-made coming into existence without thought forms preceding it, yet that is precisely how many intelligent, thinking people who call themselves non-believers or athiests think the world itself came into existence! You yourself are a thought form registered in eternal Mind. You could not be here otherwise, for what we are witnessing and a part of on this planet is the evolution and outer manifestation and expression of intelligence from the lowest life forms to the highest. With the above in mind it should now be becoming clear to the reader that in the Adam and Eve narrative the serpent was lying when it said that they would become like God knowing good and evil by partaking in human life, for as we know only too well every living thing eventually dies here which is precisely why the knowledge of good and evil is forbidden fruit, for how could the changeless thought forms in eternal Mind possibly contain a knowledge of evil or any evil intent whatsoever before the physical world manifested?
If you were the discoverer of nuclear energy and invented electrical power systems for homes and businesses would it mean that you discovered something evil if someone used that same energy to make bombs that would kill countless people? Neverleless we need to experience evil ourselves in order to determine what is right and wrong, good and bad for us and for the world in general which is why we are here. Life is a school room. Sadly people of this present generation treat it more as a playground.
The Bible is by no means a perfect book, however. It is a book written by various men reflecting their own understanding of the nature of a personal deity at that particular time. Some of the stories reflect past realities and some are purely allegorical. Many of the atrocities described in the Bible reflect the nature of man's thinking and behaviour at that particular point in time. The idea that many Christian people hold that the book was entirely written by God is preposterous, and in this sense Christianity is guilty of giving God a bad name.
How to Drive The Machine
Mental Attitude FROM now onwards I am writing for two distinct classes of reader. For those who have carefully read and pondered upon all that has gone before, and, secondly, for those who have skipped through the above and commenced reading here, and who do not intend to concern themselves with what has preceded it. Therefore, there will, inevitably, be a certain amount of repetition of what has already been argued out and adopted. But this may not be a bad thing, as the reiteration will help to impress the facts clearly on the mind. From now onwards, I am endeavouring to make all statements in a positive and definite fashion, so that there may be no ambiguity whatsoever. It has been decided, in previous sections, that each and every human being on this earth has at their immediate disposal Unlimited Power capable of achieving any and every desire, provided certain clearly stated rules are implicitly obeyed. Please realise what Infinite Power means. Infinite Power created the stars and maintains them in their courses. Does that give you some conception of Infinite Power? Think it well over, and try to realise it. Having realised it, you will realise also that it must, of necessity, be more than adequate to deal with your petty troubles and obstacles. If you are honest with yourself, you must recognise that a power that can control millions of planets will not be baffled, let alone beaten, by such conditions as surround you. So the first thing to do is to get a clear conception of the absolute fact that there is an Infinity of Power available. Now try, for the sake of practicability, to endow that Infinite Power with a Personality. What is the result? You will at once agree that, if you are going to make use of the Power of this Great Person, you must ask It to do those things which It is disposed to do. In other words, what you ask It to do must coincide with Its own plans. It would obviously be useless to ask It to do something directly contrary or harmful to Its own work. So the lesson to be learned is summed up in "Thy will, not mine." Or if you prefer it another way "My Will in so far as it coincides with Thy will." Now that statement, you may say, has limited the Power. Not a bit of it. As far as you are concerned, the Power desires nothing but your Complete and Unending Happiness. Well, surely your desires do not exceed that Statement. You are not such a fool as to desire unhappiness for yourself. So anything that is for your own development and contentment is available. To proceed to the next point: Get out of your mind once and for all that you are embarking on a lazy life, in which you sit back and everything is brought to you with no effort on your part. Far from it, you have got to work hard and incessantly. Even, when you rest your physical body, devote yourself to that one object. In other words, work at the job of recreation. Someone may ask "Why must I work? If this Power is Infinite, surely it can do its job without me?" You are quite right. It can do its job without you. But it has certain definite channels for its operations and you are one of them. You cannot expect the Power to do for you what can only be done through you. In previous sections we have shown that your mind is a part of the great Universal Mind or Power, and as far as you and your world are concerned, you and your personality are the headquarters and distributing centre of the Power. Do you understand that? If you are not prepared to co-operate, the Power will turn to those who will. But the Power is so infinite that there is amply enough for us all to make full use of it by co-operation—that, in fact, is what the Power itself desires. It wants to recognize itself at work in and through everyone. So you must be the agent for the Power in your particular sphere. An Efficient Agent How can you be an efficient agent? That is the next question. It is simply answered in three words. Correct Mental Attitude. And it is to this subject that we must most seriously address ourselves from now until the end of this final and main section of the web page. Your thoughts must all be Constructive. Now think that out carefully and try to realise its full meaning. On reflection you will find that to have consistently constructive thoughts means cutting out completely all evil thoughts. Envy, hatred and fear are immediately ruled out, and these are but three destructive thoughts on which to commence war. Guard against Envy. Whatever anyone else has, you can have, if it really is for your ultimate happiness. The world is full to overflowing with good things. There is plenty for everyone, if you go the right way about it. So, you see, Envy is mere foolishness and small-mindedness. Broaden your mind, and raise your ideals, and other peoples' possessions will cease to trouble you. If you live a full and healthy mental life, your wants will be supplied and you will be happy and contented. Guard against Hatred. It is a valueless thing. If you hate a person, are you made happier by that hate? Of course not. Then why on earth waste valuable time and energy on such fruitless effort? Guard against Fear. What are you afraid of? What is your fear? To be afraid is to be mentally and emotionally disturbed in advance of an incident. What is the result of this state of mind? From a study of Mental Science above we have learned that to fear a thing is definitely to assist its coming to pass, which you must admit is an action of amazing stupidity. Another result of this state of mind is that you have decidedly reduced your powers of resistance. If I am to have a tough fight tomorrow morning, shall I sit up all night in fear and trembling and greet my adversary with hollow eyes and a wobbly fist? Or shall I sleep soundly and well, and arise in the pink of condition and ready to take on anything ? The reply is obvious. So, apply to your thoughts this test. Is my thought on this subject constructive or destructive? If it is constructive, take heart and go forward with renewed vigour, knowing positively that Almighty Power is with you. If it is destructive, take yourself in hand severely and change your thoughts. It will be difficult at first and you will be clumsy at it, but eventually constructive thought will become, in an everyday phrase, second nature to you. Now, when a problem is presented to you, bring your imagination into play at once. In your imagination see the job completed and the problem solved. That is the first thing to do. Why? Because by doing so you present to your subconscious mind a complete and detailed picture of what is wanted, and Universal Mind, the all-Powerful, will know exactly what is required and what must be done to bring that mental picture to materialisation. Having arrived at your complete, imagined picture, concentrate on it. Do not lose sight of it. Keep on recalling it before your mind's eye. What is your will for, but to help you do that? Keep saying mentally: "This perfect thing is the job finished, and I am on my way to it." Allow no doubt or hesitation to creep into your mental attitude. Why should it, when you have Infinite Power at your disposal? Do not be afraid of adopting a direct tone towards your subconscious mind. Avoid mere spineless "wishing," and vague day-dreaming. The Power is there to serve you and loves to do it because, in serving you, It is hastening on to Its own objective. And what is Its objective? Nothing less than complete and unending happiness for yourself and the entire human family. And what is Its motivation? Love. For this all-pervading Spirit of Life is Love Itself. Have you ever sat down to a job and found your mind wandering? Of course you have, but you need be like that no longer if you deal with the tendency promptly and efficiently. Do not sit back wearily and say "I have no powers of concentration." Of course you have powers of concentration if you control them. When you see your job before you, prompt your subconscious mind with the mental statement "This one job I do," knowing at the same time that Infinite Power is at your disposal and your mental picture is already complete and the job will be done. Outside events and circumstances will come to your aid in a way that will at first amaze and then delight you. For some reason, as I am writing these lines I can almost hear someone say "I have much to worry me, and I do worry." I sympathise. Let us see what can be done. It is little use me saying "Don't worry" because that is not a constructive, positive statement. But I Can say "Have faith. There is an infinite Power at your disposal which can and will deal with your trouble for you whether it be through you or through someone else," Have faith. If you ring up on the telephone for a taxi to come to your door in an hour's time to take you to the station, you would not spend that hour in an agony of worry and suspense, wondering if the taxi will come. If you were doubtful about it, you would start to walk. But it is inconceivably stupid to rely on your own legs and powers of endurance when the taxi is coming. Ring up and the taxi will come. That has been very definitely put once and for all. "Ask and you shall receive." Can any promise be clearer or less ambiguous? By "ask" it means define your needs. Spend some little time doing that. Select a time in the morning and just before you go to sleep at night for this definite purpose. During that period call up, in perfect imagery, before your mind's eye, the ideal that is yours. See it actually accomplished. See it perfect. See it complete in every detail. Having secured the vision and dwelt on it, say over to yourself "By the Power which is in me, this thing is actually brought to pass." Realise the full meaning of the sentence and all that it implies. Appreciate that, as soon as a thing is complete on the mental plane, Infinite Power is instantly at work bringing it about on the physical plane. Service and Generalisation THERE are two other aspects of Mental Attitude either of which requires a small book devoted entirely to it, but we will endeavour to give them in rough here. The first is summed up in the word "Service." We have already regarded each one of us as an agent for the Infinite Power of Supply, and, if we continue that view of the position, we will realise that the successful agent is the one who concentrates all their energies on "passing on" the goods for which they are agent. He or she does not waste their time endeavouring to store up the goods but tries to keep them moving as fast and as freely as they can. If you are a garage proprietor, and have been appointed district agent for a leading make of motor car, you would naturally do everything in your power to ensure a big outlet for the models as they come through to you from the supplier. If you simply stored them in your garage, and made no effort of any kind to pass them on to others, all your available space would be very soon filled, and your supplier would seek another and more progressive agent. The same thing exactly applies in your mental attitude towards your own supplies as they come from the Infinite Supplier. Presumably you are going to use Mental Science to ensure for you an adequate supply of happiness, service, peace and love. Therefore you must act as agent for these things and pass them on freely to any and everyone with whom you come into contact, otherwise the stream will be dammed and the flow of Infinite supply will cease as far as you are concerned and will find other and freer channels through which to progress. Get it into your head that to have fresh supplies you must make room by passing on what you already have. The other aspect is summed up in the word "Generalisation." In your asking for supply, concentrate on the end, not on the means to the end. Let me illustrate that statement as clearly as I can. Suppose you want money with which to purchase a home of your own for your wife and children. Do not concentrate your mental powers on the money but upon the happiness, peace, and contentment which such a home will bring. The reason for this becomes obvious if you reflect for a moment. Peace, Happiness and Contentment are your aims, but there may be quite one hundred ways by which they may come to you. All of them are known to the All-Seeing Wisdom of the Infinite Power, and for you to particularise one special way is automatically to close the other 99—any one of which may be, and probably is, much better and more suitable than your way. Your way has only been chosen according to your very limited powers of perception. Concentrate on the end you desire to achieve, and have complete faith that a means to that end will be chosen which will be the best possible for you. How can I make this next proviso sufficiently clear to you? Realise throughout your whole being that your physical and material self is helpless without the Power. You, as you are; the you that is finite and earthly is completely inadequate and incapable without the aid of the Power. The Power is yours, but you are not the Power. Realise the humility inherent in that sentence. Without the Power you are nothing. With the Power you are all-powerful. Do not lose your sense of perspective. Keep your place in the scheme of things. You are the agent for the Force, not the Force itself. I cannot urge you too strongly to read over that last paragraph again and again. Therein is the fatal pitfall clearly placed before you. Be warned, and avoid it. When you secure this sense of humility, you can maintain it by continually giving thanks mentally for the gifts that come to you. *
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Regard your thoughts as boomerangs. If you think an evil thought of any person or anything, you will be the loser. It is your mental attitude that is disturbed and there is no one but yourself to blame. All thoughts are boomerangs. They come back to the thinker. Whatever you think, will happen to you. Therefore think well. Think good. Think Order, Harmony and Peace. Then shall these things be added unto you. One final matter must be dealt with. This study would not be complete without it. I want to deal with Failure. So far I have not admitted the possibility of failure and I do not do so now. If you fail, you have not obeyed the rules which I have endeavoured to put before you. And so, here is your mental attitude towards failure. If something that you wanted has not come to pass, the fault is yours. The Power is there. The Power wants you to have your desire. If you have not received it, do not blame the Power, blame yourself. If there is failure, and you examine the Mental Attitude you held prior to the event, you will inevitably find one of these things. 1. Your desire was not constructive. 2. You doubted the Power's ability to give you your desire. 3. You have particularised or, in other words, you have wanted things exactly your way instead of the way of Infinite Wisdom. Epilogue The world around us is visibly
in a bad way. There is poverty, neglect and unhappiness. There are wars
and rumours of war. This condition of things has been brought about by
collective wrong thinking throughout the centuries, and nothing can
change it but collective right thinking.
Service and Love must reign, if
Evolution is to proceed swiftly and surely. Pacts and Treaties alone
will not do it. Tariffs or Free Trade alone will not do it. Hope lies
only in the practical expression of the Brotherhood of Man and the
Fatherhood of God. The Bible is the only practical text book of
economics, and Christ the only perfect example by Whose Teaching the
nations may come to live in Peace and Security.
Those of mankind whose
mentalities are in a sufficient state of enlightenment can learn
consciously the principles of Mental Science. All must live out the
Grand Creed of Christianity.
The crying need of the world today is for leaders of faith and vision, leaders who realise that Christ is the Perfect Statesman. War and Depression came to teach us the lessons which we must all learn. Have the nations of Europe and America learned the lessons? At one time it appeared that they had, but now it is difficult to tell. If the lessons have not been learned, greater troubles still are to come.—Some prophets say they are coming now—within the lifetime of most of us. A terrible thought, which in itself should speed the learning of the lessons. Do not try to thrust Christian principles down other peoples throats, they are not digested that way. Practise them yourself, and so supply leadership. Do not fear. The Lessons will be learned. There have been four kingdoms already. The Mineral Kingdom, the Vegetable Kingdom, the Animal Kingdom and the Kingdom of Man. Only one more Kingdom remains un-demonstrated THE KINGDOM OF THE SPIRIT in which all things shall be made perfect. (Ephesians 2:19-22) So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone. In him the whole structure is joined together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord; in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God. (The 21st [Century] Revelation 1-7) Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any divide. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." He who was seated on the throne said, "I am making everything new!" Then he said, "Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true." He said to me: "It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son." (The 2nd
Genesis
1-3) Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their
vast array. By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been
doing; so on the seventh day he ceased from all his work. And God
blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from
all the work of creating that he had done. MAN IS THE POWER OF THE UNIVERSE MADE MANIFEST IN
HUMAN FORM
I AM THE POWER OF THE UNIVERSE MADE MANIFEST IN HUMAN FORM WE ARE ONE. Further reading on Man's limitless possibilities: A Study of Man The Action Between Brain and Body Man is One and Indivisible The Life Principle Yealds Its Power Man's Destiny Is Always In His Own Hands From Selfishness to Selfhood Man Has No Fetters But Those of Ignorance Desire: The Organising Principle Beliefs: Both Fixed and Unfixed Thought As a Force Scarcely Tested Power of Thought in Development of the Will The Disease of Apprehensiveness Expect the Best and Receive It The Gospel of Healing The Signs of the Time
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