Journey

WEEK THIRTEEN

Every phenomenon is the result of a definite cause, and the cause is an immutable law or principle which operates with invariable precision, whether the law is put into operation consciously or unconsciously.

It will be found that the creative power of thought will explain every possible condition or experience, whether physical, mental or spiritual.

Thought will bring about conditions in correspondence with the predominant mental attitude. Therefore, if we fear disaster, as fear is a more powerful form of thought, disaster will be the certain result of our thinking. It is this form of thought which frequently sweeps away the result of many years of toil and effort.

What you and I desire, what we all desire, what everyone is seeking, is Happiness and Harmony. If we can be truly happy we shall have everything the world can give. If we are happy ourselves we can make others happy.

But we cannot be happy unless we have health, strength, congenial friends; pleasant environment, sufficient supply, not only to take care of our necessities but to provide for those comforts and luxuries to which we are entitled.

How? We must first put our knowledge into practice. Nothing can be accomplished in any other way. The athlete may read books and lessons on physical training all his life, but unless he begins to give out strength by actual work he will never receive any strength; he will eventually get exactly what he gives; but he will have to give it first. It is exactly the same with us; we will get exactly what we give, but we shall have to give it first. It will then return to us many fold, and the giving is simply a mental process, because thoughts are causes and conditions are effects; therefore in giving thoughts of courage, inspiration, health or help of any kind we are setting causes in motion which will bring about their effect.

Thought is a spiritual activity and is therefore creative, but make no mistake, thought will create nothing unless it is consciously, systematically, and constructively directed; and herein is the difference between idle thinking, which is simply a dissipation of effort, and constructive thinking, which means practically unlimited achievement.

We have found that everything we get comes to us by the Law of Attraction. A happy thought cannot exist in an unhappy consciousness; therefore the consciousness must change, and, as the consciousness changes, all conditions necessary to meet the changed consciousness must gradually change, in order to meet the requirements of the new situation.

In creating a Mental Image or an Ideal, we are projecting a thought into the Universal Substance from which all things are created. This Universal Substance is Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Omniscient. Are we to inform the Omniscient as to the proper channel to be used to materialize our demand? Can the finite advise the Infinite? This is the cause of failure, of every failure. We recognize the Omnipresence of the Universal Substance, but we fail to appreciate the fact that this substance is not only Omnipresent, but is Omnipotent and Omniscient, and consequently will set causes in motion concerning which we may be entirely ignorant.

When this tremendous fact begins to permeate your consciousness, when you really come into a realization for the fact that you – not your body, but the Ego, the “I”, the spirit which thinks – are an integral part of the great whole, that it is the same in substance, in quality, in kind; that the Creator could create nothing different from Himself; then you will also be able to say, “The Father and I are one” and you will come into an understanding of the beauty, the grandeur, the transcendental opportunities which have been placed at your disposal.

WEEK FOURTEEN

You have found from your study thus far that thought is a spiritual activity and is therefore endowed with creative power. This does not mean that some thought is creative, but that all thought is creative. This same principle can be brought into operation in a negative way, through the process of denial.

The conscious and subconscious are but two phases of action in connection with one mind.

You will see that this is an exact opposite course from the one which we would naturally be inclined to adopt. It will therefore have an exact opposite effect to the one usually secured. Most people concentrate intently upon unsatisfactory conditions, thereby giving the condition that measure of energy and vitality which is necessary in order to supply a vigorous growth.

We know that scientists have resolved matter into an immense number of molecules; these molecules have been resolved into atoms, and the atoms into electrons. The discovery of electrons in high vacuum glass tubes containing fused terminals of hard metal, indicates conclusively that these electrons fill all space; that they exist everywhere, that they are omnipresent. They fill all material bodies and occupy the whole of what we call empty space. This, then, is the Universal Substance from which all things proceed.

Electrons would forever remain electrons unless directed where to go to be assembled into atoms and molecules, and this director is Mind. A number of electrons revolving around a centre of force constitutes an atom; atoms unite in absolutely regular mathematical ratios and form molecules, and these unite with each other to form a multitude of compounds which unite to build the Universe.

The lightest known atom is hydrogen and this is 1,700 times heavier than an electron. An atom of mercury is 300,000 times heavier than an electron. Electrons are pure negative electricity, and as they have the same potential velocity as all other cosmic energy, such as heat, light, electricity and thought (186,300 miles per second), neither time nor space require consideration. The manner in which the velocity of light was ascertained is interesting.

Electrons manifest in the body as cells, and possess mind and intelligence sufficient for them to perform their functions in the human physical anatomy. Every part of the body is composed of cells, some of which operate independently; others in communities. Some are busy building tissue, while others are engaged in forming the various secretions necessary for the body. Some act as carriers of material; some are the surgeons whose work it is to repair damage; some are scavengers, carrying off waste; some are constantly ready to repel invaders or other undesirable intruders of the germ family.

All these cells are moving for a common purpose, and each one is not only a living organism, but has sufficient intelligence to enable it to perform its necessary duties. It is also endowed with sufficient intelligence to convert its energies and perpetuate its own life. It must, therefore, secure sufficient nourishment; and it has been found that it exercises choice in the selection of such nourishment.

Each cell is born, reproduces itself, dies and is absorbed. The maintenance of health and of life itself depends upon the constant regeneration of the cells.

The mind contained in every cell of the body is the subconscious mind, because it acts without our conscious knowledge. We have found that this subconscious mind is responsive to the will of the conscious mind.

Every man is the reflection of the thought he has entertained during his lifetime. This is stamped on his face, his form, his character, his environment.

Behind every effect there is a cause, and if we follow the trail to its starting point, we shall find the creative principle out of which it grew.

A recognition and understanding of the resources of the subconscious mind will indicate that the only difference between the subconscious and the Universal is one of degree. They differ only as a drop of water differs from the ocean. They are the same in kind and quality, the difference is one of degree only.

Thought is the only reality; conditions are but the outward manifestations; as the thought changes, all outward or material conditions must change in order to be in harmony with their creator, which is thought.

But the thought must be clear cut, steady, fixed, definite, unchangeable  You cannot take one step forward and two steps backward, neither can you spend 20 or 30 years of your life building up negative conditions as a result of negative thoughts, and then expect to see them all melt away as the result of 15 or 20 minutes of right thinking.

If you enter into the discipline necessary to bring about a radical change in your life, you must do so deliberately  after giving the matter careful thought and full consideration; and then you must allow nothing to interfere with your decision.

This discipline, this change of thought, this mental attitude will not only bring you the material things which are necessary for your highest and best welfare, but will bring health and harmonious conditions generally.

If you wish harmonious conditions in your life, you must develop a harmonious mental attitude.

Your world without will be a reflection of your world within.

WEEK FIFTEEN

All conditions and experiences that come to us do so for our benefit. Difficulties and obstacles will continue to come until we absorb their wisdom and gather from them the essentials of further growth.

That we reap what we sow is mathematically exact. We gain permanent strength exactly to the extent of the effort required to overcome difficulties.

Where there is health, there will be no disease. If we know the Truth, we cannot be deceived by error. If we let in light, there can be no darkness; and where there is abundance, there can be no poverty.

Insight enables us to be prepared for the obstacles which we shall meet; we can therefore overcome them before they have any opportunity to cause difficulty.

Insight enables us to plan to advantage and to turn our thought and attention in the right direction, instead of into channels which can yield no possible return.

Insight is therefore absolutely essential for the development of any great achievement, but with it we may enter, explore and possess any mental field.

Insight is a product of the world within, and is developed in the Silence, by concentration.

Q.) What determines the degree of harmony which we attain?
A.) Our ability to obtain what we require for our growth from each experience.

Q.) What do difficulties and obstacles indicate?
A.) That they are necessary for our wisdom and spiritual growth.

Q.) How may these difficulties be avoided?
A.) By a conscious understanding of and cooperation with Natural laws.

Q.) How are desirable conditions secured?
A.) By entertaining desirable thoughts only.

WEEK SIXTEEN

The most commonly accepted definition of wealth is that it consists of all useful and agreeable things which possess exchange value. It is this exchange value which is the predominant characteristic of wealth.

Wealth should never be desired as an end, but simply as a means of accomplishing an end. Success is contingent upon a higher ideal than the mere accumulation of riches, and he who aspires to such success must formulate an ideal for which he is willing to strive. There must be a definite fixed purpose, an ideal.

Whatever enters the mind through the senses or the objective mind will impress the mind and result in a mental image which will become a pattern for the creative energies. These experiences are largely the result of environment, chance, past thinking and other forms of negative thought, and must be subjected to careful analysis before being entertained. On the other hand, we can form our own mental images through our own internal processes of thought, regardless of the thoughts of others, regardless of external conditions, regardless of environment of every kind; and it is by the exercise of this power that we can control our own destiny, body, mind and soul.

It is by the exercise of this power that we take our fate out of the hands of chance, and consciously make for ourselves the experiences which we desire, because when we consciously realize a condition, that condition will eventually manifest in our lives. It is therefore evident that in the last analysis, thinking is the one great cause in life.

Therefore, to control thought is to control circumstances, conditions, environment, and destiny. If the thought is constructive, it will possess vitality; it will have life, it will grow, develop, expand, it will be creative; it will attract to itself everything necessary for its complete development.

If the thought is destructive, it will have within itself the germ of its own dissolution; it will die, but in the process of dying, it will bring sickness, disease, and every other form of discord.

This we call evil, and when we bring it upon ourselves, some of us are disposed to attribute our difficulties to a Supreme Being, but this Supreme Being is simply Mind in equilibrium.

It is neither good nor bad, it simply is.

Our ability to differentiate it into form is our ability to manifest good or evil.

Good and evil are therefore not entities; they are simply words which we use to indicate the result of our actions, and these actions are in turn determined by the character of our thought.

If you desire to visualize a different environment, the process is simply to hold the ideal in mind, until your vision has been made real. Give no thought to persons, places or things; these have no place in the absolute; the environment you desire will contain everything necessary; the right persons and the right things will come at the right time and to the right place.

If you wish to bring about the realization of any desires, form a mental picture of success in your mind by consciously visualizing your desire; in this way you will be compelling success, you will be externalizing it in your life by scientific methods.

Visualization must be directed by the will. We are to visualize exactly what we want; we must be careful not to let the imagination run riot. It is a good servant but a poor master, it needs to be controlled.

We must construct only mental images that are known to be scientifically true. Accept nothing which is not scientifically exact. When you do this you will attempt nothing but what you know you can carry out, and success will crown your efforts.

Q.) How may we take our fate out of the hands of chance?
A.) By consciously realizing the conditions which we desire to see manifested in our lives.

Q.) What then is the great business of life?
A.) Thinking.

Q.) Why?
A.) Because thought is spiritual and therefore relative. To consciously control thought is therefore to control circumstances, conditions, environment and destiny.