Every action of the mind produces a certain effect in the body. When the mental action is weak or superficial, the physical effect may be too slight to be noticed, but when this action is both deep and strong, the results will be so clearly in evidence that any one can detect them. These effects, however, are not simply functional, nor is it the nervous system alone that is acted upon. The power of the mind can and does affect everything in the body, frequently producing chemical changes that we have believed were possible only through the use of most powerful drugs. But the action of mind in the body always follows exact law; therefore when one knows the exact physical effect produced by each mental state, physical conditions can be largely determined by the intelligent use of the mind.
A few illustrations of this law will prove both interesting and profitable. That selfishness should contract the cells of the physical body does not only seem plausible, but has been demonstrated to be scientifically true. The selfish attitude is contractive. It has a tendency to draw one's self within one's self, and also to live for this isolated self alone. When the cells are contracted, what may be called a dried-up condition invariably follows, which in turn produces weakness, old age and decay.
The contraction of the cells frequently produces disease, because the contracted or dried-up cells are useless, and all useless cells become waste matter. The contraction of the cells also interferes with the healthful normal actions of the system, which, if not always producing disease, will always produce weakness; and a weakened system cannot long remain in perfect health.
The effect of selfishness upon the cells of the brain is similar. The selfish mind is always a cramped mind, and such a mind cannot attain greatness, because greatness demands mental expansion. The development of the brain and the mind through the methods of subjective concentration -methods of exceptional importance cannot be promoted with any degree of satisfaction so long as selfishness is marked and strong. Brain development requires the constant expansion of the cells, while selfishness invariably produces contraction of the cells.
Return to top
It will not be necessary to draw upon one's imagination to realize that a sour mind produces a sour stomach, because this fact has been demonstrated so frequently and so conclusively. It is true that certain kinds of food may not always agree with us, but as a rule the fault does not lie with the food. Sometimes the food is at fault, but in the majority of cases the fault is in the state of mind.
Those who do not believe that the mind can affect the stomach or interfere with digestion, will be required to explain why sudden and shocking news will destroy the appetite completely also why a vivid description of the most luscious eatables will make anybody hungry, even within an hour after a hearty meal. Why the mouth should water when we think of good things may seem somewhat mysterious, but it proves conclusively that the actions of the mind can increase or retard the flow of the various juices of the system.
Those who have been observing have discovered that a person with chronic sourness of mind, and who maintains habitually a surly disposition, is very frequently troubled with sour stomach. His food does not digest, because the gastric juices are not only retarded in their flow by this disordered mental state, but these juices are chemically changed in many instances by these same states of mind. That the opposite state, cheerfulness, should help digestion, is therefore evident.
Return to top
A sluggish mind produces a torpid liver, while a dull, heavy mentality produces costiveness, the reason being that the various nerve centers become almost inactive when the mind is dull, heavy or sluggish; and since these nerve centers control the different organs and functional activities of the body, a corresponding sluggishness will take place in many parts of the system. To stir up all the dormant cells, therefore, both in the brain and in the nerve centers, would aid remarkably in promoting good digestion.
Nervousness has the same effect upon the digestive process, because nervous attitudes waste energy, thereby depriving the natural functions of 'their necessary supply. Anger produces uric acid in the blood, and uric acid produces rheumatism. All rheumatism, however, does not come from anger, but anger does indirectly produce rheumatism; therefore it is wisdom to train oneself to gain absolute control over one's temper. Intense fits of anger will cause confusion and consternation among all the vital energies. These energies will accordingly go on the rampage, and will tear up millions of the weaker cells in the body.
All of these destroyed cells will be drawn into the circulation as waste matter, and will clog the smaller blood vessels, thereby causing pains and inflammation. Anger also overheats the blood, excites the action of the heart, and nearly always causes the circulation to be too strong in some parts and too weak in other parts. This, however, is not all the damage that may be wrought by anger. Anger actually burns up vital energy, and that is the reason why one feels weak after having indulged thoroughly in this expensive luxury of the smaller man.
Return to top
The stubborn attitude of mind produces unconscious resistance to the natural forces, thereby preventing those forces from proceeding with their normal functions. The action of everything in the human system is more or less retarded when the mind becomes stubborn. It is therefore evident that a stubborn mind cannot become a great mind; neither can the best physical and personal development be promoted while such a mental state is permitted.
The attitude of pride has a tendency to produce artificial conditions in the system, and these in turn may produce artificial growths. A person who is full of pride does not try to improve his appearance by improving himself, but by adding something artificial to himself. Frequently this desire to add the artificial becomes so deep and strong that it takes root in one's subconscious activity. Nature herself will accordingly imitate these subconscious activities, which nature is doing all the time, and will try to add artificial growths to the physical form. In many instances she will succeed.
We do not mean, however, that all abnormal growths in the system come from pride. There are various causes for these things, and a very common cause is the clogging of waste matter coming originally from such causes as over-eating, lack of vitality, poor circulation, anger, or other disturbed states of mind. The mental attitude of pride will produce a tendency to add something artificial to the human form, and then this tendency becomes very strong it will do what it has all the time threatened to do. We should say farewell, therefore, to pride and vanity of every description, and proceed to improve ourselves by bringing forth the greater perfection of life from within.
Return to top
The attitude of hatred implies the act of separation, and this action will express itself more or less in every part of the system when that feeling of hatred is strong. The system will thereby be divided against itself. Equilibrium will be disturbed. Nerves that should work together will be driven apart, and no two functions will be able to work in that perfect concord that is necessary to health, wholeness and harmony. To secure the greatest results, all things in mind and body must work together, but hatred tends to drive them apart, and therefore may cause both disease and failure. Indignation, whatever its motive, may produce the same results. For this reason indignation can never be righteous.
The attitude of worry tends to dry up, harden and ossify the cells, both of the body and of the brain. It is, therefore, one of the chief causes of old age and those conditions of lessened ability and vitality that come with old age. Worry acts directly upon the nervous system, depressing the nerves and thereby producing not only pain in the nerves, but also every imaginable form of nervousness. In fact, there is no cause that produces so many nervous disorders as worry. Such mental states as gloom, despair, despondency, discouragement and anxiety produce the same results.
They are all different forms of worry, however, sometimes mixed with selfishness. Their tendency is to depress not only the mind, but the physical tissues. This depression causes the tissues to dry up, harden and ossify, and here we have one of the principal causes for that stiffness in the human framework that we mistake for old age. When we eliminate worry, we shall eliminate one of the principal causes of disease and weakness, and we shall find it an easy matter to prolong life many many years, and stay young and vigorous as long as we live.
Return to top
Envy and jealousy proceed from the desire for things that do not belong to us; that is, things that have no place in our world. It is therefore not strange that the envious person should be very susceptible to germs, epidemics, contagious diseases and the like. Jealousy repulses what we want, but attracts what we do not want. A jealous mind is repulsive, and thereby causes good things to depart from us; but it also has a weakening effect upon the body, and it is the weakened body that is the most susceptible to the ills that may exist in our environment.
The attitude of grief wastes the tissues, both in the body and in the brain, though especially in the brain. The thought of grief is loss, and as like causes like, the thought of grief will naturally produce loss wherever it may act; that is, it will cause the tissues to waste away, and will cause the system to lose much of its life and energy. Those who have grieved much have felt this loss among the elements of their own system, and when we look at those who grieve we discover the wasting process at work in every fiber. Nothing is gained, but much is lost through grief. To "dry those tears" is therefore the height of wisdom; and we all can learn how.
To enter the attitude of fear is to become negative, and to place the mind in a state of incapacity; that is, a state where you are much less than you can be. The person that fears does not hold his own, but opens his entire system to the enemy that may be at hand. To fear an adverse condition is to give that condition permission to take full possession of the system. The same results would take place if that adverse condition were purely imaginary. That which we fear we impress upon the mind, and what is impressed upon the mind will be created in the mentality, to be in turn expressed in the personality.
Return to top
This is the reason why the things we fear come upon us; we create them in ourselves. Fear is always negative in its action, and a certain form of fear when very intense will entirely remove the resisting power of the physical system, thereby rendering the system extremely susceptible to any adverse condition that may exist in the body or in one's environment. In fact, in the attitude of fear we absolutely give in to everything that in any way may tend to gain a foothold in mind or body. To live in fear, therefore, is to place yourself in an utterly helpless condition. Among all the undesirable states of mind, fear has the greatest power, the reason being that it is so deeply felt, and what we feel deeply we impress deeply upon the subconscious. Fear can be entirely removed, however, by directing the subconscious to have faith -perfect faith -in all things and at all times.
To remove the effects of adverse mental states, the opposite states should be impressed upon the subconscious in every case. This practice will in a short time also remove the tendency to wrong thinking, and will increase the power of right mental states. The first function of right mental states is to re-establish normal conditions in the system. The second function is to chemically change the system so as to gradually produce more perfect actions among all the organs, functions and faculties; in other words, to steadily develop and refine every part of the mind and body so as to produce a higher order of personal and mental action.
The personality can be refined through the exercise of right mental action in the body, and as this is being done the joy of physical existence will increase correspondingly. The tendency to disease, weakness and physical inharmony will decrease, while the personality will become a more and more perfect instrument through which the limitless possibilities of the great within may be expressed.
In this great study, one of the most important of all things is to be able to relate one's self properly to the powers that be, and the elements and forces of this sphere of existence. In fact, this may well be termed the greatest of all problems in human life. To solve it means to solve practically everything; and many are they who have tried. The majority, however, have either approached it wholly from the physical or wholly from the metaphysical point of view.
The former have declared that all cause and all reality exist in matter, while the latter have declared that all reality is in mind. The materialist believes that all will be well when we obey fully the physical laws of nature; the metaphysician, or idealist, believes that through right thought alone can we enter into harmony with life; and both sides are right as far as they go, but only as far as they go.
The one great mistake of the materialist is his belief that physical forces and elements alone can produce actual effects upon human life. Mind to him is a physical force generated by the chemical action of other physical forces, and, therefore, to his mind, all causes are primarily physical.
The one great mistake of the idealist is his belief that matter has no power of its own, and that its seeming effect upon us is, after all, produced not by matter, but by our belief about matter. According to his view, elements have no natures or qualities of their own; a physical element or a physical force will do to us only what we think it can do, and nothing more; and there are many experiences in life that seem to prove that this view of the idealist is right. However, there are many sides to the subject, and we must see all sides to understand the whole.
Return to top
In order to relate ourselves properly to all things, there are three principles that must be considered, comprehended and applied. The first principle is, that all things in the external world have natures of their own, and that they can, under right conditions; impart those natures to the person of man. The second principle is, that every individual thought that man thinks has a nature of its own, and that it can, under the right conditions, impart this nature to the person of man. The third principle is, that the mind's conception of external things, and of its own thoughts, produces a cause, the effect of which will be different, both from the external things themselves and the thoughts themselves; and this cause can also affect the person of man according to its nature and power.
We therefore find three great causes in the life of man, each one affecting human conditions in its own way; and these three causes are external things, internal thoughts, and the mind's present conception of these two. To know which one of these causes brought about certain effects is sometimes difficult to determine, unless we have a thorough knowledge of the whole subject, which is hardly possible under every circumstance. Frequently a certain effect comes from the combined actions of these three causes, and at other times from only two, while in many instances there is only one cause that is responsible.
To illustrate the subject, we will combine the external force of a cold draft, the internal state of discord, and the mind's fear of both the draft and the discord. The draft will be a cause from without; the discord will be a cause from within; and the fear of both will be an adverse mental conception. The effect of these three will be a severe cold; first because the cold air closes the pores of the skin; second, because discord wastes physical vitality, thereby rendering the system incapable of throwing off the adverse condition; and third, because the fear produces a mental picture of a cold, and as we well understand, every mental picture that is deeply and vividly impressed upon mind tends to reproduce its nature in physical conditions.
Return to top
These three causes when combined will naturally produce a cold, but any one of them, or any two of them, can also produce a cold; and the process is simply understood. When the cold air strikes the skin, the pores close themselves up because they desire to protect the system; but in so doing the waste matter in the system is prevented from escaping, and is thus thrown back on the system to clog and obstruct; but nature, in her effort to get rid of this waste, compels it to escape through the mucous membranes, thereby producing the various conditions that go with a cold.
Thus we understand how a cold can come from a draft, and why a cold acts as it does, regardless of the presence of any other cause. But suppose there is no cold draft, but only discord in the system, the result will be that a great deal of vital energy is wasted, so that the power of the system to keep itself clean is impaired to such an extent that a great deal of waste accumulates in the system and begins to clog. Nature, again, in trying to remove that extra waste, naturally compels a great deal of it to escape through the mucous membranes, which are the most porous of all membranes, and we have the same conditions as before, that is, we have a cold; and in this connection we should also remember that in addition to the accumulation of waste in the system produced by a lack of vital energy, this same lack of vital energy renders the system unable to keep the pores of the skin open, so that we have again the same clogged condition as the one produced by the draft.
It requires a great deal of vital energy to expel waste matter through the pores of the skin, because this is a function of the circulation, and the circulation must be full and strong in order to perform this function; but when vital energy is lacking the circulation becomes weak, and does not act fully in every part of the body nor at the surface of every part of the body. The skin, therefore, is not kept clean and open, and waste matter begins to clog more or less. We understand readily, therefore, how we can bring upon ourselves a regular cold by wasting our energy through worry, depression, anger, excitement, discord or any other disturbed state of mind.
Return to top
We shall now illustrate the third cause in this same connection, that of fear. When you fear a cold, you picture upon the mind all the conditions of the cold; that is, you impress the idea of the cold so forcibly upon mind that it becomes a pattern for your creative energies. The result is as we have explained before, that you actually create in your system those very conditions that are contained in the idea that was impressed upon mind; that is, you create in your system all the causes of a cold.
You compel the pores of the skin to close more or less, because you place your system under the influence of a negative attitude of mind, and a negative attitude always has a contractive effect upon all the muscles and fibers of the physical system. You destroy a great deal of vitality because you are in fear, and you actually increase the amount of waste matter in your system, because through the destructive action of fear you cause a great deal of healthy tissue to become waste.
In addition, you impress upon the subconscious mind what we may term a clogged-up condition, which always accompanies a cold; and what is impressed upon the subconscious, will be expressed in the person. When you originate forces in the subconscious that tend to clog, those forces will clog wherever they are expressed, and all subconscious forces will, sooner or later, come forth into the body and act according to their nature.
Return to top
This brief analysis proves conclusively that cold air alone can, under certain conditions, produce a cold; that the discord of the mind alone can produce a cold; and that the fear of a draft, or the fear of weakness from the discord, or the mere fear of the cold itself, can alone produce a cold. And it is evident that when two or three of these are combined, as they usually are, the effects will be proportionately worse.
However, the question is how to prevent these three causes under every circumstance. To prevent discord in the mind is possible, and with the knowledge we now possess along metaphysical lines is becoming comparatively easy. To prevent fear and perverse conceptions is likewise becoming one of the possibilities of nearly every mind; but to always keep away from a cold draft is something that is not possible. The question, then, is what we shall do under that circumstance.
In the first place, we must properly relate ourselves to the atmosphere, both physically and mentally. To relate ourselves properly in a physical sense, it is necessary to provide the right protection through clothing; and to relate ourselves properly in the mental sense it is necessary to provide an increase of vital energy. It is a well-known fact that a cold draft cannot possibly close up the pores of the skin so long as the system is full of energy.
Return to top
A full supply of vital energy will keep the pores open at all times, and will prevent the cold air from coming in through the skin; but the question is, if it is possible to increase our vital energy to such an extent that this can be done. And the answer is, that we need not increase our present supply of vital energy, but save it, or rather, prevent it from being wasted. The physical personality generates many times as much energy as we usually employ, therefore, if we prevent all waste through the cultivation of poise and harmonious mental and physical action, we shall always have sufficient energy to protect the system from within from any changes in the atmosphere that may be met.
We realize, therefore, how the three causes of an ordinary cold can be avoided at all times and under all circumstances, and we shall find that the corresponding three causes of all other physical ailments can be avoided in the same way. A number of illustrations from daily life could be mentioned that would prove conclusively the power of man to prevent external causes from affecting the system, and also his power to change his mental states, or subconscious thoughts, so that nothing but good effects could come from their expression. But the most important problem is to prevent the formation of wrong conceptions, both concerning ourselves and concerning the things that exist about us.
Every idea that is impressed upon mind exercises a great power over human life, because every idea formed in the mind becomes a pattern for our creative energies; and in consequence all kinds of mental states, tendencies, desires, forces, conditions and thoughts will be created in the exact likeness of that idea. It is a fact that the conception we form in mind concerning the things we meet in life determine almost entirely what we are to become or pass through. The powers of nature, the forces and elements about us, can affect us in a measure, because they have a power of their own; but man can modify that effect so completely as to absolutely change it if he understands nature and properly relates himself to her laws.
Return to top
Our subjective thoughts and our mental states, both those that we have inherited and those we ourselves have or are creating, can also affect us in a measure; but when we understand ourselves and gain the right conception of our real nature, we can so modify the effect of our thoughts and mental states, that effects, the very opposite to what were indicated, may be secured. The laws, the elements and the forces of nature are easily directed, and can be so modified by man that their power to act will act only in accordance with the wishes of man.
Likewise, the mental states and the subjective lines of thought are easily directed or changed, because it has been thoroughly demonstrated that the subjective side of mind responds both easily and readily to every new thought or every new direction that may be given to the subconscious. By impressing new ideas, new desires and new purposes upon the subconscious, you will receive in return an absolutely new mental life, and it will correspond with the ideal you have in view. The effect of this new subjective mentality will be precisely like the new mental life created, and that effect will appear both in the objective mind and in the body.
Our conclusion, therefore, is this: First, the external world has a power of its own, but man can direct that power for good, and according to his own desires. Second, the subjective world has a power of its own, but man can direct that power so that it becomes wholly constructive and conducive to the purpose he may have in view.
Return to top
But man's ideas about these two worlds are not so easily determined or controlled. This third cause, therefore, or power in human life, is what requires our closest attention. To illustrate further the power of mental conception, and demonstrate more clearly that our thoughts about things have more power over us than the things themselves, we may mention the ordinary events of life and the way we meet them. We shall find through this examination that a great many difficulties have no existence whatever outside of our own minds, and that the most troublesome troubles never take place except in imagination. We shall also find that the majority of the people are affected more by the false, imaginary world that they themselves have created, than they are by the real world in which they live.
Take the simple matter of noise, and observe how differently it affects different people. Some become indifferent, some become nervous, and others become strenuous under its influence; and the reason is because they form different mental conceptions of the nature or possible effect of the noise. Accordingly, it was not the noise that made the person nervous, but his thought about it. When you think that noise is confusing, you create confused states of mind, and a confused mind will make you nervous. And here you should remember, that the only thing in the world that can possibly make you nervous is a confused state of your own mind. Avoid mental confusion, and you will never become nervous.
We do not mean, however, that the noise itself is powerless. It produces a number of vibrations that are confused in their actions; and those vibrations, as they enter the human mind through the sense of hearing, have a tendency to produce mental confusion. But if the harmony of your mind is so full and strong that no confused vibrations from without can disturb that harmony, you will not be affected by the noise. It is always the strong and the more positive force that wins, therefore, if the vibrations of harmony in your mind are well fixed, established and positive, they will be stronger than any number of confused vibrations that may enter from without.
Return to top
But strength does not consist of volume; it consists mainly of direction and control. The problem with you, then, under the circumstances, is to direct your attention upon the idea of harmony and control your mind so perfectly that you remain constantly in harmony with the idea of harmony. When you do this, harmony will have such full possession of your system that no noise or confusion can disturb you.
When you complain that you are disagreeably affected by the scores of disturbed conditions that are all about us in the world, you are simply proclaiming the fact to the world that you have not attained self-possession, and that you have not entered into the permanent consciousness of real peace. When you have entered into the consciousness of real peace, no confusion from without can affect your life, and the reason why is simple. You may hear the noise, but its effect upon you is not confusing, because you are in a state where peace and harmony exercise complete mastery over conditions.
When your own room is warm, the chilly blasts upon the window-pane do not affect you; in fact, they add to your comfort, through your consciousness of the contrast. It is the same way with noise and confusion. When you are in harmony you feel more peaceful than ever before when you contrast that state of harmony with the confusion that may exist about you.
Return to top
The reason is, you have formed a new and true conception of the subject. You know that noise is a confused state of vibrations, but you also know that your system is full of harmonious vibrations, and you have adapted yourself to the latter; therefore, you are at peace. Instead of thinking that you are at the mercy of external vibrations; you know that you can create and maintain your own vibrations of perfect harmony; and when you positively know this, you have results accordingly.
This same subject can be studied with great profit in connection with the effect that environment exercises over human life; and when we discover how differently the same environments affect different people we must realize that the cause is not wholly in the environment, but largely, if not entirely, in the people themselves. When the environment seems hard, many people become stronger by passing through it, while others would go down into physical and mental distress. In such cases it is not the environment alone that produces the effect, but the mental conceptions that the different people form of that environment. What one man calls hard luck, another man calls opportunity; and the one who calls it opportunity wins the day.
When you do not like certain people, you are miserable in their company, though in many cases those people may be much better than you are, and far more agreeable. It is, therefore, not the people that make you miserable under those circumstances, but your mental conceptions of them. Yesterday a certain task seemed very difficult, but today it is a pleasure; and why?
Return to top
Because you have just been told that as soon as you learn to master that task you will be given a better position with larger recompense. In that case the work did not change, but your conception of it and your attitude toward it did change. You thought of it yesterday as drudgery. Today you look upon it as a great opportunity, and the effect, therefore, upon yourself, is produced entirely by your own idea of the situation.
Your sister may ask you to go out in the rain on some important household errand, but during all the time you are gone, and for hours after you have returned, the world seems cold and disagreeable. You did not want to go, and the condition of the weather caused your mind to look upon the forced action in such a way as to make you picture it far more disagreeable than it really was.
But at another time, when the rain and the sleet and the slush were far worse, and you were asked to go out somewhere to accommodate some girl that was all the world to you, how differently you accepted the invitation. You were in such a hurry to go that you almost forgot your rubbers and umbrella; and what a pleasure it was to tramp through the mud. How supremely happy you were, and what sweet dreams you had that night. But the rain was the same rain, and the mud was not of a holier clay. The difference was in your own thought, and there only.
Return to top
When people meet what they call trouble, they usually take the worst possible view of the subject, and thereby actually make it much worse than it is. When you see a little trouble, you usually begin to think trouble, and so much so that you are soon in a state of chaos. Then everything goes wrong, because when you are confused everything you touch will be disturbed or upset. In many instances what appears to be trouble would not trouble you in the least if you took hold of it in a calm, self-possessed attitude and corrected the matter in the beginning.
It is impossible, however, for people to correct troubled conditions in this way if they become troubled and confused, or go into hysterics at the first sight of it. How can we calm troubled conditions when we ourselves are trembling with fear and anxiety? The trouble that has entered your life may look serious enough, but if you think of it as more serious than it really is, and magnify the matter many times, you actually create a world of trouble in your own imagination that will be many times as large, and many times as distressing, as the one that you have met in external circumstances.
But this imaginary sea of distress is real to you, and you suffer just as much from it as if it had actual or tangible existence. This proves conclusively that we can create a great deal of trouble and misery in our own lives by simply magnifying with the mind every little adversity that we may meet, so that it is not so much the adversity we meet that is adverse, as the thought that we form concerning the nature of that adversity.
Return to top
We might illustrate this matter further by taking up every experience that we meet in life and thereby demonstrate again and again the same principle. But repetition is unnecessary. When we study the subject to any extent at all, we realize most clearly the great fact that what we think of things and what we think of ourselves has a greater power over us than anything else in existence.
When a person meets adversity, he should realize that the power of that adversity is very limited, and also that that power is subject to his direction. When he takes this view, he is reducing the effect of that adversity to a minimum, and may, if he understands the conditions, eliminate its power completely. Then when he considers in the same connection the supremacy of his own being, and realizes that so long as he remains in the absolute no wrong can harm him, he has formed the correct conception of the circumstance in his own mind.
The result will be that he will have no fear, and will form no false mental creations. His power will not be wasted, but will be directed upon the circumstances at hand, and since those powers are coming from a mind that is poised in the absolutely right, those powers will also be right, and will naturally tend to set the circumstances right. To understand how this thing will naturally work will be simple to every one, and all will realize that it explains the true conditions of any situation in which we may be placed.
Return to top
But the problem is how to form the true mental conception of everything; in other words, to see everything as it is and then know how it should be dealt with. This may seem difficult, but it is not, because when we recognize the three causes that have been mentioned, and study the natures of those causes, we shall soon understand. The reason why most people have the wrong conception of things in general is found in the fact that they believe in only one underlying cause of human conditions instead of three.
When we study life from the three viewpoints of cause, that is, from the viewpoint of the objective or the outer world, from the viewpoint of the subjective or interior world, and from the viewpoint of the world of ideas, or our own mental conceptions, we shall understand the world of cause as it is, and form correct conceptions of all things that may exist or act in our sphere of existence.
The objective world and the subjective world are both real, and have enormous powers of their own -facts we must well remember. But what those powers are to do to us will depend largely upon what we think of them, how well we understand them, and how well we can direct them. The objective and the subjective worlds are based upon laws that are permanent, and, therefore, always produce the same effects under the same circumstances; but man has the power to change those circumstances by relating himself differently to objective and subjective laws; and he does this by forming correct or superior mental conceptions of everything with which he comes in contact in life.
Return to top
When man's conceptions of things are false, he is not properly related to the subjective or the objective worlds, and consequently his contact with them will produce adverse conditions. But when his mental conceptions are correct, that is, based upon the truth of all things as they are in his own world, he is properly related to the objective and the subjective, and accordingly his contact with those worlds will bring only good results.
In the average person, mental conceptions are partly right and partly wrong, therefore, he receives from life both the bitter and the sweet; but the moment he causes his mental conceptions to be wholly right, the bitter must disappear and the sweet alone remain. To make the subject clearer if possible, we might say that a man's mental conceptions of things are right when he understands the truth, both about the objective and about the subjective, which would mean that he understands the nature of the objective in the concrete and the nature of the subjective in the abstract; and he will be properly related to both those worlds so long as his thought world is right, because man acts as he thinks.
When man understands things, he knows how to use those things for good, and when he understands himself he knows how to apply himself in such a way that the results desired are secured. Therefore, to gain the correct mental conception of both worlds, we must study and understand the external as well as the internal. We must study them both as real worlds, and we shall find that the reality of the one, though different from the other, is a counterpart of the other. To study the one as real, and look upon the other as unreal, is to form wrong conceptions. We have done this too long, and have never become properly related to the various things, laws and principles of existence.
Return to top
It has been the fault of the materialist to look upon the objective as the only real world. It has been the fault of the ultra-idealist to look upon the subjective as the only real world. Both of those extremes, therefore, must be avoided; and we shall find that when we study both the objective and the subjective as real, our mental conceptions will be composed of pure objective facts and absolute subjective truth. We will see all things, both external and internal, as they are. Both the great without and the great within will be subject to our direction. We will be in harmony with the external and at one with the internal. The powers that be will serve us, and of all that is good, both from within and from without, we shall have abundance.
In connection with this study of the power of mind over body, it is highly important to understand exactly what effect is produced upon the system by what is taken into the body. The question of what to eat and what to drink is ever before us, not only because we desire to be nourished in the best manner possible, but also because we do not wish to partake of anything that may interfere with the advancement of mind or personality; and it is believed by many that certain foods can retard or promote human progress. But here we must remember that it is not what we eat or what we drink, but what we think at such times, that must receive our chief attention. It is not what enters the system, but what comes forth from the mind, that is of first importance.
Nevertheless, what enters the system has some power over the system. If it had not we would not have to eat. If food did only what we think it can do, as some idealists claim, it would be needless to eat. We could think the same effect with or without the food; but the fact that we eat for a purpose, the fact that every element has its own nature, and in proportion to its strength imparts that nature to whatever it may enter into harmony with, makes this subject one that is decidedly important.
Return to top
It has been said that the power of mind over body, and what enters the body, is so absolute that a man with a strong, well directed mind could eat anything and cause only good results to follow. In fact, it is claimed that he could take injurious elements or poisons and not be harmed in the least. But in this connection we may well ask if the power of the mind is created for the purpose of fighting and destroying what has no right in the first place to enter the system?
A study of the whole nature of man reveals the fact that the powers of man, even though they can in the case of absolute necessity neutralize or overcome the effects of injurious elements that may enter the system, are created directly for the purpose of building up and developing the larger, the higher and the better in human nature. And through this same study we learn that we increase our powers, not by trying to overcome the wrong, but by using our powers fully and constructively in building up the right, the good and the ideal.
That we receive indigestion from "this" food or "that," is not true, because when a certain food is not digested the cause is usually in the system and not in the food. When your system is disturbed or weakened by anger, fear or other adverse thoughts or actions, it is not in a fit condition to properly care for the food taken into the system, and, therefore, at such times indigestion will usually be the result; but when the mind is right and wholesome in every respect, it is in a position to aid nature in all natural functions, and practically all the ordinary articles of diet can be taken and digested with perfect ease.
Return to top
The problem of what to eat is, therefore, reduced to the elements of simplicity; but there remains this fact: Whatever is done should be done properly, and eating is no exception. The food should be wholesome and well prepared, and no more should be taken into the system than is required.
There are thousands of people who waste so much energy trying to digest heavy meals that they have little energy remaining for thought and achievement. In order to do good work the brain needs all the energy that we can provide. All waste or misuse should, therefore, be eliminated. Here we should remember, however, that fretting, anger, worry, discouragement and similar states of mind waste more energy than any misuse that we can make of the body or its functions. So to be on the right side we must avoid not only physical causes of waste, but the mental causes as well.
To discuss this subject thoroughly, volumes could be written, but there is a simple rule that everyone can apply in his own case, and a multitude of words are not required to explain it. It is simply this: Whether in eating or drinking or living or thinking, do nothing that will waste energy. So live and so regulate everything in your life that all your energy is employed constructively in giving health and strength to the body, ability and capacity to the mind. Growth, progress, attainment and achievement are the objects we have in view; but if we are to promote them fully, completely and constantly, we must not place obstacles, physical or mental, in our way. Neither must we permit ourselves to think that such obstacles as may come in our way cannot be overcome.
Return to top
That certain foods can promote or interfere with human progress is an idea that has not been proven, and where experiments have been made the conclusions have not been conclusive, because if a man expects a certain food to make him finer in mind, character or soul, he will receive from each food the very results that he expected. Whatever the effect of food may be upon the nature of the human system it is itself so slight and so easily modified by the mental attitudes entertained at the time that it fails to prove itself of sufficient importance to be considered.
The sensible course to pursue, therefore, is to partake of all wholesome foods that the system seems to require, and to try to improve constantly the quality and effectiveness of the food employed as far as possible; and in addition, to always expect the best results from all food that is taken. In brief, select the best, the cleanest, the most wholesome and the most nourishing. Then use all things in moderation, cheerfully expecting all foods taken to give strength to the body, refinement to the personality and health, virility and wholeness to your entire system.
When we constantly think about disease, or habitually fear disease, we create states in the mind that are unwholesome. These states will gradually, and sometimes instantaneously, work themselves into similar conditions in the body, just as immoral thinking will produce immoral desire. Every mental state acts in the human system exactly as the seed acts in the soil where it is placed. The seed will grow, take root, and produce fruit after its kind.
Return to top
Likewise, a mental state will establish itself and produce conditions to correspond to its own nature. It is possible to produce a certain disease by constantly fearing or expecting that disease; and it is possible to produce health by constantly expecting health, or dwelling in the conscious feeling of health. What you think of a great deal with deep feeling you impress upon the mind, and mental impressions act exactly like seeds. They will grow and if not disturbed will reproduce their kind.
Through this same law you can produce virtue and high personal worth by constantly thinking of virtue, quality and superiority; or, you can completely undermine your character and your mental capabilities by constantly looking forward to weakness, inferiority or defeat. Turn your thoughts towards that which you wish to accomplish, that which you wish to become.
You thus create mental states that are wholesome, constructive and inspiring. Those states will steadily reproduce themselves in body, mind and character. They will work themselves out through and through your entire system. You will thus become what you wish to become, and you will gain that strength, that worth and that efficiency through which you may accomplish what you have in view.
Return to top
The prevention of disease and the maintenance of health is largely a matter of self-control. The more fully the individual controls not only his actions and his conduct, but also his thoughts and his feelings, the more perfectly can he live and act in harmony with nature, and in consequence maintain that order of mind and body that is necessary to perfect health.
Whenever you take something for your ailments or resort to outside help physically or metaphysically, you depend upon something else instead of upon yourself; and accordingly you ignore, in a measure, the power of self-control. There are times when outside help may be needed, but to make it a habit to resort to outside help for every little difficulty is to lose more and more the power of self-dependence; and it is the constant application and cultivation of this power that alone can produce self-control.
Whenever you feel symptoms of any form of ailment, do not give in to them. Control yourself so perfectly that you scarcely feel them, and that you suffer no inconvenience. The power of this method is well illustrated when there is a tendency to cough. When you feel like coughing, refuse to cough. Control the muscles of your throat so that you will not cough. In many instances the desire to cough is produced by a slight irritation of the throat, and the more you cough the more you irritate the throat, and thus feel the necessity of coughing more.
Practically all coughing, however, can be stopped in the beginning by self-control; that is, by simply refusing to cough; and many a serious throat trouble would be prevented, or nipped in the bud, if this practice were applied faithfully. The same idea holds in nearly every other condition that may arise in your system.
Whatever the methods may be that we employ in any system of metaphysical, mental or spiritual healing, the power of thought is the power that heals. The great essential, therefore, in metaphysical therapeutics is to apply every conceivable process through which the power of thought may become as strong as possible, as wholesome as possible, and as conducive as possible both to the production of health and the maintenance of health.
To increase the power of thought, live in the realization of the fact that there is any amount of power within you that has never been used before; and impress, more and more deeply, upon your inner convictions the idea that you can draw upon this power for as much as you may require, no matter how great the occasion or how extensive the needs may be. To live constantly in the conviction that you have within yourself all the power that you may require for any purpose whatever, will in itself increase the power of your thought to a remarkable degree because you will constantly be thinking more power, and to think more power is to charge every thought with more power.
Place the mind in the closest possible touch with this inner power; try to feel the real living expression of this power, and try to feel that every thought you think is created in the very life of this power. Live mentally in the consciousness of all the power that you can imagine as existing within you, and desire, from the very deepest depths of your being, to appropriate more and more of this power according to the ever-growing needs of your advancing life.
The more you think of the greater power within you the more power you think into your thought, provided you think with feeling, faith, and deep soul conviction. This law works on the same principle as the well-known law -the more you believe in yourself, the more you develop in yourself, and the more you become accordingly. To continue to give full, conscious attention to that vast realm of life, energy and power that is within you, is therefore most important. You not only charge your every thought with more and more power in this manner, but you also enlarge perpetually your own life, you own capacity and your own permanent possession of an ever-increasing measure of power. But your thinking must have depth; you must believe in the greater power within, and live so close to the great interior world of power that you can feel its supreme existence every moment.
Return to top
Realize more and more that the supreme life within you is greater by far than any disease in existence, and that this life, when aroused can remove absolutely every disease that can possibly enter your system. The more this great truth is realized the stronger becomes your thought, and the more effectively you can apply the power of your thought, either in healing yourself or in building up within yourself a greater measure of health, life and energy.
When you are thoroughly convinced of the fact that the supreme life within you is greater than any disease that you can possibly meet, you charge all your thought with this supreme life; and, therefore, in like manner, the power of your thought becomes greater than any disease that you can possibly meet. That which is born in supreme life will possess the power of supreme life; and all your thoughts will be born in supreme life so long as you live in the deep soul-consciousness of such a life.
To consciously and continuously live in harmony with the Infinite will increase the power of thought to a greater degree than anything else that we can do. To learn how to connect with the life and the power of the Supreme is one of the greatest of secrets, not only in the healing of disease with mental and spiritual means, but also in the living of a greater and a greater life. To establish this sublime unity between the human mind and the Infinite mind, the first essential is to continue to think, under every circumstance, that we are with the Infinite and the Infinite is with us. And as we enter more and more deeply into the inner conscious of this supreme thought, we should place ourselves in perfect harmony with the spirit of that thought; that is, we should inwardly feel that we are in harmony with the very spirit of the Supreme.
Return to top
When we feel that our minds are connected with the life and the power of the Infinite, we can feel supreme power in every thought; in fact, every thought becomes the vehicle of supreme power, transmitting that power to every atom in the system. Any disease can be removed at once, or almost at once, with the power of thought, provided this power is sufficiently strong; and the power of thought always is sufficiently strong when we connect our minds with the Infinite before we begin to think.
This being true, and any one can prove it to be true, we should never proceed to use mind or thought for any purpose whatever until this supreme harmony with the Infinite has first been established. Undertake nothing until you feel that you are with the Infinite and that the Infinite is with you. This is the greatest secret in the world; and he who never fails to apply the principle of this secret shall never fail in anything, no matter what may be his goal in view.
To have faith in the power of thought; to have faith in the greater power within; and to have faith in the power of the Supreme working in man -this is most important. In fact, there is no increase in the power of thought unless there is an increase of faith in every power that can enter into thought; and the more faith we have in every power that does enter thought, the greater becomes the power of thought. The reason why is found in the fact that faith awakens the finer and the more powerful forces of mind.
Return to top
Faith breaks bounds; it expands the mind in every direction, and thus gives mind the possession of a greater world of life, force and power. The more faith you have in everything that is within you, the more fully you arouse everything that is within you; and, in consequence, the larger, the stronger and the more powerful you become in every state of your being. And the more strength and power there is alive in you, the stronger becomes your thought.
The finer forces of mind -those forces that are awakened through faith -invariably give soul and spirit to thought, and, therefore, not only cause the power of thought to become immensely strong, but also cause that power to become so penetrating in its actions that it undermines completely every physical condition that is not in harmony with the true order of things. When these finer and more penetrating forces are fully awakened, all that is necessary is to concentrate the mind upon that part of the body that is not in health, and to deeply desire health; the finer forces of thought will penetrate that part of the body and absolutely consume everything that is wrong.
What you deeply desire the power of thought to do, the power of thought will do; and if you have unbounded faith in your own greater power within, and in your sublime unity with Supreme power, you will give your thought sufficient power to do whatever you may wish to have done.
Return to top
The true faith is not a mere belief, but a higher order of consciousness -a state of consciousness that actually connects the mind with the limitless power of the Supreme. Such a faith awakens all that is large, all that is great, all that is superior, and all that is masterful in man; and, in consequence, gives man the power to banish from his life everything that is adverse, inferior, detrimental or wrong. And such a faith any one can attain by thoroughly believing in the great truth that the power that is within things, back of things, above things, is infinitely greater than anything that can ever happen or appear in the world. To steadily grow in this faith, however, it is necessary to have faith in faith; that is, to enter into the soul of faith, the spirit of faith, the hidden secret of faith, whenever we think of faith, or, in any manner, exercise the power of faith.
When you are healed by faith you are healed by the power of thought, because it is only the power of thought that does heal; but your faith has so increased the power of thought that the power has become sufficiently strong to fully banish every ill from your system. When you have faith in the healing power of something that exists outside yourself you are, through that faith, giving more power to your thought; faith always increases the power of thought, no matter what the faith may be or the object of the faith may be; and it is the increased power of your thought that removes the ailment.
When you actually believe that you will be healed by a certain element or power, you animate your own mind with healing power; your own thought becomes charged with this greater power that is aroused by faith; and if this greater power is sufficiently strong, you will become perfectly well. To have faith in anything whatever is to increase the power of mind and thought, because the actions of faith invariably expand the mind and arouse the more powerful forces of the mind.
Return to top
Indirect faith, however, is limited, and does not always arouse all the power that the occasion may demand; but when we express direct faith in the real, the true and the limitless that exists in all life, and have faith in faith, we shall so increase the power of thought that every ailment in the system must positively disappear the very moment our thought is directed, with the desire to heal, toward that place in the body where the ailment may happen to be.
Realizing the great fact that every thought is a power, that every state of mind produces a distinct effect upon the system, and that every mental change is followed invariably by a corresponding physical change, we conclude that we can through the complete control of the process of thinking, secure any effect desired in the human personality; and this includes not simply the body, with all its various functions, but also mentality, character, talents, faculties and every phase of consciousness.
Every thought created in the mind becomes a distinct vibratory action, producing a certain tangible effect in the human system, complying invariably with the law of like causes producing like effects. Metaphysics, therefore, is a science -in fact, an exact science. The laws of mind, thought and consciousness are absolute laws, invariable laws, invariably acting in the same way under the same conditions. Consequently, the person who understands these laws and will take the time to apply them may change his whole life to a remarkable degree. Through the intelligent use of these laws, there is not a single thing in body, mind, character, ability, capacity, conditions, environments or destiny that cannot be changed for the better.
When we deal with the power of thought, we should remember that there are three grades; namely, objective thought, subjective thought, and thought charged more or less with spiritual thought. Objective thought is that thought that is created in the more superficial states of the outer mind. Accordingly it has neither depth nor feeling, and produces no real effect upon the mind or body.
Objective thought, however, should not be ignored, but it should be trained to act along right lines under every circumstance, because every objective thought may, under certain circumstances, become subjective. Subjective thought is what Solomon called "the thought of the heart." It is the thought we create while more or less in subjective consciousness. It is the thought of feeling and depth that is individualized and that produces a distinct effect wherever it may act in the system.
Return to top
Every subjective thought produces, not only general effects upon the system, but in many instances produce chemical effects in the body. In fact, subjective thought can affect the body chemically just as readily and completely as the most powerful drugs. Subjective thought also affects the mind and the nature and actions of ability. A person, therefore, may gradually decrease his intellectual power and mental brilliancy with wrong subjective thinking, or he may, as many are learning to do at the present time, constantly improve his ability through the practical use of a constructive system of subjective thinking.
Every subjective thought produces a certain tendency in the mind which will not only affect character, but may change a number of creative energies from their present courses. When this change is not desirable, it may lead to abnormal conditions that may prove very detrimental. A fact to remember, however, is that every subjective thought is a power, and that the same subjective thought always produces the same effects in the system of an individual; also, that a subjective thought never fails to produce a certain effect upon body, mind or character.
The two greatest questions, therefore, in this connection, would be how to cause all subjective thinking to be right, and to give all subjective thinking the greatest power possible. The first question may be answered by training the mind in the art of right, constructive and scientific thinking; and the second question may be answered by learning to give more spiritual power to subjective thinking.
Return to top
How strong the power of subjective thought will be depends upon how much spiritual power the mind contains at the time the thought in question was created. And this leads us to a simple solution of one of the greatest problems in the world today.
We all admit that the living of life in any or all of its phases is almost wholly determined by the way the individual thinks; therefore when we learn exactly how life, conduct, attainment and achievement, are affected by the power of individual thinking, we have the secret through which every condition in human existence may be changed, and changed according to our own desires.
Every problem in life must be brought face to face with the real power of thought before a solution can be secured. Man can do nothing without his thought. To live is to think; and the process of thinking is the channel through which he is to act, no matter what his work or purpose may be. Since man must depend upon the power of thought in one or more of the many forms of that power for everything that he intends to accomplish, it is simple to understand that when he knows the whole power of thought and the real power of thought, he will be in a position to do that which he desires to do.
Return to top
That man can solve the problems of life and accomplish what he has in view, is impossible so long as he has only a vague idea of the power of thought, because it is only through the use of that power that his purpose can be fulfilled. The moralist attempts to better the life of man by trying to persuade people to change their thoughts along certain lines, knowing that if their thoughts are changed their actions will be changed. But does he know the whole power of thought; is he familiar with the laws of mental change; has he discovered what particular changes in mind produce the desired changes in character? He evidently does not know these things, because though he tries to persuade people to change their modes of thinking and living, he does not tell them how.
The scientist aims to better the life of man by increasing the general fund of exact knowledge, which is an indirect attempt to change the minds of the world; but does he understand what effects will follow each particular change that may thus be made? He certainly does not, or he would change his methods in many ways. All the institutions of learning are dealing with thought, changing thought and attempting to improve upon thought; but do they understand the real power of thought?
In the light of modern metaphysical research, many of them are groping more or less in the dark. Sometimes they make a lucky strike, but too frequently they are throwing time and energy away. All these attempts, therefore, to change the thought of the world and thereby promote the welfare of the race, must consider the real power of thought, and to understand that power we must investigate the metaphysical and the spiritual realms of thought.
Return to top
We are all dealing with thought; we are all trying to accomplish things through the use of the power of thought; but most of us have no idea what the real power of thought may be. We therefore miss the mark in too many of our attempts. The discovery of the fact that thoughts have real individual power, and that the mind does produce chemical changes in the body, constitutes the basis of the science of modern metaphysics, both in its application to everyday living, and in its application to the prevention and cure of disease; and as metaphysics is an exact science, it is a system that does possess rare virtue; but it can be made far more effective than it ever has been before.
Those who employ metaphysical methods, however, do not always succeed, nor do all those who employ metaphysics understand what mental laws are called into action when results are secured. The metaphysical scientist is, therefore, in many instances, in the same position as the physical scientist; he misses the mark too often because he is dealing with something that he understands but vaguely.
The average metaphysician knows that thought is power, and that the power of thought will cure disease; but what kind of thought is required; and how is that particular kind of thought to be created? These are important questions. We know that different kinds of thought are created during different states of mind. It is necessary, therefore, to enter the right state of mind before certain mental actions can be produced; but it is also necessary to know what mental actions to apply for the various forms of human ills.
Return to top
The science of metaphysics as applied to the cure of disease, therefore, is an immense study, but as a science it is not confined to the cure of disease. It is also the very foundation both of mind building and character building. A number of metaphysicians think themselves channels of some higher spiritual power, and believe that it is this power that produces the cure; and though they are not always right in this conclusion, still that particular idea gives us the key to the situation. Every physical change is preceded by some mental change, but how great the mental change may be depends upon the power that was in the mind at the time.
All cures secured through the metaphysical process are produced by the change of mind. To this there are no exceptions. Those who succeed in producing cures through metaphysical or psychological methods do so through the use of some mental law. If they understand that law, they will always have results when that law is employed, but if they do not understand that law, only occasional results will be secured. Those who grope in the dark will once in a while find something, but, as a rule, they do not find anything.
The principle is this, that all healing through metaphysical, psychological or spiritual means is produced by subjective thought; and the results depend upon how much spiritual power or soul there is in that thought. The first secret of such healing is, therefore, to enter subjective consciousness so as to create subjective thought; and the second is to enter as high a spiritual state as possible, so as to give that subjective thought the largest measure of spiritual power.
Return to top
It is subjective thought that produces the change of mind; and it is the change of mind that heals; but whether the subjective thought is strong enough to produce the necessary change in mind, depends upon how much spiritual power the mind contains at the time. This is the great secret, not only in the use of mind for restoring health, but also in the use of mind along all other lines of activity.
Every thought produces its own effect. If the thought is weak, the effect will be slight; if the thought is strong, the effect will be greater in proportion. Since every thought produces its own effect, to secure a certain definite result we must create that thought that always does produce that effect; and the thought must be subjective; that is, it must be produced by our acting in the subconscious mind. In addition, that thought must he charged with spiritual power if we desire the largest and best results possible.
To secure more power for mind and thought, spiritual consciousness must be developed; but this is something that nearly everybody has ignored, and for this reason the power of the average mind is not very strong nor effective. Power comes from within and from above, therefore we must gain a larger consciousness of the interior and the higher states of our being if we wish to secure more power; and we must enter into as perfect harmony as possible with the real source of power, whenever we desire to accomplish something that is above the ordinary.
Return to top
The average metaphysician secures results in healing simply by bringing about a mental change in the patient. The average physician secures results in the majority of his cases through the same law; but in neither instance has any higher power been called into action. Accordingly, the results gained in such instances are never above the average.
Occasionally, however, a metaphysician who is inclined towards higher consciousness may temporarily and in a measure touch the enormous power within, and thereby secure almost miraculous results; but such experiences are not numerous, simply because we have ignored the attainment of spiritual consciousness. When this consciousness is highly developed, however, such experiences will happen regularly, and there will be practically no failures in metaphysical healing.
If you are in spiritual consciousness when giving a metaphysical treatment to yourself or to some one else, you are in touch with limitless power, and will consequently charge your thought with so much power that any physical condition can be changed completely. Any physical disease can be absolutely removed by the right thought, provided there is enough power in that thought.
Return to top
This is a great truth we all should remember and fully understand. Another truth equally great is that unlimited power will be given to your thought if you are in spiritual consciousness while your thought is being created. The power of every thought increases as consciousness is expanded, elevated and refined; and to refine consciousness is to gain a more and more perfect consciousness of the soul or spirit of all power.
It is not only the thought that we employ in healing that may be increased in power through development of spiritual consciousness, but all thought will increase in power in the same way, thereby adding immensely to the power of mind and intellect. By developing spiritual consciousness you add quality, worth and power to every talent and faculty you may possess. Your physical and mental capacity will increase, and your genius will become greater than it ever has been before.
You may think that your reasoning power is perfect, but spiritual consciousness will add remarkably to the brilliancy of that reasoning power and enable you to clearly understand problems, principles and laws that you heretofore could never comprehend. You may have special talents along certain lines that are considered exceptional, but spiritual consciousness will steadily improve those talents until you will be able to accomplish far more than you ever could in the past.
Return to top
We must remember, however, in this connection that to secure these greater results we must create the right kind of subjective thought in each instance, through which the greater power from within may be expressed, and no form of thinking that tends to interfere with the constructive process must be permitted.
From these facts it is evident that whatever one may be trying to do, he must first create subjective thought, because it is subjective thought alone that produces effects in the system. Second, he must create the thought that produces the exact results desired; and third, he must develop spiritual consciousness so as to give his thought as much power as possible.
The process of thinking must be carried on according to exact metaphysical laws, so that the proper mental cause may be formed for every effect desired, and to give each mental cause as much power as possible, consciousness must dwell in perfect touch and in perfect harmony with the inner realms of limitless power.
Return to top
The secret is this: Think scientifically and give soul to your thinking. Through scientific thinking you will secure the exact results desired, and by giving soul to your thinking those results will be large, even extraordinary at times. When we attempt to develop that inner state of mind called soul, we must remember that the term "soul" signifies the real, the perfect, the absolute and the limitless that exists within all things.
It is the source of everything, and is the foundation of existence itself. Through the development of the conscious realization of soul, we gain possession of that power that contains unbounded possibilities, because we enter into that larger state of life, where everything is complete, perfect and limitless. However, whether or not we can at the present time realize the absoluteness of the real, and the reality of the limitless, we can begin where we are and apply the three essentials just presented.
We can learn what the exact effect of each thought actually is and think accordingly. We can learn to think subjectively by giving depth of feeling to every thought created, and we can increase the power of every thought by living constantly in that faith that feels the unbounded life within us and all about us. Whatever our field of action may be, we shall find that results from our efforts will constantly increase if these three essentials are applied as thoroughly as possible.
Return to top
We must eliminate the idea that the metaphysical process requires hard work and strenuous effort on our part. We must also eliminate the idea that the cure is performed by the exercise of personal power. The higher spiritual forces coming into personal expression perform all of this work; but our personal selves do not produce those forces; neither will hard personal work bring them into evidence. It is the consciousness of the spiritual side of life that produces true emancipation and the absolute health and wholeness we have in view; and this is natural because the spiritual alone contains absolute wholeness. That which is not health and wholeness cannot produce health and wholeness, but since spirit is health and wholeness, perfect health and wholeness must manifest wherever the power of the spiritual is expressed.
It can truthfully be said that the spirit is at hand waiting at the gate of every mind. All that is required of us is to open, and the spirit will come in, filling the entire mansion of man with its peace, its power, its healing and its light. But to open the door for the spirit to enter does not require hard work, agonizing prayers, nor efforts that tear both mind and body, as so many of our personal efforts do. To place ourselves in the consciousness of the spiritual attitude is the secret of the highest and the most perfect form of healing, and when we place ourselves in that attitude we shall find that peace, health, freedom and power will inevitably come; because the spirit is peace, the spirit is health, the spirit is freedom, and the spirit is power.
When you are in the spirit of health you cannot be sick; and to be in the real life of the spirit is to be in the spirit of health, because spirit is health. When you are in freedom you cannot be in bondage; and to be in the spirit is to be in freedom, because everything that is in the spirit must necessarily enjoy absolute freedom.
When we try to help others with these higher powers, we frequently begin as if it were hard work.
Return to top
We think that we have to do this personally. We forget that it is the spirit and the spirit alone that has the real power. Our work is to place the matter in the hands of Infinite Wisdom, Infinite Power, Infinite Love; and we do this, not through hard personal efforts, but through pure spiritual faith.
It is not the will of the Infinite that any one should suffer pain or distress of any kind, but it is the will of the Infinite that all should be in the perfect freedom of spirit and truth. It is the will of the Infinite that everybody should be well now; therefore, whoever is placed in the hands of the Infinite now will be healed this very hour.
In this connection we may ask if we are not already in God's care, since we live and move and have our being in His spirit; and what more, then, can we do to place ourselves in His hands? To answer this question, we will simply say that we are in the spirit of the Infinite now, but we do not all know it; and we must know the truth before the truth can make us free. To place ourselves in the hands of the Supreme, is to enter consciously into divine presence, so that we do not simply believe in God, but also feel the life and the power of His spirit in every fiber of our being. Where the spirit is felt, there peace, health and power will also be felt, because where the spirit is felt, there the spirit is; and where the spirit is, there peace and power are also. When you enter the spirit you feel that what you desire to have done is being done, and it is being done by a power that can do all things.
Return to top
When you actually and sincerely believe that healing and emancipation is taking place in your system, you open the door for the spirit to enter; and when the spirit comes in, the spirit will do at once whatever we desire to have done. While the spirit is at work, we are simply to be silent and receive, that the power of the spirit may take full possession and make us every whit whole. Whatever we desire the power of the spirit to do, that the spirit will now proceed to do, provided we do not interfere; but we do interfere with that work whenever we think about it, or whenever we become strenuous, trying to push the power.
To leave all things in the hands of the Supreme is to leave all things in those hands that will do things right, and that will do just what is best for us. What the Supreme thinks is best for us will give us far more good than anything that we could have planned for ourselves. And here we should remember that the Supreme does not think it is best for us to be sick or in trouble. God thinks it is best for us to be as He is, and He knows neither sickness, nor pain, nor sorrow. Therefore, when you place yourself absolutely in divine hands, you will positively regain perfect health and wholeness.
Many a parent thinks, "If I place my sick child in the hands of God and ask His will to be done, He may desire to take my child away"; but do not believe this for a moment. God wants you to have your child. He does not wish to give you sorrow; and if you are perfectly willing, He will heal your child so that both your child and your joy may remain. But you must be perfectly willing and have no doubt. We all have the privilege to live our own lives so that not even the Infinite will interfere with our individuality; and in order to enjoy this privilege it is necessary that we remain here for a long time and continue in health and freedom during that entire period.
Return to top
In this connection we should remember that we do not have to leave the body in order to go to God. God does not have to take us out of the body to take us to Himself, because He is everywhere.
We may go to God and be with Him absolutely and completely while still living in the visible form. When we understand this, we realize how absurd it is to believe that God wants to take us away from our grieving friends in order to have us to Himself. The truth is, God does not wish to deprive any one of anything, and His way will never give sorrow to a living creature.
The Infinite is radiant with supreme joy, and it is His will that we should be as He is; but as we are individualized beings, we of course have our own will in all these matters. Nevertheless, the sooner we combine our will with Infinite will, the sooner we shall have freedom and gain possession of the highest and best that life can give. When we take this step, we soon discover that the ways of pleasantness and the paths of peace are found only when we place ourselves unreservedly in His hands, and open the door for the spirit to come in and make all things right.
Return to top
To clearly discern this conception of the Infinite is of extreme importance if we would heal with the power of the spirit, because the more completely we enter the spirit, the greater is the power of the spirit in us; and when the spirit is strong in us, then it is that we reach that state where our prayers are extremely beneficial. Every word of truth that we speak while in this power has healing on its wings; and every just desire that we may express at such times will surely be fulfilled.
When the spiritual physician is confronted with threatening failure, there is a tendency to become anxious, and the belief that harder work is required will almost invariably arise; but such beliefs should be put away at once. It is not harder work on our part that is required; it is more faith in the power of the spirit that should be sought; and that faith is never disturbed by appearances, but remains beautifully calm, because it knows.
It is the power of the spirit that gives health and emancipation. We are the instruments through which that power is to find expression, therefore we should place ourselves in that high, silent, spiritual state through which the unbounded power of the spirit may find full and free expression.
Return to top
Our anxiety is always a hindrance. Our intense personal effort takes us out of the hands of the spirit, and we cease to be instruments of its power. In this way failure is usually the result, though remarkable demonstrations of healing could easily have been attained. When we know that the power of the spirit is always at hand, always ready to do anything that we may wish to have done; when we know that the power of the spirit is limitless and can do all things; and when we know that it is the will of God that all should be healed now, what have we to fear or to be anxious about? What more do we need than this sublime truth to give us unbounded faith? And as our faith is, so shall it be; therefore when our faith is unbounded every prayer will be answered, every desire will be fulfilled.
When we are in this perfect faith we find the real secret. We discover that it is the power of the spirit that heals; that the spirit will heal whenever we enter into the spirit; and that we enter into the spirit whenever we pass through the door of pure spiritual faith and place ourselves absolutely in the hands of Infinite Wisdom, Infinite Power, Infinite Love.
To become a good spiritual physician, or to apply the spiritual powers within us in gaining and maintaining health, there are several fundamental essentials to which we should give our fullest attention. These are peace, love, faith, spiritual consciousness, and the understanding of truth. To cultivate these five essentials to the very highest possible degree, is to gain possession of that something within us that will not only give us the power to realize and express the power of the spirit, but will also give us the power to help others in the same way.
Return to top
The necessity of perfect peace is evident, because without such a peace we cannot enter into the deeper realization of truth and life. The disturbed mind dwells on the surface and has little or no knowledge of absolute reality, therefore cannot understand that something within that is perfect and well at all times. What we realize in the within we express in the without. For this reason, everything that is necessary to our realization of the perfect health within must be fully supplied; and peace is one of these essentials.
A metaphysical treatment should never begin until we have become absolutely still in mind and thought, though this stillness must not simply be a passive stillness. It must be a state wherein you feel very still and very strong. When you feel that the power within is awakened in peace, you are ready to begin. During the treatment, the same peaceful attitude should be maintained, and the feeling of a strong calm should permeate all thought and effort.
The attitude of real peace is one that can be cultivated to a very high degree, because it does not consist in simply being quiet. It is a living peace, and since life is boundless this living peace can be deepened, and deepened for an indefinite period; and the greater the peace the greater the power when the power is surely awakened, because to enter that peace that is a living peace is to enter the higher life and the greater power of the spirit.
Return to top
Before we can help any one through spiritual and metaphysical means, we must realize a spiritual oneness between ourselves and those whom we desire to help. We must enter their world, so to speak, and must feel that we are in perfect touch with their inner and true selves. We must be able to spiritually touch the perfect life within them before we can awaken that life, and it is the awakening of that life that we have in view. The perfect life within is health and wholeness, therefore when the inner life, the life more abundant, takes possession of the person, every phase of sickness or pain must vanish.
To enter into spiritual oneness with another mind, or to produce perfect oneness between the outer life and the inner life in ourselves, love is the secret, because love is spiritual unity. No one can heal to any extent, or realize the power of the spirit in himself, unless he loves much; loves everybody, and loves with the whole heart and soul. But in this connection we must remember that pure spiritual love is not in any way related to ordinary sympathy. Ordinary sympathy sympathizes with sickness and distress, and enters into the world of discord and pain, thereby making evil more real than it previously seemed to be. This, however, is never done through real spiritual love. This love sympathizes with the divine in man, and this makes the divine seem more real and far stronger than it ever seemed before. The result is that the true and the perfect side of man is recognized and accepted as real.
When man recognizes the divinity within, he admits divine qualities into his consciousness; and whatever is admitted into consciousness is expressed in the person. Consequently, by recognizing the divine that is within us, all that is true, all that is real, all that is wholesome, and all that is perfect in the soul of man will be brought forth into actual, tangible expression. The new life thus enters the body, and as this new life is health, all disease must vanish. When health comes, disease is no more; and health does come whenever the inner life is awakened and expressed.
Return to top
The mission of true spiritual love is therefore very high, and what is more, it is indispensable to this great work. You cannot heal any one without entering into a spiritual unity with that one's soul life; and this unity is attained only through pure spiritual love. The love that we speak of is impersonal, a love that can love every creature without effort, and regardless of appearance or present conditions of life. The person, therefore, who has such a love, is a perpetual benediction to everybody, and could heal at any time by simply wishing to do so.
The necessity of faith in this connection is so evident that nothing need be said as to why we must have faith in order to heal; but a great deal could be said and should be said concerning the real meaning of faith. Faith is not a mere belief, but a gift. It is a high state of mind that transcends all limitations and discerns the real, the perfect and the good everywhere. Faith knows that all things are possible, because it has the power to see and understand the limitless life and power that is working in man and all about man.
Faith makes all things possible because it awakens the greater, the larger and the superior in man. No one can fail who has faith, because faith gives to the mind all the wisdom and all the power that is necessary to realize the object in view. Faith has constantly greater things in store, and keeps the mind on the verge of higher revelations and more beautiful experiences every day. To have faith is to live on the heights, and to constantly ascend to greater heights. When faith comes, all despair; all discouragement and all disappointments disappear for all time. No dark conditions can remain after faith has taken possession, because faith positively proves to the mind that all things are possible, that we can accomplish what we have undertaken, that destiny is in our own hands, and that the future is just as bright as we may desire to make it.
Return to top
In metaphysical and spiritual healing, faith is not disturbed about threatening symptoms, because it knows that there is a power at hand that can put to flight all kinds of symptoms and diseases at once. In this conviction faith works, consequently it cannot fail. Faith sees the real man and knows that the real man is well, therefore there is nothing to fear, nothing to cause anxiety or unrest. What we inwardly know, that we become conscious of; and what we become conscious of, that we express in mind and body. Therefore, to know that the real man is well, is to bring the health and the power of the real man into the personal man; and since faith does know that the real man is well, any one who has faith will accordingly be healed through faith.
Spiritual consciousness is the consciousness of the soul, the divine in man, or that which is created in the image of God. The value of this consciousness, not only in the work of healing and emancipation, but in all important or higher attainments, as well as the further development of man, becomes very evident when we realize that it is only those things that we become conscious of that find expression through us.
The great truth that man is created in the image and likeness of the Infinite, is the foundation of pure spiritual metaphysics; and from this great truth we conclude that man is in reality what God is. Not that man is equal with God, because God is infinite while man is individualized; but the same attributes and qualities that exist in the Infinite exist also in man -the real man. To be conscious of the real man, and to know and feel that you yourself are the real man, is to have spiritual consciousness.
Return to top
You are spiritually conscious when you know that you are a spiritual being. Many people believe that they have souls; others believe that they are souls; but this is not sufficient. You should actually feel that you are a soul; and this feeling should be based upon actual conscious realization. When you know that you are a spiritual being; when you know that you are created in the likeness of God; when you know that you are living in a spiritual world; when you know that you are one with the Infinite, and that you are in your real being perfect, good, true and absolutely whole, as God is, then you have attained spiritual consciousness. This consciousness is not mere intellect, but a realization that is felt and known without the aid of ordinary intellectual processes. It is not something that is arrived at through logical reason, but comes as a special illumination to the mind that has been developed up to that necessary state.
When you become fully conscious of your spiritual nature, you enter into the wholeness, the life, the peace and the power of the mind. You no longer live in conditions of discord, sickness, weakness or confusion. You have entered the perfect world which permeates everything, and have appropriated all the high states of the perfect world. To believe in the spirit, and to be conscious of the spirit, are two wholly different states of mind. Many depend upon the former, and depend in vain. It is the latter that we must secure.
To be conscious of the spirit is to be in the spirit; and to be in the spirit is to be in peace, health and power, because the spirit is peace, health and power. When you attain spiritual consciousness, you know that you are one with the Infinite, and to know this is surely the greatest thing in the world. To know that you live, and move, and have your being in the Supreme; that you are so near to God that God is closer than breathing; to know that you are inseparable from God; and that you shall never, never be separated from His life or presence, but continue to be one with Him through all eternity -to know this is to know that which is greater than all other things in the world. It is a thought too beautiful for tongue to ever describe, and many believe this thought because it is so very beautiful; but when you enter spiritual consciousness you will absolutely know that this thought is the truth; and that realization alone should be sufficient to inspire every mind to seek the spiritual heights this very day.
Return to top
The value of spiritual consciousness in healing is found in its power to illumine the mind with the light of real truth, and thus reveal man to himself. The average man looks upon the body and calls that himself. He looks upon the beliefs and the opinions that he has inherited and calls them his light and his understanding. The result is the blind leading the blind, mental illusions and false beliefs creating more illusions and false beliefs, and thus perpetuating discord, sickness and failure.
When spiritual consciousness comes, man discovers that he is not the body or the mind, but that he is an eternal soul, a spiritual being, the exact likeness of the Infinite. He discovers that he is neither sick, nor weak, nor depraved, but that he has in the reality of his being the purity of God, the health of God, the power of God, the light of God. He finds that though he is manifesting himself in a visible universe, he is actually living in a spiritual universe; and he learns that this spiritual universe is the kingdom of heaven that is within everybody and within everything. In other words, it is God's own true world, where all is well -always well.
When man discovers that he is actually living now in a spiritual world where everything is perfect and absolutely good, he realizes that everything must be well with him; and this is the truth that can make him free. When man becomes conscious of the great truth that all is well with him now because he is the image of God, and is living in God's world, where all is well, the counteracting evidences of the senses must be dealt with. The real and the seeming frequently contradict each other. At any rate, they seem to do so; and to establish perfect peace throughout the system, harmony between the without and the within must be secured.
Return to top
This requires a clear understanding of truth, both spiritual and intellectual, because what is true to spiritual consciousness must be true to objective reason; and it will be true to objective reason when the mind can see truth so clearly that a perfect and immediate discrimination between the true and the false is made possible. When we see the truth clearly, the light of truth so fills the mind that there is no room for darkness. Even reason becomes illumined, accepting conclusively what the spirit has to reveal.
One of the greatest essentials in securing emancipation for the personal man is to be able to prove to the senses and the outer mind that the real man is well, because as soon as the outer man receives this truth there will be nothing to perpetuate disease. Disease and discord can live in the human system only so long as we continue to recognize their existence. Disease does not exist by itself or from itself. It is an effect; and the underlying cause of disease is the belief that man is a material being, subject to all kinds of ills.
Therefore when it is demonstrated through the intellect, and to every phase of consciousness, that man is a spiritual being, and that he is always absolutely well, the outer mind will no longer create false beliefs; and when false beliefs cease to be, the effect of false belief, that is, disease, must also cease to be.
Return to top
False beliefs, created by the outer mind, are the causes of the conditions of disease that fill the body; consequently, when the outer mind discerns the truth, that the real man is well, false beliefs about man will no longer be created. The result is that the cause of disease is taken away, and therefore the disease itself must of necessity disappear also.
It has been said that the senses must be blinded if we are to see pure spiritual truth, and that reason must be held in abeyance when we try to comprehend the reality of the spirit; but this is not true. The physical senses can be trained to work in harmony with the spiritual senses and reason can be educated to corroborate the revelations of spiritual consciousness.
The universe is one with many parts but within each part we find spirit -pure, perfect eternal spirit. The being of man is one with many parts and all parts are necessary to each other, and each part has a spiritual basis. When all the faculties of man are trained to function properly, they will all work together to demonstrate the one truth. The spiritual faculties will recognize the physical side of all things, and the physical faculties will be able to demonstrate the reality of the spiritual side of all things. This is the true harmony of being, when all parts of being work together for the larger life and the greater good.
Return to top
The senses should not work against the spirit; neither should we imagine that the senses are nothing in the eyes of the spirit. When the senses refuse to recognize the spirit they are not properly trained; and that reason that cannot logically demonstrate the existence of the spirit lacks true cultivation.
In the understanding of the truth, therefore, three things are implied: First, to know the real, that which is eternal and absolutely perfect; second, to know the nature and the exact purpose of the temporal; and third, to know the law through which the within and the without may work as one for the greater good of man.
To combine these three essentials in the understanding of truth may seem to be an undertaking too large for the average mind; but it is very simple, and when it is accomplished, man's entire world is illumined. Everything becomes clear, for he can see things as they are. To see things as they are in themselves is to know the truth; and to know the truth is to gain freedom, harmony, health and peace.
Return to top
To simplify the understanding of truth we should base all thought upon the statement that man is a spiritual being, created in the likeness of the Infinite, and that every part of the mind and body of man is created for the purpose of perpetually unfolding the divine qualities and attributes that are inherent in the spirit of man. By realizing that man himself is perfect, absolutely good, and every way whole, all thought will be the thought of truth, and will produce only true conditions in the life of man.
By trying to unite all the senses and faculties, physical and spiritual, upon the one purpose of building a larger life, complete harmony will be established throughout the human entity, and the within and the without will become as one. The result will not only be perfect health and wholeness to body and mind, but also the unfolding of a greater and more beautiful soul.
The right use of what is called the silence is highly important, both in the prevention and the cure of human ills, and there are several reasons why. To prevent disease and maintain continuous health, it is necessary that the human system be full of vital energy. Most people, however, waste more than two-thirds of the energy generated in their systems, so that they never possess the required amount for perfect health. The cause of this waste is found in a lack of poise, or in a condition of nervous agitation in mind and body, which is almost continuous in the majority. To remove this condition and attain that perfect calm and serenity which is necessary to poise and the conservation of vital energy, the use of the silence becomes absolutely necessary.
In the cure of disease through metaphysical methods, the use of the silence is vitally important for two reasons: First, the system must be brought into a state of peace, harmony and serenity so as to give nature sufficient energy with which to restore the true order of things; second, when the mind is in the deeper and more serene states of the silence, the upbuilding power of right thought, affirmation and wholesome thinking goes deeper into the subconscious life, thereby producing better as well as more immediate results.
The attitude of the silence is a state that is quite distinct from the usual attitude of mind, and therefore the greater part of the human race has not arrived at that state of consciousness that is necessary to produce the silence. They may be physically quiet at times, but the nervous system is seldom absolutely still, and the mind usually moves according to the call of external suggestion, regardless of the attempted control of the individual. Such is the condition of the majority; in fact, it is the condition, more or less, of nearly every one.
The exceptions are very few, and in those exceptions the more desirable attitude of which we speak has not been attained to a perfect degree. We have many minds that can be still at times and thus conserve more of their power, but they do not live habitually in the silent, well-poised attitude. The degree of stillness and poise that they have attained, however, enables them to occupy the highest and most important positions in the world.
Return to top
The real power of silence is to be found, first, in the conservation of energy, as already stated, and second, in the deeper consciousness of power. We know that the generation of energy in the system will increase as we become more deeply conscious of power, and that this deeper consciousness invariably follows deep thought; but it is not possible to think deeply so long as the mind is in chaos.
Confusion of mind tends to make thinking superficial, while harmony and peace tend to make thinking deep and high. It is consequently the still mind that attains the greatest insight into principles, laws and great truths; not the mind that is inactive, but the mind that combines high action with deep stillness. Therefore whenever there is confusion in mind we should never attempt to solve problems that require keen judgment, and we should never make important resolutions nor final conclusions while upset or disturbed.
It is not only deep thought, understanding and truth, however, that come to the silent mind. As stated above, an increase of power comes in the same way. All psychologists now admit that the subjective side of mind is the great reservoir from which proceed the waters of life, power and thought, and so great is the subjective that its supply is inexhaustible. Consequently, if we would bring forth more abundantly the life and power from within, we must enter more deeply into the inner life; or, in other words, the outer mind of action must come into closer touch with the inner mind of power and life.
Return to top
The electrical motor will receive all the power it may require to perform its work when connected with the dynamo. In like manner, when we connect the outer mind -the mind that does things -with the inner source of power, enough power will be received to accomplish whatever we may desire. This is perfectly rational, because it has been conclusively demonstrated that the subjective, or subconscious mind is inexhaustible. The outer mind therefore can receive just as much power as it can use, provided it is properly connected with the source -the great within.
To bring the outer mind and the inner mind together so that the latter can give fully and the former receive fully, is the high art of which we speak, and it is usually called entering the silence; but the result of the silence is more than this. Through the cultivation of the silent attitude, we not only establish a perfect unity with the mind that works and the mind that supplies the power; we also develop that perfect poise which prevents the waste of power. To receive more power from the subjective, and to use properly all this power in the objective, is the two-fold purpose; and both are attained through the silence.
The fact that the average person wastes more than two-thirds of the power generated in his system, is a fact that must necessarily cause the deepest possible interest in this subject; and the fact that the lack of poise is the principal cause of this waste will necessarily cause everybody to take up the practice of the silence who has better health and greater things in view. There is no profit in gaining more power from within so long as we are unable to conserve it and properly employ it in the without. The cultivation of poise, therefore, becomes an absolute necessity in all this work. By poise we do not mean inaction, but perfect harmonious action. It is a state wherein all the forces and elements of being are working together for construction.
Return to top
There is no energy thrown away. All is profitably employed in building up body, mind, character or talent. In the attitude of poise you realize that you have full possession -of all the forces of your being, and that you have full control over them, not by trying to control them, but by virtue of the fact that you are in the attitude of poise.
To be in the attitude of poise is to control yourself without trying to do so. In the nervous, restless, disturbed attitude, your forces leave you and you are always weaker, but in the attitude of poise your forces accumulate in the system, and at tunes to such an extent that you feel as if you were a living magnet. That such an accumulation of energy, with a knowledge concerning its proper direction for use and development, can make any mind great and cause the body to become brimful of health, vigor and virility, must certainly be evident to all.
There are many minds that think they are well poised who are simply quiet in a physical sense. They will usually find various states of restlessness in mind that are just as wasteful as the tangible confusion on the surface. That person who lives in constant nervous agitation is no worse off than the quiet individual who trembles in the within. Both lack poise, and both are throwing their precious energies to the winds.
Return to top
To attain poise we should not simply enter a silent state of mind every day for a definite period of time, but should cultivate a still state of living, thinking, acting and speaking. Special effort should be made to do all things in harmony and in order. Gradually the attitude of poise will establish itself more deeply, until before long we can actually feel poise; and to find a greater joy than the feeling of poise would be difficult.
To take a brief period every day for silent thought and deeper realization is of the highest importance, but to make it a practice to be mentally still just before we proceed with any particular work, is of still greater importance.
The real purpose of silence is the development of the art of thinking and working constructively. However, it is a well-known fact that many new experiences and higher states of consciousness may be gained through the cultivation of a lofty and serene state of mind. Though this is true, it is a question if there is anything to be gained by conquering new worlds while the worlds in which we already live remain undeveloped. When we learn to think and work constructively, we can make so much out of this life, this present state of consciousness, that we shall not have occasion to think of other realms for some time to come.
Return to top
Then, it is also well to remember in this connection that we cannot take possession of new mental worlds until our present worlds have given us all the life, all the power, and all the worth that they possess. To develop that attitude of mind wherein all action becomes constructive, therefore, should be the object of the silence, and to promote this object the silence should not be practiced for the purpose of becoming inactive, but for the purpose of becoming poised while in action.
Many have taken silent moments for the purpose of stilling all actions, and this may be required at times, but we shall find that there will be no occasion for absolute mental inaction when all the actions of the mind are in poise. The well poised mind never feels exhausted, nor is it natural that it should. The electrical motor continues to be full of power so long as it is properly connected with the dynamo.
In like manner, a well-poised mind, being in perfect touch with the inexhaustible source of power within, and at the same time constantly developing the power already in action, cannot feel otherwise but full of energy at all times. The only reason why we feel exhausted, is because we get out of poise when we work; and to avoid this we must not merely practice the silence in a room by ourselves; we must also live, think and work in the calm, serene attitude.
Return to top
To be in the silence is not to be in a dormant state, but to feel that you are in perfect touch with the fullness of life and the true expression of that life, which is always calm, strong and serene. The silence is a state of consciousness that unites the outer with the inner, and that maintains the outer life in such an attitude that all is harmony and true expression.
The highest activity is possible only in the silent consciousness, and the best work is always done in such a state. You may be very active in the body, and yet be in the silence; you may be in the midst of confusion, and yet be in such perfect mental calm that you are not in the least disturbed. It is not only possible to be in the silence of calmness and serenity at all times, but it is the only true state in which to live, think or act; and to attain this state is one of the greatest essentials to perfect health.
The use of strong, positive and constructive affirmations is the most effective when the mind is in the silence, or in a calm state of deep feeling. To secure the best results from the use of affirmations, place the mind in a quiet attitude and think peacefully of the deepest states of feeling that you can conceive in your mind. Be comfortably seated in a quiet room, by yourself if possible, though this is not absolutely necessary. You can enter this calm and deeply quiet state anywhere or at any time when you are by yourself or in the company of congenial souls. When you feel that you are becoming inwardly still, proceed to repeat your affirmations.
Return to top
Take a number of good affirmations that declare the present health and strength of your entire being, and repeat each one several times with deep and serene feeling. Think of the truth of each affirmation as going directly into the very depth of your system, permeating and making alive with health and wholeness every atom in your system. Then deeply impress upon your mind the fact that what you affirm is true, and you will realize more and more the very life and presence, all through yourself, of that very truth that makes man free.
To those who have undertaken the development of the superior nature in man, which necessarily includes physical health, mental wholeness and personal power, the silence will be found indispensable, but the exact meaning and purpose of the silence is not generally understood. To a large number it means simply silence; that is, being quiet; but of all actions the silent state is the most active. To others the silence means an inner contact with the psychical forces in man, but here we should remember that the silent state to which we refer has absolutely nothing to do with those forces.
The majority possibly believe that to enter the silence is to think of nothing, to keep the mind in a perfect blank, and to be mentally still absolutely; but there is more real thinking in the silent state than in any other mental state that can be produced in mind. To enter the silence is to enter into the consciousness of the absolute; to gain the most perfect realization possible of the real power, the real wisdom, the real wholeness, the real virtue, the real harmony, the real purity, the real health, the real happiness, the real ability, the real talent, the real genius, and the real greatness that is latent in man.
Return to top
To enter the silence is not only to enter into the subconscious, but to place the mind in touch with the absolute life that constitutes the very soul of the subconscious. It is to enter the great within, and to enter even the within of the great within. In other words, to enter the silence is to place mind in perfect touch with the source of all things. The purpose of the silence, therefore, is to penetrate the larger, the greater and the more perfect that is latent in man, so that mind may become conscious of the limitless that exists in the within.
That there is unbounded power in man is easily demonstrated, and that man has within himself the capacity to comprehend greater and greater wisdom without end, is evident to all who have been in touch with the cosmic state; and to enter the silence is to enter this immense field or wisdom and power -the cosmic or the universal the limitless sea of absolute life that permeates all things.
The silence is called the silence, because the outer mind must be stilled before consciousness can enter the inner state of the silence, but consciousness itself at such times becomes more active than it ever was before, though it is an action that is so perfect in harmony and in rhythm that it can only be discerned by the finer perceptions of the inner sense.
Return to top
To enter the silence is to enter the innermost chamber of mind and close the door. The external is for the time being eliminated in a measure from thought and attention; but a mistake to be avoided is to try to shut out the external entirely. Many do this and fail, and the reason why is simple; when you try to shut out the external, you turn attention upon the external. You resist the external, and thereby cause the actions of mind to move outwardly towards the surface of thought and feeling. To enter the innermost chamber of mind, however, the actions of mind must move away from the external towards the internal.
When trying to enter the silent state, no attention should be paid to those thoughts that may try to crowd in from without, nor to the tendency of mind to wander all over the universe. When entering the silence, we are not concerned with the thoughts of the outer mind, and must not try to still them. Such attempts will only cause attention to come out to the surface and scatter its energies wherever the mind may choose to roam. It is not possible to still the outer mind by trying to do so. The tendency of the mind to wander can be removed only by training consciousness to come in constant contact with the silent and peaceful within. When the whole of attention is concentrated upon the peaceful within, all the actions of mind will become serene without any effort being made to make them so; and this is the one perfect method for removing the roaming tendency of the mind.
To enter the silence, picture the absolute life as pervading all things in an inner, finer plane, and picture this life as being the very highest form of activity, though at the same time absolutely still. Then concentrate attention upon this high, still activity that permeates your entire being. To think of this absolute life within you, and within every fiber of your being, visible or invisible, as being both active and still to the most perfect degree, will cause the mind to become deeply interested in that life; and it is deep interest that produces perfect concentration. To concentrate perfectly upon the high, still activity within will in a few moments cause the mind to enter that state of high, still activity, and then you are in the silence.
Return to top
The consciousness of the silent state has any number of degrees, from the smallest perception of the silence to the full realization of the absolute state itself. The entering of the silence is therefore a process of growth and development that has practically no end. This fact becomes evident when we realize that the silence is not merely being still in mind and body, but the perpetual ascension of consciousness into the absolute. When consciousness grows in the realization of the silent life, then mind and body will of themselves gradually become more serene. The forces of mind and body will move more peacefully and more harmoniously, and will also become much finer and a great deal stronger. Practically all waste of energy will be prevented. The human system will therefore have unlimited power at its command.
At first thought the silence may seem to be a purely esoteric process, having no value in practical life, but a clearer understanding of the purpose of the silence will prove conclusively that it is absolutely necessary to the best results in any form of life, thought or action. In the average person the surface of life is more or less like the rolling sea, turbulent, wild and stormy; but in the depths absolute calm forever reigns supreme; and the problem is whether a person wishes to draw his power, his thought and his life from the discord and the confusion on the surface, or go to the depths of life, where power is immensely strong, thinking clear and comprehension practically without bounds.
Whatever a person may undertake to do in life, he needs clear thought, calm judgment, a serene, well-poised personality, harmony of action, perfect concentration, and all the mental power he can possibly secure, but it is only through the silence that these essentials may be provided. When we realize that the purpose of the silence is to open the mind more and more to the limitless possibilities that exist in the real life of man, we understand perfectly why the silence can give better health to the body, more perfect harmony to the personality, greater power to the mind, clearer thought to mentality, greater brilliancy to the intellect, and greater capacity to any faculty or talent.
Return to top
To practice the silence is to train the mind to draw upon the greatness that is latent in man; to constantly break bounds; to transcend the limited; and to live more and more in that power that makes all things possible. To practice the silence is to constantly press on towards greater things, because to enter into the more perfect consciousness of that absolute life that permeates all things is to gain possession of that life that produces greater things. In other words, to practice the silence is to learn to use in practical life the wisdom and the power of the superior self.
When entering the silence, no attempt should be made to cause the mind to become a blank. To try to do so is to pervert the actions of the mind, because it is not possible to stop thinking. To live is to think, and since you cannot suspend life, you cannot suspend thought. He who tries to make his mind a blank is simply turning his attention upon whatever ideas he may have of nothingness, and will thereby think just as much about those ideas as he does about tangible things. The result of such thinking will be the formation of a number of false conditions in the mentality, conditions that will interfere directly with clear, consecutive thinking.
When entering the silence, do not think of mystical forces. To enter into those forces is not to enter into the life of the absolute, and the purpose of the silence is to go directly into that life that is absolute. To enter the silence is not to enter into the so-called finer grades of the mental forces or vibrations, but to enter into the consciousness of those principles and laws through which the very finest and the most powerful forces may be brought forth into peaceful, harmonious action.
Return to top
When attention is centered upon different forces or states of being, the mind cannot enter into the consciousness of the principle that lies back of those forces or states; therefore to enter the silence we must turn attention upon the absolute life at once, and continue to hold attention upon that life by being deeply interested in the perfect calm and the high action of that life.
Instead of trying to keep the mind from thinking, proceed to think about the real, the worthy and the superior that is latent in every part of mind and life. Proceed to form higher and more perfect mental conceptions of the real, the limitless and the absolute, and try to comprehend that greatness that is greatness, that harmony that is harmony, that perfect health that is perfect health, that strength and wholeness that is strength and wholeness. Every step in that direction means another degree in the silent state, the state of the absolute life; and every step taken in the consciousness of this state will make the personality more powerful and more serene, while the mind will become larger in capacity and more brilliant in thought.
When entering the silence, all anxiety must be avoided, and no feeling must be sentimental. Every tendency towards the emotional will cause the mind to become confused with psychical forces, while anxiety will cause the mind to think too much about those tangible results that are desired instead of turning the whole of attention upon that power that can produce any results desired. To enter the silence, keep the mental eye single upon the great within, and think only of the absolute life -the life that is in perpetual action -action that is immensely strong, very high, yet absolutely still.
In the application of the principles and methods of metaphysics for the prevention and cure of human ills, the use of strong positive affirmations, or what may be termed statements of truth, is highly important; in fact, it is absolutely necessary, and the reason why is found in the fact that the subconscious is one of the prime factors in every phase of this work; and to secure subconscious action the use of affirmations in some form is always required.
The subconscious is the garden of the mind and will promote the growth of any kind of seed, be it good or otherwise. Every thought that we think when the mind is in deep feeling will be a seed sown in the subconscious mind and will without fail produce fruit after its kind. This being true we cannot begin too soon to train the mind to think only the truth; and to affirm statements of truth frequently is the simplest, most direct and most efficient method for training the mind in this respect. It should therefore receive thorough attention and should be made a permanent part of life.
Affirmations should be used daily, but we should not permit them to become mere mechanical repetitions of words. Every statement of truth should be deeply felt as truth and should be affirmed as absolute truth. When we employ an affirmation as a mere suggestion its greatest power is lost, because it is the conviction that a statement of truth is a truth that causes the thought of that truth to be impressed deeply and thoroughly upon the mind. The more deeply we feel that the affirmation is the truth the more firmly we establish the thought of that truth. When we impress the subconscious with some vital truth the subconscious will respond with mental states that are created in the likeness of that truth. The result will be the expression of true conditions in the entire system.
Another matter of importance is to express the statements of truth in the present tense. IT IS TRUE NOW, should be the soul of every affirmation, and this "soul" should be deeply felt in every fiber of our being. When you think or say that you are going to get certain things you desire, you impress the subconscious with the idea that those things can be secured in the future but do not exist for you in the present. The result is that the subconscious will not produce those things for you at the present time.
Return to top
When you impress the subconscious with the idea that any particular condition or quality does not exist in the present, or that it is expected to appear only in the future, the subconscious can only respond with nothing for the present. When you think or affirm that you are now sick but hope to get well, you impress the subconscious with the idea that you are now sick, and the subconscious will accordingly respond by producing more sickness for the present. This fact will be a new thought to many, but it is a thought of extreme importance.
Whatever we impress upon the subconscious that we are now, that the subconscious will create for us now; and everything that we affirm with deep feeling will be impressed upon the subconscious. When we make the statement, "I am well," we impress the subconscious with the idea that we have health now, and the subconscious will respond by giving us more health now. Many minds, however, do not think it consistent to say they are well when they really feel sick, but this seeming contradiction disappears when you know that the real man is well, and that you are the real man.
When you impress the subconscious with the truth about the real man the subconscious will respond by giving the personal man those very qualities that are possessed by the real man. When you impress the subconscious with your opinions about the personal man you are sowing inferior seeds, many of which may become obnoxious weeds; and the subconscious will accordingly produce more of those personal imperfections, ills, troubles, weaknesses, etc., that were previously impressed in this manner. This is what a great many people do, and therefore never succeed in making the person as strong or as healthy as nature has the power to cause it to be. On the other hand, when you impress the subconscious with the truth about the real man you are sowing superior seeds in the garden of life and good fruits will appear in the personal man -the fruits of health, harmony, peace, freedom, power, purity, righteousness, wisdom, joy, spirituality and scores of others that are in the likeness of the perfect man.
Return to top
Whatever you sow in the subconscious will bear fruit without fail. Therefore it is absolutely necessary to sow good seeds only; and to impress upon the subconscious the truth about the real man is to sow good seeds. This is done by affirming absolute truth in the present tense.
Since the real man is well and since you are the real man, you would simply be speaking the truth about yourself when you say, "I am well."
At the same time you are impressing health upon the subconscious, and the subconscious will respond by expressing health into every part of mind and body.
Return to top
The use of affirmations and positive suggestions is practically the A, B, C's of metaphysics and like all A, B, C's will be needed constantly. Never give up your affirmations, but aim to make the act of affirming the true, the ideal and the wholesome so perfect that you become a living affirmation of your own sublime ideals. Aim to give your affirmations more life, more spirit, more soul, and before long every thought you think and every word you speak will contain soul.
Then you will actually think and speak with power; your words will carry weights; they will attract attention and produce lasting impressions; and your thought will produce any conditions in the body that you may clearly picture in the mind.
The use of affirmations along the lines of constructive thinking will gradually correct all wrong habits of thinking. In fact, to affirm constantly the ideal is to train the mind to think the ideal, and to think the ideal is to make real the ideal. To think that you are well is to train the mind in wholesome thinking, and such thinking leads to wholesome living in mind and body.
Return to top
The result will be perfect health through and through the entire human system.
There are a number of metaphysical systems that have been based upon the idea that we should deny the evil and affirm the good, and at first sight this idea seems right and good, but when we examine this subject more closely we come to a different conclusion.
In the first place we may ask why we should deny evil, why should we devote time and energy in trying to destroy something that has no actual existence. It is a well-known fact, and is admitted by the best thinkers in the world that evil in its last analysis is simply a condition that implies the absence of something that nature requires to be there. It is therefore simply emptiness, and emptiness cannot be said to have existence; nor can the condition we call emptiness be changed by acting upon that condition itself.
Return to top
We must act upon something if we wish to fill a place where there is nothing, but we cannot act upon something while our attention is centered upon nothing. That person, however, who makes it a practice of denying evil is mentally acting upon nothing, and is thereby using his mental energy in trying to drive away an empty condition.
We have been told that when we deny evil we remove false belief from the mind, and that false belief must be removed before right belief or truth can find a place; but this idea has no place whatever in exact scientific thinking. We do not have to drive the darkness out before the light can come in. We do not have to remove the emptiness from the pail before we can pour in the water.
We do not have to remove that which is nothing before we can introduce that which is something. We conclude, therefore, that it is simply a waste of time to employ denials; and besides, it can be readily demonstrated that any system of denials may become a serious obstacle to the attainment of health, freedom and the higher development of mind and soul.
Return to top
Denials, however, are said to be effective, and that is true in some instances; but they affect the mind in the same way that opiates affect the body. That is, they deaden the mind to the existence of conditions and this is an effect that we do not desire.
In this connection we must remember that it is not the denial itself that produces this effect but the force of mind that goes with it. We might continue denials for ages and have no results whatever if no mental force were employed in the process; but mental force employed for the purpose of impressing denials upon the mind is a misuse both of force and mind. Those impressions that are forced upon the mind during the process will establish in the mind the very nothingness that we are trying to deny. The result will be another harvest of empty conditions in the mind.
That the mental force employed in these denials is misdirected is readily understood when we realize that all mental force is misdirected that is not turned into constructive channels; and no constructive process can possibly follow the use of mental force in denying the existence of nothing. It is the misdirection of energy that causes all the trouble in the world; therefore to avoid it absolutely must be our purpose, and this is accomplished by training the entire mind to become constructive.
Return to top
Constructive thinking is based upon the principle that everything that is real is good; that every force, every element, every personality, every individuality, every law, every quality, every attribute, every principle -everything that has independent or permanent existence is good. When the good is misdirected we produce a condition that we call evil, and this condition is an empty state, the result of the absence of the good. And here we should remember that no place can be filled by anything but reality, and also that all reality is in itself good.
When the good is misdirected it fails to go where it should go. It will therefore be absent temporarily from its true sphere, and it is this temporary absence of the good that causes evil conditions, or what might be termed states of emptiness. It is the fullness of life that makes for a perfect life. Therefore, empty conditions are contrary to the natural order of things, and for this reason produce pain; but the pain is a good friend provided by nature to inform us that we are not living the full life.
The misdirection of the good, or the wrong use of reality, comes from an incomplete mental conception of life. This condition forms in mind a wrong idea that serves while it lasts as a pattern for thinking. "As a man thinketh, so is he." Therefore if his thoughts are wrong, wrongs will be formed in his system, and he forms wrong thoughts by conceiving false ideas about life, and those things that exist in any sphere of life. It is evident therefore that the secret of overcoming evil lies in removing false ideas, and this is accomplished by creating true ideas.
Return to top
To try to remove false ideas by denying them away is not to remove them at all, but to so blind our mental eyes that we do not see them and also to so deaden our sensibilities that we do not feel their effects. False ideas will not disappear until true ideas are formed. So long as we think about certain things we will have ideas about those things and we will continue to have false ideas until we find the true ideas. When the true ideas are formed the false ones will be no more, because no mind can think the false after it has begun to think the true.
In the face of these facts the idea of driving out false ideas by some fixed system of denials becomes utterly absurd. We know that ignorance will remain until knowledge comes, but when knowledge comes, ignorance will of itself entirely disappear. The secret, therefore, is to know the truth; to grow in the truth; to keep the eye single upon the absolute truth, and to perpetually enlarge the mind in a more and more perfect understanding of the truth. When light and truth enter the mind, wrong will disappear, and sickness will vanish, poverty will disappear, and troubles will be no more.
Bring in the light, waste no time in fighting the darkness either in the body or in the mind. To bring in the light and to work exclusively for the increase of that light is to enter the path of the life we all desire to live. Never deny evil. Never think of evil. Forget it entirely; and the best way to forget evil is to think only about the good in yourself, about the good in others, about the good in the universe.
Return to top
To train the mind to think of the good, and the good only, affirmations should be used daily and continually. The purpose of an affirmation is to help the mind to keep the eye single upon the ideal that we desire to realize, and as we wish to direct the mental eye upon higher and higher ideals constantly, we may use affirmations to advantage for an indefinite period. We should avoid the ordinary use of affirmations, however, as it becomes too frequently a system of valueless and mechanical suggestions. An affirmation properly used culminates in realization; and in the proper use of an affirmation the first principle to be observed is that it is true.
An affirmation is the truth about some principle, quality or attribute in life expressed in such a way as to convey to the mind the essence of that truth. Since an affirmation is a truth, the mind must express that affirmation as a truth, and must inwardly feels that it is the truth. It is when the mind feels the soul of an affirmation that the truth is realized. When an affirmation is expressed it should be expressed because we know it is true and should therefore be used constantly, because it is our desire to constantly express that which is true.
Do not use an affirmation as you would some ordinary remedy to be taken when in pain and at other times put away. There are thousands of metaphysical students who employ affirmations in this fashion. They affirm the truth when they desire to secure certain results, but at other times they think whatever may happen along. Accordingly the results they secure are neither remarkable nor numerous. An affirmation should be lived, and should be expressed, not for temporary results but for a permanent realization of a larger life. When the larger life is realized all other results that we may desire will surely follow.
Return to top
The formation or wording of an affirmation should be left to the individual, and in each instance that affirmation should give expression to the highest conception of truth that has been attained. An affirmation should not deal with relative truth, but with absolute truth; and the difference can be illustrated by the two statements, "I am better," and "I am well." The statement, "I am better," is a relative truth, it deals with a changing state and no changing state can serve as a permanent ideal for right thinking.
Therefore, such affirmations are of very little value. The statement, "I am well," is an absolute truth, because in the absolute or in the perfect all is well; and we can conceive of no higher ideal in the world of wholeness than that of being absolutely well. Such a statement therefore gives expression to the real truth as it is, and will also inspire the mind to produce thought and mental states in the exact likeness of that truth.
When sickness appears in the body affirm, "I am well," and know that it is the truth, because you, the real you, the individuality, the real "I am," always is well. As you affirm this statement think of the absolute wholeness that permeates your being, and keep the mental eye single upon this absolutely perfect state. In this way perfect health becomes your ideal, and all your thinking will become healthful. Every thought you think will accordingly contain the power of health, and as your thought is so will also be the states and conditions of your personality.
Return to top
The statement, "I am well," however, should not simply be used when sickness appears in the body. It is a statement that every mind should think at all times, because it is the truth about the true being; and the person who always thinks the truth about the true being, will always be as well in body and mind as he is in the perfections of his true being. Live and think constantly the statement, "I am well," and you always will be well.
Every quality or state of being should be affirmed in the absolute truth and not in the form of a changing ideal. Learn to see the whole of yourself from the standpoint of the perfect and think of every quality, talent or power in your possession, as you know it is in the perfect. Affirmations of absolute truth should never be expressed audibly unless you are teaching the use of affirmations to another. There are many reasons for this, though the principal reason is that the thoughts we hold sacred have the greatest power. Every affirmation should be a strong, and quiet aspiration that draws the entire mind into a higher state.
With this attitude of mind there should be a perfect faith that the soul's desire will be realized now, that it is even now realized, which is true in the absolute; and we should always base our affirmations and faith upon what is true in the absolute.
Return to top
Affirm the positive and the true of all things in your life, and whenever you express an affirmation think of the inner truth that the statement contains. Concentrate upon the spirit of the thoughts you think, and the truth you know those thoughts to contain will become a power in your life. While affirming the absolute truth about any quality or power that exists within you it is well, though not absolutely necessary, to desire the outward expression of that quality or power, because what is realized in the within will of itself, express itself in the without.
Everything in the personal life will gradually change for the better as the mind grows in the understanding of absolute truth. The first and greatest essential, therefore, is to change the within, and to attain an ever growing understanding of that which is true of the real man.
Wrong thought is the root of all evil. Right thought is the cause of all good. The art of right thinking, therefore, becomes one of the highest arts in existence, and its attainment one of the noblest aims of the human soul. To think right is to think the truth. Accordingly, the art of right thinking is cultivated by training the mind to think the truth. The average mind has been thinking wrong thoughts so long that wrong thinking has become a habit, and a very undesirable habit, as we all know. This habit we must overcome if we would have perfect health; and the only way to overcome bad habits is to cultivate good ones.
Therefore, if we would overcome the habit of wrong thinking, we must cultivate the habit of right thinking; and for this purpose there is no method that is superior to that of concentrating the mind upon positive affirmations and constructive statements of truth. Everybody is advised to use this method extensively, whether in perfect health or not, and if used properly no one can fail to obtain most excellent results. We shall present herewith a number of these statements that may be employed with great profit whenever the elimination of the wrong and the attainment of the right is desired.
To proceed, concentrate the mind upon each statement for a brief period of time, say several minutes if possible, and during this concentration repeat the statement mentally over and over again for a number of times. These repetitions or affirmations should be made slowly, quietly and with deeply felt conviction. You will find it profitable to spend from fifteen to thirty minutes two or three times a day at this practice, but do not permit the practice to become merely mechanical.
No results will be secured unless the whole heart, the whole mind and the whole soul are in the work; and while affirming these statements realize by all means that they are absolutely true absolutely true about the soul, the true self, the real man, which is you yourself. A few of these statements are as follows. You can form and employ others as you desire:
Return to top
I am strong and well. I am a soul. I have a body. I am master over myself. I can be what I will to be. I will be what I will to be. All good things are within me. I am one with the Infinite. I am pure spirit, and spirit is perfect. I am filled with the fullness of life. I am filled with the spirit of health. I am perfectly free and always shall be. I have perfect health in abundance. I have life and power in abundance. I am well, I am well, I am well.
I am strong, I am strong, I am strong. I am perfect in being, through and through. I am peace, I am joy, I am harmony. Nothing but the good shall come to me. I desire nothing but that which is good. I am pure and clean in thought and speech. I shall seek only the right in every action.
My life is filled with the beautiful and the true. I love everybody and desire everybody to love me. I am in harmony with every creature in existence. Spirit is in perfect health, and I am a spiritual being. I am always happy, for I am living the life beautiful. Peace, power and plenty are my constant companions. My body is real and good, and all its functions are good. The blessings of health, happiness and harmony are forever mine. I am the real man, and the real man is always well. I know the truth and the truth has made me free. I am strong in the spirit, for invincible power is mine. Infinite power is in me, for I am one with the Supreme. I can do what I will to do, for my life is my own. I am living the life of the spirit, the life of infinite good.
Return to top
Every thought that I think, I think in oneness with divine wisdom. Every word that I speak, I speak in oneness with divine truth. I live and move and have my being in the infinite sea of divine spirit. The future is mine. I have the power to determine what it shall be. I have faith in God, I have faith in man, I have faith in myself. My whole life is in my own hands; I can do with it whatsoever I will. Within me dwell infinite possibilities. My future is wonderful.
I rejoice eternally that I am blessed with the precious gift of existence. I am filled with the fullness of health and shall always be perfectly well. I am living the one life and that life is infinite, perfect, divine. With God all things are possible, and I am eternally one with God. I live and move and have my being in the infinite sea of omnipresent good. I am filled and surrounded with infinite power, infinite wisdom, infinite love.
I have found the true life, and I have learned how to live. I am able to do whatsoever I will to do, for I am spirit, and spirit is above limitations. I am loving, tender and sympathetic; just, truthful and sincere; patient, gentle and kind. Whatsoever I will is good, for my will is divine will, and divine will is infinite will. Whatsoever belongs to God belongs to me, for I am a child of the Supreme and heir to His Kingdom.
Return to top
Whatsoever is in God is in me, for I am created in His image and likeness. All good is in the spirit, and the spirit is in me; therefore all good is in me. I now realize the perfect health that is in me, and in that health I shall ever live.
The real substance of my being is always wholesome, always clean, always in health, strength and harmony.
I am perfectly well through and through, for I am made of that substance that is always in perfect health.
Return to top
I am living forever in the kingdom of good. Therefore I shall always have abundance of everything that is good. Limitless supply is mine.
I am a spiritual being. The spirit is the everlasting home of joy. Therefore my ways are ways of pleasantness and all my paths are peace.
I am free from all disease, all misfortune, all sorrow, all want, all ignorance, all evil. I am living in the truth and am perfectly free.
Return to top
I forgive everybody to the utmost for what they might have done against me, and ask everybody to forgive me for what I might have done against them.
All the souls of the universe are my brothers and sisters; we are all children of the one God; we are all rays of the one Great Light; and in this spiritual unity I shall ever live.
Peace is mine, freedom is mine, health is mine, power is mine, strength is mine, abundance is mine, wisdom is mine, joy is mine, love is mine -all good things are mine.
Return to top
I think the good, speak the good, act the good. I seek the good and find only the good. I attract the good and radiate the good. I am surrounded by the good and live the good. Nothing but the good can proceed from me or come to me.
I am created of pure, spiritual substance, and in spiritual substance there can be no evil. Therefore neither disease, poverty, tribulation, weariness, misfortune nor distress can enter my real being; neither can sad or dreary days appear in the luminous pathway of my soul.
The violent storms of anguish can never rage upon the crystal sea of spirit, neither can the turbulent billows of passion beat upon its fair, eternal shore. And I am living in the spirit, now and forevermore.
Return to top
My life is full of beauty and bliss. I am eternally basking in the celestial sunshine of divine love, and forever surrounded by the balmy atmosphere of peace. The holy book of divine wisdom is ever before me, and the radiant light of truth leads me wherever I may choose to go.
The magic wand of divine power is ever in my hand, and at my command all the elements of nature arise with pleasure to fulfill my desire. My life is overflowing with supreme joy, speechless ecstasy and ceaseless delight. I have found the true life. I have learned how to live. All is beautiful, and all is well.
The foregoing statements of truth are truths indeed. They are truths about you, the real you, the soul, the spirit, the real man that is always well. From the standpoint of the body these statements will of course appear to be untrue, but here we should remember that the truth, when viewed from the false standpoint, always seems false. When we affirm these statements, however, we are not speaking of the body.
Return to top
We are speaking of the soul, the spirit, the real you, the "I Am," and if you will analyze the nature of the soul or the "I Am," you will find that the above statements, when applied to the soul, are absolutely true. Always remember that you are the soul.
The body is your instrument. The body is therefore dependent upon you, the soul, for all its conditions; and the conditions of the body, be they health or disease, happiness or distress, power or weakness -all are results of what you think. As long as you think the untruth, evil and wrong conditions will appear in your body.
There will be disease, poverty, distress, misfortune, and the like; but as soon as you learn to think the truth, those conditions will disappear and good conditions will manifest in the body instead. There will be health, happiness, plenty, peace, comfort, harmony, wisdom and power.
Return to top
The soul, or the "I Am," already has within itself everything that is good, and if you would have all of these good things from within express themselves in your personality, you must think and live right. You must think the truth and think it constantly. Before there can be action in the without there must be thought in the within, and as is the thought within so will be the action without.
Most minds in their present state are thinking too much of the untruth; therefore adverse conditions are constantly appearing in their personalities; but when all such minds proceed to train themselves to think the truth, there will soon be a change for the better.
To train the mind to think the truth, begin by affirming the above statements of truth as previously indicated. Read them, think them, and repeat them with power, earnestness and conviction. Commit them to memory, if possible, and make them a part of your conscious thinking. Say these things to yourself mentally at frequent intervals and deeply believe that they are all true.
Return to top
When you employ these affirmations, or others that convey the same constructive thought, know that you are speaking the truth about your real self, that something within you that is always well, and to speak and think the truth about your real self is to cause those same true conditions that are in the real self to come forth into the personal self. In brief, when you recognize the light of truth and health that is in you, you turn on that light in your entire domain; and when the light of truth and health is turned on in your life, the darkness of weakness, disorder and illness will disappear.
A great many people have tried to practice right thinking according to the laws of metaphysical science, but they have failed to give more power to their thinking. Results, therefore, have been limited. The next step is the development of spiritual consciousness, through which greater quality, greater worth and greater power may be given to every thought. We shall then, not only receive what we desire, but we shall receive the best in abundance.
The first essential is to realize that every thought has a definite effect upon the body, that all present conditions in the body can be modified or entirely removed by certain mental states, and that new physical conditions can be formed at any time by simply creating the corresponding states of mind. When this realization becomes clear, the mind gains a deeper hold, so to speak, upon the forces of thought, and can therefore control, direct or change those forces more effectually as the understanding of the metaphysical process develops.
To produce this realization, impress deeply, upon the mind the fact that thoughts are things, and that every thought is a power -a power that can and does produce tangible effects in the body. Think constantly of the fact that the states of the mind are the causes, and the conditions of the body the effects, and that you can change the effects by changing the causes. Think deeply and with feeling and conviction upon all of these great subjects until you realize that the nature of thought is perfectly clear.
The second essential is to control your thinking, your mental states, your feelings, your desires, your actions and your living, both in the physical and the metaphysical spheres of life. In other words, create only those causes in your life that will naturally produce the effects you desire. To control thinking is not to try to exercise mastery over your present states of mind or modes of thoughts, but to proceed to think exactly what you desire to think, ignoring absolutely every habitual thought that is not in harmony with that desire.
The principle of psychotherapy is based upon the fact that undesirable conditions will disappear from the human system just as soon as the opposite states are created and placed in full action, and the secret, therefore, of this mode of cure is not to try to drive out disease, but to proceed to create health. There can be no sickness in the body so long as the mind is constantly creating health, and the mind continues to create health so long as every thought is wholesome and every idea based upon the fact that the principle of health is a part of life itself.
Return to top
Real life is health, therefore everything that lives has within itself the power of health, and where the power of health is fully expressed in the body there can be no disease. To create health in the system is to awaken and express that power of health that is latent in the system, and this is accomplished through wholesome thinking, and the thinking of health as a real, permanent factor in the system. In other words, keep your mind concentrated upon the great fact that you have the power of health in every part of your system. Then train all your thinking to act in harmony with that fact. To concentrate your attention upon the fact that your system is filled with the full power of health is to impress the subconscious with the idea of health, and the subconscious will accordingly proceed to express the full power of health.
The subconscious mind always does what it is impressed to do, and whatever we think deeply with feeling and conviction will impress itself upon the subconscious. To mentally picture perfect health in every part of the body will also impress the idea of health upon the subconscious, and health will in consequence be created and expressed in every part of the body. To give the subconscious mind full freedom, however, to work out the health-producing process, all thinking must be wholesome.
When thinking in general is unwholesome, conditions of disease will be formed in the system, and these will interfere with the expression of those conditions of health that the mind is trying to create. At such times a part of the mind will be working for health, while the other part will be working against health. This accounts for the fact that the average human being is seldom entirely well.
Return to top
To promote wholesome thinking, the first essential is to cultivate the calm attitude. The second essential is to eliminate wrong thinking by cultivating right thinking; and the third essential is to mentally live in the reality of the ideal, or what may be termed sublime realism. The calm attitude is necessary first, because it stores up energy, thus giving greater strength to mind and body, and second, because it gives self-possession, one of the great essentials in the control of mind and thought. To turn the energies of mind into wholesome and healthful channels of thought, a certain amount of self-control is absolutely necessary, but no one can develop self-control or self-possession until the calm attitude is attained.
There are many causes for the failures that are sometimes found among those who attempt to apply the principles of right thinking and ideal living, but there is nothing that produces more of such failures than the absence of the calm attitude. When the mind is not calm, it cannot act without scattering its forces to a considerable degree, and forces that are scattered are misdirected. The result, therefore, will be mistakes, abnormal states, unwholesome conditions, weakness, and possibly ill health.
Perfect concentration is not possible unless the mind is calm, and without concentration the mind cannot think or do effectually what it is determined to think and do, and therefore cannot create those conditions of health and harmony that alone can remove adversity and disease.
Return to top
To remove wrong thinking, it is necessary to cease all anger, all worry, and all fear, and to eliminate every state of mind and action of thought that is more or less similar to these wrong states; but these wrong states of mind cannot be driven out; they will disappear only as their opposite good states are cultivated. The opposite of anger is love, kindness, sympathy, forgiveness, humaneness, mercy and justice.
The opposite of worry, faith, self-confidence, self-reliance, trust, mental sunshine, and a keen insight into the greater possibilities of life. The opposite of fear is the understanding of life, changeless law and principle, and the discernment of that finer consciousness that knows that we live, and move, and have our being in the spirit of the Supreme. To cultivate these most desirable qualities is very simple, because we naturally grow into those states, qualities, characteristics and realizations that we constantly think about with deep and undivided attention.
The third essential to wholesome thinking is to live in the reality of the ideal, that is, to mentally live in the understanding of sublime realism. This will give the mind the true understanding of everything with which it may come in contact. In other words, the mind will see the true side and the upper side of everything, and will consequently create all thought in the image of the whole the wholesome -instead of in the image of the partial, the imperfect, and the incomplete. The realism that is passing is temporary. It appears real to the senses, but it is only a passing condition, imperfect and incomplete in every way.
Return to top
It serves a purpose, however, because it is the constant coming forth of that which is complete. It is the growing expression of the universal source of all that is, and this source may be defined as sublime realism.
To enter the understanding of sublime realism is to enter the reality of the ideal, and whenever the mind grasps the real that is in the ideal, it will cause that real to be expressed. Through that mode of action the ideal becomes real, that is, the sublime reality of the ideal becomes tangible reality.
To live in sublime realism is to be conscious of the reality of the ideal, and what we become conscious of, we express more and more through body, mind and personality; therefore, by living in sublime realism we cause the ideal to become an actual fact in tangible realism.
Return to top
To live in sublime realism may seem difficult to the beginner, but it is very simple. All that is necessary is to think of the ideal, live for the ideal, and work for the ideal at all times, knowing that the ideal is real in its own sublime world, and that it can be made real in the tangible world. In addition to this, view all things from the upper side; that is, do not think of the faults or the defects that may exist in any one, but think only of the strength, the health, the wholeness, the power, the worth and the superiority that exists in everyone. When we view all things from the upper side, we develop the upper, the stronger and the more worthy side in ourselves. We thereby grow out of weakness into strength, and as sickness can exist only in weakness, we soon may become permanently well.
The great secret of metaphysical methods of healing is found in clean, wholesome thinking, combined with the constant creation of health in the subconscious mind. As the mind is, so is also the body, therefore when the entire mentality, conscious and subconscious, are clean, strong, wholesome and well, -the entire body will also be well.
To keep the physical system brimful of vital energy is one of the great secrets of health, and this is readily made possible through the proper mental attitudes and the proper application of the power of thought. No disease can gain a foothold in the system so long as the vital energy is full and strong, and no disease can long remain in the system after a decided increase in vital energy has begun. Disease thrives only in weakness, never in strength; and strength can be gained to any degree desired and retained for any length of time desired.
Return to top
The first essential is to prevent all waste of energy, and this is accomplished by training the mind to hold the entire physical system in a deep state of interior calm. Begin by forming a mental picture of what you conceive such a calm to be. Then try to feel that calm in your mind. When you are distinctly conscious of that calm state, you can hold your mind in that state by simply proceeding to do so, and in whatever state you can hold your mind, you can hold your physical system also. Train your mind to hold itself, as well as the physical system, in the deepest calm that you can possibly realize, and train yourself to live in such a calm perpetually.
To increase the supply of vital energy in the system, learn to draw upon the subconscious for a continuous increase of life and power. Remember there are layers upon layers and layers beneath layers of unused energy in the subconscious world, and we can awaken and develop as much of that dormant energy as we may require. To awaken more of this energy, turn your attention upon the subconscious at frequent intervals, and deeply but calmly desire more vital strength.
As soon as your desire for more power and energy enters the vast subconscious field of power, you will awaken more power, and added power will begin to come forth and fill your system through and through.
Return to top
The subconscious field is that deeper, or interior field of life and consciousness that permeates the physical personality within what may be called a finer state of life and action; therefore, by deeply and constantly thinking of that finer state that fills us through and through, we naturally enter into that state more and more; that is, the actions of the mind will come in contact with and enter into the life and the power of the subconscious, and whatever we strongly desire at such times will be impressed upon the subconscious. Accordingly, if we desire more vital energy at the time, we impress the subconscious to give us more vital energy; and the subconscious never fails to do what it is actually impressed to do.
Through this method any one can build up the strength and the vitality of his system until his physical as well as his mental capacity becomes remarkable; and the principal reason why so many who have learned to draw upon the subconscious for more power fail to permanently increase their strength is found in the fact that they do not retain the added strength and power gained. When the added power is received, they lose it almost immediately, because their conscious mind has not been trained to hold all of its power within its own personal domain.
If you wish to retain your power, and consequently build up greater capacity and vital strength, you must hold yourself constantly in the deep, interior calm, and live, think and act in perfect poise. Another essential in this connection is to remove the cause of weariness, and to eliminate the habit of getting tired. To feel tired is just as unnatural as it is to feel sick. Weariness is a twin sister of sickness. The two come directly or indirectly from the same cause, barring a few exceptions, and this cause is due to insufficient life force in the human system.
Return to top
When the system is full of life and energy, there can be no sickness; any more than there can be darkness in a room that is full of light. Neither can there be weariness in such a system; and since it is natural for the human system to be always full of life and energy, we must conclude that both sickness and weariness are unnatural. Both come from false conditions, or the wrong use of what is in us; therefore, neither belongs to the true order of things. When a person feels tired, it proves that he has used up energy, and has either failed to generate a new supply or has lost, through lack of poise, the new supply that has been generated. Neither of these two conditions, however, is natural.
When the system is in a natural condition, it generates strength just as rapidly as the most active personality could use it up; and a natural condition of the system always prevents the loss of every form of energy that that system may possess. Frequently the human system generates more energy, the more active we are or the more energy we apply, so that it is possible to establish a condition whereof we can say of ourselves, the more energy we use in our system, the more energy we generate in our system.
This condition is the natural outcome of the principle that much develops more, and that increase tends to promote greater increase. Under such a condition, work, if properly performed, will increase strength and capacity; and this condition is always present when nature is at her best.
Return to top
When a man is at his best, and all things in his system are working together in harmony, he never tires from his work. He is just as full of life and spirit in the evening as in the morning; and this is natural. The fact that work under natural conditions will increase strength and capacity does not indicate, however, that it is wise to work continuously in order to secure a continuous increase of strength and capacity.
It is only under natural conditions that work will increase strength and capacity; but natural conditions demand plenty of sleep and a reasonable amount of recreation. The man who secures seven or eight hours of sleep every night, and two or three hours of recreation every day, can work fourteen hours a day, six days in the week, and fifty-two weeks in the year, without ever feeling tired, that is, if he is living a natural life and has eliminated the inherited habit of getting tired.
The fact that nature generates energy in the human system just as rapidly as it is used up when conditions are natural, proves that no man has a legitimate reason for ever feeling tired. Weariness cannot possibly come from the right use of nature. When it does come, it always comes from the misuse of nature. This misuse may be one or more of various things. It may be over-eating, breathing impure air, irregularity in living, dissipation, anger, worry, excitement, nervousness, lack of poise, destructive mental states, nervous rush, indolence, any habit, and especially the habit of getting tired. It has been found, however, that a man may live a wholesome, constructive life and still feel tired at frequent intervals.
Return to top
His system may be in natural condition, and all his functions may be in harmony and expressed in useful action, still weariness comes at times, and if it does there can only be one reason, his system has the habit of getting tired. Weariness in his case does not come from any other cause whatever than simply the habit of feeling weary or getting tired after a certain amount of work has been done.
We have believed so long that it is natural to get tired, that action used up energy, that the supply would necessarily be exhausted, and that we could not help feeling weariness, as the result, that it has become a habit both to expect to get tired and to feel tired; in fact we have believed for ages that a certain amount of action would inevitably bring weariness, and that it was a credit to feel tired because it indicated that we had not been idle.
In consequence, we have through generations and generations of this belief gradually trained our systems to become tired whenever a certain amount of work has been done, regardless of the fact that our systems might be brimful of energy at the close of the day's work. In this manner we have formed the habit of getting tired, and it is a habit that has become a part of human life, so that every child is born with it to a certain extent.
Return to top
In some people the habit is not deeply seated, so that they seldom feel tired unless they misuse mind or body, while in others the habit is so deeply seated that it is second nature for them to feel tired at the close of every day. They are the people who are born tired, so to speak, and many of them usually continue to be too tired to shake off their adverse inheritance. But every inherited weakness or tendency can be absolutely removed; and the simplest way to remove the habit of getting tired is to impress the mind many times every day with the great fact that nature generates energy in your system just as fast as you use it up, and usually much faster.
Under natural conditions your system is always full and running over with vital energy, so that whether or not you are working at the highest speed, resting or in the midst of pleasure, physical or mental, your system will always be brimful of life, vitality and power, provided, of course, that you are living a natural life.
There is, therefore, no reason whatever under such conditions why you should ever feel tired in the least. The feeling of weariness is a false condition which should be removed completely, and it can be removed by becoming so interested in the fact that nature is generating more and more life force in your system the more you work, that you will forget to expect to become tired. In consequence, you can do a full day's work without feeling tired in the least when evening comes, and you can thoroughly enjoy your evenings, or devote the evening hours to study for self-improvement, because you will feel just as full of life and spirit during the evening as you did at any time during the day. You will always be full of life and spirit, and always ready to do whatever may add to your own improvement, or to the joy, the comfort and the welfare of those who may have the privilege to live in your world.
Return to top
The fact that the natural man never gets tired may cause many people to undertake more than they have the present capacity to carry through, but these should remember that the vast amount of life and energy that we receive from nature while we are living a natural life is not intended for work alone.
Useful work is a part of life, but the same is true of pleasure; it is also a part of life. In fact, an abundance of good wholesome pleasure is just as necessary to good health, and to the development of man, as sunshine is to the growth of the flowers and trees. Work while you work, but take plenty of time for pleasure. This is the method that counts in the long run; and we are living for a greater future, as well as for a larger and more enjoyable present.
To remove the habit of getting tired is absolutely necessary if perfect and continuous health is to be enjoyed, and the reason is that the moment you permit yourself to feel tired, you lower your vitality and thereby decrease the amount of your physical energy and strength. In addition, you cause your physical and mental system to enter into a negative condition whenever you feel tired or give up to the attitude of weariness; and here it is important to remember that it is only when the vitality of the system is low, or when the system is in a negative condition, that disease can gain a foothold.
Return to top
To remove the habit of getting tired, realize that it is nothing more than a habit. It is thoroughly unnatural; and you do not have to feel the condition of weariness at any time. Remember that nature generates new energy in your system just as fast as you use it, and that so long as you continue in harmonious action you give nature the power to generate more energy the more energy you apply. In other words, impress upon your mind the great fact that the more energy I use in my system, the more energy I generate in my system.
Realize that fact so deeply that you are positively conscious of it at all times. Then continue in a positive attitude under all circumstances, and keep your system in perfect poise so that you will always be brimful of vitality; and to this add the living of a natural life, physically and mentally, and you will always be well and strong.
Another essential is that of the control of the circulation; and that the circulation can be completely controlled, or at least greatly influenced by the power of thought in any mind, has been demonstrated conclusively, not only in personal experience but also by a number of scientifically directed psychological experiments. Imagine that you are running a foot-race and the circulation will be increased in your feet.
Return to top
Imagine that you are taking a hot foot-bath and your feet will actually become fiery red; and even though they were icy cold before you began your experiment, they will, in a few minutes become "as warm as toast." Concentrate subjectively upon your hand, and you can make the veins on the back of your hand swell to full capacity in less than five minutes. You can produce the same results anywhere in your body with the same method.
Think of something very serious and the blood will rush to the brain; and if you continue this thought for several minutes the circulation will become too strong in the interior part of your cranium. In consequence, you will feel an uncomfortable pressure in various parts of the brain, while your face will look pale and tired. When thought becomes too serious and takes the form of anxious thought, the circulation will be withdrawn from the surface of the face and brain, and the results are most detrimental both to thought and to personal appearance.
You can think best with that part of the brain that lies close to the surface, in fact, it is those brain cells that come in contact with the bones of the skull that constitute the most important channels for the mind. Therefore, what may be termed the outer layers of the brain must receive an abundance of vitality and nourishment if the mind is to do its work properly; and this may be accomplished by keeping the circulation full and strong at the surface of the brain. It must never be forced, however; but no forced conditions will ever appear so long as all the states of mind are normal and wholesome.
Return to top
Anxious thought takes the blood away from the surface of the brain and thus makes thinking heavy and difficult; but joyous thoughts cause the blood to flow freely into the surface of the brain; and therefore, the bright and happy mind produces the clearest thought, the strongest thought, the richest thought. The circulation can also be increased in any part of the brain through subjective concentration; and in this connection it is well to remember that to moderately and harmoniously increase the circulation in any part of the brain is to cause that part to develop, both in working capacity and in the power of actual, practical ability.
When the circulation is more or less withdrawn from the surface of the face, the skin will not be properly nourished, and the result is wrinkles, a poor complexion and an old-looking, dried-up appearance. Anxious thoughts and worry invariably cause the blood to be withdrawn from the surface of the face; therefore, people who worry much grow old, haggard looking and unattractive in a very short time. cause the circulation to be full and strong at the surface of your face and your complexion will be good, your cheeks will be rosy, you will have no wrinkles, and you will look young as long as you live. In addition to happy and wholesome states of mind, subjective concentration will enable you to do this, both readily and perfectly.
The cause of grey hair is found almost entirely in a lack of circulation at the roots of the hair. For this condition worry, fear and anxious thought are almost wholly responsible. If the circulation was full and strong through the roots of your hair, the color of your hair would never change, no matter how long you might live. The same is true in regard to baldness.
Return to top
Even when the tendency to baldness is hereditary, which is frequently the case, such a condition can be entirely prevented by increasing the circulation in every part of the scalp. The same method has, in a number of instances, caused hair to reappear after baldness had been in evidence for many years, and there is no reason why it may not be applied successfully in every case.
When the circulation is increased in any part of the body, that part is not only more thoroughly nourished, but its natural function is greatly promoted. This means that all waste material will be eliminated completely and the process of repair will perform its work most perfectly. When there is a diseased condition in any part of the body, that part is usually burdened and clogged with waste material; and as a rule, all that is necessary to remove the disease is to remove the waste material. When that part is made clean, nature will be able to restore normal conditions; and you can make any part of the body clean by increasing the circulation throughout that region.
Whenever there is anything wrong in any organ, one of the first things to do is to increase the circulation in that organ, and this you can readily do through the power of thought. To increase the circulation in an organ is to increase the life and vital power of that organ; obstructions and waste will be removed; the broken-down tissues will be replaced with new, healthy tissues; the process of repair will be promoted; and every element or condition that is not in harmony with wholeness and health will be eliminated.
Return to top
In brief, there is no one thing that will do so much toward the restoring of health in any part of the body as to increase the circulation in that part; and this is especially true when the increase of the circulation is produced directly through the conscious use of the power of thought. Any change in the system that is produced by the power of wholesome thought is almost certain to be permanent, because the real power of thought is deep in its action, and therefore produces its effect, not only on the surface, but all the way through.
To use the power of thought for the purpose of increasing the circulation in any part of the body, all that is necessary is to concentrate attention, with deep feeling, upon that part. But do not concentrate directly upon the physical side of that part, and do not make your concentration a forced mental action. If you wish to increase the circulation in your hand, begin to think deeply of the finer elements that permeate your hand; then desire deeply to express more and more energy through your hand.
Do not give any special thought to the circulation of the blood, because that will cause your attention to come to the surface into the purely physical. Wherever there is an increase of energy, and especially the finer energy, there will be an increase of the circulation.
Return to top
You cannot increase the circulation anywhere until you first cause finer energy to accumulate in that place; and where you have caused an increase of energy, there an increased circulation will come of itself. Whenever an organ in your body is not performing its function properly, proceed at once to increase the circulation in that organ, and further trouble will be avoided. Any threatening ill can be "nipped in the bud" in this manner, especially if it has its origin in the digestive organs.
Three-fourths of the ills that appear in the human personality come directly or indirectly from an imperfect digestion; but every condition that may tend to interfere with the process of digestion can be removed at once, provided the circulation is increased throughout the digestive organs the very moment we feel that something is not right.
The power of thought should be used whenever necessary to maintain a full, strong circulation throughout the system. When the circulation is full and strong in every part of the body and the mind is alive with positive, wholesome thought in every part of the body, it is practically impossible for disease of any kind to gain a foothold in the system; that is, so long as the laws of mind and body are observed with special care. The principal laws of the human system are very easily observed, however; all that is necessary is to be temperate in all things, to use good sense in all things and to aim to be wholesome in every thought and deed.
Return to top
When you do not feel as vigorous, as strong or as well as you ought to feel, give yourself a general treatment at once; and proceed as follows: Be perfectly quiet in mind and body. Relax perfectly into a deep, interior calm. Think of nothing external. Give your entire thought to the peace, the calmness and the soul-serenity that you now feel in every atom of your being. Hold your entire system in poise. Do not try to be quiet, but just let yourself be quiet, and let every fiber in your being be perfectly still.
When you feel this calm, restful condition through and through, begin to think peacefully about the power there is in peace. Look, with the eye of the mind, down through your entire body, and mentally see the accumulation of power in the deep calm throughout your system. In a few moments you will begin to feel life and power accumulating from within, and a calm feeling of great strength will begin to permeate every part of your personality. But do not become aroused by the presence of this power. Continue to be calm, peaceful and deeply serene in mind and body.
When you begin to feel more and more power accumulating in your system, turn your attention upon the abdominal region and begin to affirm that you are strong and well. To concentrate upon the abdominal region at this time will cause all the extra energy that you have gained to accumulate in the organs of that region. The result will be that those organs will be aroused to greater activity, and will throw off those undesirable conditions that are on the verge of gaining a foothold in your system.
Return to top
Almost any threatening ill will disappear at once if the abdominal region is made more alive, and the reason why is found in the fact that the entire system is cleaned and purified when the activity of the abdominal region is increased.
The deep calmness that is gained in every part of the system through this general treatment will tend to harmonize all the forces of mind and body, and when the harmony of the system is deep and strong, nature can work to the best advantage in restoring normal conditions. Harmony removes discord and produces health. When all the forces of the system are placed in harmony they begin at once to work together for health. Everything in human life that is harmonious tends to produce health, while discord, be it physical or mental, tends to produce disease.
The power of thought, therefore, should be trained to be harmonious at all times and in all of its phases. Impress harmony upon everything you think, do, or say, and aim to hold yourself in harmony perpetually, no matter what your circumstances or conditions may be.
Return to top
To establish perfect harmony in mind and body is frequently all that is necessary to regain perfect health. Chronic ills always begin to lose their hold when harmony begins to permeate every fiber in the system, and all threatening ills can be "nipped in the bud" by placing the system in a calm, quiet, deeply harmonious state. This general treatment, therefore, may be employed as a sure preventive of every ill; and if applied in time will never fail to place the body in that condition where it may continue to stay well.
While giving yourself this general treatment, hold yourself as much as you can in the consciousness of the subconscious and deeply feel that you are gaining more and more power from within. Also give some attention to the increase of the circulation all through the surface of the body and in the feet. When you increase the circulation through the surface of the body, you open the pores of the skin, and thus give nature a chance to throw off impurities, foreign materials, poisonous elements and false gaseous formations that interfere with the true order of things.
To remove colds, fevers, grippe and similar conditions, all that is necessary is to open the pores of the skin all over the body, and at the same time increase the activity of the abdominal region; though these things should be done as soon as possible after you feel the ills coming on. All wrong conditions should be put out the very moment they threaten to enter your door; and a few moments of scientific application on your part will do it.
Return to top
To increase the circulation all through the surface of the body and thus open the pores of the skin, be perfectly quiet in mind and body and concentrate attention down through the body. In a few moments you will be perfectly still, and the power that always develops in peace will begin to well up from within. When you feel this calm, interior strength, deeply desire the force of this strength to accumulate all over the surface of your body; and while in the attitude of this desire, cause the deeply serene power of your strong thought to move down, from head to foot, over your body and through the surface of your body. If your thought is deep, strong and harmonious, your skin will glow all over your body, and your purpose has been accomplished.
When you feel deeply quiet in mind and body and your thought is full and strong with the finer forces, all that is necessary is to desire the circulation to increase through the surface of your body, and your skin will glow in a few minutes. That "stuffy feeling" that precedes a cold will at once disappear and all will be well again. In like manner, you can cause any unpleasant or sickly feeling to vanish completely; though do not give up simply because you do not feel all right the first time you try the treatment.
It usually produces immediate results, but if not, repeat the process at frequent intervals until you feel that all threatening ills have lost their hold. Then forget all about it and leave nature to finish the work. After you have, with the power of your thought, aided nature in overcoming the enemy, nature can so much better restore full normal conditions if you will then drop all thought of disease from your mind.
Return to top
To increase the circulation through the feet is extremely important whether the treatment be general or for the elimination of some special condition. When the vital forces move toward the feet, all the vital organs are stimulated to greater action, and nature is given added power in its efforts to restore or maintain perfect health. But there is also another reason, equally important. We have all demonstrated through personal experience that any disease that may exist in the system has a tendency to come down and away from the vital organs whenever the circulation is drawn toward the feet.
On the other hand, when the circulation is too strong in the upper part of the body, causing the lower extremities to become cold, diseased or abnormal conditions will gain a firmer foothold in the vital organs. We therefore realize why it is so important "to keep the feet warm and the head cool;" but we need not employ external methods in order to realize this ideal state. Through the power of well balanced and harmonious thought we can cause the circulation to become full and strong wherever desired, and this power is always with us.
There are a number of ills that come from wet feet, but all of these ills can easily be prevented if the circulation is increased through the feet while you are waiting for the opportunity to change your shoes and stockings. And when exposed to excessive cold or damp weather you can avoid becoming chilled by simply keeping your circulation full and strong all over the surface of the body. When trying to control the circulation in this manner, however, do not use any forced will power. Such a will power is superficial and will not only prevent results, but will also waste energy. All forced action of mind or body is wasteful and weakening, while all deeply-felt, calm action is constructive, strengthening and accumulative.
Return to top
The use of the will should always be combined with deep desire, and both should be given soul; that is, when you use the will, try to enter into the spirit of the will, and when you feel the action of desire try to feel the interior life of that desire.
All thought, all feeling, and all mental action should be made deeper and more serene the further you advance in the mastery of your life. You thus gain more and more power and greater interior capacity both in mind and body; in addition you gain control of those deeper forces of your being the finer forces -that are at the foundation of all the organs and functions in your system. And to control the finer forces of the system is to control all the organs and functions of the system, because it is the finer forces -also termed the subconscious forces -that govern everything in the human system, and that determine every change of improvement that is to take place in your personal life.
It is the belief of many that no one can expect to be perfectly and permanently well unless he has a very high understanding of truth and life, and that such an understanding is very difficult to secure; but this is all a mistake. The path to health is not difficult; neither must one be a spiritual giant to remain permanently well. Anyone can keep himself free from disease by simply giving his system a reasonable opportunity to do its work right.
Before proceeding to apply the metaphysical process in the cure of disease, place yourself in a state of perfect peace, and the more deeply this peace is felt, the better. The deep, silent forces are the most powerful, therefore we should not begin this important work without placing ourselves in what may be termed the deep soul calm.
Simply being quiet is a powerful treatment in itself; and there are a great many ailments that require nothing else. The daily practice of being perfectly still in mind and body while the silent forces from within are given free expression through every part of the system, is one of the best preservers of health that can be found. Ten or fifteen minutes of this practice two or three times a day will, under commonsense living, keep any person in perpetual health.
When undesirable symptoms are felt in the system, they should be attended to at once. No one would ever be sick if this were done, because it is not difficult to nip a disease in the bud. The first thing, of course, is to have no fear. Know that you are master of the situation; then proceed to exercise your mastership. Live in the strong mental attitude of supremacy.
Return to top
Have faith in yourself and turn attention upon that inner, higher power that never fails. Awaken your consciousness of the perfect being, and try to feel the fullness of life that is always in health and wholeness. Know that the physical discord you have noticed is as nothing in the presence of real life, and that discord will at once be transformed into health and harmony.
When symptoms of weakness appear, give the entire system, especially the mind, a complete rest for a few hours. Enter a deeply-felt, silent attitude, breathe deeply and quietly, and think only of peace. It is remarkable how easily and quickly strength can be regained and the system recuperated by this simple method, and if practiced whenever necessary you will never lose any time from your work. When weakness is felt, however, we should not give up to it nor permit ourselves to feel weak. This will make the mind negative and make matters worse. Simply rest the body, and hold the mind easily and quietly in the consciousness of unbounded life and power, and what you become conscious of will immediately begin to express itself in mind and body.
Get rid of the idea that you have to take something when you do not feel well. This is simply a bad habit, and tends to give your mind the tendency to depend upon the limitations of things instead of upon the boundless power that is within you. You do not have to take anything if you give nature a chance to remedy the wrong in the beginning. Nature can do this, provided physical nature and metaphysical nature are taught to work together. There are no objections to taking medicine.
Return to top
Medicines are frequently required, and what people require they ought to have; but to burden the system with indigestible and poisonous drugs simply because you think you need those things is to take a path that leads directly away from health.
To secure health and preserve health it is absolutely necessary to be in harmony with everything. Discord breeds sickness and trouble every time, therefore avoid it at any cost. Be in harmony with your work and with your environments, even though you may have to blind yourself to certain things that are not as they ought to be. Be in harmony with the people with whom you associate, even though you have to let them all have their way about most things.
Go their way when necessary to secure peace, and if you are living an ideal life at the same time you will gradually reach that higher scale in life that will give you a superiority which everybody will recognize. Then you will find that by living in harmony at all times you have increased your power and worth to such a degree that instead of being compelled to follow others for the sake of peace, others will be more than happy to follow you.
Return to top
Superiority and worth will invariably secure leadership in time; and to live always in harmony is to place your system in a condition where it can readily build itself up until greater worth is obtained.
When we are dealing with our own ills, or with those of others, it is necessary to pay as little attention as possible to the appearance of things. No matter how serious things may look from the standpoint of the person, the fact remains that the real man is well, and the perfect health of the real man can be brought out into the personal man if he will continue to give the real man full and constant recognition. What we fully recognize we become conscious of, and what we become conscious of we tend to express in mind and body.
The habit of magnifying a symptom with the mind should never, be permitted, because the most insignificant trouble may in this way become intense and even overpowering. The mind gives added life to whatever we think about deeply, and whatever the mind magnifies in imagination will grow and develop. For this reason, when threatening symptoms appear we should think as little of them as possible, and we should train ourselves to look upon them as mere nothings that will soon pass away.
Return to top
The fact that we give life to whatever we think about, reveals a law that can be used to great advantage in building ourselves up physically and mentally; and that everything in mind or body develops when magnified in the imagination is another law that contains remarkable possibilities. We have, however, employed these laws to our disadvantage most of the time. We have magnified our fears, while our faith has been pictured upon the smallest possible scale. This process, however, must be reversed. It is our faith in the good that must be enlarged, while our fears of ills and troubles should be made as small and as insignificant as nothingness itself.
There is a current belief among many that when you have a fair understanding of metaphysics you can do as you please; that is, that you may violate the laws of life without feeling any ill effects therefrom; but few fallacies could be greater than this, and among a certain class of metaphysical students than this, there is no greater obstacle to freedom and growth.
Our object in seeking truth, and a greater understanding of all things, physical and metaphysical, is that we may know how to live in harmony with all the laws of life, because it is from such living alone that we can secure emancipation and perpetual ascension into the greater and the greater good.
Return to top
When you violate the laws of life you will reap the consequences, no matter how learned you may be in any or all of the higher wisdoms. You may rise above the laws of man, and as you advance into a higher state of being you may cease to be subject to the laws of the lower states, but the new sphere of action also has its laws, and these laws must be lived or there will be pain and death as before. We never get away from law, nor do we desire to do so. On the contrary, our desire is to learn how to use law.
The belief that laws are heartless taskmasters is also without foundation. A law is simply a path that leads to greater things; therefore to follow a law is to rise in the scale, to pass from the lesser to the greater. Every, law is so constituted that when we move forward in harmony with that law we find greater freedom and greater increase, but when we go contrary to that law we invariably meet bondage and failure. The great secret of life is, therefore, to follow all the laws of life, and thus move forward at all times and in all things.
In many instances disease is simply the result of inharmonious conditions in the body, and all that is necessary to remove both the disease and its cause, is to restore harmony. It can be truthfully said that fully twenty per cent of the ordinary ailments of life would entirely disappear if perfect harmony was restored to mind and body. Realizing this, we must not permit ourselves to develop any fear of discord. The fear of discord is worse than the discord itself; and the fear of fear is worse than the fear itself. We should therefore ignore all those conditions completely.
Return to top
We all know that grief may change the color of the hair, and we also know that a change of color means a chemical change, which proves that a state of mind can produce a chemical change in the body; but this particular chemical change is not the only change that can be produced by grief. Experiments have proved that grief frequently changes the very nature of the vital forces, making the positive forces negative, and thereby placing the system in a condition that is entirely helpless.
Nothing wastes life and vitality like grief; and there is nothing that produces so much disease as lack of vital energy. We therefore cannot afford to grieve, nor is there any reason why we ever should grieve. We grieve simply because we do not understand things. To understand all things is to know that all things are well and that there is no occasion for worry. To permit tears at any time or under any circumstances is to ignore the higher light of life and replace the greater love by the lesser love. There is a better way to show your love and respect than to grieve and we can all find that better way.
All depressing states of mind, such as regrets, despondency, gloom, despair, and the like, must also be avoided completely. They invariably produce weakness in mind or body, and frequently are the direct causes of serious ills. We should train ourselves to be stronger than appearances, and we will not feel depressed. If we fail today, we shall succeed tomorrow, provided we look upon the failure as an opportunity and count everything joy. When we understand life we shall always be happy, no matter what comes.
Return to top
We shall then realize that all things are working together for greater good, if greater good is our purpose, and that unpleasant experiences come simply to shake us out of the old ruts. The best of us will get into grooves at times and feel it our religious duty to stay there; but man was not made for grooves; neither were grooves made for man.
Thousands of people think they have heart disease; and are living in constant fear of death; but there is no cause for alarm. What is usually thought to be heart disease is simply the result of a poor digestion disturbing that part of your body. The remedy, therefore, is to begin to live in poise and to correct your digestion. You will then find that your heart disease will mysteriously disappear. To attain poise, learn to live the serene life, and combine the serene life with the strong, positive life.
When we live constantly in the attitude of poise we shall never feel weak nor tired. The system will always be full of life, and the fullness of life is the very best preventive of disease that has ever been discovered.
Return to top
When threatening symptoms appear; eat less, drink more water, breathe more, move to the sunny side of life, have abundance of faith in the supremacy of the good, and give yourself a substantial metaphysical treatment every hour or two. You will soon restore perfect order in every part of your system. When there is anything wrong with the digestive system divide your meals in two. This will not do any harm, because all of us could live and flourish on one fourth of what we usually eat. Give the digestive system less work to do for a few days, and with the power of your thought cause the circulation to increase all through the abdominal region. You will soon feel entirely well, and feel much stronger than you ever felt before.
In the cure of any disease, the subconscious mind is a very important factor, for in many instances the body is ailing simply because adverse impressions have been given to the subconscious. You may have an idea that you cannot eat certain things. That idea may be correct, though the probabilities are that it is not. It may simply be a subconscious impression that makes you believe that you cannot eat that particular thing, and the subconscious responds by causing your system to revolt whenever that particular thing is taken.
The moment, however, that you impress the subconscious with the fact that you can eat that particular thing, the subconscious will place the physical system in a condition where that particular thing will be accepted and digested without any trouble whatever. The subconscious mind can do practically anything along these lines, and it always obeys every idea that you deeply or intensely feel, or that you positively believe to be true.
Return to top
Impress the subconscious with the firm conviction that you can eat anything, that you can digest and assimilate perfectly every nutritious element that is taken into the system, and that you can properly eliminate all indigestible elements without discomfort to the body. Impress the subconscious with the conviction that you will never require medicine any more, and that sickness will never again enter your body. Then impress health, strength, power, peace, poise and harmony upon the subconscious, and continue to impress those states and qualities until you actually feel that they have become a permanent part of yourself. The subconscious will not fail to bring forth according to the seed you have sown.
Whether you are trying to remove threatening symptoms or chronic ailments of long standing, there is nothing that will prove more helpful than the conscious directions of the finer forces of the system in the creating of perfect health. To simply feel the finer vibrations of life force that are back of, and within any part of the body where there may be pain will cause that pain to disappear. A sickly feeling throughout the system will take flight instantly if we cause the finer vibrations to become active in every part of the body, and old chronic troubles will become airy nothings under the influence of these powerful forces. The reason why is very simple.
These finer forces when placed in action can undermine the very foundation of disease and cut it loose, so to speak, from its foothold in the system. Besides, the ordinary malady is not one-tenth as serious as it appears to be. It is at best founded upon sand, and can easily be removed if we go about it properly.
Return to top
The average disease would be practically harmless if it were not for the life and the power that it receives from the patient. We magnify our ills, and thus make them worse, and we increase their life and power by living for them and placing ourselves at their mercy. If we would look upon an ailment as insignificant, and then proceed to arouse the finer elements and forces of mind and body, those elements that can undermine and remove any conditions, we would soon restore perfect health and order.
To be able to prevent ourselves from giving life and thought to adverse conditions is a great secret, and it is accomplished by turning attention to the inner, finer side of being. It is here that faith becomes such a remarkable power, because through the attitude of faith the mind goes beyond the things that are in the seeming, and enters into that sublime state where everything is always well. In this connection we should remember to give our thought and our life to the higher, and the higher will give its wisdom and its power to us in return.
Never begin any thought or action without recognizing the presence of higher power. We are all living in a great sea of limitless power, and we may consciously draw upon that power whenever we recognize it sufficiently to feel its presence. The more power we possess, the more we can accomplish and the sooner we shall gain complete emancipation, if that is our purpose in view. It is very unwise, therefore, to proceed with a small amount when we can, through the proper conscious effort, appropriate a much greater measure.
Return to top
One of the greatest essentials in the application of the metaphysical process, whether our desire is better health or more life, is to depend absolutely upon the power of the spiritual elements in human existence. Material elements and material means have their place and value.
If not for all, they do for the majority; but the power of the spiritual is infinitely greater than that of the tangible. It is therefore unwise to fritter away our time with the small when we are prepared to receive and apply that which is so very large. Let those who are unable to understand the spiritual have the material for the present, but let those who can understand the spiritual go to the spiritual for all things and at all times.
The reason why a number of aspiring souls fail to reach the heights is simply this: that they give too much thought to things, thereby limiting consciousness according to the measure of things. So long as we depend upon small things we shall remain small, but when we look to the larger life that is within us, we shall become larger and larger in proportion to our understanding of that life. Our capacity is no larger than our consciousness, and consciousness is only as large as our understanding of that upon which we depend.
Return to top
Therefore the sooner we can learn to depend absolutely upon the limitless the better; and this is especially true in the application of metaphysical and spiritual means to the attainment of health.
Resolve to gain your power, your freedom, your health, your peace, your wisdom, your everything from the infinite source, and do not change your mind for a moment. Whatever comes or not, live in the perfect faith that the infinite source cannot fail, no matter how great your deeds or demands may be, and you shall have the joy to witness another great victory.
Where faith in the boundlessness and the power of the spiritual is absolute, failure becomes impossible. It is the trembling faith that fails; it is the anxious mind that falls down; and it is material thought that obstructs the way to complete emancipation. On the other hand, when good judgment declares that physical remedies are required, we should not hesitate to employ them. We should, however, continue to impress our minds more and more deeply with the great truth that the greater life within us is sufficient.
Return to top
When a person trains himself to depend absolutely upon spiritual means, he steadily enters more deeply into spiritual life and consciousness, and therefore gains possession of higher spiritual powers; and to possess such powers is to possess the greatest remedy in the world. Experience has demonstrated in thousands of the most difficult cases that when the spiritualising process began in the system, disease simply was compelled to take its departure.
No disease can possibly exist where the spiritual forces are acting with full expression. Those forces invariably bring health, strength, wholeness and vigor wherever they may go; and we should always bear in mind the great truth that the powers of those forces have no limitation whatever.
