Latest / As A Man Thinketh / As A Man Thinketh

Transcript

As A Man Thinketh · As A Man Thinketh

0:00
Forward. This little volume, the result of meditation and experience, is not
0:06
intended as an exhaustive treatise on the much written upon subject of the power of
0:11
thought. It is suggestive rather than explanatory, its object being to stimulate men
0:16
and women to the discovery and perception of the truth that they themselves are makers
0:22
of themselves by virtue of the thoughts which they choose and encourage, that mind
0:27
is the master and weaver both of the inner garment of character and the outer
0:32
garment of circumstance, And that as they may have hitherto woven in ignorance and
0:37
pain, they may now weave in enlightenment and happiness. Chapter one, Thought
0:43
and Character the aphorism. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is
0:48
he not only embraces the whole of man's being, but is so comprehensive as
0:54
to reach out to every condition and circumstance of his life. A man is
0:59
literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts.
1:06
As the plant springs from and could not be without the seed, so
1:10
every act of a man springs from the hidden seeds of his thought, and
1:14
could not have appeared without them. This applies equally to those acts called spontaneous
1:19
and unpremeditated, as to those which are deliberately executed. Act is the blossom
1:26
of thought, and joy and suffering are its fruits. Thus does a man
1:32
garner in the sweet and bitter fruitage of his own husbandry. Thought in the
1:37
mind hath made us what we are. By thought we wrought and built.
1:42
If a man's mind hath evil thoughts, pain comes on him as comes the
1:47
wheel the ox behind. If one endure in purity of thought, joy follows
1:53
him as his own shadow. Sure man is a growth by law, and
1:57
not a creation by our artifice, and cause and effect is as absolute and
2:02
undeviating in the hidden realm of thought as in the world of visible and material
2:07
things. A noble and godlike character is not a thing of favor or chance,
2:14
but is the natural result of continued effort in right thinking, the effect
2:19
of long cherished association with godlike thoughts. An ignoble and beastial character, by
2:25
the same process, is the result of the continued harboring of groveling thoughts.
2:32
Man is made or unmade by himself. In the armory of thought. He
2:38
forges the weapons by which he destroys himself. He also fashions the tools with
2:43
which he builds for himself heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace. By
2:49
the right choice and true application of thought, man ascends to the divine perfection.
2:54
By the abuse and wrong application of thought, he descends below the level
2:59
of beasts. Between these two extremes are all the grades of character, and
3:04
man is their maker and master of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul,
3:09
which have been restored and brought to light in this age. None is
3:14
more gladdening or fruitful of divine promise and confidence than this. That man is
3:19
the master of thought, the molder of character, and the maker and shaper
3:23
of condition, environment, and destiny. As a being of power, intelligence,
3:30
and love, and the lord of his own thoughts, man holds the
3:32
key to every situation, and contains within himself that transforming and regenerative agency by
3:39
which he may make himself what he wills. Man is always the master,
3:46
even in his weakest and most abandoned state. But in his weakness and degradation
3:52
he is the foolish master who misgoverns his household. When he begins to reflect
3:58
upon his condition and to serve diligently for the law upon which his being is
4:01
established. He then becomes the wise master, directing his energies with intelligence and
4:08
fashioning his thoughts to fruitful issues. Such is the conscious master. And man
4:15
can only thus become by discovering within himself the laws of thought, which discovery
4:20
is totally a matter of application, self analysis, and experience. Only by
4:27
much searching and mining are gold and diamonds obtained. And man can find every
4:31
truth connected with his being if he will dig deep into the mind of his
4:35
soul, and that he is the maker of his character, the molder of
4:40
his life, and the builder of his destiny. He may unerringly prove if
4:46
he will watch, control and alter his thoughts, tracing their effects upon himself,
4:51
upon others, and upon his life in circumstances, if he will link
4:56
cause and effect by patient practice and investigation, utilizing his every experience, even
5:01
to the most trivial, as a means of obtaining that knowledge of himself.
5:08
In this direction, as in no other, is the law absolute that he
5:12
that seeketh findeth, and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. For
5:16
only by patience, practice, and ceaseless imopportunity can a man enter the door
5:21
of the Temple of Knowledge. End of Chapter one. Thought and Character,
5:28
Chapter two, Effect of thought on circumstances. A man's mind may be likened
5:33
to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild.
5:40
But whether cultivated or neglected, it must and will bring forth. If no
5:46
useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless seeds will fall
5:50
therein and will continue to produce their kind. Just as a gardener cultivates his
5:57
plot, keeping it free from weeds and growing the flowers and fruits which he
6:00
requires, so may a man tend the garden of his mind, weeding out
6:05
all the wrong, useless and impure thoughts, and cultivating toward perfection the flowers
6:12
and fruits of right, useful and pure thoughts. By pursuing this process,
6:16
a man sooner or later discovers that he is the master gardener of his soul,
6:21
the director of his life. He also reveals within himself the laws of
6:26
thought, and understands with ever increasing accuracy, how the thought forces and mind
6:31
elements operate in the shaping of his character. Circumstances and destiny. Thought and
6:38
character are one, and as character can only manifest and discover itself through environment
6:43
and circumstance. The outer conditions of a person's life will always be found to
6:48
be harmoniously related to his inner state. This does not mean that a man's
6:54
circumstances at any given time are an indication of his entire character, but the
7:00
those circumstances are so intimately connected with some vital thought element within himself that for
7:05
the time being they are indispensable to his development. Every man is where he
7:11
is by the law of his being. The thoughts which he has built into
7:15
his character have brought him there, And in the arrangement of his life.
7:18
There is no element of chance, but all is the result of a law
7:23
which cannot err. This is just as true of those who feel out of
7:27
harmony with their surroundings as of those who are contented with them. As a
7:31
progressive and evolving being, man is where he is that he may learn,
7:35
that he may grow. And as he learns the spiritual lesson which any circumstance
7:41
contains for him, it passes away and gives place to other circumstances. Man
7:46
is buffeted by circumstances so long as he believes himself to be the creature of
7:50
outside conditions. But when he realizes that he is a creative power, and
7:57
that he may command the hidden soil and seeds of his being, out of
8:00
which his circumstances grow, he then becomes the rightful master of himself. That
8:05
circumstances grow out of thought. Every man knows who has for any length of
8:09
time practiced self control and self purification, for he will have noticed that the
8:15
alteration in his circumstances has been in exact ratio with his altered mental condition.
8:20
So true is this that when a man earnestly applies himself to remedy the defects
8:26
in his character and makes swift and marked progress, he passes rapidly through a
8:31
succession of vicissitudes. The soul attracts that which it secretly harbours, that which
8:37
it loves, and also that which it fears. It reaches the height of
8:41
its cherished aspirations, it falls to the level of its unchastened desires. And
8:48
circumstances are the means by which the soul receives its own. Every thought seed
8:54
sown or allowed to fall into the mind and to take root there deduces its
9:00
own blossoming sooner or later into act and bearing its own fruitage of opportunity and
9:05
circumstance. Good thoughts bear good fruit, Bad thoughts bad fruit. The outer
9:11
world of circumstance shapes itself to the inner world of thought, and both pleasant
9:16
and unpleasant external conditions are factors which make for the ultimate good of the individual.
9:22
As the reaper of his own harvest, man learns both by suffering and
9:28
bliss. A man does not come to the almshouse or the jail by the
9:33
tyranny of fate of circumstance, but by the pathway of groveling thoughts and base
9:37
desires. Nor does a pure minded man fall suddenly into crime by stress of
9:43
any mere external force. The criminal thought had long been secretly fostered in his
9:48
heart, and the hour of opportunity revealed its gathered power. Circumstance does not
9:56
make the man, it reveals him to himself. No such conditions can exist
10:01
as descending into vice and its attendant sufferings apart from vicious inclinations, or ascending
10:07
into virtue and its pure happiness, without the continued cultivation of virtuous aspirations.
10:13
And man, therefore, as the lord and master of thought, is the
10:18
maker of himself, the shaper and author of environment. Even at birth,
10:22
the soul comes to its own, and through every step of its earthly pilgrimage,
10:26
it attracts those combinations of conditions which reveal itself, which are the reflections
10:31
of its own purity and impurity, its strength and weakness. Men do not
10:39
attract that which they want, but that which they are. Their whims,
10:43
fancies, and ambitions are thwarted at every step, but their inmost thoughts and
10:48
desires are fed with their own food, be it foul or clean. The
10:54
divinity that shapes our ends is in ourselves. It is our very self.
11:00
Man is manacled only by himself. Thought and action are the jailers of fate.
11:05
They imprison, being base, They are also the angels of freedom they
11:11
liberate, being noble. Not what he wishes and praise for does man get,
11:16
but what he justly earns. His wishes and prayers are only gratified and
11:20
answered when they harmonize with his thoughts and actions. In the light of this
11:26
truth, what then, is the meaning of fighting against circumstances? It means
11:33
that a man is continually revolting against an effect without while all the time he
11:37
is nourishing and preserving its cause in his heart. That cause may take the
11:43
form of a conscious vice or an unconscious weakness, but whatever it is,
11:48
it stubbornly retards the efforts of its possessor, and thus calls aloud for remedy.
11:54
Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are unwilling to improve themselves.
12:01
They therefore remain bound. The man who does not shrink from self crucifixion
12:07
can never fail to accomplish the object upon which his heart is set. This
12:13
is as true of earthly as of heavenly things. Even the man whose sole
12:16
object is to acquire wealth must be prepared to make great personal sacrifices before he
12:22
can accomplish his object, and how much more so he who would realize a
12:28
strong and well poised life. Here is a man who is wretchedly poor.
12:33
He is extremely anxious that his surroundings and home comforts should be improved, yet
12:39
all the time he shirks his work and considers he is justified in trying to
12:43
deceive his employer on the ground of the insufficiency of his wages. Such a
12:48
man does not understand the simplest rudiments of those principles which are the basis of
12:52
true prosperity. He is not only totally unfitted to rise out of his wretchedness,
13:01
but is actually attracting to himself a still deeper wretchedness by dwelling in and
13:05
acting out indolent, deceptive, and unmanly thoughts. Here is a rich man
13:11
who is the victim of a painful and persistent disease as the result of gluttony.
13:18
He is willing to give large sums of money to get rid of it,
13:20
but he will not sacrifice his gluttonous desires. He wants to gratify his
13:26
taste for rich and unnatural foods and have his health as well. Such a
13:31
man is totally unfit to have health because he has not yet learned the first
13:35
principles of a healthy life. Here is an employer of labor who adopts crooked
13:41
measures to avoid paying the regulation wage, and in the hope of making larger
13:46
profits, reduces the wages of his workpeople. Such a man is altogether unfitted
13:52
for prosperity. When he finds himself bankrupt, both as regards reputation and riches,
14:00
he blames circumstances, not knowing that he is the sole author of his
14:05
condition. I have introduced these three cases merely as illustrative of the truth that
14:11
man is the causer, though nearly always unconsciously, of his circumstances, that
14:16
while aiming at a good end, he is continually frustrating its accomplishment by encouraging
14:22
thoughts and desires which it cannot possibly harmonize with that end. Such cases could
14:26
be multiplied and varied almost indefinitely, but this is not necessary. The reader
14:31
can, if he so resolves, trace the actions of the laws of thought
14:37
in his own mind and life, and until this is done, mere external
14:41
facts cannot serve as a ground of reasoning. Circumstances, however, are so
14:46
complicated. Thought is so deeply rooted, and the conditions of happiness vary so
14:50
vastly with individuals, that a man's entire sole condition, although it may be
14:56
known to himself, cannot be judged by another from the ex external aspect of
15:01
his life alone. A man may be honest in certain directions yet suffer privations.
15:07
A man may be dishonest in certain directions yet acquire wealth. But the
15:11
conclusion usually formed that the one man fails because of his particular honesty and that
15:18
the other prospers because of his particular dishonesty is the result of a superficial judgment
15:24
which assumes that the dishonest man is almost totally corrupt and the honest man almost
15:28
entirely virtuous. In the light of a deeper knowledge and wider experience, such
15:33
judgment is found to be erroneous. The dishonest man may have some admirable virtues
15:39
which the other does not possess, the honest man obnoxious vices which are absent
15:46
in the other. The honest man reaps the good result of his honest thoughts
15:50
and acts, he also brings upon himself the sufferings which his vices produce.
15:56
The dishonest man, likewise garners his own suffering and happiness. It is pleasing
16:02
to human vanity to believe that one suffers because of one's virtue. But not
16:07
until a man has extirpated every sickly, bitter and impure thought from his mind,
16:11
and washed every sinful stain from his soul, can he be in a
16:15
position to know and declare that his sufferings are the result of his good and
16:21
not of his bad qualities. And on the way to that supreme perfection.
16:26
He will have found working in his mind and life, the great law,
16:30
which is absolutely just, and which cannot give good for evil evil for good.
16:36
Possessed of such knowledge, he will then know, looking back upon his
16:40
past ignorance and blindness, that his life is and always was justly ordered,
16:45
and that all his past experiences, good and bad, were the equitable outworking
16:49
of his evolving, yet unevolved self. Good thoughts and actions can never produce
16:56
bad results. Bad thoughts and actions can never produce good good results. This
17:00
is but saying that nothing can come from corn but corn, nothing from nettles
17:06
but nettles. Men understand this law in the natural world and work with it,
17:11
but few understand it in the mental and moral world, though its operation
17:15
there is just as simple and undeviating, and they therefore do not cooperate with
17:19
it. Suffering is always the effect of wrong thought in some direction. It
17:26
is an indication that the individual is out of harmony with himself with the law
17:30
of his being. The sole and supreme use of suffering is to purify,
17:36
to burn out all that is useless and impure. Suffering ceases for him who
17:41
is pure. There could be no object in burning gold. After the dross
17:45
has been removed, and a perfectly pure and enlightened being could not suffer.
17:52
The circumstances which a man encounters with suffering are the result of his own mental
17:56
in harmony. The circumstances which a man in caen counters with blessedness are the
18:00
result of his own mental harmony. Blessedness, not material possessions, is the
18:07
measure of right thought. Wretchedness, not lack of material possessions, is the
18:12
measure of wrong thought. A man may be cursed and rich, he may
18:18
be blessed and poor. Blessedness and riches are only joined together when the riches
18:23
are rightly and wisely used, and the poor man only descends into wretchedness when
18:30
he regards his lot as a burden unjustly imposed. Indigence and indulgence are the
18:37
two extremes of wretchedness. They are both equally unnatural and the result of mental
18:41
disorder. A man is not rightly conditioned until he is a happy, healthy,
18:48
and prosperous being, and happiness, health, and prosperity are the result
18:52
of a harmonious adjustment of the inner with the outer. A man only begins
18:57
to be a man when he ceases to wine and revile, and commences to
19:02
search for the hidden justice which regulates his life. And as he adapts his
19:07
mind to that regulating factor, he ceases to accuse others as the cause of
19:11
his condition and builds himself up in strong and noble thoughts. He ceases to
19:17
kick against circumstances, but begins to use them as aids to his more rapid
19:22
progress and as a means of discovering the hidden powers and possibilities within himself.
19:27
Law, not confusion, is the dominating principle in the universe. Justice,
19:33
not injustice, is the soul and substance of life, and righteousness not corruption,
19:40
is the molding and moving force in the spiritual government of the world.
19:45
This being so, man has but to right himself to find that the universe
19:48
is right. And during the process of putting himself right, he will find
19:53
that as he alters his thoughts towards things and other people, things and other
19:57
people will alter toward toward him. The proof of this truth is in every
20:03
person, and it therefore admits of easy investigation by systematic introspection and self analysis.
20:11
Let a man radically alter his thoughts, and he will be astonished at
20:14
the rapid transformation it will affect in the material condition of his life. Men
20:19
imagine that thought can be kept secret, but it cannot. It rapidly crystallizes
20:25
into habit, and habit solidifies into circumstance. Be steal thoughts crystallize into habits
20:32
of drunkenness and sensuality, which solidify into circumstances of destitution and disease. Impure
20:40
thoughts of every kind crystallize into enervating and confusing habits, which solidify into distracting
20:45
and adverse circumstances. Thoughts of fear, doubt, and indecision crystallize into weak,
20:52
unmanly, and irresolute habits, which solidify into circumstances of failure in dijaction
21:00
and slavish dependence. Lazy thoughts crystallize into habits of uncleanliness and dishonesty, which
21:07
solidify into circumstances of foulness and beggary. Hateful and condemnatory thoughts crystallize into habits
21:15
of accusation and violence, which solidify into circumstances of injury and persecution. Selfish
21:22
thoughts of all kinds crystallize into habits of self seeking, which solidify into circumstances
21:29
more or less distressing. On the other hand, beautiful thoughts of all kinds
21:34
crystallize into habits of grace and kindliness, which solidify into genial and sunny circumstances.
21:41
Pure thoughts crystallize into habits of temperance and self control, which solidify into
21:47
circumstances of repose and peace. Thoughts of courage, self reliance, and decision
21:53
crystallize into manly habits, which solidify into circumstances of success, plenty, and
22:00
freedom. Energetic thoughts crystallize into habits of cleanliness and industry, which solidify into
22:07
circumstances of pleasantness. Gentle and forgiving thoughts crystallize into habits of gentleness, which
22:14
solidify into protective and preservative circumstances. Loving and unselfish thoughts crystallize into habits of
22:21
self forgetfulness for others, which solidify into circumstances of sure and abiding prosperity and
22:27
true riches. A particular train of thought persisted in, be it good or
22:33
bad, cannot fail to produce its results on the character and circumstances. A
22:38
man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose his thoughts and so
22:44
indirectly yet surely shape his circumstances. Nature helps every man to the gratification of
22:51
the thoughts which he most encourages, and opportunities are presented which will most speedily
22:56
bring to the surface both the good and evil thoughts. Let a man cease
23:02
from his sinful thoughts, and all the world will soften toward him and be
23:06
ready to help him. Let him put away his weakly and sickly thoughts,
23:10
and lo opportunities will spring up on every hand to aid his strong resolves.
23:15
Let him encourage good thoughts, and no hard fate shall bind him down to
23:19
wretchedness and shame. The world is your kaleidoscope, and the varying combinations of
23:26
colors which at every succeeding moment it presents to you are the exquisitely adjusted pictures
23:32
of your ever moving thoughts. You will be what you will to be.
23:36
Let failure find its false content in that poor word environment, but spirit scorns
23:41
it and is free. It masters time, it conquers space, It cows
23:47
that boastful trickster chance, and bids the tyrant circumstance uncrown and fill a servant's
23:52
place. The human will that force unseen, the offspring of a deathless soul
24:00
can hew away to any goal. Though walls of granite intervene. Be not
24:06
impatient in delay, but wait as one who understands. When spirit rises and
24:11
commands the gods are ready to obey. End of Chapter two, Thought on
24:15
Circumstances. Chapter three. Effect of thought on health and the body. The
24:22
body is the servant of the mind. It obeys the operations of the mind,
24:26
whether they be deliberately chosen or automatically expressed. At the bidding of unlawful
24:33
thoughts, the body sinks rapidly into disease and decay. At the command of
24:37
glad and beautiful thoughts, it becomes clothed with youthfulness and beauty. Disease and
24:45
health like circumstances, are rooted in thought. Sickly thoughts will express themselves through
24:52
a sickly body. Thoughts of fear have been known to kill a man as
24:56
speedily as a bullet, and they are continually killing thousands of people just as
25:00
surely, though less rapidly. The people who live in fear of disease are
25:06
the people who get it. Anxiety quickly demoralizes the whole body and lays it
25:11
open to the entrance of disease. While impure thoughts, even if not physically
25:17
indulged, will soon shatter the nervous system. Strong, pure and happy thoughts
25:22
build up the body in vigor and grace. The body is a delicate and
25:27
plastic instrument which responds readily to the thoughts by which it is impressed, and
25:33
habits of thought will produce their own effects, good or bad, upon it.
25:37
Men will continue to have impure and poisoned blood so long as they propagate
25:42
unclean thoughts. Out of a clean heart comes a clean life, and a
25:47
clean body. Out of a defiled mind precedes a defiled life and a corrupt
25:52
body. Thought is the fount of action, life and manifestation. Make the
25:57
fountain pure in all way will be pure. Change of diet will not help
26:03
a man who will not change his thoughts. When a man makes his thoughts
26:07
pure, he no longer desires impure food. If you would perfect your body,
26:12
guard your mind, if you would renew your body, beautify your mind.
26:18
Thoughts of malice, envy, disappointment, despondency rob the body of its
26:23
health and grace. A sour face does not come by chance. It is
26:29
made by sour thoughts. Wrinkles that mar are drawn by folly, passion,
26:33
and pride. I know a woman of ninety six who has the bright,
26:37
innocent face of a girl. I know a man well under middle age whose
26:42
face is drawn into inharmonious contours. The one is the result of a sweet
26:48
and sunny disposition. The other is the outcome of passion and discontent. As
26:55
you cannot have a sweet and wholesome abode unless you admit the air and sunshine
26:59
free into your rooms. So a strong body and a bright, happy,
27:04
or serene countenance can only result from the free admittance into the mind of thoughts
27:10
of joy and good will and serenity. On the faces of the age,
27:15
there are wrinkles made by sympathy, others by strong and pure thoughts. Others
27:21
are carved by passion. Who cannot distinguish them with those who have lived righteously.
27:26
Age is calm, peaceful, and softly mellowed, like the setting sun.
27:33
I have recently seen a philosopher on his deathbed. He was not old
27:37
except in years. He died as sweetly and peacefully as he had lived.
27:44
There is no physician like cheerful thought, for dissipating the ills of the body.
27:48
There is no comforter to compare with good will for dispersing the shadows of
27:52
grief and sorrow. To live continually in thoughts of ill will, cynicism,
27:59
suspense, and envy is to be confined in a self made prison whole.
28:03
But to think well of all, to be cheerful with all, to patiently
28:08
learn to find the good in all. Such unselfish thoughts are the very portals
28:12
of heaven. And to dwell day by day in thoughts of peace toward every
28:17
creature will bring a bounding peace to their possessor. End of Chapter three,
28:22
Health and the Body. Chapter four, Thought and Purpose. Until thought is
28:30
linked with purpose, there is no intelligent accomplishment With the majority. The bark
28:36
of thought is allowed to drift upon the ocean of life. Aimlessness is a
28:40
vice, and such drifting must not continue for him who would steer clear of
28:45
catastrophe and destruction. They who have no central purpose in their life fall in
28:51
easy prey to petty worries, fears, troubles, and self pityings, all
28:56
of which are indications of weakness, which lead just as surely as deliberately planned
29:02
sins. Though by a different route to failure, unhappiness, and loss,
29:07
for weakness cannot persist in a power evolving universe. A man should conceive of
29:15
a legitimate purpose in his heart and set out to accomplish it. He should
29:19
make this purpose the centralizing point of his thoughts. It may take the form
29:25
of a spiritual ideal, or it may be a worldly object, according to
29:29
his nature at the time being. But whichever it is, he should steadily
29:33
focus his thought forces upon the object which he has set before him. He
29:38
should make his purpose his supreme duty, and should devote himself to its attainment,
29:45
not allowing his thoughts to wander away into ephemeral fancies, longings, and
29:48
imaginings. This is the royal road to self control and true concentration of thought.
29:56
Even if he fails again and again to accomplish his purpose, as he
30:00
necessarily must, until weakness is overcome, the strength of character gained will be
30:07
the measure of his true success, and this will form a new starting point
30:11
for future power and triumph. Those who are not prepared for the apprehension of
30:17
great purpose should fix the thoughts upon the faultless performance of their duty, no
30:22
matter how insignificant their task may appear. Only in this way can the thoughts
30:27
be gathered and focused, and resolution and energy be developed. Which being done,
30:33
there is nothing which may not be accomplished. The weakest soul, knowing
30:37
its own weakness, and believing this truth that strength can only be developed by
30:42
effort and practice, will at once begin to exert itself, and adding effort
30:48
to effort, patience to patience, and strength to strength, will never cease
30:53
to develop, and will at last grow divinely strong. As the physically weak
31:00
man can make himself strong by careful and patient training, so the man of
31:04
weak thoughts can make them strong by exercising himself in right thinking. To put
31:10
away aimlessness and weakness, and to begin to think with purpose is to enter
31:15
the ranks of those strong ones who only recognize failure as one of the pathways
31:19
to attainment, who make all conditions serve them, and who think strongly,
31:25
attempt fearlessly, and accomplish masterfully. Having conceived of his purpose, a man
31:32
should mentally mark out a straight pathway to his achievement, looking neither to the
31:37
right nor the left. Doubts and fears should be rigorously excluded. They are
31:42
disintegrating elements. Which break up the straight line of effort, rendering it crooked,
31:48
ineffectual. Useless thoughts of doubt and fear never accomplish anything, and never
31:56
can. They always lead to failure, Purpose, energy, power to do,
32:01
and all strong thoughts cease when doubt and fear creep in. The will
32:07
to do springs from the knowledge that we can do. Doubt and fear are
32:10
the great enemies of knowledge, and he who encourages them, who does not
32:15
slay them, thwarts himself at every step. He who has conquered doubt and
32:22
fear has conquered failure. His every thought is allied with power, and all
32:27
difficulties are bravely met and wisely overcome. His purposes are seasonably planted, and
32:34
they bloom and bring forth fruit which does not fall prematurely to the ground.
32:38
Thought, allied fearlessly to purpose becomes creative force. He who knows this is
32:45
ready to become something higher and stronger than a mere bundle of wavering thoughts and
32:51
fluctuating sensations. He who does this has become the conscious and intelligent wielder of
32:58
his mental powers. End of Chapter four, Thought and Purpose. Chapter five,
33:05
The thought factor and Achievement. All that a man achieves and all that
33:09
he fails to achieve, is the direct result of his own thoughts. In
33:14
a justly ordered universe, where loss of equipoise would mean total destruction, individual
33:20
responsibility must be absolute. A man's weakness and strength, purity and impurity,
33:28
are his own and not another man's. They are brought about by himself and
33:32
not by another, and they can only be altered by himself, never by
33:37
another. His condition is also his own, and not another man's. His
33:43
suffering and his happiness are evolved from within. As he thinks, so he
33:47
is as he continues to think, so he remains. A strong man cannot
33:54
help a weaker unless the weaker is willing to be helped. And even then,
34:00
the weak man must become strong of himself. He must, by his
34:05
own efforts, develop the strength which he admires in another. None but himself
34:09
can alter his condition. It has been usual for men to think and to
34:15
say, many men are slaves because one is an oppressor, Let us hate
34:20
the oppressor. Now, however, there is, among an increasing few a
34:25
tendency to reverse this judgment, and to say one man is an oppressor because
34:30
many are slaves. Let us despise the slaves. The truth is that oppressor
34:37
and slave are co operators in ignorance, and while seeming to afflict each other,
34:42
are in reality afflicting themselves. A perfect knowledge perceives the action of law
34:47
in the weakness of the oppressed and the misapplied power of the oppressor. A
34:53
perfect love, seeing the suffering which both states entail, condemns neither. A
35:00
perfect compassion embraces both oppressor and oppressed. He has conquered weakness and has put
35:08
away all selfish thoughts. Belongs neither to oppressor nor oppressed. He is free.
35:15
A man can only rise, conquer, and achieve by lifting up his
35:20
thoughts. He can only remain weak and object and miserable by refusing to lift
35:27
up his thoughts. Before a man can achieve anything, even in worldly things,
35:32
he must lift his thoughts above slavish animal indulgence. He may not,
35:37
in order to succeed, give up all animality and selfishness by any means,
35:43
but a portion of it must at least be sacrificed. A man whose first
35:47
thought is bestial indulgence could neither think clearly nor plan methodically. He could not
35:53
find and develop his Latin resources, and would fail in any undertaking. Not
36:00
having commenced manfully to control his thoughts, he is not in a position to
36:05
control affairs and to adopt serious responsibilities. He is not fit to act independently
36:12
and stand alone. But he is limited only by the thoughts which he chooses.
36:17
There can be no progress, no achievement without sacrifice. A man's worldly
36:23
success will be in the measure that he sacrifices his confused animal thoughts and fixes
36:29
his mind on the development of his plans and the strengthening of his resolution and
36:34
self reliance. And the higher he lifts his thoughts, the more manly,
36:38
upright, and righteous he becomes, the greater will be his success, the
36:44
more blessed and enduring will be his achievements. The universe does not favor the
36:49
greedy, the dishonest, the vicious, although on the mere surface it may
36:52
appear sometimes to do so. It helps the honest, the magnanimous, the
36:59
virtuous. All the great teachers of the ages have declared this in varying forms,
37:05
and to prove and know it, a man has but to persist in
37:08
making himself more and more virtuous by lifting up his thoughts. Intellectual achievements are
37:15
the result of thought consecrated to the search for knowledge or for the beautiful and
37:21
true in life and nature. Such achievements may be sometimes connected with vanity and
37:27
ambition, but they are not the outcome of those characteristics. They are the
37:31
natural outgrowth of long and arduous effort and of pure and unselfish thoughts. Spiritual
37:39
achievements are the consummation of holy aspirations. He who lives constantly in the conception
37:45
of noble and lofty thoughts, who dwells upon all that is pure and unselfish,
37:52
will, as surely as the sun reaches its zenith and the moon is
37:54
full, become wise and noble in character, and rise into a position of
38:00
influence and blessedness. Achievement of whatever kind is the crown effort, the diadem
38:07
of thought. By the aid of self control, resolution, purity, righteousness,
38:13
and well directed thought, a man ascends. By the aid of animality,
38:19
indolence, impurity, corruption, and confusion of thought, a man descends.
38:25
A man may rise to high success in the world, and even to
38:29
lofty altitudes in the spiritual realm, and again descend into weakness and wretchedness.
38:36
By allowing arrogant, selfish and corrupt thoughts to take possession of him. Victories
38:42
attained by right thought can only be maintained by watchfulness. Many give way when
38:46
success is assured, and rapidly fall back into failure. All achievements, whether
38:53
in the business, intellectual, or spiritual world, are the result of definitely
38:59
directed thought, are governed by the same law, and are of the same
39:02
method. The only difference lies in the object of attainment. He who would
39:08
accomplish little must sacrifice little. He who would achieve much must sacrifice much.
39:15
He who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly. End of Chapter five Thought,
39:22
Factor and Achievement. Chapter six Visions and Ideals. The dreamers are the saviors
39:30
of the world. As the visible world is sustained by the invisible. So
39:37
men, through all their trials and sins and sordid vocations, are nourished by
39:42
the beautiful visions of their solitary dreamers. Humanity cannot forget its dreamers, It
39:49
cannot let their ideals fade and die. It lives in them. It knows
39:53
them in the realities which it shall one day see and know. Composer,
40:00
sculptor, painter, poet, prophet, sage. These are the makers of
40:05
the afterworld, the architects of heaven. The world is beautiful because they have
40:10
lived without them. Laboring humanity would perish. He who cherishes a beautiful vision,
40:19
a lofty ideal in his heart, will one day realize it. Columbus
40:23
cherished a vision of another world, and he discovered it. Copernicus fostered the
40:30
vision of multiplicity of worlds in a wider universe, and he revealed it.
40:35
Buddha beheld the vision of a spiritual world, of stainless beauty and perfect peace,
40:40
and he entered into it. Cherish your visions, Cherish your ideals.
40:47
Cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your
40:52
mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts, For out of them will
40:57
grow all delightful conditions, all heavenly environment. Of these, If you but
41:02
remain true to them, your world will at last be built. To desire
41:10
is to obtain. To aspire is to achieve. Shall man's basest desires receive
41:17
the fullest measure of gratification, and his purest abspirations starve for lack of sustenance.
41:24
Such is not the law. Such a condition of things can never obtain
41:30
ask and receive, dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall
41:35
you become. Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be.
41:39
Your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil. The
41:45
greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream. The oak sleeps
41:50
in the acorn, the bird waits in the egg, and in the highest
41:53
vision of the soul, awaking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of your
42:00
realities. Your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall not long remain so.
42:06
If you but perceive an ideal and strive to reach it, you cannot
42:10
travel within and stand still without. Here is a youth hard pressed by poverty
42:16
and labor, confined long hours in an unhealthy workshop, unschooled and lacking all
42:23
the arts of refinement. But he dreams of better things. He thinks of
42:30
intelligence, of a refinement of grace and beauty. He conceives of mentally builds
42:37
up an ideal condition of life. The vision of a wider liberty and a
42:43
larger scope takes possession of him, unrest urges him to take action, and
42:49
he utilizes all his spare time and means, small though they are, to
42:52
the development of his latent powers and resources. Very soon, so altered has
43:00
his mind become that the workshop can no longer hold him. It has become
43:04
so out of harmony with his mentality that it falls out of his life as
43:07
a garment is cast aside, and with the growth of opportunities which fit the
43:14
scope of his expanding powers, he passes out of it. Forever. Years
43:19
later, we see this youth as a full grown man. We find him
43:22
a master of certain forces of the mind, which he wields with world wide
43:27
influence and almost unequaled power. In his hands, he holds the cords of
43:31
gigantic responsibilities. He speaks and lo lives are changed. Men and women hang
43:38
upon his words and remold their characters and sunlike he becomes the fixed and luminous
43:45
center around which innumerable destinies revolve. He has realized the vision of his youth.
43:52
He has become one with his ideal, And you, too, youthful
43:57
reader, will realize the vision, not the idle wish of your heart,
44:01
be it base or beautiful, or a mixture of both, for you will
44:06
always gravitate toward that which you secretly most love. Into your hands will be
44:12
placed the exact results of your own thoughts. You will receive that which you
44:15
earn, no more, no less. Whatever your present environment may be,
44:21
you will fall, remain, or rise with your thoughts, your vision,
44:25
your ideal. You will become as small as your controlling desire, as great
44:30
as your dominant aspiration. In the beautiful words of Stanton Kirkham Davis, you
44:37
may be keeping accounts, and presently you shall walk out of the door that
44:40
for so long has seemed to you the barrier of your ideals, and shall
44:45
find yourself before an audience, the pen still behind your ear, the ink
44:50
stains on your fingers, and then and there shall pour out the torrent of
44:53
your inspiration. You may be driving sheep, and you shall wander to the
44:59
city, bucolic and open mouthed, shall wander under the intrepid guidance of the
45:05
spirit, into the studio of the Master. And after a time he shall
45:09
say, I have nothing more to teach you, And now you have become
45:14
the master who did so recently dream of great things while driving sheep. You
45:20
shall lay down the saw and the plain to take upon yourself the regeneration of
45:23
the world. The thoughtless, the ignorant, and the indolent, seeing only
45:30
the apparent effects of things, and not the things themselves, talk of luck,
45:34
of fortune and chance. Seeing a man grow rich, they say how
45:38
lucky he is. Observing another become intellectual, they exclaim how highly favored he
45:45
is. And noting the saintly character and wide influence of another, they remark
45:52
how chance aids him at every turn. They do not see the trials and
45:57
failures and struggles which these men have voluntarily encountered in order to gain their experience.
46:04
They have no knowledge of the sacrifices they have made, of the undaunted
46:07
efforts they have put forth, of the faith they have exercised that they might
46:13
overcome the apparently insurmountable and realize the vision of their heart. They do not
46:19
know the darkness and the heartaches. They only see the light and joy and
46:22
call it luck. Do not see the long and arduous journey, but only
46:28
behold the pleasant goal and call it good fortune. Do not understand the process,
46:32
but only perceive the result and call it chance. In all human affairs,
46:38
there are efforts and there are results, and the strength of the effort
46:44
is the measure of the result. Chance is not gifts, powers, materials.
46:51
Intellectual and spiritual possessions are the fruits of effort. They are thoughts completed,
46:57
objects accomplished, visions realized, the vision that you glorify in your mind,
47:04
the ideal that you enthrone in your heart. This you will build your
47:07
life. By this you will become. End of Chapter six, Visions and
47:15
Ideals. Chapter seven. Serenity calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels
47:22
of wisdom. It is the result of long and patient effort and self control.
47:27
Its presence is an indication of ripened experience and of a more than ordinary
47:32
knowledge of the laws and operations of thought. A man becomes calm in the
47:37
measure that he understands himself as a thought evolved being, for such knowledge necessitates
47:44
the understanding of others as the result of thought. As he develops a right
47:49
understanding and sees more and more clearly the internal relations of things by the action
47:54
of cause and effect, he ceases to fluss and fume, and worry and
47:59
grieve, and remains poised, steadfast, serene. The calm man, having
48:04
learned how to govern himself, knows how to adapt himself to others, and
48:08
they, in turn reverence, his spiritual strength, and feel that they can
48:14
learn of him and rely upon him. The more tranquil a man becomes,
48:17
the greater is his success, his influence, his power for good. Even
48:22
the ordinary traitor will find his business prosperity increase as he develops a greater self
48:28
control and equanimity. For people always prefer to deal with a man whose demeanor
48:32
is strongly equable. The strong, calm man is always loved and revered.
48:38
He is like a shade giving tree in a thirsty land, or a sheltering
48:43
rock in a storm. Who does not love a tranquil heart, a sweet,
48:46
tempered, balanced life. It does not matter whether it rains or shines,
48:51
or what changes come to those possessing these blessings, for they are always
48:54
sweet, serene, and calm. That exquisite poise of character, which we
49:00
call serenity, is the last lesson of culture. It is the flowering of
49:04
life, the fruitage of the soul. It is precious as wisdom, more
49:09
to be desired than gold, yea than even fine gold. How insignificant mere
49:15
money seeking looks in comparison with a serene life, a life that dwells in
49:21
the ocean of truth. Beneath the waves, beyond the reach of tempests in
49:24
the eternal calm. How many people we know who sour their lives, who
49:30
ruin all that is sweet and beautiful by explosive tempers, who destroy their poise
49:35
of character and make bad blood. It is a question whether the great majority
49:39
of people do not ruin their lives and mar their happiness by lack of self
49:44
control. How few people we meet in life who are well balanced, who
49:50
have their exquisite poise, which is characteristic of the finished character. Yes,
49:55
humanity surges with uncontrolled passion, is tumultuous, with ungoverned grief, is blown
50:01
away by anxiety and doubt. Only the wise man, only he whose thoughts
50:07
are controlled and purified, makes the winds and the storms of the soul obey
50:12
him. Tempest tossed souls. Wherever ye may be, under whatsoever conditions ye
50:19
may live, know this. In the ocean of life, the isles of
50:22
blessedness are smiling, and the sunny shore of your ideal awaits your coming.
50:28
Keep your hand firmly upon the helm of thought. In the bark of your
50:30
soul reclines the commanding master. He does but sleep, Wake him self control
50:37
is strength. Right thought is mastery, Calmness is power. Say unto your
50:43
heart, peace be still. End of Chapter seven Serenity. End of As
50:50
a Man Thinketh by James Allen