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Through all the ages man has believed in an invisible power, through which
and by which all things have been created and are continually being
re-created. We may personalize this power and call it God, or we may think
of it as the essence or spirit, which permeates all things, but in either
case the effect is the same.
So
far as the individual is concerned, the objective, the physical, the
visible, is the personal, that which can be cognized by the senses. It
consists of body, brain and nerves. The subjective is the spiritual, the
invisible, the impersonal.
The
personal is conscious because it is a personal entity. The impersonal, being
the same in kind and quality as all other Being, is not conscious of itself
and has therefore been termed the subconscious.
The
personal, or conscious, has the power of will and choice, and can therefore
exercise discrimination in the selection of methods whereby to bring about
the solution of difficulties.
The
impersonal, or spiritual, being a part or one with the source, and origin of
all power, can necessarily exercise no such choice, but, on the contrary, it
has Infinite resources at its command. It can and does bring about results
by methods concerning which the human or individual mind can have no
possible conception.
You
will therefore see that it is your privilege to depend upon the human will
with all its limitations and misconceptions, or you may utilize the
potentialities of Infinity by making use of the subconscious mind. Here,
then, is the scientific explanation of the wonderful power which has been
put within your control, if you but understand, appreciate and recognize it.
One
method of consciously utilizing this omnipotent power is outlined in Part
Seven.
PART SEVEN
1.
Visualization is the process of making mental images, and the image is the
mold or model which will serve as a pattern from which your future will
emerge.
2.
Make the pattern clear and make it beautiful; do not be afraid; make it
grand; remember that no limitation can be placed upon you by any one but
yourself; you are not limited as to cost or material; draw on the Infinite
for your supply, construct it in your imagination; it will have to be there
before it will ever appear anywhere else.
3.
Make the image clear and clean-cut, hold it firmly in the mind and you will
gradually and constantly bring the thing nearer to you. You can be what "you
will to be."
4.
This is another psychological fact which is well known, but unfortunately,
reading about it will not bring about any result which you may have in mind;
it will not even help you to form the mental image, much less bring it into
manifestation. Work is necessary - labor, hard mental labor, the kind of
effort which so few are willing to put forth.
5. The
first step is idealization. It is likewise the most important step, because
it is the plan on which you are going to build. It must be solid; it must be
permanent. The architect, when he plans a 30-storey building, has every line
and detail pictured in advance. The engineer, when he spans a chasm, first
ascertains the strength requirements of a million separate parts.
6.
They see the end before a single step is taken; so you are to picture in
your mind what you want; you are sowing the seed, but before sowing any seed
you want to know what the harvest is to be. This is Idealization. If you are
not sure, return to the chair daily until the picture becomes plain; it will
gradually unfold; first the general plan will be dim, but it will take
shape, the outline will take form, then the details, and you will gradually
develop the power by which you will be enabled to formulate plans which will
eventually materialize in the objective world. You will come to know what
the future holds for you.
7.
Then comes the process of visualization. You must see the picture more and
more complete, see the detail, and, as the details begin to unfold the ways
and means for bringing it into manifestation will develop. One thing will
lead to another. Thought will lead to action, action will develop methods,
methods will develop friends, and friends will bring about circumstances,
and, finally, the third step, or Materialization, will have been
accomplished.
8. We
all recognize the Universe must have been thought into shape before it ever
could have become a material fact. And if we are willing to follow along the
lines of the Great Architect of the Universe, we shall find our thoughts
taking form, just as the universe took concrete form. It is the same mind
operating through the individual. There is no difference in kind or quality,
the only difference is one of degree.
9. The
architect visualizes his building, he sees it as he wishes it to be. His
thought becomes a plastic mold from which the building will eventually
emerge, a high one or a low one, a beautiful one or a plain one, his vision
takes form on paper and eventually the necessary material is utilized and
the building stands complete.
10.
The inventor visualizes his idea in exactly the same manner, for instance,
Nikola Tesla, he with the giant intellect, one of the greatest inventors of
all ages, the man who has brought forth the most amazing realities, always
visualizes his inventions before attempting to work them out. He did not
rush to embody them in form and then spend his time in correcting defects.
Having first built up the idea in his imagination, he held it there as a
mental picture, to be reconstructed and improved by his thought. "In this
way," he writes in the Electrical Experimenter. "I am enabled to rapidly
develop and perfect a conception without touching anything. When I have gone
so far as to embody in the invention every possible improvement I can think
of, and see no fault anywhere, I put into concrete, the product of my brain.
Invariably my devise works as I conceived it should; in twenty years there
has not been a single exception."
11. If
you can conscientiously follow these directions, you will develop Faith, the
kind of Faith that is the "Substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things not seen"; you will develop confidence, the kind of confidence that
leads to endurance and courage; you will develop the power of concentration
which will enable you to exclude all thoughts except the ones which are
associated with your purpose.
12.
The law is that thought will manifest in form, and only one who knows how to
be the divine thinker of his own thoughts can ever take a Master's place and
speak with authority.
13.
Clearness and accuracy are obtained only by repeatedly having the image in
mind. Each repeated action renders the image more clear and accurate than
the preceding, and in proportion to the clearness and accuracy of the image
will the outward manifestation be. You must build it firmly and securely in
your mental world, the world within, before it can take form in the world
without, and you can build nothing of value, even in the mental world unless
you have the proper material. When you have the material you can build
anything you wish, but make sure of your material. You cannot make
broadcloth from shoddy.
14.
This material will be brought out by millions of silent mental workers and
fashioned into the form of the image which you have in mind.
15.
Think of it! You have over five million of these mental workers, ready and
in active use; brain cells they are called. Besides this, there is another
reserve force of at least an equal number, ready to be called into action at
the slightest need. Your power to think, then, is almost unlimited, and this
means that your power to create the kind of material which is necessary to
build for yourself any kind of environment which you desire is practically
unlimited.
16. In
addition to these millions of mental workers, you have billions of mental
workers in the body, every one of which is endowed with sufficient
intelligence to understand and act upon any message or suggestion given.
These cells are all busy creating and recreating the body, but, in addition
to this, they are endowed with psychic activity whereby they can attract to
themselves the substance necessary for perfect development.
17.
They do this by the same law and in the same manner that every form of life
attracts to itself the necessary material for growth. The oak, the rose, the
lily, all require certain material for their most perfect expression and
they secure it by silent demand, the Law of Attraction, the most certain way
for you to secure what you require for your most complete development.
18.
Make the Mental Image; make it clear, distinct, perfect; hold it firmly; the
ways and means will develop; supply will follow the demand; you will be led
to do the right thing at the right time and in the right way. Earnest Desire
will bring about Confident Expectation, and this in turn must be reinforced
by Firm Demand. These three cannot fail to bring about Attainment, because
the Earnest Desire is the feeling, the Confident Expectation is the thought,
and the Firm Demand is the will, and, as we have seen, feeling gives
vitality to thought and the will holds it steadily until the law of Growth
brings it into manifestation.
19. Is
it not wonderful that man has such tremendous power within himself, such
transcendental faculties concerning which he had no conception? Is it not
strange that we have always been taught to look for strength and power
"without?" We have been taught to look everywhere but "within" and whenever
this power manifested in our lives we were told that it was something
supernatural.
20.
There are many who have come to an understanding of this wonderful power,
and who make serious and conscientious efforts to realize health, power and
other conditions, and seem to fail. They do not seem able to bring the Law
into operation. The difficulty in nearly every case is that they are dealing
with externals. They want money, power, health and abundance, but they fail
to realize that these are effects and can come only when the cause is found.
21.
Those who will give no attention to the world without will seek only to
ascertain the truth, will look only for wisdom, will find that this wisdom
will unfold and disclose the source of all power, that it will manifest in
thought and purpose which will create the external conditions desired. This
truth will find expression in noble purpose and courageous action.
22.
Create ideals only, give no thought to external conditions, make the world
within beautiful and opulent and the world without will express and manifest
the condition which you have within. You will come into a realization of
your power to create ideals and these ideals will be projected into the
world of effect.
23.
For instance, a man is in debt. He will be continually thinking about the
debt, concentrating on it, and as thoughts are causes the result is that he
not only fastens the debt closer to him, but actually creates more debt. He
is putting the great law of Attraction into operation with the usual and
inevitable result -- Loss leads to greater "Loss."
24.
What, then, is the correct principle? Concentrate on the things you want,
not on the things you do not want. Think of abundance; idealize the methods
and plans for putting the Law of Abundance into operation. Visualize the
condition which the Law of Abundance creates; this will result in
manifestation.
25. If
the law operates perfectly to bring about poverty, lack and every form of
limitation for those who are continually entertaining thoughts of lack and
fear, it will operate with the same certainty to bring about conditions of
abundance and opulence for those who entertain thoughts of courage and
power.
26.
This is a difficult problem for many; we are too anxious; we manifest
anxiety, fear, distress; we want to do something; we want to help; we are
like a child who has just planted a seed and every fifteen minutes goes and
stirs up the earth to see if it is growing. Of course, under such
circumstances, the seed will never germinate, and yet this is exactly what
many of us do in the mental world.
27. We
must plant the seed and leave it undisturbed. This does not mean that we are
to sit down and do nothing, by no means; we will do more and better work
then we have ever done before, new channels will constantly be provided, new
doors will open; all that is necessary is to have an open mind, be ready to
act when the time comes.
28.
Thought force is the most powerful means of obtaining knowledge, and if
concentrated on any subject will solve the problem. Nothing is beyond the
power of human comprehension, but in order to harness thought force and make
it do your bidding, work is required.
29.
Remember that thought is the fire that creates the steam that turns the
wheel of fortune, upon which your experiences depend.
30.
Ask yourself a few questions and then reverently await the response; do you
not now and then feel the self with you? Do you assert this self or do you
follow the majority? Remember that majorities are always led, they never
lead. It was the majority that fought, tooth and nail, against the steam
engine, the power loom and every other advance or improvement ever
suggested.
31.
For your exercise this week, visualize your friend, see him exactly as you
last saw him, see the room, the furniture, recall the conversation, now see
his face, see it distinctly, now talk to him about some subject of mutual
interest; see his expression change, watch him smile. Can you do this? All
right, you can; then arouse his interest, tell him a story of adventure, see
his eyes light up with the spirit of fun or excitement. Can you do all of
this? If so, your imagination is good, you are making excellent progress.
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