|
Physical science is responsible for the marvelous age of invention in which
we are now living, but spiritual science is now setting out on a career
whose possibilities no one can foretell.
Spiritual science has previously been the football of the uneducated, the
superstitious, the mystical, but men are now interested in definite methods
and demonstrated facts only.
We
have come to know that thinking is a spiritual process, that vision and
imagination preceded action and event, that the day of the dreamer has come.
The
following lines by Mr. Herbert Kaufman are interesting in this connection.
"They are the architects of greatness, their vision lies within their souls,
they peer beyond the veils and mists of doubt and pierce the walls of unborn
Time. The belted wheel, the trail of steel, the churning screw, are shuttles
in the loom on which they weave their magic tapestries. Makers of Empire,
they have fought for bigger things than crowns and higher seats than
thrones. Your homes are set upon the land a dreamer found. The pictures on
its walls are visions from a dreamer's soul. They are the chose few -- the
blazers of the way. Walls crumble and Empires fall, the tidal wave sweeps
from the sea and tears a fortress from its rocks. The rotting nations drop
off from Time's bough, and only things the dreamer's make live on."
Part Thirteen which follows tells why the dreams of the dreamer come true.
It explains the law of causation by which dreamers, inventors, authors,
financiers, bring about the realization of their desires. It explains the
law by which the thing pictured upon our mind eventually becomes our own.
PART THIRTEEN
1. It
has been the tendency, and, as might be proved, a necessity for science to
seek the explanation of everyday facts by a generalization of those others
which are less frequent and form the exception. Thus does the eruption of
the volcano manifest the heat which is continually at work in the interior
of the earth and to which the latter owes much of her configuration.
2.
Thus does the lightning reveal a subtle power constantly busy to produce
changes in the inorganic world, and, as dead languages now seldom heard were
once ruling among the nations, so does a giant tooth in Siberia, or a fossil
in the depth of the earth, not only bear record of the evolution of past
ages, but thereby explains to us the origin of the hills and valleys which
we inhabit today.
3. In
this way a generalization of facts which are rare, strange, or form the
exception, has been the magnetic needle guiding to all the discoveries of
inductive science.
4.
This method is founded upon reason and experience and thereby destroyed
superstition, precedent and conventionality.
5. It
is almost three-hundred years since Lord Bacon recommended this method of
study, to which the civilized nations owe the greater part of their
prosperity and the more valuable part of their knowledge; purging the mind
from narrow prejudices, denominated theories, more effectually than by the
keenest irony; calling the attention of men from heaven to earth more
successfully by surprising experiments than by the most forcible
demonstration of their ignorance; educating the inventive faculties more
powerfully by the near prospect of useful discoveries thrown open to all,
than by talk of bringing to light the innate laws of our mind.
6. The
method of Bacon has seized the spirit and aim of the great philosophers of
Greece and carried them into effect by the new means of observation which
another age offered; thus gradually revealing a wondrous field of knowledge
in the infinite space of astronomy, in the microscopic egg of embryology,
and the dim age of geology; disclosing an order of the pulse which the logic
of Aristotle could never have unveiled, and analyzing into formerly unknown
elements the material combinations which no dialectic of the scholastics
could force apart.
7. It
has lengthened life; it has mitigated pain; it has extinguished diseases; it
has increased the fertility of the soil; it has given new securities to the
mariner; it has spanned great rivers with bridges of form unknown to our
fathers; it has guided the thunderbolt from heaven to earth; it has lighted
up night with the splendor of day; it has extended the range of human
vision; it has multiplied the power of the human muscles; it has accelerated
motion; it has annihilated distance; it has facilitated intercourse,
correspondence, all friendly offices, all dispatch of business; it has
enabled men to descend into the depths of the sea, to soar into the air, to
penetrate securely into the noxious recesses of the earth.
8.
This then is the true nature and scope of induction. But the greater the
success which men have achieved in the inductive science, the more does the
whole tenor of their teachings and example impress us with the necessity of
observing carefully, patiently, accurately, with all the instruments and
resources at our command the individual facts before venturing upon a
statement of general laws.
9. To
ascertain the bearing of the spark drawn from the electric machine under
every variety of circumstances, that we thus may be emboldened with Franklin
to address, in the form of a kite, the question to the cloud about the
nature of the lightning. To assure ourselves of the manner in which bodies
fall with the exactness of a Galileo, that with Newton we may dare to ask
the moon about the force that fastens it to the earth.
10. In
short, by the value we set upon truth, by our hope in a steady and universal
progress, not to permit a tyrannical prejudice to neglect or mutilate
unwelcome facts, but to rear the superstructure of science upon the broad
and unchangeable basis, of full attention paid to the most isolated as well
as the most frequent phenomena.
11. An
ever-increasing material may be collected by observation, but the
accumulated facts are of very different value for the explanation of nature,
and as we esteem most highly those useful qualities of men which are of the
rarest occurrence, so does natural philosophy sift the facts and attach a
pre-eminent importance to that striking class which cannot be accounted for
by the usual and daily observation of life.
12. If
then, we find that certain persons seem to possess unusual power, what are
we to conclude? First, we may say, it is not so, which is simply an
acknowledgment of our lack of information because every honest investigator
admits that there are many strange and previously unaccountable phenomena
constantly taking place. Those, however, who become acquainted with the
creative power of thought, will no longer consider them unaccountable.
13.
Second, we may say that they are the result of supernatural interference,
but a scientific understanding of Natural Laws will convince us that there
is nothing supernatural. Every phenomenon is the result of an accurate
definite cause, and the cause is an immutable law or principle, which
operates with invariable precision, whether the law is put into operation
consciously or unconsciously.
14.
Third, we may say that we are on "forbidden ground," that there are some
things which we should not know. This objection was used against every
advance in human knowledge. Every individual who ever advanced a new idea,
whether a Columbus, a Darwin, a Galileo, a Fulton or an Emerson, was
subjected to ridicule or persecution; so that this objection should receive
no serious consideration; but, on the contrary, we should carefully consider
every fact which is brought to our attention; by doing this we will more
readily ascertain the law upon which it is based.
15. It
will be found that the creative power of thought will explain every possible
condition or experience, whether physical, mental or spiritual.
16.
Thought will bring about conditions in correspondence with the predominant
mental attitude. Therefore, if we fear disaster, as fear is a powerful form
of thought, disaster will be the certain result of our thinking. It is this
form of thought which frequently sweeps away the result of many years of
toil and effort.
17. If
we think of some form of material wealth we may secure it. By concentrated
thought the required conditions will be brought about, and the proper effort
put forth, which will result in bringing about the circumstances necessary
to realize our desires; but we often find that when we secure the things we
thought we wanted, they do not have the effect we expected. That is, the
satisfaction is only temporary, or possibly is the reverse of what we
expected.
18.
What, then, is the proper method of procedure? What are we to think in order
to secure what we really desire? What you and I desire, what we all desire,
what every one is seeking, is Happiness and Harmony. If we can be truly
happy we shall have everything the world can give. If we are happy ourselves
we can make others happy.
19.
But we cannot be happy unless we have, health, strength, congenial friends,
pleasant environment, sufficient supply, not only to take care of our
necessities but to provide for those comforts and luxuries to which we are
entitled.
20.
The old orthodox way of thinking was to be "a worm," to be satisfied with
our portion whatever it is; but the modern idea is to know that we are
entitled to the best of everything, that the "Father and I are one" and that
the "Father" is the Universal Mind, the Creator, the Original Substance from
which all things proceed.
21.
Now admitting that this is all true in theory, and it has been taught for
two thousand years, and is the essence of every system of Philosophy or
Religion, how are we to make it practical in our lives? How are we to get
the actual, tangible results here and now?
22. In
the first place, we must put our knowledge into practice. Nothing can be
accomplished in any other way. The athlete may read books and lessons on
physical training all his life, but unless he begins to give out strength by
actual work he will never receive any strength; he will eventually get
exactly what he gives; but he will have to give it first. It is exactly the
same with us; we will get exactly what we give, but we shall have to give it
first. It will then return to us many fold, and the giving is simply a
mental process, because thoughts are causes and conditions are effects;
therefore in giving thoughts of courage, inspiration, health or help of any
kind we are setting causes in motion which will bring about their effect.
23.
Thought is a spiritual activity and is therefore creative, but make no
mistake, thought will create nothing unless it is consciously,
systematically, and constructively directed; and herein is the difference
between idle thinking, which is simply a dissipation of effort, and
constructive thinking, which means practically unlimited achievement.
24. We
have found that everything we get comes to us by the Law of Attraction. A
happy thought cannot exist in an unhappy consciousness; therefore the
consciousness must change, and, as the consciousness changes, all conditions
necessary to meet the changed consciousness must gradually change, in order
to meet the requirements of the new situation.
25. In
creating a Mental Image or an Ideal, we are projecting a thought into the
Universal Substance from which all things are created. This Universal
Substance is Omnipresent, Omnipotent and Omniscient. Are we to inform the
Omniscient as to the proper channel to be used to materialize our demand?
Can the finite advise the Infinite? This is the cause of failure; of every
failure. We recognize the Omnipresence of the Universal Substance, but we
fail to appreciate the fact that this substance is not only Omnipresent, but
is Omnipotent and Omniscient, and consequently will set causes in motion
concerning which we may be entirely ignorant.
26. We
can best conserve our interests by recognizing the Infinite Power and
Infinite Wisdom of the Universal Mind, and in this way become a channel
whereby the Infinite can bring about the realization of our desire. This
means that recognition brings about realization, therefore for your exercise
this week make use of the principle, recognize the fact that you are a part
of the whole, and that a part must be the same in kind and quality as the
whole; the only difference there can possibly by, is in degree.
27.
When this tremendous fact begins to permeate your consciousness, when you
really come into a realization of the fact that you (not your body, but the
Ego), the "I," the spirit which thinks is an integral part of the great
whole, that it is the same in substance, in quality, in kind, that the
Creator could create nothing different from Himself, you will also be able
to say, "The Father and I are one" and you will come into an understanding
of the beauty, the grandeur, the transcendental opportunities which have
been placed at your disposal. |
|
