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In
the part which I have the honor to transmit herewith you will find that
money weaves itself into the entire fabric of our very existence; that the
law of success is service; that we get what we give, and for this reason we
should consider it a great privilege to be able to give.
We
have found that thought is the creative activity behind every constructive
enterprise. We can therefore give nothing of more practical value than our
thought.
Creative thought requires attention, and the power of attention is, as we
have found, the weapon of the Super-man. Attention develops concentration,
and concentration develops Spiritual Power, and Spiritual Power is the
mightiest force in existence.
This is the science which embraces all sciences. It is the art which, above
all arts, is relevant to human life. In the mastery of this science and this
art there is opportunity for unending progression. Perfection in this is not
acquired in six days, nor in six weeks, nor in six months. It is the labor
of life. Not to go forward is to go backward.
It
is inevitable that the entertainment of positive, constructive and unselfish
thoughts should have a far-reaching effect for good. Compensation is the
keynote of the universe. Nature is constantly seeking to strike an
equilibrium. Where something is sent out something must be received; else
there should be a vacuum formed.
By
observance of this rule you cannot fail to profit in such measure as to
amply justify your effort along this line.
PART TWENTY-THREE
1. The
money consciousness is an attitude of mind; it is the open door to the
arteries of commerce. It is the receptive attitude. Desire is the attractive
force which sets the current in motion and fear is the great obstacle by
which the current is stopped or completely reversed, turned away from us.
2.
Fear is just the opposite from money consciousness; it is poverty
consciousness, and as the law is unchangeable we get exactly what we give;
if we fear we get what we feared. Money weaves itself into the entire fabric
of our very existence; it engages the best thought of the best minds.
3. We
make money by making friends, and we enlarge our circle of friends by making
money for them, by helping them, by being of service to them. The first law
of success then is service, and this in turn is built on integrity and
justice. The man who at least is not fair in his intention is simply
ignorant; he has missed the fundamental law of all exchange; he is
impossible; he will lose surely and certainly; he may not know it; he may
think he is winning, but he is doomed to certain defeat. He cannot cheat the
Infinite. The law of compensation will demand of him an eye for an eye and a
tooth for a tooth.
4. The
forces of life are volatile; they are composed of our thoughts and ideals
and these in turn are molded into form; our problem is to keep an open mind,
to constantly reach out for the new, to recognize opportunity, to be
interested in the race rather than the goal, for the pleasure is in the
pursuit rather than the possession.
5. You
can make a money magnet of yourself, but to do so you must first consider
how you can make money for other people. If you have the necessary insight
to perceive and utilize opportunities and favorable conditions and recognize
values, you can put yourself in position to take advantage of them, but your
greatest success will come as you are enabled to assist others. What
benefits one must benefit all.
6. A
generous thought is filled with strength and vitality, a selfish thought
contains the germs of dissolution; it will disintegrate and pass away. Great
financiers are simply channels for the distribution of wealth; enormous
amounts come and go, but it would be as dangerous to stop the outgo as the
income; both ends must remain open; and so our greatest success will come as
we recognize that it is just as essential to give as to get.
7. If
we recognize the Omnipotent power that is the source of all supply we will
adjust our consciousness to this supply in such a way that it will
constantly attract all that is necessary to itself and we shall find that
the more we give the more we get. Giving in this sense implies service. The
banker gives his money, the merchant gives his goods, the author gives his
thought, the workman gives his skill; all have something to give, but the
more they can give, the more they get, and the more they get the more they
are enabled to give.
8. The
financier gets much because he gives much; he thinks; he is seldom a man
that lets anyone else do his thinking for him; he wants to know how results
are to be secured; you must show him; when you can do this he will furnish
the means by which hundreds or thousands may profit, and in proportion as
they are successful will he be successful. Morgan, Rockefeller, Carnegie and
others did not get rich because they lost money for other people; on the
contrary, it is because they made money for other people that they became
the wealthiest men in the wealthiest country on the globe.
9. The
average person is entirely innocent of any deep thinking; he accepts the
ideas of others, and repeats them, in very much the same way as a parrot;
this is readily seen when we understand the method which is used to form
public opinion, and this docile attitude on the part of a large majority who
seem perfectly willing to let a few persons do all their thinking for them
is what enables a few men in a great many countries to usurp all the avenues
of power and hold the millions in subjection. Creative thinking requires
attention.
10.
The power of attention is called concentration; this power is directed by
the will; for this reason we must refuse to concentrate or think of anything
except the things we desire. Many are constantly concentrating upon sorrow,
loss and discord of every kind; as thought is creative it necessarily
follows that this concentration inevitable leads to more loss, more sorrow
and more discord. How could it be otherwise? On the other hand, when we meet
with success, gain, or any other desirable condition, we naturally
concentrate upon the effects of these things and thereby create more, and so
it follows that much leads to more.
11.
How an understanding of this principle can be utilized in the business world
is well told by an associate of mine:
12.
"Spirit, whatever else it may or may not be, must be considered as the
Essence of Consciousness, the Substance of Mind, the reality underlying
Thought. And as all ideas are phases of the activity of Consciousness, Mind
or Thought, it follows that in Spirit, and in it alone, is to be found the
Ultimate Fact, the Real Thing, or Idea."
13.
This being admitted, does it not seem reasonable to hold that a true
understanding of Spirit, and its laws of manifestation, would be about the
most "practical" thing that a "practical" person can hope to find? Does it
not seem certain that if the "practical" men of the world could but realize
this fact, they would "fall all over themselves" in getting to the place in
which they might obtain such knowledge of spiritual things and laws? These
men are not fools; they need only to grasp this fundamental fact in order to
move in the direction of that which is the essence of all achievement.
14.
Let me give you a concrete example. I know a man in Chicago whom I had
always considered to be quite materialistic. He had made several successes
in life; and also several failures. The last time I had a talk with him he
was practically "down and out," as compared with his former business
condition. It looked as if he had indeed reached "the end of his rope," for
he was well advanced into the stage of middle-age, and new ideas came more
slowly, and less frequently to him than in former years.
15. He
said to me, in substance: "I know that all things that "work out" in
business are the result of Thought; any fool knows that. Just now, I seem to
be short on thoughts and good ideas. But, if this "All-Mind" teaching is
correct, it should be possible for the individual to attain a ‘direct
connection’ with Infinite Mind; and in Infinite Mind there must be the
possibility of all kinds of good ideas which a man of my courage and
experience could put to practical use in the business world, and make a big
success thereof. It looks good to me; and I am going to look into it."
16.
This was several years ago. The other day I heard of this man again. Talking
to a friend, I said: "What has come of our old friend X? Has he ever gotten
on his feet again?" The friend looked at me in amazement. "Why," said he,
"don't you know about X's great success? He is the Big Man in the '_________
Company' (naming a concern which has mad a phenomenal success during the
last eighteen months and is now well known, by reason of its advertisements,
from one end of the country to another, and also abroad). He is the man who
supplied the BIG IDEA for that concern. Why, he is about a half-million to
the good and is moving rapidly toward the million mark; all in the space of
eighteen months." I had not connected this man with the enterprise
mentioned; although I knew of the wonderful success of the company in
question. Investigation has shown that the story is true, and that the above
stated facts are not exaggerated in the slightest.
17.
Now, what do you think of that? To me, it means that this man actually made
the "direct connection" with Infinite Mind -- Spirit -- and, having found
it, he set it to work for him. He "used it in his business."
18.
Does this sound sacrilegious or blasphemous? I hope not; I do not mean it to
be so. Take away the implication of Personality, or Magnified Human Nature,
from the conception of the "The Infinite," and you have left the conception
of an Infinite Presence-Power, the Quintessence of which is Consciousness --
in fact, at the last, Spirit. As this man, also, at the last, must be
considered as a manifestation of Spirit; there is nothing sacrilegious in
the idea that he, being Spirit, should so harmonize himself with his Origin
and Source that he would be able to manifest at least a minor degree of its
Power. All of us do this, more or less, when we use our minds in the
direction of Creative Thought. This man did more, he went about it in an
intensely "practical" manner.
19. I
have not consulted him about his method of procedure, though I intend doing
so at the first opportunity, but, he not only drew upon the Infinite Supply
for the ideas which he needed (and which formed the seed of his success),
but that he also used the Creative Power of Thought in building up for
himself an Idealistic Pattern of that which he hoped to manifest in material
form, adding thereto, changing, improving its detail, from time to time --
proceeding from the general outline to the finished detail. I judge this to
be the facts of the case, not alone from my recollection of the conversation
a few years ago, but also because I have found the same thing to be true in
the cases of other prominent men who have made similar manifestation of
Creative Thought.
20.
Those who may shrink from this idea of employing the Infinite Power to aid
one in his work in the material world, should remember that if the Infinite
objected in the least to such a procedure the thing could never happen. The
Infinite is quite able to take care of itself.
21.
"Spirituality" is quite "practical," very "practical," intensely
"practical." It teaches that Spirit is the Real Thing, the Whole Thing, and
that Matter is but plastic stuff, which Spirit is able to create, mould,
manipulate, and fashion to its will. Spirituality is the most "practical"
thing in the world -- the only really and absolutely "practical" thing that
there is!
22.
This week concentrate on the fact that man is not a body with a spirit, but
a spirit with a body, and that it is for this reason that his desires are
incapable of any permanent satisfaction in anything not spiritual. Money is
therefore of no value except to bring about the conditions which we desire,
and these conditions are necessarily harmonious. Harmonious conditions
necessitate sufficient supply, so that if there appears to be any lack, we
should realize that the idea or soul of money is service, and as this
thought takes form, channels of supply will be opened, and you will have the
satisfaction of knowing that spiritual methods are entirely practical.
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