"As a man thinketh in his heart so is he."
Prov. 23:7.
To the average person Life is an enigma, a deep mystery, a complex,
an incomprehensible problem, or appears so, but it is very simple if
one holds the key. Mystery is only another name for ignorance; all
things are mysteries when they are not understood, but when we
understand life, it no longer appears mysterious.
Man is a progressive being, a creature of constant growth, before
whom lies an illimitable ocean of progress to be navigated and
conquered only by development and culture of his inherent powers.
The progress of the individual is largely determined by his ruling
mental state, because the mind is the basic factor and governing
power in the entire life of man. Attention should be given to the
predominant mental state, for it will regulate the action and
direction of all one's forces, faculties and powers, the sum total
of which will inevitably determine many particular experiences and
the personal fate. TOP
The ruling state of mind is made up of various mental attitudes
which the individual adopts towards things, events, and life in
general. If his attitudes are broad in mind, optimistic in tone, and
true to life, his predominant mental state will correspond and
exhibit a highly constructive and progressive tendency. As almost
all the forces of the personality function through the conscious
mind in one way or another, and as the daily mental and physical
acts are largely controlled by the conscious mind, it is obvious
that the leading mental state will determine the direction in which
the powers of the individual are to proceed.
If his ruling mental state is upward bound, that is, aspiring,
harmonious, and positive, all his forces will be directed into
constructive channels; but if his state of mind is downward in
tendency, that is, discordant and negative, then almost all his
forces will be misdirected.
It is evident, therefore, that of all the factors which regulate the
life and experience of man, none perhaps exercise a greater
influence than the ruling state of mind. Mental attitudes are the
result of ideas, and these have their origin in points of view;
therefore, by seeking true and natural points of view, one may
secure the best and most superior ideas, and these in turn will
determine the predominating state of mind. TOP
We are prone to believe more than what we see. The evidences of the
senses are the only facts that some accept, but now we shall realize
more and more that it is what we believe that determines what we
shall see. In other words, believing is seeing. More defeats and
failures are due to mental blindness than to moral deviations. If
one lived only by physical sight, his world would be very small. It
is said of a bug that its world is only as large as the size of the
leaf on which it lives, and many times it does not live long enough
to consume the whole leaf. With man, if he lived according to the
senses, the largest sense he possessed would be that of sight. Thus
our whole world would extend only as far as we could see.
If we believed in the testimony of our eyes we would accept many
conditions that are not true. For example, if you look down a
railroad track you will observe that at a certain distance the two
tracks converge at one point. This is not true. Have you ever stood
on the boardwalk and watched a ship slowly sink into the sea as it
sailed away? That ship wasn't sinking; our eyes tell us falsely.
When you are worried over some obstacle or problem, just remind
yourself that it may be purely an illusion of the senses, that it
may not be true at all, according to the Law.
Did you know that you don't even see with your eyes? Your eyes are
like a pair of windows; at the back, of the window there is a
reflector and this reflector, in turn, forms an image of what you
see and sets up a wave current. This wave current follows along thin
wires called nerves. This relays the image back to the brain. Here
at the brain it is referred to the memory center. If the picture is
a common one our memory accepts it readily, but if we are looking
upon some new picture, some new scene, our memory does not recognize
it, and then we must repeat the picture over and over many times
until it makes a lasting impression. Therefore, we do not see with
our eyes; we see with our mind.
Thought is a subtle element; although it is invisible to the
physical sight, it is an actual force or substance, as real as
electricity, light, heat, water or even stone. We are surrounded by
a vast ocean of thought stuff through which our thoughts pass like
currents of electricity, or tiny streaks of light or musical waves.
You can flash your thoughts from pole to pole, completely around the
world many times in less than a single second. Scientists tell us
that thought is compared with the speed of light. They tell us our
thoughts travel at the rate of 186,000 miles per second. Our thought
travels 930,000 times faster than the sound of our voice. No other
force or power in the universe yet known is as great or as quick. It
is a proven fact, scientifically, that the mind is a battery of
force, the greatest of any known element.
It is an unlimited force; your power to think is inexhaustible, yet
there is not one in a thousand who may be fully aware of the
possibilities of his thought power. We are mere babes in handling
it. As we grow in understanding and in the right use of thought, we
will learn to banish our ills, to establish good in every form we
may desire. It is our power to think that determines our state of
living. As one is able to think, he generates a power that travels
far and near, and this power sets up a radiation which becomes
individual as he determines it. Our thoughts affect our welfare, and
often affect others we think of. The kind of thoughts we register on
our memories or habitually think attracts the same kind of
conditions.
If we take the thought of success and keep it in mind, the thought
elements will be attracted, for "like attracts like." We are
mentally drawn to the universal thought currents of success, and
these thought currents of success are existent all around us. We
will psychically contact minds who think along the same lines, and
later such minds will be brought into our lives. Therefore,
successful minded people help success to come to them. That is how
successful living is founded. TOP
The Law of mind is in perpetual operation, and it works both ways.
Persons who dwell on thoughts of failure or poverty will gravitate
toward like conditions; they, in turn, will draw to them people who
accept failure and poverty. On the other hand, we can think on
positive conditions, on success and plenty, and in the same manner,
enjoy full and plenty. What the mind holds within takes its form in
the outer world.
Some think that we must deal with two forces; that is, to attract
the good we must do away with the bad, but this is not true. For
example, if we are cold we do not work with cold and heat alike in
order to get warm. We build a fire, and as we gather around that
fire we enjoy the heat that is extended from it and become warm. As
we build up warmth, the cold disappears, for cold is the absence of
heat. To be warm, we give our whole thought to those things which
tend to create warmth, We ignore the cold in thinking of heat and
bring forth heat. Prosperity and poverty are not two things; they
are merely two sides of one and the same thing. They are but one
power, rightly or wrongly used. We cannot think of plenty and then
worry about the unfavorable conditions that may seem apparent. We
think about plenty, and as we think of it, lack, its opposite, will
become absorbed or disappear. All our thoughts must be directed to
that one thing which we desire in order that our desire may be
fulfilled. Our method is not manipulating two powers, not dealing
with good and evil, right and wrong, prosperity and poverty, but as
we follow the Law of Good and dwell upon that which is good we shall
bring to pass all good things.
The mind force is creating continually like fertile soil. Nature
does not differentiate between the seed of a weed and that of a
flower. She produces and causes both seeds to grow. The same energy
is used for both, and so it is with the mind. The mind creates
either good or bad. Your ideas determine which is to be created.
A farmer who lived in Nebraska and had come from a small farm in
Pennsylvania years before, never could adjust himself to using the
binder, a machine that cut and bound grain. He had been' accustomed
to the old hand cradle and tied his grain by hand. Repeatedly he
said to his friends: "That binder will get me yet." He was afraid
every time he climbed upon its seat. One day while I was there his
horses ran away with him and he was thrown over the reel into the
machinery. Like Job, is fears came upon him. It took just a few
years to bring into reality the fears that he subconsciously had
entertained and accepted.
Our fears can do so much to us that we should be most careful what
we fear and worry about. Years ago, when the flue epidemic was
raging throughout this country and many were dying from the plague,
a newspaper published an item of interest. In bold letters the
heading read: Do NOT FEAR THE FLU. It was the caption of an article
written by a local doctor who explained that fear was the greatest
enemy of mankind, and that it would have a tendency to break down a
person's mental resistance and make him more susceptible to the
disease. The world is realizing more and more that we dare not
entertain in our minds any fear lest it come upon us. TOP
Whatever we think in our minds must grow. Why do you suppose the
farmer goes out to weed his garden and works tediously to eliminate
every weed? Because he knows that if he does not clean out the weeds
they will grow stronger and tougher and choke out his crop. If some
condition handicaps us, perhaps a weed that must be plucked out, it
is important to know that the condition is the effect that we see;
it is not the true cause that we see. Dig down deep into the mental
storehouse and find out what is that cause. If we cannot discern it,
there are others who can. Then weed out the cause by replacing it
with the right kind of thought. That is, if it is fear, replace it
with courage. If it is a disease thought, replace it with a healthy
thought. If it is a limited thought, think thoughts of plenty. Force
some issue whereby we alter or change the trend of the thought. Then
as we replace the thoughts that are as weeds, they will die of their
natural selves, for such weeds die from lack of cultivation.
As long as we allow things to seem real to us, we are putting our
energy into it. We are nurturing it; we are feeding it; we are
keeping it alive; we are putting our faith into that thing, whether
we like it or not, and it must naturally grow, for the law of growth
is ever working to produce whatever seed we plant.
In my college days I remember how a number of us were taken on a
hazing party. It was purely a fraternal affair, so we were to be
initiated and branded. When they came to my chum, they told him to
peel off his shirt. He was blindfolded and they were going to brand
him with the initials of the order. They branded him with hot tallow
from a burning candle. Now you know that tallow dropping from a
candle would not burn; at least, it never did burn me. But, my chum
was so excited and nervous he thought they were really branding his
back with a hot iron. After we returned to our rooms in the
dormitory, I saw on his back a perfect letter as though it had been
burned with a hot iron. Man can impress his thought on formless
substance and cause the thing he thinks about to be created. My chum
believed he was being burned, and thought it so intently that a welt
rose on his flesh which lasted for two days.
Man is constantly thinking. He can change his thought, but he cannot
stop thinking. This thinking power flows in and through him like the
very air we breathe. Man's problem, then, is to direct his power of
thinking into constructive channels of expression. It is a
scientific fact that no power can act without producing some kind of
an effect, and by merely thinking we are continually producing
effects. These effects register and record in daily life.
When our thoughts are aimless and imperfect, we create for ourselves
pain and confusion. This is misdirected energy. Now electric energy,
when it is misdirected and uncontrolled, develops lightning, a most
destructive agent. Yet that same power of lightning can be harnessed
to become a most obedient and useful servant for good. The first
question in our self development is, are we controlled by our
thoughts, or are we controlling our thoughts? Are we using our
thoughts for gain? Are our thoughts using us for a continued loss?
Jesus said: "Seek ye first the Kingdom of Heaven and all things will
be added." Heaven is a state of mind. Therefore, heaven is an
orderly, disciplined, constructive state of thinking. To gain all
things, we must first gain a disciplined, orderly, constructive
state of mind. Have you a disciplined mind? Have you any dominating
appetite? Are you emotional? Do you vent your' feelings through
impatience, temper, malice, hate, pride, envy, conceit, lies,
dishonesty and the like? Any of the negations as named, if
controlling your thoughts, will delay good from coming to you.
Anything in life that dominates us, makes us a servant to its
dictates. All our weaknesses and our lacks are due to some
compelling influence that blinds us and keeps from us what we
naturally would receive, if we were free in mind to receive them.
TOP
Man, being a creature of Nature, is endowed with the power to
overcome all these mistakes, all these evil forces. That power is
unfailing in its operation. When used properly, one can master any
trial. Nature has no problems she cannot solve; she has no troubles
she cannot remove; all her movements are governed by the Law of
Order and Discipline. Man can say and do the same if he will pattern
after Nature.
But first note, Nature takes no chances. There are no "ifs" and
"ands" or "buts"; her forces operate under a law. If a stone is
thrown up into the air, it falls back to the ground again. The Law
says so. Thoughts in our minds are governed by a law with the same
exactness. Mind is the source and cause of conditions in our lives;
hence, it is here that we start to adjust and discipline our
thoughts in order to stabilize our affairs. The fact that every
problem is mental is another reason why we must learn to control our
thoughts to determine our lives.
But is our problem mental? Let us see. If we desire to gain wealth,
we find that it is not a place, nor an environment. If so, all the
people in one city would be rich, and the people in another city
would be poor. Wealth is not the result of saving or of thrift. Many
penurious people are poor; many free spenders are rich. Wealth is
not due to any certain business, for men in the same business are
poor and rich alike. It is something within the mind of man that
makes the wealth, and that something in the mind of man is the
quality and type of thoughts he entertains.
Look at Nature again. We see she has every movement well organized.
A cut flower soon wilts and dies because it has been taken away from
the source of its life. If a dog jumps off a barn roof, he lands
with a thud and suffers pain for his act. Instinct warns a dog not
to take advantage of Nature. Does the hungry lion in the jungle roar
and lash in an effort to find his prey? Instinct warns the lion to
be quiet, to steal carefully upon his prey, to stalk his meal. Have
you ever observed how Mrs. Cat will patiently wait for hours for Mr.
Mouse? These are samples of organized action that is instinctive in
any animal. This instinct must be adhered to by man. This is the
organized method, the constructive method. A disorganized method
would be destructive and negative.
Man must stalk success or any worthwhile enterprise similar to the
lion who stalks his meal. Man must work himself up to gain success;
he does not fall into it. Just to roar or to shout his statements is
not enough. Birds of dollars will not fall out of trees through
fright, they will more likely fly away. When our ideas are
organized, they are under our control. That is, our thoughts are so
arranged that they work together as a single unit. Our minds must be
controlled in their expressions so at every process of thought will
be in an orderly fashion.
All action is the result of thought. It determines the conditions of
life, and to have better conditions in life we must first make
efforts to organize our thoughts. We wish to gain the best in life,
but we do not know how to think correctly. The average person thinks
at random; he has no clear design in his mind to which he can frame
his thoughts. If he has a design, he does not direct his daily
efforts toward it. Most of his thinking is beyond control, chaotic,
and unorganized. This is why disappointment and failure are always
near, for they thrive on indecision.
We attract only what we think or create; this is the Law of
Thinking. To achieve success we must think it, we must work it, we
must become it. To advance, we must make some effort to rise. To
obtain happiness we must adapt our lives to the Law of Harmony and
Order. To rise above any limitation we must organize our thinking
along constructive lines. If man wishes to climb a hill, he doesn't
sit down at the base of it and pray to the good Lord to lift him,
hoping the Lord will pick him up bodily and carry him to the top, or
give him a pair of wings to fly. The natural thing he does is, first
to organize his thought; he decides he is going to climb the hill,
and then he starts to climb. He climbs steadily, keeping his eye
ever on the top. He may find another picking out a better trail; he
may wind around; he may slip back a step or two; he may even fall;
he may have to stop to rest to regain his strength; but as he keeps
his thoughts collected and his desire intent upon reaching the top,
he will eventually get there. TOP
A woman wanted to dispose of her home. She couldn't understand what
was delaying her answer, for she had been praying, she said, for
some time. I asked her, "What do you do towards working with the
Law? Tell me what you did yesterday." Well, first she prepared
breakfast for her family. Then she got the children off to school.
Then, she said, she always spent thirty minutes with her silence and
her reading. After that, Mrs. Jones called her on the phone and they
had a lengthy chat, but it was of little importance. Then it was
time to prepare lunch. After lunch her neighbor called her out to
see the garden, and she stood and talked over the fence for more
than an hour. "But," I asked, "What did you do in between these
incidents?" "Oh," she replied, "whatever came to my notice that had
to be done. I was busy all the time, but somehow," she added, "I
have never liked housework." Where did she fail?
First of all, she lacked discipline in her mind except where others
demanded it. Her husband demanded it, the school demanded it, so she
got the breakfast and the children off to school on time. "You
didn't make any effort towards selling your house," I stated. "You
thought thirty minutes' silence would do it. Instead of organizing
your time and work you did just whatever came along." Her housework
controlled her; she did not control her time or her work. She saw
the truth. She went back home, and each day thereafter outlined her
work mentally. If she talked with a friend or neighbor, it was for
just a definite time, not any length of time. Each day her work was
planned so that she would accomplish something toward preparing to
sell the house. Several weeks later a letter came to me in which
this woman stated that the house had been sold at a good price, and
she added, "Do you know, I really love my work now. When the day is
done I have accomplished so much more, and I am not nearly as tired
as before. I am teaching my children to be orderly thinkers."
Do you do just whatever comes along? Do you plan your day that
something definite will be accomplished towards your aim, your
ambition? One type of people we call "drifters," the latter type we
call "builders." A president of an automobile company whose output
of cars was 76,000 last year, put out more than a million and a
half. How did he do it? Each day he carefully planned the work so
that steadily his organization was becoming more disciplined and
cooperative until they worked as a single unit. He said, when
interviewed, he planned more then the job required so he was always
assured of reaching his goal. Whether he knew it or not, he was in
tune with the Law of Orderly Thinking. TOP
If we have any problems, it is because we are not controlling our
ideas. Nature has no problems because she is orderly and
disciplined. Self control consists of an organized thought
direction; that is, we start out with a well defined aim or
objective, think toward it continuously, not just for thirty
minutes, plan our time and work so that we are working steadily
toward the goal. We fill our day so full of constructive duties that
there 'is no room for idle chatter or waste of any kind to enter in.
This development will enable us to move steadily upward toward
success. When all things are in harmony and order, problems will
cease to be perplexities, and mysteries will cease to be mysterious.
Knowledge and understanding will supplant fear and ignorance, and
that which was invisible will become visible, that which was unknown
will become known. Life with its circumstances is no longer an
enigma, but a clear interpretation of the Law of Thinking. We are
what we are according to our state of thinking. We attract only what
we think or create.
THOUGHTS ARE THINGS
I hold it true that thoughts are things; They're endowed With bodies
and breath and Wings:
And that we send them forth to fill The world with good results, or
ill.
That which we call our secret thought Speeds forth to earth's
remotest spot,
Leaving its blessings or its woes like tracks behind it as it goes.
We build our future, thought by thought, For good or ill, yet know
it not.
Yet so the universe was wrought. Thought is another name for fate;
Choose then thy destiny and wait, For love brings love and hate
brings hate.
