CONTENTS
Preface
Spiritual Force
Sense Of Separateness
Demand And Supply
Present Freedom
We Cannot Be Cheated
Forgetting
Foundations
Letting Go
Mental House-cleaning
Removing Opinion
Possession Through Understanding
Progression
Apprehensiveness
Happiness In Events
Certainty
Difficulties
Tranquility
Superiority To Conditions
Everlasting Life
Right Thinking
Burdens
Seeking
Criticism
Perseverance
Thankfulness
Satisfaction
Hearing
Poise
Realities
Graveclothes
Small Things
Complaints
Attraction
Soul Completeness
Individuality
Faith
Now
Assimilation
Love
Fearlessness
Self-knowledge
God
Healing
The Higher Self
Misunderstanding
The Personal Self
Independence And Decision
Being And Doing
The Personal And Divine
True Relations
Affirmations
The Unspoken Word
PREFACE
I make no apology for this book. It has written itself. The articles were the foundation thoughts of the Wednesday Class. We called this class “Helps to Right Living.” So the book has named itself.
If the reader will take one lesson at a time, try to get the spirit of it, and live it for a week, he will perhaps derive more benefit than by any other method.
The lessons contain the same truth in different dresses, so that it may appeal to many minds. I have felt every word that I have written. Every sentence expresses what is a truth to me, and I know such truths cannot fail to reach all those to whose need they are related.
KATHARINE H. NEWCOMB.
Boston, Mass.
HELPS TO RIGHT LIVING
SPIRITUAL FORCE
Great men are they who see that spiritual is stronger than material force, that thoughts rule the world.— Emerson.
If we begin with uncivilized man, we will observe that all that he gains for himself comes through physical or material force. He works entirely in the external, fighting and struggling for all that he gets.
If we follow him further in his evolution, we will still observe that he works in the external, although he does not fight or struggle in quite the same way. But he feels that he must make an effort to get what is his; that, if he does not, someone will take from him or prevent his getting his own. If he is insulted or injured by another, he must fight it out. If he is misunderstood, he must at least explain matters and set things straight, all effort being made to have everything right in the outer world. Even to-day the majority of men believe in physical or material force, to the exclusion of the spiritual, or inner, force.
In the past, we sent our messages by horsemen. To-day one man can send messages over the entire world in the shortest possible time simply by using a small instrument: that is a result of spiritual force, thought. For the instrument is externalized thought. The time is coming, has already come to some, when no instrument will be necessary. Each will realize that he is his own battery, and needs no wire for his messages to travel upon. The great man is he who not only believes, but who has come to a realization that all power is within himself, that all growth comes through thought first, and, as a result of thought, realization.
So, in reality, “thoughts rule the world.” When we become conscious of this, we know we can become all that we desire to be, absolutely. No one can say to me, “Thus far can you go”; for I realize that I am a law unto myself.
It is as easy to be great as to be small.— Emerson.
Do we believe this? Let us see if it is true. We are all living as if it were easier to be small. All my patients tell me that it is so hard for them to give up thinking about themselves and all that is uncomfortable in their bodies and surroundings; in other words, that it is easier for them to be small than great. They tell me that they desire to be happy and well. They think they do, but they do not. They want first of all to indulge themselves in selfishness,— maybe only to a small extent; and, after that, they wish to be happy and well. We can use electricity to kill or to cure. All our difficulties are the result of a misdirected force. We can use this force to bring disease or health, happiness or unhappiness. We regulate this force by our thought. If I will turn my thought wholly on the positive side, leaving out doubts and fears; if I will say to myself: “My body is the least part of me. I, a Soul, govern and control,”—if I will persistently and cheerfully think in this way, I shall become aware that these thoughts are becoming a reality to me. The doubts and fears are growing less. They are becoming less and less real: they are fading away. I have changed my mental attitude from the negative to the positive. Where I was once blind to this wonderful force, I now see the results of it. I am at last coming into the consciousness that it is as “easy to be great as small.” And from this time on there is no excuse whatever for my yielding or returning to the negative or small side of my nature. I know the truth; and, when we know the truth, we will live it.
SENSE OF SEPARATENESS
Before the eyes can see, they must be incapable of tears. Before the ear can hear, it must have lost its sensitiveness. Before the voice can speak in the presence of the masters, it must have lost the power to wound.— Light on the Path.
This quotation interpreted means this: Before the eyes can see,— that is, before we see spiritually,— we must be incapable of tears. To be incapable of tears is to have reached through spiritual awakenment a place or rather an attitude of mind where we are unselfish, absolutely. Tears indicate a thought of pity for self. “Before the ear can hear.” Here, again, we cannot hear or perceive spiritually until we have lost all sensitiveness; for sensitiveness is always selfishness. “Before the voice can speak.” So we cannot speak spiritually, which is truthfully, if we can wound. We must have lost entirely all desire to criticize or to find fault with another. It seems that we must forget self absolutely and live in the universal before we reach this stage in development. People think they are spiritually awakened, and yet they are capable of tears. They are sensitive, and they still have the power to wound. Truth never wounds: it is the way we speak it that offends. Then, if we can offend, have we the voice of truth? It is feeling that we are a little in advance of some and a long way in advance of others that offends. For if we do not say it in words, we breathe it forth unconsciously, and it is felt.
Kill out all sense of separateness.— Light on the Path.
This is the most difficult thing to do when we first enter upon this new line of thought. But it must be done before we can progress spiritually. Society makes grades of respectability. The highest grade in a certain city embraces only four hundred. Think of the multitude of poor wretches outside. But are we outside? Does not each one of us have the divinity within? Does not that alone make us all equal? We all have the privilege of recognizing this divinity or not, as we choose. But it is there just the same, and we must realize it and acknowledge it some time. Appeal to the divine in any individual, and he will always respond. I have never known it to fail. Now we not only feel this “separateness” in regard to people, but also in regard to what we call God, or law. This is really the cause of all our difficulties. God is something outside, and we feel at times far away. When we begin to realize that God, or law, is within as well as without, we feel nearer to it. As we become more conscious of this, the sense of “separateness” grows less and less, not only from God, but from people as well. We also realize the unity of this universe, and know that there is no duality. That we are all one with God, or law. That there is no “separateness.” This is the gospel of love.
It brings health, happiness, and prosperity.
This is the result of living,—”love thy neighbor as thyself.” We are not told to love him even better, but as well. “Love is the fulfilling [carrying out] of the law.”
DEMAND AND SUPPLY
“The greater the demand, the greater the spiritual supply awaiting you. In the divine economy the two are always in equilibrium.”
The one thought in mind for these Wednesday talks is to get a larger understanding of ourselves, and therefore a larger understanding of God or law. Emerson tells us that the “counting, planting man ” is not the real man. We are not trying to discover more about the external man, but are trying to understand the real man,— the divine in us. But someone says, “There are some things we cannot understand.” There is no doubt about that; but suppose we teach and live the things we do know? Shall we then not be in a position to learn some things that we do not yet know?
We should think a person very foolish who, desiring to take sun-baths, would sit in a room with closed shutters. We should consider a man very poor if he had a large bank account, and did not know how to draw his check. Yet we are living in this cramped and ignorant way, even the best of us, wishing for the sun to shine upon us, wishing to externalize our opulence, and yet not realizing that we possess these things.
We are told that in the divine economy demand and supply are always equal. I think we have all of us proved this to be true. We make a small demand, and hope for a large supply; but we never get it. The supply is small if the demand has been small. We make a small demand for health, strength, sight, happiness, usefulness. Our checks have been drawn for small amounts: they are cashed accordingly. We open our blinds a trifle, and hope to be flooded with sunshine. We get a ray or two, according to our demand,— no more, no less.
“With constant ills, the dilatory strive.”
Here is the secret. We are half-hearted, we are dilatory. We think we must “creep before we can walk.” We must grow, and growth to some is a matter of indefinite postponement; and that is not growth, it is indolence. We dislike to get out of a warm bed on a cold wintry morning. It requires an effort to make the first plunge from under the bedclothes. Here is where we stand. Some have not even made the effort; and some are shivering and wishing they had not made it, while others are partly sorry and partly glad. Let us shake ourselves, and get to work in earnest. Let us make large demands upon the divine, knowing that the supply will be fully equal. Let us teach and live the truth we already know, and not spend our time in speculations about that which we do not know. All things that we can conceive we can know. When does not matter. We are to live the Now: the future will take care of itself. It is not ours, and never will be. The Now is always ours.
Let us declare that our demands shall be large, never fearing that they may be too large. Let us not add to the number of dilatory minds. Then shall we be rid of “constant ills.”
Again I will say, Let us teach and live that which we already know; and our supply will show us what our demand has been.
PRESENT FREEDOM
I am not bound by any past. I am not limited by any future. I am now and forever eternally free.— K. H. N.
We can repeat this affirmation very glibly, and then keep right on living in a thought of limitation. Let us go back mentally to the time we think of as the starting-point, for it is so abstract and unthinkable when we say that we have always existed. We believe it; but let us start with the thinkable atom, which must have form. That is our first idea of form. We can imagine this individual atom drawing to itself through vibration that which it needs to develop into the next form. This atom draws at first unconsciously, simply obeying a law that it does not yet understand. But, as we say, “Nature travels in the line of the least resistance.” So does this atom draw to itself, through this very law, form after form. Every form expressed is in advance of the previous form. This is evolution. Now imagine as best we can the ages upon ages that we have been in evolving from the first form to our present one.
How we have changed, little by little,— steadily, surely, no possibility of retrogression, but climbing ever higher and higher, until, as we have said, we reached our present development! We have been free from the first to attract to ourselves. We are not bound by any past any more than a dinner of last week is of importance to us now. It had its place then, but its time has passed. It is necessary no longer. Then, if we are not bound by the past, we certainly cannot be limited by the future. If we are not limited by the future, neither are we limited by the present.
Most people think that they are limited by the present. Yes, even metaphysicians are a little skeptical when one takes a decided stand and lives as if unlimited. We can all talk it. But these same metaphysicians will wonder if it is quite safe to follow out our logical conclusions after stating our premises. If there is danger in living them, we should not state them. But, if we not only believe, but know a thing to be true, then we must live it, or we are not living to our best; and this is what we claim to do. We are now and forever eternally free. We are now and forever absolutely responsible. These are tremendous statements, but they are true.
All things are now ready.— Parable.
You remember the story how “a certain man made a great supper,” and sent out his servants to invite the people to come and partake of the feast. As they were invited, they began to make excuses why they could not accept. One said that he had some new oxen which he must try, and therefore could not come; another, that he had bought a piece of ground (real estate we would call it, I suppose), and must go to look at it; another, that he had just married ; and another, that he must bury his father; and all had an excuse. But “all things” were just as ready as if there had been no excuses. It seems to me that that old Bible time and now are very much alike. “All things are now ready,” but we still make our excuses. Some day in the future we intend to live spiritual truths. Just now we talk them much and live them little. We are afraid of our “conclusions,” they are so vast. We are surprised at our being able to heal, at being able to overcome inharmonious conditions and bring out of them harmonious ones. We look with a somewhat doubting interest on our financial difficulties as they begin to get into a more opulent condition. “O ye of little faith,” do not be afraid to live up to the principles you believe in to the fullest. Make no excuses. We are unlimited in the eternal now, and “all things are now ready” for us to realize and appropriate.
WE CANNOT BE CHEATED
Ideas take root in the soil of man’s mind according to its condition.— Rosy Cross.
The universe is full of ideas. Ideas are falling into the various minds of men. One idea finds a place in my mind, another finds a place in yours. If we become interested in a certain subject, idea will follow idea upon that subject; and all will be received into our minds. Here, for instance, are ideas concerning politics, conditions to relieve humanity, church interests, home, and the development of our consciousness, which leads us to understand ourselves as souls. Now these ideas are all good, all have their places; but some of us are conscious of a very few ideas in one direction, while we are filled to overflowing with ideas on another line.
“In burning a coal pit, after several months had elapsed, plants came up which were unknown to that part of the country. A well was dug over one hundred feet deep, and the pile of clay lay in the sunlight and darkness, in the cold and heat, and the next year produced a crop of weeds that were not to be found in the country anywhere about.”
There is a weed known as “fireweed” that springs up after the soil is killed by burning.
A scientist says that a drop of nitric acid applied to a piece of fresh-broken granite revealed under the microscope numerous living beings similar to animal culae found in stagnant water. It is thus shown that what takes root or grows or comes into visible expression is like unto the soil from which it springs. So ideas take root in the mind “according to its condition.”
Men suffer all their lifelong under the foolish superstition that they can be cheated.— Emerson.
Here is an idea that has taken root. What is worry? What is disappointment? What is anger? What is unhappiness?
Are they not the results of a foolish idea that we are being cheated?
Whoever worried except from the fear of not having what he wanted or felt he ought to have?
And this is certainly a fear of being cheated. Yes, cheated out of happiness, prosperity, out of love, friends, home, and health. We have fooled ourselves.
Emerson goes on to say, “But it is as impossible for a man to be cheated by anyone but himself as for a thing to be and not to be at the same time.”
Is this not true? We cannot be cheated by another, but we do cheat ourselves. Let us get some soil for our minds, soil in which nothing but beautiful flowers can grow,— not a soil that can grow weeds. Then these worry ideas and unhappy ideas and ideas of disease that are floating around will not lodge in our minds; for there will be no attraction in the soil or condition of mind to draw them. Let us determine from this hour not to cheat ourselves.
FORGETTING
I fling my past behind me, like a robe
Worn threadbare in the seams, and out of date.
I have outgrown it.
Ella Wheeler Wilcox.
The most troublesome thing to overcome in coming into these teachings is to forget our past. There are people of two classes. One class is always living in the future, living in anticipation of things to come. The other class is living in the past, always recalling experiences of pleasure or pain, and living them over again. The normal mind dwells in the present: the more awakened mind dwells in the Eternal. As Emerson puts it, “I am an endless experimenter, with no past at my back.” I find that, in giving new thoughts to patients and pupils, they always compare them with the old thoughts that they have always held. They very rarely accept a new idea with spontaneity. They are afraid to accept new things without deliberation. This is because they depend upon reason. They have been so drilled in the intellect that they think it argues a shallow mentality to accept without weighing the matter.
I claim that true wisdom is spontaneous, and not deliberate; for wisdom is from the intuitional of man, and the intuition always knows, and, what is more, knows at once, just as we know a hot plate from a cold one, instantly. We don’t have to think about it.
We do not care for “garments that are threadbare and outgrown.” We let them drop to those who need them, and whom they will fit. There are always plenty waiting for these garments.
We can never progress while keeping a close watch on our past. Let us not be afraid to outgrow old thoughts and ways of living. Let us be courageous, and dare to think on new lines, and, as a result, live in new ways.
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.— Shakespeare.
We are so accustomed to see people who are living as “underlings ” that it seems the normal condition. If a man or woman rises a little above the average, he is considered peculiar, visionary, or a “little off.” If he dares trust the divine power within, of which he is becoming conscious and more conscious as he trusts it, his friends become alarmed, and caution him. When they have always thought him a well-balanced and intelligent man in other things, they now almost doubt his sanity when he declares that health, happiness, and prosperity are all the result of thought. Why is this? It is simply because we have departed from old lines, have flung our past behind us, have outgrown it. We are “underlings” just so long as we are tied to the past. Let us dare to think. Let us dare to be.
FOUNDATIONS
The height’ of the pinnacle is determined by the breadth of the base.— Emerson.
We readily understand what this means when a column of granite like Bunker Hill Monument is raised, also when large buildings are erected. We cannot put poor material into our foundations. We must have them of the best material; and, the higher the building or shaft, the broader must be the foundation. What do we mean by this when we come to the building of character? Can we expect to raise, develop, a strong and noble character with a foundation of selfishness, anger, pride, and resentfulness? Yet we seem to think we can; and, moreover, we try to do so. “The height of the pinnacle is determined by the breadth of the base.” Then the first thing to which we must attend is the base, for that determines the height. In order to develop spiritually, we must have principles for the base or foundation of character. With principles as a foundation, we can rise to any height. We are not limited; for our foundation is broad, is universal. It is truth, it is God.
LETTING GO
If you have lost youth and happiness, let go. If friends have proved false and ungrateful, let go. If you look back upon your life’s journey with regrets, let go.— F. B. Dowd.
If we watch people for one day, we shall find that everyone is either trying “to get” or to “hold on” to things. With the business man all effort is put forth in getting. Ministers preach “to get” converts to their creed. Teachers teach “to get” followers to their belief. Mothers desire “to get” everything for the improvement and good of their children.
Children are educated, a getting of the ideas of other minds. The whole world seems bent on “getting.”
What does it all mean, this eternal and everlasting “getting “?
Just this: that we look for everything outside of ourselves. This tells the whole story,— seeking and never being satisfied, holding on tight if we succeed in deluding ourselves with the idea that we have got anything. We have looked outside for health, happiness, prosperity, heaven, and God. We have expected to draw them to us, and therefore must “hold on” to them.
What is this gospel of “letting go “? When we feel sure of a thing,— that we really possess it,— we “let go.” There is never any effort needed to hold on to a thing that is really ours.
Do we try to hold on to youth and happiness? To friends, love, life, wealth, if they are really ours? No, we are so sure of them that we “let go.”
“Letting go ” is an opening up, a receptive condition of mind. If you are wealthy, you can “let go,” and spiritual wealth will pour in upon you. If you are poor, you can “let go,” and the same spiritual wealth will flood you. This proves that opulence is spiritual; for we can be rich when poor, and poor when rich. “Let go,” no matter what comes. It is not resisting. Jesus said, “Resist not evil.” And of course we would not resist good. So “letting go “is a gospel of non-resistance. Let us practice it, and see what it will bring.
MENTAL HOUSE-CLEANING
And the message of liberty is that the cause of sorrow lies in ourselves, and not in the universe; that it lies in our ignorance, and not in the nature of things; that it lies in our blindness, and not in the life.— Annie Besant.
When we come into metaphysical thought, our first feeling is one of liberation. We have given up our creeds and our physicians for both mind and body. We no longer find inspiration in the old church services; nor do we find help in the counsel of our doctor,— the one whom we felt was absolutely necessary to keep us from death’s door. So our minister and our doctor are removed. Then we look about us. We find that friends, companions dear to the heart, “our own families ” we call them, they, too, are seen in a new light.
We feel a separateness that we never have felt before. We are alone for the first time in our life. We call this liberty freedom, but there is an oppression with it that makes us sad. We feel at times like turning back. We even make the attempt, and find, to our amazement, that it is impossible. We cannot return if we would. We expected great happiness with our liberty. We are like birds in a nest. They anticipate flying. It looks very easy, when the little birds watch the father and mother bird flying so high; but the day comes when they are to try their wings. They sit on the edge of the nest. They make a little effort of the wings, but still clutch the edge of the nest with their feet. The mother bird is obliged to push them into the liberty they crave. Their first experience after leaving the nest is one of loneliness, and they long to return. Liberty does not mean what perhaps they had imagined.
So it is with us. Every step of real progress brings a sense of loneliness at first, simply because we are not yet settled, or at home, in our new state of evolution. But, in spite of the newness, there is a sense of freedom when we place all cause of joy or sorrow within ourselves, when we view life from a different standpoint, and perceive that all difficulty in meeting various conditions in life is due to our ignorance or blindness, and not to the “universe.” Then our first sensation, we might say, is unsatisfactory. Now we begin to think “why?”
We have taken the stand that all is within ourselves, but we do not like what we find. There is such a lot of rubbish to be removed before we can find that which we are seeking. This rubbish consists of self. It is all self in different dresses. We call some of the dresses indolence, indulgence in various ways, resentment, fear, anger, dissatisfaction, or always wishing things were different.
What a house-cleaning is before us! But we have an able helper in a servant named Right Purpose; and we work minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day, week by week, and so on through months and years, gradually clearing our habitation of self and all its belongings. Love is the magic cleaner used by the servant, Right Purpose. Then joy begins to creep in: loneliness is a vanishing guest. We are coming to the point in realization where we “stay at home with the soul.” There is no separation; for we have come nearer to all our friends, companions, and our own families than ever before, for in finding ourselves we have found them.
“The sun will shine, and the clouds will lift;
The snow will melt, though high it drift;
Across the ocean there is a shore;
Must we learn the lesson o’er and o’er?”
“To know there is sun when the clouds droop low,
To believe in the violets under the snow,
To watch on the bows for the land that shall rise,—
This is victory in disguise.”
REMOVING OPINION
Take away thy opinion, and then there is taken away the complaint, “I have been harmed.” Take away the complaint, “I have been harmed,” and the harm is taken away.-— Marcus A Urelius, A .D. 150.
In coming into metaphysical thought, we look upon life from another standpoint. The same conditions exist that have always existed, but our point of view is changed. Previous to our acceptance of metaphysical teaching we looked for all harm, or evil, and all good to come from the external. So have we expected to remedy all evil and enjoy all good, in the external.
But what is our conclusion today? We now know that all evil, or harm, and all good come from within, and all remedy for evil or enjoyment of good also come from within. So we are told to “take away the ‘opinion’ and the ‘ complaint’ is taken away.”
If I take away (put out of mind) that “I have been harmed,” the difficulty is removed. Give up our “opinions “! We can all reach a point where it is impossible for us to be unhappy, when we rid ourselves of all resentment, and do not wish to hold to our opinions. Opinions do not belong to the spiritual of us: truth is not an opinion.
“And I affirm that tranquility is but the good ordering of the mind.” Tranquility of mind is the result of overcoming: it is the “good ordering of the mind.” A mind to be tranquil must have a consciousness of spiritual things. It must look upon the external as transitory, changeable. It must know that all that is real is unchangeable, eternal. It must know that all power is from within. It must have gotten through with finding the cause of evil or good in externals. Let us set about and maintain a “good ordering” of our minds. This is tranquility.
Peace I give unto you. Not as the world giveth, give I unto you. — Bible.
“Peace I give unto you,— not as the world giveth.” Here also is the thought that we must not look to externals for peace. “The world,” as we think of it, is the external. We are told that we will not find peace there. We can find this great truth told us in so many different ways. It has been proven to be the truth by all ages. Our own Emerson tells us the same thing in his way,— that we must get rid of all thought of self before we gain peace or happiness.
Let us cultivate the “good ordering” of the mind,— let us be tranquil. Let us live constantly and consciously in the ” peace that passeth understanding.” We can do it, and do it now. We need not delay. The power is within each one of us. It only remains for us to really desire it, and then to maintain our position after once taking our stand.
Our determination to realize peace and tranquility is the only effort required. Make up your mind in which condition you wish to live, — whether you enjoy constant irritation or unhappiness, which result finally in illness, or whether you desire tranquility and happiness, which result in health. The peace which makes for good is yours, to be recognized.
“Peace that floweth as a river.” “Great peace have they that love thy law, and nothing shall offend them.” Peace cannot be found in externals, in change of conditions. We must live with confidence in the principles. Lack of peace is lack of God understood.
POSSESSION THROUGH UNDERSTANDING
Whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap.— Bible.
To make our comparison between the old and new thought, we must begin with the old. We have been taught that by sowing was meant the way we lived externally. If we did wrong, lived wrong, we would certainly reap punishment. On the other hand, if we lived right, did right, we would receive our reward. It was all in the doing. We could indulge in violent temper, be exacting to our families, be sarcastic, and yet our friends excused it all because we led moral lives and were church members. Now, on the other hand, in the new thought, what are we taught?
Whatsoever we sow, we shall reap. Where do we sow? It is not in the external, but in mind. Now, again, whatsoever we sow in mind we also reap. You see this has a new meaning to us. Then what are we sowing, either good or wrong thoughts? It must be one or the other, for we are constantly sowing. When we think a truth, we have sown a good that we will certainly reap. We cannot help it. We made the cause good, and the effect must be like the cause. So much for ourselves individually. We are also told that some seed sown fell by the wayside, some on stony ground, and some in good ground. Can we not see how this relates to our endeavor to help others? The mind that is egoistical, self-satisfied, certainly is “stony ground.” The mind which seems to hear, but does not, is the wayside; and the thought of truth is devoured by the fowls of the air,— other thoughts, which seem of more importance. They eat up the thought of truth given. But, when the seed falls upon the good ground, it brings forth good fruit. This is the mind which is open, receptive, childlike.
The world belongs to me because I understand it.— Balzac.
Is this not a great truth? It belongs to us only to the extent that we understand it. I would use universe instead of world, for it is unlimited. How much do we understand? We are beginning to realize how little. All our cut and dried theories are of small importance. We have each one of us to find the line of truth which runs through and connects all. We must do this for ourselves.
We are really building for ourselves a larger universe each day; for, as our understanding develops, we have a larger realization. So everything belongs to us as soon as we understand it.
A fine painting, beautiful music, a grand landscape, humanity,— these are ours through understanding. We gain understanding by living in a childlike spirit of love. This attitude of mind opens all things to us. Let us learn to understand, and not to criticize.
PROGRESSION
Cycles ferried my cradle, rowing and rowing like cheerful boatmen.
For room to me, stars kept aside in their own rings.
Before I was born out of my mother, generations guided me.
My embryo has never been torpid, nothing could overlay it Walt Whitman.
I Want to take you with me to-day out into unlimited space. I wish to leave behind the old man, mankind with its aches and pains,— “pains of years,” as some speak of them.
We will leave behind us our disappointments and grievances of every kind. Let us shake ourselves free from our pessimistic rags, and go forth. “Cycles ferried my cradle.” Stars have made room for me as I have come slowly, but surely, through the ages. “Generations have guided me.” There has been no chance in it all; but the beautiful and harmonious working of a law,— a law which is unchangeable and ever present, a law with which it is possible for us always to be in harmony.
We are ever growing and advancing, ever reaching out into the infinite, although at times we seem to be dead or asleep. But our divine part, or soul, has “never been torpid, nothing could overlay it.” This it is that has pushed us constantly forward to higher and better things. Nothing can prevent this spiritual awakenment. It is taking place every moment.
What do pain, discomforts, and unhappiness mean to soul? Absolutely nothing. The contortions of a gymnast might seem great suffering to a person who witnessed them, not understanding them. The twisting and writhing of a tree in a storm might seem unpleasant to look upon by some, but is beautiful when understood. So all seeming disaster and conflict in us, in the external, I believe, no more affects soul than it affects God.
Will you not come out of the personal, and live in the individual or soul part? Have done with your little perplexities that are not worth the breath you use in talking about them. Come forth in your largeness of soul. Let us be God men.
This day before dawn I ascended a hill, and looked at the crowded heaven. And I said to my spirit, “When we become the enfolders of those orbs, and the pleasure and knowledge of everything in them, shall we be filled and satisfied then?” And my spirit said, ” No, we but level that lift to pass and continue beyond.” — Walt Whitman.
Why is it that people wish to be satisfied? Satisfaction is stagnation. Glorious discontent is our guiding star. Discontent has brought us to our present point of awakenment. Do we ever move on consciously to better things, if perfectly contented? No, indeed, we sit right down, and do a large amount of waiting. That is the trouble in taking up metaphysics. We think we have the whole thing, and are so satisfied with its theories that we are content to sit, and then after a time wonder that we do not receive the benefit that we did at first from these teachings. We need the policeman of discontent to keep us “moving on.” We are not allowed to loiter.
Glorious discontent! How the Christian people have taught us to be content, that we could serve God by waiting in sickness and unhappiness, that we must know that our afflictions were sent by a loving God. People that believed these doctrines have died or been invalids for years. When the latter have become tired of being ill,— in other words, being discontented,—they have aroused themselves and gotten well. And I think the ones who died must have awakened with regret on the other side, wishing that they had done some energetic kicking on this before passing on.
There is always the point in the distance to be reached. We bend all our energies in that direction, reach our goal only to find out that the point of view has been extended, and we still are to travel on. Don’t get discouraged with the distance. There is always a varied landscape. Get astride of your hobby horse discontent, and gallop cheerfully and happily onward, onward, through ages and ages to come; and a thousand years is but a day.
Experience after experience to be met, overcome, and left behind. On, always on, to new and larger and more subtle ones. Enjoy all things. This is unfolding spiritually. This is gaining a larger understanding of ourselves and the universe. We are in eternity now as much as we shall ever be. Why do we live as if living one little life of this planet? Break your bond of limitation, which is small thinking, and, as a result, small living. Do not be afraid to let discontent push you into the eternal, into the larger life, which has no limitations. Glorious discontent!
APPREHENSIVENESS
Live neither in the present nor in the future, but in the Eternal.— Light on the Path.
In all metaphysical teaching, concentration is the first step which leads to our development.
We all remember the old adage,—” Don’t cross your bridges before you get to them.” This suggests that much of our trouble is in the imagination. That is, we say, “If such a thing should occur,” or ” I don’t see my way clear now to do it.” So we must begin by bringing our mind to the thing in hand. Use right reason seriously, vigorously, calmly, without allowing anything else to distract you. If we practice daily, concentration upon all the little or trivial things, then, when something of larger proportion presents itself, we are ready to meet it. We must not defer our concentration until something of importance comes to us, but “come up through the common,” as Emerson wisely puts it. We are to be satisfied with our present activity. Concentration, then, is the first thing to cultivate. We can do nothing until we have learned that lesson.
Now when we have learned to control our mind, when it has become a willing pupil, then, and not till then, are we able to live in the Eternal. Then we drop the present; for we are able to place our mind, at will, upon anything or any place, and be oblivious to all else. So we not only give up the present, but also the future, and live in the Eternal. When we reach this point, we have a larger sense of freedom. For instance, to-day we have many perplexities, little ones they may be, but still they tower so high that they obstruct our horizon. We cannot get a glimpse beyond. This is the time to sit quietly, and think out into the Eternal. The wholeness of life makes the many phases of it easy to live: whereas, if we continually think of the various experiences of our daily living, we feel weighted and depressed.
Kill out desire for sensation.—Light on the Path.
This includes everything pertaining to the senses. I will take up only one desire to-day,— the desire to please. We have been taught that we ought to please. It is an error. Now I do not mean that it is wrong to please, but that it is wrong to desire to please. It shows a weakness in character, the love of approbation. We are led into agreeing with another when we would otherwise differ, if not wholly, yet in a measure. We do not wish to be untruthful; yet, in reality, we are. A desire for approval is most subtle selfishness. When we live seriously, nobly, spiritually, we shall pass into a state of consciousness where such desire is unknown.
HAPPINESS IN EVENTS
A son is dead. What, then? A son is dead. Nothing more? Nothing. A ship is lost. What then? A ship is lost. He is carried to prison. What then? He is carried to prison. That he is unhappy is an addition that everyone must make for himself.
You must apply yourself either to things within or without. That is, be either a philosopher or one of the mob.— Epictetus.
These are all conditions where we are expected to show feeling, grief. We are thought hard-hearted, cruel, if we do not. People say to me, I don’t wish to overcome all feeling. No, most people live in the emotions. An emotional person is considered very kind-hearted. Emotions are of two kinds always. If we can be carried away by our feelings when happy, and express in consequence what we call love, then we can be carried away by our feelings of depression or anger, and show the opposite condition. Emotional people are not well balanced. We never know where we are going to find them, up or down.
Events come to each one of us. Whether we are happy or unhappy rests with ourselves, and not with the event. It simply shows our point reached in development, the attitude in which we accept it.
A knowledge of principles brings us to firm ground. We have no use for the emotional nature, which really belongs to the undeveloped side.
Principles do not make us hard or cruel. We are more tender and loving as a result of living by principles. We have simply grown to a larger understanding of things, are a little higher up the mountain. We have begun to apply ourselves to the things within instead of without. When we say, “All is good,” how can we have emotions for happiness or unhappiness, if we truly believe that “all is good “?
We talk so much, and believe so little. One day we play at being a “philosopher,” and the next we are back with the “mob.” Why not take our stand once for all, and be philosophers? This continual living in externals, this continual talking about living within. Why not be a normal creature, and not a monstrosity, neither “fish nor fowl “? Let us be good animals, or let us live the divine that is in each one of us. Let us be, and not seem to be. Are we not tired of playing a double fiddle? Are we not tired of trotting around the old race-track of little events, great events, or any events? How much do we gain spiritually by retailing them to our friends? Can we not talk about principles? Can we not live according to principles? Can we not “stay at home with the soul,” getting a larger understanding of God and ourselves?
CERTAINTY
‘Seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. —Jesus.
There seems to be no doubt whatever about these statements It is not said that we may find, but that we shall find.
What is our first step in seeking? I mean, in seeking for the real.
The first thing is a desire,— a desire to obtain something that will benefit us. Then we begin seeking in different directions. Sometimes it is reading, sometimes talking upon the subject in mind, sometimes it is thinking,— letting our minds wander out into the universal.
In order to be successful, we must be open on all sides. We first have the desire, which is seeking, then we “knock.” As we knock, it will be opened unto us. We cannot say, I will receive from this source, but not from that. We cannot judge fairly until we have experienced a thing.
“And ye shall know the truth; and the truth shall make you free.”
Here, again, is no doubt. “Ye shall know.”
But how are we going to know the truth? What seems to be a truth to one is not a truth to another. What is a truth to us to-day may not be one to-morrow. Suppose we are a chicken in the shell. We have come to a consciousness that we are. It is our first consciousness. We think what a very cozy place we are in. We own the world. We grow a little further in development, begin to get dissatisfied, feel inclined to see what is outside of this round, snug place which now is becoming distasteful to us. It seems crowded,— more than snug and cozy. We have a desire (instinct in a chicken, intuition in man) to get at something beyond our present condition. We begin to peck our way out of the shell. It is very different outside. However, we investigate further and still further. The inside of the shell was a truth, but the outside of it is a still larger truth.
Now we have reached a point in evolution where we realize that no one knows all the truth. We are each one learning, in various ways, more about it every day. We find that what benefits others, regardless of self, benefits us. All thought of self must be left out. Do, for the sake of doing; love, for the sake of loving; be, for the sake of being. Truth never limits. It gives us absolute freedom. The chicken was surrounded by the larger truth all the time it was in its shell. It simply broke down the barrier to the larger realization of it. We are also living in the universal truth, and our barrier to a larger realization is thought of self. When we break down this barrier, we are flooded with truth. We realize it in all directions. It is ours: we are “free indeed.”
DIFFICULTIES
Difficulties are things that show what men are.— Epictetus.
How often we see in our every-day life people who under trying circumstances “come out strong,” we say! They rise to the occasion. We all meet large difficulties much better than small ones; and is it not because we have our principles ready at such times? We feel the necessity of the case.
We should have our principles ready for use on every occasion.—Epictetus,
Different people have different causes of complaint. One is unhappy because he is not understood by his family. Another has to live in uncongenial surroundings when he has refined taste. Another is sick. Another has bad servants. Another has troublesome children. Now what is really the matter with all these difficulties? They are nothing unusual. We find the same problems to solve in every civilized country and among all people. The difficulties are really first-class, genuine difficulties.
“The cause of all human evils is the not being able to apply general principles to special cases.”
Then we cannot find fault with them. When we are children, we think as children, we speak as children, we act as children; but is it not time for us to put off our “swaddling-clothes,” in which we can only creep, and to stand erect, realize the divinity within us, our oneness with God or the unchanging law of Good? If each of us could realize for one moment the divinity within, we never again could be overcome by difficulties.
There are no difficulties to one who has grown to a consciousness of himself as a soul. All things are put under his feet. He “uses his powers” for the purpose for which he received them.
Then, no matter what comes to you, have your principles ready, and apply them. We say, How beautiful this teaching is! I accept it all. Belief does nothing. You can believe it from now on; but, unless you get the spirit of it and use it, your progression in spiritual awakenment will not be apparent in this incarnation.
But are we not souls? Are we not filled with divine love and wisdom? Can we not meet every difficulty in life, either large or small, in the right spirit, letting the difficulty lead us to a higher and nobler purpose in life? Forget the self, and realize that each one of us is a soul. What can we not do if we keep this in mind?
TRANQUILITY
Occupy thyself with few things if thou wouldst be tranquil, says the philosopher; for this brings not only the tranquility which comes from doing well, but also that which comes from doing few things.
For nowhere, either with more quiet or more freedom does a man retire than into his own soul, particularly when he has within him such thoughts that, by looking into them, he is immediately in perfect tranquility.— Marcus Aurelius.
How busy most of us are! How many things we have to do! How much of what we do or think is necessary? If we would separate the really necessary from the unnecessary, we should not feel this continual hurry. We seldom meet a person with true repose. If one heeds what we say enough to put yes or no in the right place in replying, it is about all we expect. A good listener is rare. But how much of what we say is really worth listening to? For example, the weather (that much abused topic), our aches and pains, discomforts, family, financial, and political. How much time is spent in talking about what neither interests the speaker nor the listener! But it has become a habit to talk, therefore we must talk something. Then the doing. Civilization brings so many complications. We must conform in a measure to prescribed modes of living. We feel that our social obligations must be observed more or less.
But still will it not be possible for us to separate the necessary from the unnecessary? Then we shall have more leisure for the necessary, and feel less hurried, more tranquil. Then we can do well a “few things.”
We go into the mountains, to the seashore. We travel. We need recreation. We think change of scene will benefit us. Still we do not find peace of mind, tranquility, because we are taking self along with us. We cannot get away from it. We find we have all our discomforts with us. Why? Because we are looking for relief from without. All relief comes from within. We may spend all our life in seeking joy in the externals. We only enjoy to the extent of the happiness in mind. A pleasant day to one is a “weather-breeder” to another. The beauty of the landscape, the grandeur of the mountains, the music of the rippling brook, the broad expanse of deep blue sky, all meaning so much to one, mean simply the country to another; and he does not like the country.
Someone has said that we only see in a fine painting that which we bring to it. If we have not awakened to a consciousness of ourselves as soul, we can see only the external. But, as we develop soul consciousness, we get the essence, the spirit of all, and not the external. We must cultivate thoughts that by returning to them we shall find tranquility. Separate the necessary from the unnecessary. Let us make a storehouse of our mind, not a lumber-room.
And I affirm that tranquility is nothing else than the good ordering of the mind.— Marcus Aurelius.
The quality of thought, not quantity, makes character. I am not accountable for the changes in your mental condition, only to the extent of arousing it to better things.
When a plant pushes itself up through the ground, there is sometimes quite an upheaval of earth. It is so with Truth: pushing itself through material sense makes a general upheaval of old thoughts of error. But the plant heeds not the upheaval, but goes on growing, reaching more and more for the light. So with spiritual progression. Truth minds not the disturbance it has created, but reaches higher and higher, always expressing greater spirituality as it unfolds to our consciousness. Agitation of thought is the beginning of wisdom. Do not be afraid of getting rid of old and unnecessary thought. Fill the mind with necessary, helpful thoughts. Cultivate a “good ordering” of the mind. There is a place of silence within each of us; and, when we retire into it, nothing can reach us but harmony, peace, tranquility. We are simply oblivious to all disturbing influences. We are beyond the reach of inharmonious vibrations.
Tranquility is within.
SUPERIORITY TO CONDITIONS
None of these things move me.— Paul.
These are the words Paul uttered after three years of preaching and teaching, during which time he had met with many discouragements and disappointments. Even after all this he could say, “None of these things move me.” He had done his work earnestly, faithfully, believing the teachings to be true.
Let us apply this to our daily living. What are the things that move us? We all have disturbances. Never a day passes without disturbances of some kind. We feel very much like taking to our heels and outrunning all our difficulties. We are so tired of meeting them face to face each day. Annoyances, difficulties, are always consideration for self. This is what goes over in my mind as I write, ” I have too much to do, I haven’t enough to do, I am sensitive, I am misunderstood, I desire friends, I don’t like people, I wish I could have more time to myself, I have too much time alone, I like cold weather, I don’t like cold weather, the east wind is horrid, the east wind is so exhilarating “; and so I might keep on enumerating for some time to come.
When we live on the self side, we are moved continually. It is impossible to change conditions while we are irritated by them. We must reach the point where none of these things can move us.
Our strength grows out of our weakness. . . . Every evil to which we do not succumb is a benefactor.— Emerson.
In the first place, “evil” is only ignorance. So we can read, “Our strength grows out of weakness,” and all ignorance “to which we do not succumb is a benefactor.” We are living today in ignorance, but we do not realize as yet that it is such. We shall continue to live in it until we come to a larger realization of the Infinite.
But we need not live in the ignorance that we know to be ignorance. This is our weakness, if we succumb to it. But our weakness becomes our strength, if we do not succumb to ignorance after knowing that it is ignorance. Emerson is right when he says, “The step from knowing to doing is rarely taken.” The only word I would alter would be to change knowing to believing. I think we believe a thing long before we know it. I think, when we take the step from believing to doing, then we really know. If we believe so much, why do we do so little? It seems to me that we are like naughty children in school. We play in study hours, and know that we will be kept after school to do the work that we ought to do at the present time. We are perfectly free to choose. We simply do not care to do what we are absolutely sure is the right thing for us to do. Each one of us intends some day to have perfect control of body and surroundings, but we do not make a resolute stand to-day. We wish to indulge ourselves just a little longer, so we go right on living in our ignorance. We keep on saying that the difficulties are not all in ourselves. For instance, we are very sensitive. We are sensitive to people and to atmospheres. Our nerves are “highly strung.” We are so refined that a great deal of what we encounter in life is coarse to us. In fact, we ought to live in a glass case, and be labeled, “Handle with care.”
Some patients come to me who spend so much time in caring for their bodies that they forget that they are souls. This over-refined state is more difficult to meet sometimes than real coarseness. It is like over-ripe fruit, that looks beautiful, but cannot be handled with safety. Don’t pride yourselves on your weakness. If you are so sensitive to all that offends your taste, why are you not sensitive to spiritual things? I find these sensitive people the most difficult to teach. Let us undeceive ourselves, and acknowledge the truth that all sensitiveness is pure and unalloyed selfishness. Let us dare to be rugged. Let us have some fiber in our character that will stand the strain of external discomforts. Let us find a “benefactor” in all that we have called evil or ignorance. Let us be strong because of our weakness. Let us rise above the external, and be able not only to say, but to live, “None of these things move me.”
EVERLASTING LIFE
Death does not differ at all from life.— Thales, 640 B.C.
I Think some have reached this realization, but there are numerous stages of mental development in regard to it. Let us go back to the time in our own lives when we believed that the experience of death brought a great change; that, when one who had been a peevish, irritable, hard-hearted person died, he was immediately transformed into a perfect being. All his sins had fallen from him, all his disagreeable manner; and his own family would not recognize him, could they have seen him in the flesh after this transformation. The funeral services told of virtues never dreamed of maybe by the deceased.
Another change of thought concerns the place to which we supposed we travelled after death, and a most unheard-of condition in which we lived. We had no occupation but to sing psalms and carry palms. No object in this new life. Everything was finished: there was nothing to learn. The most stupid place it was that could be imagined. Our lessons learned when in the body were of no especial benefit to us, for our sins were all forgiven by Jesus Christ. We have all lived through this stage of belief. We will skip the intervening stages of growth, and see where we are to-day.
“Death does not differ at all from life.” This was written 640 B.C., before we had a Jesus Christ to wipe away our sins. Is it not a truth, “Death does not differ at all from life “? Then there is no “here” and “there,” no “now” and “then.” It is all here and now. We are in the universe. It is all one life.
For on this path each step that is taken is a step that is taken forever; each pain that is suffered on it is a pain which, if it is felt, is welcome because of the lesson that it gives.— Annie Besant.
When we accept this statement as true, it seems that we are just beginning to live, just beginning to realize what is meant by life. Now we look at things from a universal standpoint instead of the limited point of view of “this life.” And “this life” was always such a limited, unsatisfactory one. Such a few years to live, and such hard lessons to learn, and all to no purpose.
But now “I stand amid the eternal ways.” I am cramped no longer: I am free. I have all eternity for my lessons; and, what is more, I am benefited and promoted by learning them. I have an object at last, an incentive to work. “Each step that is taken is taken forever.” To take a step does not mean every effort that we make in travelling this path, for an effort may not result in a step. But a “step taken” means everything that we overcome, that we master, that we put under our feet, that once done is done for all time. We never have that lesson over again. Then can we not understand how ” life ” has a new meaning, and that difficulties which were unbearable because of our cramped idea of life now become a joy to us; and we are really glad to meet new experiences and adjust ourselves, learn our lessons perfectly and pass on to other lessons, knowing that ” every step taken ” pushes us into a larger realization of life? We have the power within ourselves: no one can hinder or limit us in our progress.
The one great fear is the fear of death, which we have felt meant separation. There is no separation.
Let us cultivate these two thoughts. There is but one life. There is no separation.
“Ho, ye who suffer! Know ye suffer from yourselves. None else compels: none other holds you that ye live and die.”
RIGHT THINKING
There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so.— Shakespeare.
We all believe in the power of thought to a greater or less extent. We talk about it very knowingly, and see at once where others are deficient in its application, and realize that all their trouble comes from not “living up” to what they believe. If we would only remove the “mote “from our own eye before attending to the difficulties in others, we should progress more rapidly. All thought makes vibration. Right thinking makes harmonious vibration, and wrong thinking makes inharmonious vibration. We all are sending out a vibration, either harmonious or inharmonious, as the result of thinking. These vibrations meet and mingle with vibrations of a similar kind. An harmonious vibration can overcome an inharmonious vibration, when directed for that purpose. When a person is in inharmonious vibrations, such as sickness, sorrow, or unhappiness of any kind, but is open and ready for truth, it reaches him. This is the principle of mental healing.
Begin, therefore, with little things. Is it a little oil spilt or a little wine stolen? Say to yourself, This is the price paid for peace and tranquility; and nothing is to be had for nothing. And, when you call your servant, consider that it is possible he may not come at your call, or, if he does, that he may not do what you wish. But it is not at all desirable for him, and very undesirable for you, that it should be in his power to cause you any disturbance.—Epictetus.
“Begin therefore with little things.” When we rise in the morning, we can say to ourselves, There is always something each day that can make me unhappy, discontented, or angry. How shall I meet it today? If I am disturbed, the disturbance is within myself. Then it must be within my control. We have thought in the past that we could be happy, contented, or good tempered if it were not for others. Now we know better. We know all conditions are mental, and depend entirely upon ourselves. So if our family, our friends, or our servants do not do as we wish, it is ” very undesirable” for us to let it be in their power to cause us any disturbance. They have no power to disturb us, unless we let them.
How much longer are we going to give to others that power? Are we not all tired of disturbances of every kind? Shall we not stop these inharmonious vibrations by controlling all angry, resentful, and impatient thoughts? This is the price we pay for peace and tranquility. Are not the peace and tranquility worth the price,— the control of thought, which is the control of self? For we cannot act until we have thought, even though the thought is unconscious.
“The sunny side of Easy Street.” “The street of “by and by” leads to the house “never.”— From the German.
Why will we not begin at once to live what we not only believe, but know? We are indolent. It is easier to keep to old habits than to make new ones. So one day we live to our best, and the next to our worst, or very near it. If we believe in the power of thought, it is wrong for us not to use the power for good. We are not excusable, as others are, who do not realize that all thought is a force, either for good or evil. What right have we, when one is endeavoring to overcome old conditions of sickness, weakness, discontent, or sin, to pelt him with our thoughts of doubt, and persist in seeing him still in his old conditions? Why not make new mental pictures of health, strength, contentment, and virtues, and hold them constantly in mind, until they become realities to us and are externalized in him? This would be living the “golden rule.” We want our friends to help us with good thought, when we are in inharmonious conditions. Why do we not realize that they need our help as well? But one minute we think a good thought for them, and the next a wrong one, so we accomplish little. Let us be done with living on “Easy Street” and the street of” by and by,” and do all in our power to help all mankind. Good thinking in every direction is needed more than gold.
BURDENS
My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.— Bible.
The thing that impresses one the most in the study of metaphysics is the great effort that people make in applying the principle to daily living. Great effort in action denotes a fear in regard to strength in carrying out our desire. If we are confident, knowing that we are equal to the occasion, we make no effort. All comes easily and naturally. It is always when we feel ourselves unequal to the task that we make things hard for ourselves.
The first thing to be settled is to make up our minds, before beginning anything, whether we have ability or not for the work, or whether we have ability, we might also say, to meet undesired lessons,— trials of every-day living, etc. We often say impulsively, ” Oh, / could never do that,” or “/ could never bear such a trial.” Is it in accord with our sense of justice to feel that some are better equipped than ourselves? Let us make a covenant of confidence with ourselves to-day that will last for all coming years, — that we have the very same possibilities that all mankind possesses. There are no gifts. What we see in another that we do not yet externalize is still within ourselves to realize or unfold
Know you that this universe is for nothing else than to succeed in.— George E. Burnell.
We should never forget this. When we get discouraged with repeated trying, we should affirm this over and over again. Never talk of failure in anything. Failure is unthinkable. God knows no failure: then we, as souls, cannot know any.
I notice that people always say, “I will try,” but in such a way that you are made to feel as if success was rather doubtful. They seem to think it is modest, and not so egotistical as to say, “I can and I will” do my very best. As we take this attitude of mind, we find ourselves unfolding spiritually far more rapidly than when we take the half-hearted position of “I’ll try.” And, really, this position is the egotistical one, for we are thinking of the personal self: whereas, if we turn all thought to the real, or soul part, we can affirm truly that “all things are possible“ to us. Then is the “yoke easy” and the “burden light.” Then do we realize that this ” universe is for nothing else than to succeed in.” Put the word “failure” out of your vocabulary. Put in the word “success” in large letters. Say it over and over again. It has a good vibration. You will never succeed to the vibration of the word “failure.” “Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
This is the truth that metaphysics teaches: By renewing our minds do we grow or unfold spiritually. I am success, for I am one with God; and God knows no failure.
SEEKING
Seek out the way. Seek the way by retreating within. Seek the way by advancing boldly without
Look for the flower to bloom in the silence that follows the storm, not till then.— Light on the Path.
We are all seeking “the way.” There are so very many roads that lead to this one way through which we all must pass. The “way” is the unfolding of the spiritual in man, and we seek it or gain it by our experiences in life. Each must be free to seek in his own way. We do not need the same lessons, although I believe that at some time we pass through all experiences; for we learn only by personal experience. So, if we do not need certain lessons now, we either have had or will have them. We cannot learn all in the objective in one incarnation. Our first quotation says, “Seek the way by retreating within.” This implies that we are to realize something within ourselves; that we are to give up the externals, for the present at least. We are to gain a control of self. We are to understand the powers we possess. We are to gain a knowledge of ourselves,— of soul. We do this by shutting out the external, by turning our attention wholly to the spiritual side, giving up the constant doing, and learning how to be. All doing without “being” amounts to very little,— all this bustle and feeling that there is so much of importance to be done. If each one did daily the things of real importance, we should have some spare time that we do not have now. Some things that seem to be trifles are important, and some things that seem important are trifles. Please make the distinction carefully when giving up the doing, for the things you prefer doing may not be the important ones. “Retreating within” does not mean to lose all interest in humanity or daily living. It simply means to study our higher nature, to make this study in good faith, realizing that it is the most important thing in our life. The more we understand ourselves, the more do we understand our fellow-men.
“Be still,”—say this over and over,— and quiet the rational, or intellectual, mind. ” Be still, and know.” Also the verse, “Your strength is to sit still,” and ” In quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.” The first thing necessary is to still this consciousness. We can never hear the voice of intuition until we have accomplished this. Don’t run around to listen to so many unnecessary lectures. Do a little quiet staying at home. This hearing so much with only the external ear is like eating because it is a free lunch, and not because you need the food.
Truth is very simple. It is the very simplicity of it that makes you fail to realize it. After we have gained our spiritual center, then we can “advance boldly without,” which is a fearless attitude of mind; but, if we try this boldness when self-centered, without spiritual poise, we are playing with dangerous tools, and will suffer in consequence.
Our conflict begins when we become conscious of our spiritual self. Then we are obliged to make our world entirely over. We see everything from a new standpoint. Where we have formerly lived in the valley, shut in by the mountains of selfishness, fear, and doubts of various kinds, we now find ourselves ascending these very mountains which have hemmed us in, in the past; and, as we rise nearer and nearer the summit, we have an entirely different view. We could not have believed that, by putting these very mountains which shut out our view under our feet, we have gained what seemed impossible. When we have become indifferent to the turmoil in the external,— in other words, when we have risen above the storm-line,— then in the “silence that follows ” we shall find the flowers that have bloomed,— the flowers of the soul, the flowers that were budding in our consciousness as we toiled up and up, wondering at times if we ever would reach the top; the flowers born from the ” retreating within,” from the “advancing boldly without,” and from the “silence that follows the storm.”
CRITICISM
Out of the silence that is peace a resonant voice shall arise.— Light on the Path.
The silence that we are in the habit of thinking of is not silence. The silence that comes with quiet externals, but chaotic interiors, is not silence. The silence of which I speak may be possible in the greatest external commotion. This silence is the result of peace, — peace realized fully, completely. Out of this silence comes a voice, a resonant voice, a voice “echoing back.” First we must get the peace, then comes the silence, and then the voice.
Why is it so many think they hear the voice when they have neither peace nor silence? Why do they find it difficult to know what is the right and best thing to do for themselves? They can always hear better for other people. I think there is always a shadow that we confound with the real. The voice so many of us hear is the intellectual voice, and not the spiritual. We desire to hear spiritually, but we do not live in the peace that brings the silence where it is possible to hear the inner, the spiritual voice. We have glimpses occasionally, far-away glimmers; but they are not lasting. The trouble is that we desire to reap that which we have not sown. We are so irregular in our sowing. We sow some grand and noble thoughts, and then a large number of irritable, unhappy, discordant thoughts. When we do our reaping, we want only the beautiful part. We wish to reject the thorns and thistles. We sometimes forget even that we sowed anything but loving thoughts, yet our harvest proves the truth to us. Let us sow for peace; let us gain the silence; let us hear the voice. To reach this condition, we must live in our spiritual centre. The circumference, the external, is the state where all inharmonious conditions exist. The circumference is continually whirled about. The centre is balance, poise, an undisturbed state. Let us live consciously in our spiritual centre.
Listen to the song of life.— Light on the Path.
How many are listening for the “song,” how many for the cry?
First we must listen to the song within ourselves. Then, when we find the song within, we are reaching, or growing toward, the universal song, or harmony. Are we listening to the “song,” when we hear only the discord? And Pope tells us that
Harmony is discord understood.
Let us consider that last word, “understood.” How quickly we pass our opinion upon another! Do we stop to understand people for what they are? Do we not judge hastily? I want to-day to impress the truth that the divine in us never criticizes. The spiritual in others, as well as in ourselves, is not open to criticism. There is no criticism in love. Drop criticism out of your life today,— not only in word, but in thought. This will be a stepping-stone to the peace which is silence, and then will follow the “voice” which directs us unerringly. This is not only listening to the “song of life,” but we shall be a part of the “song.” Peace is our first step, — “the peace that passeth understanding,” “peace that floweth like a river,” “great peace,” where nothing shall offend.
PERSEVERANCE
Be not weary in well-doing.— Bible.
If we work a few days or weeks faithfully endeavoring to live to the best of our spiritual awakenment, and then let discouragement possess us, we shall not make rapid strides in growth. When we learn the principles of life and apply them to daily living, we are at first surprised at our success. All disagreeable conditions vanish, like snow under a high sun. We feel that we have at last a knowledge that will enable us to overcome all obstacles and make our lives at once harmonious and free from care. We tell this to our friends. We feel elated. This very elation is the opening wedge to our downfall, the beginning of our disasters, although we do not realize it. There comes an experience which tries us beyond endurance, or maybe it is a number of little annoyances which culminate in something unexpected and undesired. We rally ourselves to meet it, we flounder around like a man in a snow-bank, and finally roll over and are lost to view. We are so weary with our effort to extricate ourselves that we lie still, actually having no desire to move,— would rather stay where we are than make any more effort. Then thoughts drift into our consciousness, “Is it not better to try again?” “Is not the new way of living better than the old, even if we do fall down?” We make new resolves, we will try again. We will not “be weary,” even if our “well-doing” has been small. This is the stand we must take,— never, never to let discouragement creep in. Be up again and doing, doing faithfully over and over again, no matter how many times, but with the one aim that we will overcome through growth all things.
When I am weak, then am I strong.— Paul.
This seems to be a contradiction, but it is not. When we realize the weakness of the personality, then do we become conscious for the first time of the strength of the individuality, or soul part. “I of myself can do nothing.” The “I of myself” is the personal self. But “all things are possible to him who believeth,” to him who depends upon the divine within, who realizes that God works through him to will and to do. Then, and not till then, do we become aware of our strength. We must give up the personality entirely, and live only in recognition of our individuality. Then we shall not ” weary in well-doing,” then shall we be strong in the only true sense. The demands of the personal do not denote strength. The perfect confidence and peace which are ours as we realize the individuality of soul impress us with a strength we have never known before.
“If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them.”
THANKFULNESS
In everything give thanks.— Paul.
Certainly, we say, we believe in “giving thanks.”
We give thanks for friends, family, health, prosperity, for all good things, for all experiences of pleasure.
We are glad to be alive when all goes right, and glad, too, to give thanks.
What is the meaning of “everything“?
The dictionary defines it every; i.e., “each one of a whole thing; i.e., event or action, any substance.”
Then “everything” means each action, event, or experience that is a part of the whole. It does not say give thanks for everything that pleases or is satisfactory, but absolutely for everything. Now we begin to do some thinking. It brings us to this conclusion.
I must “give thanks” for the loss of friends, family, health, and prosperity. I must give thanks that I am unhappy and discontented.
I must give thanks when I have been unjustly dealt with. I must give thanks that I am standing alone, all personal help being removed. Yes, it must be so; for in “everything” I am to give thanks.
All these experiences are just as “good” as those that we have always considered good.
We should never get to heaven on “flowery beds of ease.” We have to have experiences which we think are discomforts, to make us think; and, as a result, they push us to better things. Then truly we can say, “In everything I will give thanks.”
The peace you shall desire is that sacred peace which nothing can disturb.— Light on the Path.
We are all anxious to reach that state of mind where we are not disturbed or annoyed by anything.
Peace is poise. Poise means balance. We all know that we must have a poise of body; and it is quite as necessary to have it on level ground as when on the edge of a precipice or in climbing a mountain. Now poise for climbing a mountain is not the same as that required for level ground. When we change from climbing to a level, we adjust the balance, or get a different poise. When it comes to mind, the same conditions occur. Poise is balance. Poise for events that are agreeable is quite different from the poise necessary for the disagreeable. We do not yet understand how to adjust our minds as quickly as we do our bodies. We adjust our bodies almost instantly, but our minds are not so quick to respond.
As we grow less and less selfish, our minds respond in less and less time. We find this is true the more we live this higher life. On some lines we have overcome more than on others. All self-respect, all thought of individual rights, must be outgrown.
SATISFACTION
I exist as I am, that is enough.
If no other in the world be aware, I sit content;
And, if each and all be aware, I sit content.
Walt Whitman.
When our minds begin to ask questions which we cannot answer, our first impulse is to run to another, and get his opinion in regard to the matter. We try not only one, but many; and, as time goes on, our questions accumulate, and our anxiety to solve them forms the larger part of our daily life. We think this condition denotes growth, and pride ourselves that we are at least active in thought, and not half asleep, as some people are. This condition is a forerunner of better things to come. It seems to be a necessary stage to most minds.
What I wish to teach to-day is that each must have his own revelation of truth in regard to all that concerns life. We must first reveal ourselves to ourselves. We need not speculate upon the past until we are bewildered with wondering about the beginning of all things,— all the theories in regard to life, which is the most correct,— but let us start with to-day. “I exist as I am, that is enough.” Yes, quite enough to keep my thinking-machine busy as I come into a larger realization of all that it means.
“If no other in the world be aware, I sit content.” This, to my mind, is the true position,— not to care for the opinion of people, whether they think you are growing spiritually or not; not to care for results as to what may or may not come to you; not to care how or when other people grow; to give up being a care-taker either for yourself or others; to have no desire for ways and means ; to have but one purpose in life, and that is to understand your own development as you unfold day by day,— in other words, to get your own revelation, to know, through your own wisdom, the real of life. If all wisdom is within each of us, as we believe, then the one thing for us to do is to become aware of it.
All anxiety in regard to unlocking this wisdom delays us. The key that opens the door most quickly is indifference. I mean by this to be indifferent as the child is indifferent. His pleasure is in the present moment. He enjoys without anxiety as to the future. He does not think of results. He grows without being aware of it, until some day it dawns upon him that he is a man. All the petty detail of arriving at this state is of very little importance to him. We do not think of pumping a river to make it flow, neither do we have to make an effort to get our own revelation. All wisdom opens itself to our understanding as we become indifferent in the right sense, for indifference is poise.
Do not expect the wisdom before you need it. The occasion will bring what is necessary if you are living in the ultimate, and not in the details.
Afoot and light-hearted, I take to the open road.
Henceforth I ask not good fortune: I myself am good fortune.
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing,
Done with indoor complaints, libraries, querulous criticisms.
Strong and content, I travel the open road.
Walt Whitman.
This quotation gives me a sense of freedom. I give up the pessimistic I, which doubts and fears and looks for education from without. I realize, as never before, the mighty I Am,—my real self, from which cometh all my understanding. I will trust it. I will listen. I will know all humanity and life by realizing more fully what I am myself.
Can we not all trust the divine within? Can we not “travel the open road,” removing all limitations? Let us say it over to ourselves, “I am travelling the ‘open road.’ “We take a long breath and expand our lungs as we say it, for it is truth.
HEARING
He that hath ears to hear let him hear.— Bible.
We all have ears; but how many of us have ears to hear? It does not say, “He that hath ears let him hear,” but “He that hath ears to hear.” We hear enough to say yes or no in the right place. We listen to long stories or recitals of woe or happiness from our friends, and, when we try to remember what we were told, find we have lost most of it. This is superficial hearing. True hearing is understanding. True hearing is always followed by right action. I say to you, “All is good.” You have annoyance, perplexities. You are unhappy as a result, you think. I say over again to you, “All is good.” “Yes,” you reply, “I agree with you.” That shows that intellectually you have grasped the idea. But there is more in true hearing. You continue saying, “All is good,” never doubting it; and some day instantly, in “the twinkling of an eye,” you have heard it for the first time. You understand it. You have never understood it before. Now your ears were there all the time, but the ” ears to hear” means the spiritual,— the real of us. When that hears, all doubt vanishes; and, having heard, our work on that particular line is finished.
That which thou wouldst reach by a. circuitous road thou canst have now if thou dost not refuse it to thyself. Marcus Aurelius.
We all wander on a “circuitous road.” We all put off for some future time. Jesus said, “Now is the accepted time.” Now suppose we are dishonest. Someone says, You ought not to be dishonest: you are injuring yourself more than anyone. We agree with him. But we say we intend to be honest some day. This really seems absurd to us, does it not? To be honest at some future time. But why is it absurd to us? Because we have reached that point in development where we understand what honesty is. In other words, we have heard with our “ears to hear” on that particular line. We can be honest to-day. We are not so only on certain lines. One person is honest in one direction, another in other directions. But we follow a “circuitous road,” and refuse to ourselves what we would have now, or, rather, what we think we would have. You would be surprised at the results if, instead of thinking ahead, you would expect things now. People would be cured of sickness and unhappiness at once if they did not continually put it off in mind to some future time. Jesus did not think or say that it took time to be cured. He said, “According to thy faith be it unto you.”
One truth a man lives is worth a thousand he only utters.— Epicharmus, B.C. 540.
We all do too much talking and too little living. I hear people discussing metaphysics with those who are not interested in them, saying what comfort and help they have derived from these studies, and yet living in fear and anger, and externalizing the result of these mental conditions. Let us talk less, and live more. Let us sometimes not talk at all. Don’t try to make people understand that you have a grand something to live by, but live so well that people will come to you of themselves, and ask what it is that makes you always happy and well, and they see it in your face! Let us live the truth, and we shall not need to talk it.
POISE
Oh to be self-balanced for contingencies,
To confront night, storms, ridicule, accidents, rebuffs, as trees and animals do.
Walt Whitman.
As I am a pupil as well as yourselves, I judge that my needs are also your needs. For experience is the teacher of all; and, as we grow or develop through our experiences, we think and reason about them at the time, and also after they have passed. We can see where we were weak and where we were strong. We can see where we might have done much better, might have risen to a higher point, if we had been less selfish, if we had dwelt on the side of unselfishness and love, and not looked at the personal of ourselves and others. To be “self balanced” is what? What is balance?
Balance is the point of adjustment. To balance is to equalize. Balance is the point of indifference. If we take for our illustration the old seesaw of our childhood, we first got our saw-horse, and then put our board across. We placed this board evenly, so that it would balance. That was the very first thing we did. Now, if we and our little friend were equal in weight, we rode merrily up and down, with no effort whatever,— just a little touch of our toes to the ground sent us up high. But suppose one child weighed more than the other? At once the board was changed: the point of balance was changed to suit the requirements, otherwise it would not have been balance at all. Balance for one condition is not necessarily balance for another.
Let us apply this to our daily living. One experience we can meet easily: we adjust ourselves quickly; we rise above it instantly. Another experience comes: we take more time for adjustment; we find that, in order to rise, we must give to another “more board,” as he is lighter weight, and our adjustment or balance depends upon that. In other words, if we have grown to a larger understanding of our spiritual self, we must make the balance possible by conceding more. To meet “contingencies,” “storms,” “ridicule,” “accidents,” “rebuffs,” is not this our whole lesson in life? What is it to meet them “as the trees and animals do”? I think it is to meet them without question, without resentment.
We are apt to meet our experiences, even little ones, with questioning, if not resentment. That is our very first attitude of mind. Why need this have come to me? And then resentment follows. Let us keep the picture of the seesaw before us. Let us do as well as the trees and animals do.
I loaf, and invite my soul.— Walt Whitman.
Why is it that people always apologize when they are found without occupation? One would think it were a crime not to be constantly employed. Women must have fancy work of some kind on hand, to pick up in spare moments. After the necessary sewing and mending, why so anxious to fill the spare moments by keeping the fingers still busy? It is rare to see either men or women sit quietly, even for five minutes. We must play with a pencil or a watch-chain or rub our fingers over a smoothly polished chair arm: we must do something in the external.
Let us cultivate quiet in our bodies as well as in our minds. You will observe that there is a certain repose about some people that at once gives you a sense of strength. It is not being lazy to be quiet. So much bustle in the exterior shows an unrest in the mind. Let us drop the word “busy”: the very utterance of it is confusing. Let us do our daily work, whatever it may be, in quiet and tranquility. We must not allow ourselves to hurry or be hurried by others. We must work by our own methods, and not be uneasy if others say we make “hard work” of it. What is easy to us may seem hard to them. We have a right to work in our own way, if it does not interfere with another. Let us also learn to “loaf.” Do we “invite our soul” when so constantly filled with the external doing? No: we have to reach the loafing attitude of mind, in order to come into consciousness of soul. We must kill out the old idea of work. Work is most desirable when it is not considered work, but occupation. Then I want you also to understand that loafing in the true sense is occupation of the very best kind. The loafing that loafs to shirk that which it ought to do is an entirely different matter. But to loaf and invite your soul,— that is, to take the careless attitude of mind, and dwell in the spiritual, or divine, part of yourself,— this it is that unfolds us day by day. Let us set about it, and begin to “loaf” in earnest.
REALITIES
All our fears are needless, and not one single human hope, expectation, or aspiration, is half great enough or good enough or bold enough.— Edwin Arnold.
As I teach and treat, and have larger experiences which come to me in this work, I have less theory in regard to the subject and no clearly denned method. I find the one thing needful is to learn how to open ourselves to the spiritual. It is educating ourselves to turn from the personal to the individual.
If we are seeking to educate ourselves in languages, music, or mathematics, we know that it is absolutely necessary to have certain hours for study. We know that we shall not make much, if any, progress, if we pick up a few moments haphazard for thought and study on our particular line, although we may have a great desire to become proficient. Suppose we gave as much attention to growing ourselves spiritually as we do to making money, making our clothing, keeping our homes, and living in conventional ways. We do not yet realize that the most important thing is to develop, or rather to become conscious of, the spiritual man. When we have done this, all else follows.
I mean just this: Now we spend so much of our time in fearing; and, as a result of this fear, we are obliged to spend our energies upon useless lines. We are so bound by the personal that with almost every thought that is to result in action a fear-thought accompanies the starting thought. For instance, we make up our minds to do a certain thing. Thoughts of expectation, aspiration, and delight make us happy; and we are conscious of a fullness of life and satisfaction. This is almost instantly followed by doubts and fears; and we begin to reconsider, always on the negative side, until joy and happiness begin to fade away, and, if we, after all, return to our first plan, we find that the life of it is gone. Do you not see that, if we cultivate and educate this personal until we are conscious at all times that the real man is the spiritual man; this it is that will remove all our fears? And, if the fears are removed, then shall we draw to ourselves all things needed.
Why spend so much time in acquiring what is of so little real value? Why not simplify our lives and our tastes? Why need so much bric-a-brac in our homes and ornamentation in our dress, when the essence of all things is simplicity? When we see in a flower not only the flower, but much more than the flower,— when we have the real flower, we do not need the painted one, no matter how perfect an imitation it may be. When we realize the real man, we give up caring for the personal man. We cannot expect too much or aspire too much or be too great, too glad, or too bold. Let us give up being pygmies, and unfold the divine within.
Be still, and know that I am God.— Bible.
The reason we fear is because we realize that the personal is limited as long as we do not understand the spiritual. When we “know God” even to a small degree, we begin to remove the limitations of the personal; and, as we “grow in grace,” the limitations become less and less. In order to become conscious of this God part, we must “be still.” In other words, quiet the personal, get away from the external in every possible way.
We do a great many things mechanically, after we have learned how. I do not mean to be careless of the comforts of others, but do the external living as a secondary matter, and not as the most important. Spiritual things are the necessaries of life. Get another point of view.
GRAVECLOTHES
And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth! And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes. John XI. 43, 44.
This is a good illustration of the condition of many persons. In fact, we all are in different stages of “deadness.” You will notice that it is a command, not a mere persuasion. A command must be given with firmness. There must be a vital reason back of it. You will also observe that “he cried with a loud voice,”—a voice that could be heard through this “deadness.” He realized that Lazarus must be aroused. A mild, gentle voice would not have sufficed for this. So “he cried with a loud voice, Come forth!” And Lazarus came forth.
Now, to all appearances, the man had been dead; but in reality there is no death. Is this not an example of our divinity being covered from sight, of our being asleep to spiritual life? Are we not apparently dead, until someone calls in a loud voice,— to this divine part,— “Come forth I ” and we rouse ourselves, and come forth, dazed and “bound hand and foot with graveclothes”? How well this last quotation describes our belief in limitations! We are bound with old fears, old prejudices, old opinions, old habits of thinking and living.
But “Loose him, and let him go,” is the next command. So the divine in each one becomes more and more manifest; and we throw aside our “graveclothes,” which belong to our dead or sleeping condition, and begin to realize that we have no limitations. We do not need “graveclothes” when we realize what life is,— that we are spirit, and therefore cannot die.
He who thinks himself holier than another, he who has any pride in his own exemption from vice or folly, he who believes himself wise or in any way superior to his fellow-men, is incapable of discipleship.— Annie Besant.
We who have responded to the voice, we who have “come forth,” are in danger of just this. We wish others were living on a higher plane, were not so material. We are glad that we have overcome certain vices or follies. We believe our judgment is better, and that we are wiser.
Now we think we do all this with a feeling of love and charity. We do not intend to set ourselves up as examples of goodness and wisdom: nevertheless, we are on dangerous ground. I feel like putting up a sign-board, “Keep off the grass.” Let it have a chance. Don’t walk over the newly planted ground, to look for the barren places. Don’t pull the tender shoots up by the roots to see if they are growing. Give others a chance. Give yourself a chance also; for self-condemnation is as bad as to feel that we are wiser and better than others. It is in fact the same spirit applied to ourselves that we apply to others. No one is inferior and no one is superior to another. Let us look only for the God-part in every one. Let us so live that we may express it in ourselves. Let us come forth to stay, and not be running back to our graveclothes, as we are so inclined to do. Let us live to our best every hour, and the true results of life are assured.
SMALL THINGS
For who hath despised the day of small things.— Zech. IV. 10.
What are small things?
Are there great or small things?
Is not everything of equal importance?
We have large events in our lives which we always remember. Did not these same large events turn upon some seemingly very trivial thing? We have a day of small things. The next day, perhaps, may come one of the most important occurrences, we say, in our life.
Was not the day of “small things” which proceeded of equal importance with the following day, the day of large results?
So all experiences, whether great or small, are of equal importance in the development of character, which is the awakening to spiritual consciousness.
We find out our point of growth in the way in which we meet our difficulties. We feel quite satisfied at night after what we call an easy day. But an easy day does not show us our strength as a hard one does, even if we have not met it as well as we wish that we had. We have had a certain satisfaction in our mental gymnastics, and feel refreshed from having used some muscles that do not come into play on “easy days.”
It is recognition, and not time, that is needed to perfect a cure.
When I use the word ” cure,” I mean not only of disease, but unhappiness, uncongenial surroundings, financial difficulties and all inharmonious conditions.
It is strange, but we always have thought of “heaven” as a place where there is no time.
Time has always belonged to this world, as we say. Now we believe that “heaven” is here and now, that “heaven” is within; and yet we must have time — which we have always said was not in heaven — to get out of our difficulties.
We talk about time, and it is really to cover up our indolence.
We always waited for time to get results from medicine. So we wait for a time before realizing health. We consider conservatism a good thing, and that is always slow. It is an indication of wisdom to ponder over a matter before deciding.
Is it? Can we imagine God as taking time to arrive at conclusions? Does a person of intuitional perception take time to reason or think? No: true knowing is understanding; it is recognition. Let us wake up, and rid ourselves of these old ideas. Let us give the spiritual of us opportunity to come to the surface. Let us make the opportunity by knowing that we are spiritual, and expect the promptings and guidance of the spirit within. Let us know once and for all that our lack is in “recognition.”
COMPLAINTS
The only real thing is to study how to rid life of lamentation and complaint.— Epictetus.
As I talk with different patients, pupils, friends, I find in all a state of dissatisfaction. This seems to be necessary up to a certain point in evolution. But we do not wish to dwell in this state any more than we desire to stay ill.
Dissatisfaction, an uncomfortable mental condition, makes us seek to better our condition.
Just as soon as we come to a small recognition of the spiritual as the real, either consciously or unconsciously does the conflict begin. This conflict grows worse and worse until it becomes unbearable at times; and we are willing to do anything to get into a peaceful state of mind, body, and surroundings.
We try first one thing and then another, always seeking for aid from without.
We pray to a far-away God to right our wrongs, for so our condition appears to ourselves.
Remedies without and within are applied to ease our sufferings in the body, all with but little, if any, relief. We are living in “lamentation and complaint” at this stage in our development.
Just as the twig is bent, the tree’s inclined.— Pope.
We all believe this to be true in regard to a twig. If a gardener plants row after row of slender shoots that are to grow into trees, how carefully he watches them! If a strong wind comes and bends them in one direction, how he immediately brings a force to bear that will straighten them by attaching a strong cord to them and pulling them in the opposite direction! Then, when they stand straight again, he removes the cord, as it is not required any longer.
When the trunk of the tree has become strong and stocky, and stands well rooted and firm, the gardener is satisfied, and the branches are allowed to grow in all directions; for the tree is now symmetrical and beautiful. If any of the branches, however, overstep the bounds of symmetry, they are pruned or cut off.
This can illustrate the training of our mentalities. At first we make an effort. We repeat our affirmations faithfully, we perform our mental gymnastics. We are careful to get ourselves well grounded in the new way of thinking. We must make an effort at first to keep ourselves straight. After we have accomplished this, our branches are allowed to grow in every direction. That is, we can gather truth from all sides without effort. Then all is joy to us. There is no longer “lamentation and complaint,” for there is such a sense of freedom in our growing. If we find ourselves growing too much on one side, we can prune our branches and regain symmetry.
What we should constantly remember is the fact of different stages in development, and not be discouraged if we are still working in the “lamentation and complaint” stage. It is within ourselves alone to change our thinking as quickly as we desire. We may think we desire to change more quickly than we do; but I do not believe it for myself, so I cannot believe it for you. We can be just what we desire to be. We are nothing less and nothing more.
If we are not pleased with our condition, we know wherein lies the difficulty. We can delay or hasten our steps as we choose. In each stage of development we have made the same choice, always seeking for what we thought the best, but have done so unconsciously until now. “And then there comes this strength which grows out of the fixity of the mind, the mind which now has grown so strong that it can fix itself on what it will, and stay there unshaken, no matter what whirlwind may be going on around,— a fixity so great, so steady, that nothing that is without can avail to shake it at all, which has grown so strong that it does not need effort any longer.”
ATTRACTION
To him who hath shall be given, and from him who hath not shall be taken away even that which he seemeth to have.— Bible.
I Want to speak about the law of attraction, — vibration. We often observe that people who have plenty of money are the ones who have fortunes left to them; also that, when people begin to lose money or friends, they continue losing. So that we have a saying that “it never rains but it pours,” and another, “Misfortunes never come singly.” This shows that these conditions of loss and gain have been commented upon, but no reason has been given for them. Now that we are beginning to study vibration, or the law of attraction, we are in a position to understand some things which have been a mystery in the past. We can draw to ourselves in two ways. First, on what we call the material plane. We concentrate, turn our minds in one direction with a strong will. We determine to reach our point, leave no stone unturned. We cultivate people who can benefit us. We study along certain lines. Our aim, awake or asleep, is to reach this goal. We reach it. Having reached results, we increase them by the same vibration. We have hypnotized ourselves with a thought. We have externalized the thought. As time goes on, we grow, develop. We begin to lose. We keep on losing.
This method of drawing is not lasting. There is no principle back of it. We only seemed to have. Let us take up the spiritual side. What is it to have? When we have a thing, we can never lose it. A truth once ours is never lost. What we gain spiritually we never lose. We say, “All is ours.” What do we mean? Everything is ours as soon as we have reached a point in development where we realize the truth, or the real, of it. For instance, paintings, music. All that we understand of them is ours. We have health, happiness, prosperity, just to the extent that we understand the truth of each.
People come to me, longing for love. The difficulty is in themselves. We receive according to our vibration,— no more and no less. It depends entirely upon ourselves. We attract or repel through vibration.
If it is a thought of self; if we are always thinking others are in the wrong ; if we are looking for and fearing conditions to come ; if doubting,— can you conceive of the vibrations resulting from these mental conditions ?
On the other hand, the predominating thought may be one of love, peace, opulence, faith,— a knowing (not believing) that “all is Good.” Is it not easy to understand what the vibration resulting from this mental condition will be?
“He who knows that power is in the soul, that he is weak only because he has looked for good out of him and elsewhere, and, so perceiving, throws himself unhesitatingly on his thought, instantly rights himself, stands in the erect position, commands his limbs, works miracles, just as a man who stands on his feet is stronger than a man who stands on his head.”
We must cease to look without for either good or ill. All is within; and as our thought, so will be our attraction to bring to us that that we deserve. “Let us stand on our feet. Let us work miracles.”
SOUL COMPLETENESS
I sent my Soul through the Invisible
Some secret of that after-life to spell;
And by and by my Soul returned to me,
And answered, “I myself am Heaven and Hell.”
Persian Song.
In the past we have speculated upon heaven and hell as places, and upon God as a person. Man begins by finding all outside of himself. As we go on reasoning about things to ourselves, we become convinced that heaven and hell are states, or conditions, and not localities. Then more thinking brings us to the conclusion that heaven and hell can be and are now just as much as they can ever be in the future. Then we reach the next step, and find that heaven and hell are within our own consciousness. This is getting things pretty near. God also, from being a person and at a distance, is brought, through our growth, near at hand. It becomes a beautiful and harmonious Law working or manifesting itself through each tiny atom. We feel that this Law not only operates in the atmosphere about us, but is also within, as every atom in our bodies is an atom of this Life, Energy, or Law. When we listen to others, when we speculate upon theories, do we really unfold? It seems to me that all that we really know we have learned by experience. It need not be experiences relating entirely to this incarnation. But all things that are really mine I have understood for myself, and not been made to understand by another. If I feel this to be true for me now, it is probable that it has always been, and will continue to be, for evermore.
I am an acme of things accomplished, and I am an encloser of things to be.— Walt Whitman.
This quotation to me is absolute truth. I can know nothing, understand nothing, that is not within myself. I must contain, as soul, all that God is in quality, in order to become conscious of God in the smallest degree. For all growth is an unfolding, and not an addition to an imperfect beginning. If this latter were possible, it would signify God’s incompleteness; and that is an impossibility to us in our present stage of evolution. I am not only what I have gained through experience in the past, but I am all that I am to gain or become conscious of in the future. Does not this thought, if dwelt upon, remove all fears? Can we fear, when we realize that we are actually all there is? Is it possible to fear the All-knowing? As soon as we know a thing, there is no fear connected with it. Do not fear yourself; and, really, that is all there is to fear. I mean it, truly. There is nothing below and nothing above, nothing without, nor within, that is not self. Say over and over again, “I do not fear myself.” All that you have found so far in your travels through this universe is self. Self is all that you understand. It is all you will ever know. For in understanding self you know the Infinite, the All. “I am It.”
INDIVIDUALITY
We take it to be the work of one who studies philosophy to bring his will into harmony with events, so that none of the things which happen may happen against our inclination nor those which do not happen be desired by us.—Epictetus.
When we have settled this point, we are never disappointed. It is our unwillingness to accept conditions that makes the inharmony, and not the conditions themselves. Will is the controlling power of man. First we have a motive: then the will accomplishes what we desire. We wish to become a musician. We realize that there are certain things we must learn in technique. We get them clearly in mind, and then the will exerts itself in practice; and we finally, after continued practice or willing in the right direction, find we have accomplished that for which we aimed or desired. But we must have a motive first, and then will to do it. So you can take up any profession, study, or trade. You first and always must have a motive, and then the will operates to accomplish that which is desired. If we do not like our work, it is harder to bring our will into harmony with it. We have reached that point where our motives should always be right. Then we can will fearlessly.
There is really but one will, and that is divine. That which is not in harmony with the divine is willfulness, not will, and belongs only to the rational mind. Will belongs to soul, and is the controlling power Realizing the will in ourselves gives us perfect freedom. We gain control of self through will.
It is only as a man puts off from himself all external support, and stands alone, that I see him to be strong and to prevail.— Emerson.
We all need help at first; but our aim should be to “stand erect, and not be kept erect by others.” I have said that we must practice. We can practice in a wrong direction as well as in a right one. We say we cannot concentrate upon anything. Yet everyone who has come to me for help has been doing nothing else for years than concentrating, but in the wrong direction. They have concentrated upon fear, resentment, jealousy, anger, and inharmony of every kind. The result is sickness and unhappiness of every kind. No one seems to enjoy these conditions. Then why hold on to them? If we have brought upon ourselves these inharmonious conditions by wrong concentration, let us begin at once to work in a right direction. Let us will to concentrate upon freedom, love, charity, and that “all is good.” If we will be as diligent in concentration in the future in the right direction as we have been in the past in the wrong one, we shall see a vast improvement in a short time. Will to be well, will to be happy, will to succeed, will to live to your best, will to help others.
Will,— concentrate in the right direction. All power is within yourself. I no longer fear that evil can enter my life, that health can fail me or strength leave me. I will concentrate upon harmonious thoughts. Will grows, or is realized, by what it feeds upon. All its tendencies are strengthened by exercise.
“Man is what he really wills. His whole being is nothing else but the ultimate product of a will acting in him,— not imaginary will, but of the real will, which is one and divine.”
Learn to look within for all help. In our moments of greatest anguish no one can help us. Then we realize that we must stand alone with God,— realize the divinity within ourselves, and rise to our highest conception of truth. Listen to the “still, small voice,” and be guided by it, letting love pervade all we think and do. Let us live to our best every moment. Let us concentrate upon harmonious thoughts.
FAITH
According to your faith be it unto you.— Bible.
What is faith? We begin with a belief that means uncertainty. Faith is the outcome of this condition after the uncertainty has become a truth to us. Then we have confidence in it: it is a reality to us.
There are many kinds or, rather, qualities of faith. One of the dearest kinds of faith is what we call friendship. It begins with attraction for one another, becomes congenial in many ways, and at last there comes that perfect understanding between the two concerned which results in entire faith in each other. When this faith is established, there is never any doubt. We cannot have faith and doubt at the same time. Neither can we have faith, and hope for better things. With faith we know. There is never any questioning in our mind.
Then “according to our faith.” That implies that we can have little or great faith. We can have faith; but it may not go very far,— not extend over much ground.
So I can bring to myself, “according” to the amount of faith I possess, either small or great benefits.
In metaphysical studies we do not need faith in the healer or the teachings. The teaching may be illogical and unsatisfactory. The healer may be uneducated and even narrow in his views of spiritual things.
Herbert Spencer says “that we are in the presence of an Infinite and Eternal Energy, from which all things proceed.” Call this God, Mind, or Law; we must have faith in it. Settle with ourselves, once for all, whether we are living in chaos or whether there is an Intelligence back of all. If we believe in God, Mind, or Law, we can cultivate that belief until it becomes faith, just as we cultivate it in friendship by having confidence in it, trusting it (without a doubt). This is the true healing.
Jesus Christ said, “Thy faith hath made thee whole.” Every case cited that he cured came to him with faith.
Having reached this point in evolution, and, looking back, being satisfied that all our experiences were for our good, and have developed us in spite of our unwillingness at times to appreciate the lessons, can we not say truly, “All is good”?
Who of us would take away one lesson from what we have had, saying, “I did not need that “? Who would change places with another, wishing he could have the other’s lessons instead of his own?
“Every back is fitted to its burden,” it is said. I would put it that every mind knows the experiences needed for its development, hence our desire not to exchange our lessons with another. Let us “quit other leadings, and listen to the soul.” It has guided us to this point: may we not trust it? Can we have doubts of the future, when we acknowledge that the past is what we needed?
Let us cultivate faith,— faith in God, Mind, or Law, whichever name means the most to you. We cannot have too much faith.
There is no fear, no doubt, in faith.
NOW
Now is the accepted time.— Bible.
We who have been educated in the churches were taught that our trials were to come in this life, but in the future we should find peace and happiness. Teachers have said, “Now is the accepted time,” when urging us to come to Christ and join the church. We will take the quotation in a larger and more general way, and see if it is not helpful.
It is the eternal now. There is no past, and there is no future. We are in eternity now. There is no reason why we should postpone anything. We make our own limitations. We say at such a time — in so many weeks — I will be well. During such a time, somewhere in the future, I will be happy. When I have accomplished all I have to do, I will rest. When I gain such an object, I will be satisfied. Always putting our best conditions somewhere in the future. We can be well now. We can be happy now. We can be restful and tranquil now.
The future is not ours: the present, the now, is.
“Take no thought for the morrow,” ” what ye shall eat,” “what ye shall drink,” ” wherewithal ye shall be clothed.” “Give no heed to what ye shall say, for it will be given you in that same hour.”—Bible.
In our present state of civilization we would say no anxious thought about eating, drinking, or clothing: these pertain to the external. But give no heed to what you shall say. All anxiety must be left out in this case also. If we have a right purpose, we shall always “be given” what is right “for that same hour.” It will fairly talk itself if we remove all obstructions; and this we do by knowing, without a doubt, that ” it will be given” us. Never plan as to what you will say about spiritual things. Never try to convert people to your way of thinking. Simply let the spiritual truth flow through you, let talk, and be sure each one who hears will accept that which is needful to him. We must allow absolute freedom to all, and also claim it for ourselves. No one can hinder our spiritual awakenment; for what seems at times to be a hindrance is really a benefit, and impels us to higher thinking, and, as a result, right living.
This is the sum and substance of this science, that we have all things now. We do not have to wait until sometime in the future. Then why do we not all express satisfactory conditions? You ask. It is because we travel by a circuitous road, because we refuse them to ourselves by making numerous limitations. Remove all limitations. Realize your freedom. God is ever present in the now, and meets all our desires. Short views are necessary on the material plane. Extended vision belongs to the spiritual.
Happy the man, and happy he alone,
He who can call to-day his own;
He who secure within himself can say
Tomorrow, do thy worst; for I have lived to-day.
Live in the Now.
ASSIMILATION
A man who desires to live must eat his food himself, — this is the simple law of nature, which applies also to the higher life. A man who would live and act in it cannot be fed like a babe with a spoon. He must eat for himself.— Light on the Path.
We all know that we cannot eat for another. We would consider it very foolish if some friend should ask us to do it. We would realize at once that, if we ate the food, it would nourish us, and not nourish him. We would call the man unbalanced or an imbecile to expect it of us. However, when it comes to spiritual things, this is just about what some people attempt. They insist that they are very much interested in metaphysics, that they desire very much to live this “higher life,” so called; but, really, they have so much to do, it is simply impossible to get time to think about these things. “Now you who have studied and thought, tell me all about it,” “fill me up”; as one lady said to me, “I am quite willing.” In other words, I am to do her eating of spiritual food; and then, strange to say, she expects the nourishment.
It is impossible, as you see at once. We must feed ourselves, and not “be fed like a babe with a spoon.” The truth is that faith is an enormous power, which, in fact, can accomplish all things. For it is the covenant or engagement between man’s divine part and his lesser self.— Light on the Path.
I wonder how many really believe this. It is a tremendous statement: it almost staggers us. Some people pride themselves on a lack of faith: some pride themselves on their amount of faith. The former think it indicates a narrow, unthinking mind, and that faith is a blind trust in something intangible; that a practical, reasoning person, with “horse sense,” knows too much to have faith. Faith is not a blind trusting.
“Faith is an enormous power, which can accomplish all things. For it is the covenant or engagement between man’s divine part and his lesser self.” How do we know this? What is it that teaches us anything? We say our minds. Is it? Our minds make the suggestion, then the other element, faith, comes in; and we have accomplished what mind suggested. Then it is faith that accomplishes all things, is it not? In learning to walk, in learning to eat, in singing, in business, in everything we do, faith, a willingness to make the effort, does the work. And, the more faith, the more are we satisfied with the result; for “according to thy faith be it unto thee.” Faith is necessary in every undertaking in life. We are so accustomed to having faith along certain lines that we never question it,— in fact, do not think about it; for it has become a part of us. But, when we think of gaining health, happiness, or prosperity by faith, that seems a great undertaking and quite marvelous, simply because we have not been accustomed to think of faith in this connection. It is along newer lines. We are growing to the point where it will seem quite as natural.
We cannot have too much faith. Cultivate faith,— faith in every direction.
“With faith all things are possible.”
LOVE
Love is the fulfilling of the law.—Bible.
Law is rule of action or motion. We always think of harmony in connection with law. It is a something that brings order out of chaos. Now what is our highest ideal of law? First, it must be for “good”; second, unchangeable; and, third, it must include all,— must be universal.
What is love? Love cannot really be defined, for it is universal; and to define limits. But we can give our highest ideal of love.
Love seeketh not its own, love is kind, love thinketh no evil, knows nothing of jealousy or resentment. Love casteth out all fear and anxiety. Love heals. Are we living in love, which is the fulfilling of the law? Are we not selfish,— seeking our own? And sometimes the selfishness is so subtle that we do not dream that we are selfish. We disguise it under the name of love. We try to limit the lives of those who are dear to us by expecting them to do as we think best, because we love (?) them.
If we believe in an old-fashioned religion, we say it is good enough for us, and therefore is good enough for them, never stopping to think that no two minds are in the same stage of development, and that what is food for one is absolute shavings for another. We call this love. Then we tell these dear ones that they must not think ahead of us, for it makes separations in families; and just to be contented, and think as we do. And we never realize that this is selfishness. We call it love.
Love is kind. We all know how to be kind. Love knows nothing of jealousy or resentment. Jealousy is the fear of losing some good which another may obtain.
We cannot lose anything. If we do not get what we want, it is because we have not grown to it. We only get that which is a result of past thinking, and sometimes we want better things than we have thought. Some say, “I do not believe in temper, but I do believe in a righteous indignation.”
It is an impossibility to be righteously indignant. For you cannot be both righteous and indignant at the same time. Love thinketh no evil. We will speak of evil in a broader sense as ignorance. We all know what it is to think evil of any one in the old way of teaching; but in the new, the metaphysical way, we cannot think of our friends, or of any with whom we come in contact, as being weak, sick, unhappy, dissatisfied, not capable of spiritual development. All these thoughts are “thinking evil” of another. “Love casteth out all fear.” We all live in fear,— fear of what may happen. Now nothing ever “happens.” There is the universal law of love back of all. Then cultivate love,— grow in love.
My brother ought not to have treated me so. Very true; but he must see to that. However he treats me, I am to act rightly with regard to him; for the one is my own concern, the other is not.—Epictetus.
We sometimes feel justified in speaking our mind. There is nothing — no circumstance — that justifies temper or resentment. Such a mental condition simply reacts upon ourselves. You can gauge a person’s spiritual awakenment by the way he receives an insult.
Let our minds always be filled with love for all. Then we shall radiate love, and our presence will make harmony. No matter who has done wrong, that is not our concern: we are to attend to our own flower-beds; and, if we keep them free from weeds, we shall have plenty to do, and need not look over the fence into our neighbors’ gardens to remark upon their weeds.
Then let us love. Do not be afraid of loving too much.
“Love is the fulfilling of the law.”
FEARLESSNESS
I will fear no evil.— David.
In metaphysics we do not recognize evil as a reality. We think of evil as ignorance; for we believe only in one power, which is God, or Good. Then evil to our minds is the different conditions of development through which we pass, and the evil is as necessary to our development as what we call good. Every round in the ladder of evolution is important, and cannot be skipped in our upward climb. We all have times when we fall down a step, or maybe it seems as if we had gone to the very bottom of our ladder. We must not be discouraged or condemn ourselves, but begin to mount again. I think one of our stumbling-blocks is our desire to grow. Let us grow as the flowers grow, unconsciously, without thought of development. I have been asked to account for evil. Why did it come into our lives? I will make a suggestion which may appeal to you. The old idea of the “fall of man” is not satisfactory to us in the old interpretation; for what is considered retrogression by the orthodox I consider a rising step in our ladder of evolution. The suggestion is this: we work unconsciously, getting lessons through various experiences, until we reach a place where we come into a consciousness that we are thinking and responsible beings. Some of us have come very lately into the consciousness that we, and we alone, are entirely responsible, and require no mediator. Now we have reached a point of intelligence where we know right from wrong through our reasoning faculties. This is the point in evolution where egotism comes in and blinds us. We begin to fill our consciousness with error, we cover our spiritual / am with our little, egotistical 7, and make for ourselves years — yes, ages,— of inharmony, until, through experience after experience, we at last come to a faint realizing sense of the spiritual self, the / am, the God-part of man. The animal creation, lower than man, is working without a consciousness of the I am. But it is in the process of evolution, and will come in time to a consciousness of the God-part, as we have done. Evil comes in at the point in transition where we step from the unconscious to the conscious, reasoning state.
It is the point where we realize (without reasoning, perhaps) our individuality for the first time. Then egotism or ignorance begins to rule until we come into a consciousness of the I am, or God-part. A child takes the reins as he sits on his father’s knee, and thinks he drives; but the father’s hands are back of the childish ones, and really do the guiding. So with us. The little 7 thinks it governs; but back of it is the / am, which guides and leads us until we recognize it, and rejoice in having found it.
For within you is the light of the world. If you are unable to perceive it within you, it is useless to look for it elsewhere. It is beyond you, because, when you reach it, you have lost yourself. It is unattainable, because it forever recedes. You will enter the light, but you will never touch the flame.— Light on the Path.
This light is the I am: the flame is God.
SELF-KNOWLEDGE
By attaining a knowledge of his subjective self, man becomes superior to selfishness, to environment, to the world, to everything external. Fear is changed to courage, calm and peace take the place of anxiety, and slavery to the senses no longer forms his yoke. He also knows that whatever comes to each soul that soul needs.— George MacDonald.
This quotation is truly metaphysical. The one thought in metaphysics is to forget the external and to become conscious of the within, to give up living in the objective and to develop, grow into a consciousness of the subjective, the real self. In order to know whether a thing is true, we must prove it. We are told that we shall accomplish certain results if we follow out a given line of thought. To wonder if it is true and to wish we could “get there” is of no benefit whatever. But we begin by trying in some simple way,— the learning to forget externals and to understand the subjective. We turn our thought to the real self; and in contemplation of that and God or law — for they cannot be separated — we are lost in the greatness of it all; and the external seems very small and of little importance when we return to it. We find, as we cultivate this study of the within, that we grow more unselfish, courageous, loving, and peaceful. Our various anxieties and annoyances fail to trouble us, and even grow less frequent. We are no longer slaves to the senses. We learn to fit ourselves into the Universal instead of feeling that we are apart from it. We become conscious of a freer and fuller expression of ourselves, our real selves.
Every attainment is a normal growth, and forms one of the links in an endless chain. We find that we are free to choose, to make our life. Freedom does not belong to any locality. It is in mind.
“Whatever comes to each soul, that soul needs.”
Of this we become perfectly sure, as we develop this soul-consciousness. Each soul needs: then we cannot desire to shirk any of our lessons. All are needed for this endless growth.
In endeavoring to do our best, we must not get discouraged at our failures. We all have times when it is hard to rise above our difficulties. But we are told to “be not weary in well doing,” not to give up, to try and try again, knowing that in “due season” we shall reap, if we faint not. We shall reap just that which we have sown,— no better and no worse. I have observed that we sometimes sow rather inferior seed, and then are surprised at the crop which we reap. If you do not like the harvest, you created it; and you can create another and a better. But never for a moment think that you can give way to selfishness, fear, anger, or disappointment, and bring forth harmonies that would result from unselfishness, courage, and love. It cannot be done. You will surely reap that which you have sown.
GOD
I hear and behold God in every object, yet understand God not in the least. Nor do I understand who there can be more wonderful than myself.— Walt Whitman.
As long as we are willing to take the ideas of another in regard to God, without giving the matter any special thought, we cannot become conscious of God. It is when we begin to think for ourselves that we realize what a large subject it is. And, the more we think, the more apparent it becomes that even thinking about God is unlimited. What is God to us? We say, The life back of all things. We look at the flowers, the varied colors and odors and shapes. We watch the different animals, birds, and insects. We look at shells and pebbles, so wonderful in shape and coloring. Every man, woman, and child alike, and yet so different. All these represent God expressed. It is the God-power that holds all things together. As we behold and hear God in all things, we become one with all. We are coming into a realization of the nearness of God more and more; but how much do we understand God? I think we do not understand God in the least, only as we understand ourselves; for an understanding of self gives us an understanding of others, and then our understanding of God. Do we understand ourselves, even our personal self, not taking into consideration at all our divine part,— the personal with its moods and whims confronting us some days with startling revelations that we never dreamed of possessing? Realization comes as a result of thought, now that we are conscious, thinking beings. Thoughts of ignorance assail us on every side. We are interested even to see how quickly our mind works, and sends us ideas of selfishness, all kinds of selfishness, when we simply give it the keynote. We can become a devil in reality, with all the cunning and scheming of one. Then let us turn instantly to the thought of ourselves as soul.
Let us strike the key-note of the true self, and immediately thoughts of unselfishness, love, joy, high ideals, grand aspirations, flood our minds; and we become truly children of God. How came this sudden transition? Was it a miracle? All things are miracles until we understand them. To learn to think, to learn to control our thinking, to think only those things that are profitable to us, to get control of this thought force,— truly, who is more wonderful than ourselves?
And I say to any man or woman, Let your soul stand cool and composed before a million universes.— Walt Whitman.
Now the wrong thinking has been in thinking of ourselves as inferior beings,— “worms of the dust,” not competent to work out our own salvation,— a poor, limited creature at the mercy of a God. This is decidedly bad thinking. It cripples us at once. If soul is the real and everlasting part of us, it certainly governs, no matter what we may think or say to the contrary. Then let us begin by thinking that it does, and see if the results are good. As I realize the soul-part, I stand erect and hold my head up, I walk with firmness, I have a feeling of strength up and down my spine. I say to myself: “I am unlimited. Nothing can hoop me in. I have always been, and shall always be.” I am here to find out about myself. I am an interesting study to myself. This is worth living for. I have an object in life. I find the getting out of the personal into the spiritual the very best thing I have ever tried. But don’t get anxious about it,— this awakening process. Just live gladly, joyously, lovingly, and unfold as the flowers. Let us stand “cool and composed.” How can we do anything else, when we know that soul governs?
HEALING
The same heard Paul speak: who steadfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed, said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.— Bible.
Paul and Barnabas had come to Lystra, and were preaching. There they saw this crippled man who had never walked. But Paul saw that he was ready to be healed; and so he gave the command, “Stand upright on thy feet.” And the man at once “leaped and walked.” People come to me to be healed. They want to know if I can guarantee a cure, and how long a time will it take. I used to think that the larger responsibility rested with the healer, but now I believe that it rests with the person who is to be healed; for it is the spiritual unfoldment of the patient that results in the cure. The cure is not first effected, and then the spiritual unfoldment. It is hard when suffering pain in body to feel that you must turn your mind to spiritual things, but such is the case; for in that way only can come your relief. It is not to be eased of pain that must be your aim, but to find your spiritual centre,— to awaken spiritually,— that you come to be helped. We may not understand this at first, as our only desire is to be free from pain. But we soon realize that the pain has only been a means to push us into higher living, and that, as we recognize it as such, and begin to live this higher life, the pain disappears; for its mission is ended. There oftentimes is a long interval between our first realizing that our way of living is to be changed before the pain and suffering leave us. The only reason for this is that we do not live as well as we know how. We do not meet every detail and circumstance in our daily living with the spiritual attitude of mind that we know is necessary to bring harmony into our bodies and surroundings. We desire the harmonious results, but it requires a constant watching of ourselves to see that we do as we should. It is so much easier to keep in the old ruts than to make a new road. Of what use are lessons and books and treatments, if we still indulge ourselves in indolence of purpose? When I say to a patient: “A course of lessons will benefit you. It will make things clear to you,” you take a course. You are interested, inspired by a larger understanding of this truth, and on leaving the class feel that you truly can overcome all things, that all things are possible. Then comes some test in the way of a new experience, or maybe an old one that you thought had been overcome. How do you meet it,— gladly, joyously, knowing that you can overcome it, that, if at first you do not succeed, you can “try, try again” or do you come to me, and say, “Oh, dear, I thought these lessons were to be a great help to me, and now why do I have this come to me?” Why study the rules for your examples in arithmetic, if you are never to have any examples to do?
Nothing can work me damage except myself. The harm that I sustain I carry about with me, and am never a real sufferer but by my own fault.— Saint Bernard.
I believe this to be a truth. All unhappiness, all suffering, is my own fault. “I carry about with me ” all the harm I can have come to me. Then, if this is true, I also can have no good that is not within myself. I must carry about with me all joy, all happiness, all love, all good. Then all cure, all overcoming, is mine to do.
All that a teacher and healer can do is to give me the key-note. If I am studying to cultivate my voice, I strike a key that is in tune, and then try to make my voice take the same pitch. It is the same thing in learning metaphysics. We must have the key-note of truth to start with, and then our effort to reproduce it must be made. After a while the effort grows less and less ; and finally it will cease, as we become more and more spiritually awakened. Do not look outside of yourself for help or hindrance. Aim to give rather than to get, for you can be grasping in your desire for even spiritual things. Cultivate faith in yourselves, — faith in your soul. That which has revealed itself to you a little will reveal itself still more. It does no good to get discouraged, for the problem must be worked out. If you fall down in climbing a mountain, you do not lie there, regretting that you have fallen down. We all have mountains to climb; but let us rejoice that we have really begun to climb, and are not still in the valley. With our staff of perseverance, we can climb to any height. Let us not start out in a spirit of emotional expectation, and soon find ourselves “winded” and disheartened; but let us begin quietly, with confidence, and steadily pursue our upward way over stubble and stones, rocks and rivers, fallen trees and tender ferns. We find ourselves surely rising higher and higher, our horizon being entirely shut in at one time and at another, a wide and glorious expanse showing us a glimpse of what the top will mean when we have reached it.
We are aiming for our birthright,— freedom. We have a right to it, for it has been ours from eternity. It is ours now, if we will it to be.
THE HIGHER LIFE
Every man is a divinity in disguise,— a god playing the fool.— Emerson.
If we stop and think for a moment of our own actions for one day, we shall see that we all of us play the fool. Not one day passes without our doing so. I wish that each of us on rising in the morning would resolve that he would remove all limitations in thought and action for just one day. Be perfectly fearless just for one day. Be perfectly tranquil just for one day. Be perfectly loving just for one day. Be a god just for one day.
We know better than we do. We do not yet possess ourselves.— Emerson.
How true this is! We get glimmers of our real selves occasionally. We realize for a moment that “all things are possible ” to us. We feel large, as if we had expanded. The complaints and discouragements of our friends seem trivial. Our own disagreeable conditions are as nothing to us. We feel that we can never again fall to that plain where we shall be troubled. But we do. Why? Because ” we do not possess ourselves,” but are possessed by a thought of self, which shows us all life from a wrong standpoint.
If a man have found his centre, the Deity will shine through him,— through all the disguises of ignorance, of ungenial temperament, of unfavorable circumstance.— Emerson.
Can we not always tell when a person has found his spiritual centre? There is a tranquility, a repose, a breeziness about him. You feel that the air he breathes is more invigorating than the atmosphere in which most people live,— dense and compact. There is a certain unlimited air about him,— an air of the open plains or mountain tops, an exhilaration which lifts you up and out of all your difficulties, and makes you know that you yourself are superior to and master of all conditions that heretofore seemed to master you. The “Deity” will ” shine through ” each one of us, if we will let it have its way. Do not be afraid to trust that higher nature which is leading you on. We cannot trust too much. We gain absolutely nothing until we do trust. It is pathetic, in a way, to see people who are really afraid to let go of the old self and trust the inner leading of the soul. They still cling to the intellect and externals, fearing the intuition and the inner life, really fearing the God within as if it were the devil. Faith develops: doubt kills.
MISUNDERSTANDING
And no man understands any greatness or goodness but his own, or the indication of his own. — Walt Whitman.
If this be true, then no man understands any wickedness or evil-doing but his own. I wish to make a distinction between understanding and seeing, or observing a thing to be. In one sense we do not see only that that we understand, but in another sense we do see many things that we do not understand. For instance, I may see an electric machine of some kind; but I do not understand it in the least. How should I reach a point of understanding? By growing, developing a knowledge of electricity, and then studying the machine, and then making the combination. I should at this point understand that particular electrical machine. Then should I understand all electrical apparatus or machines? No; but, understanding the law of electricity, I should have a foundation for understanding all.
When it comes to making the personal application, applying to daily living, what does this illustration teach us? We are quick in our judgment of people: we feel that we understand them and their motives. Is it true? Do we understand them? We know something about life from different experiences, for we can only learn by experience. Has our experience been large enough and broad enough to justify ourselves in the thought that we know what ought to be done, or why certain people should see things from our point of view? Do we not know people who are always wondering what the motive is, when a person does a kindness or is in any way great? Did they not have some “axe to grind”? Never for a moment believing that the greatness was the result of spiritual development, and therefore unconscious to the doer, as being anything but the most natural thing to do. What we call natural, you see, depends upon our own awakenment. We cannot create harmony by severe criticisms; for, if we are each trying to live according to our light, we must be considerate of one another’s opinions or judgments.
How are we to bring harmony into our family relations? This old new thought breaks up the old idea of family relations, for each expects more freedom in action than formerly. The children are allowed to follow their own inclinations in regard to study and the life-work, the wife is more of a companion to her husband than a mere echo of his ideas. This is a dangerous period to all concerned. How live this new and individual life without making unpleasant disturbances and creating a feeling that your interest in the welfare of all is still unchanged? The old idea of family life had some strong points as well as weak ones; and, in our effort to give to all a larger freedom, we must not go to the other extreme. This matter of adjustment must be patiently dealt with, and always the motive must be to give the largest freedom where it will be to the greatest good. To be brave enough, to have the moral courage to do what we think is right for us, and therefore necessary for our development, requires more effort than to quietly submit to the decision of another. As I look back upon my small past in this incarnation, I smile as I recall the little steps I have taken to gain my individual way of living, when at the time they seemed tremendously large, and I was very fearful lest I had made a “straddle” of my step. But all decisions must be made unselfishly and with a larger thought in mind than the mere present situation. Know why you are to take a step, be sure according to your highest motive that it is wise, and then step firmly. Never attempt a move when undecided: it is fatal. Quiet the personal man, listen to the inner consciousness, wait until you hear clearly, then act And then you may be misunderstood? Quite likely; but, as Emerson says: —
Misunderstood! It is a right fool’s word. Is it so bad then to be misunderstood?
THE PERSONAL SELF
I will not make a poem nor the least part of a poem but
has reference to the soul; Because having look’d at the objects of the universe, I
find there is no one nor any particle of one but has
reference to the soul.
Walt Whitman.
I Find, as I think over the needs of those coming to my lessons, that a knowledge, a realization, of the real man, is the key that will unlock all of their difficulties. Is it not, as the quotation says, there is not an object of the universe nor any particle of one but has reference to the soul? In everything we study or search for earnestly, it is the essence we seek, the life, or, in other words, the soul, that interests us. We are not as much interested in the external as we think. It is a very superficial mind that is satisfied with the exterior of things. If we think at all, really think, our thought always carries us beyond the object in view.
For example, we pick a common blade of grass. We look at it, we see year after year grass. Yet, when we hold this one blade of grass in our hand, our mind tells us that there are no two blades of grass exactly alike. This one thought takes us into the universal; and we realize the multiplicity of form in just one instance, and wonder at the life, the essence, the soul, of things. We watch birds build their nests, bees gather their honey, animals care for their young, mothers with their children, rocks crumble, rivers running to the sea, crystals forming, shells on the beach. All things of nature, if we are living earnestly, teach us of the soul,— teach us what is meant by life, the cause of all. Whitman is right, ” nor any particle . . . but has reference to the soul.”
“To be servile to none, to defer to none, not to any tyrant known or unknown.”
Now I want to speak about the tyrant, one of whom we all stand in fear. This is none other than our personal self. Is there anything or anybody of whom we stand more in fear? We have talked about fear of God in the past, but it was nothing compared to fear of self. In spite of study in metaphysics, new theories concerning life, we still quake in our boots if this personal self tells us that the air is too damp, or the food indigestible, or the nerves are weak, or that we are overdoing, or that our ” stars ” are out of order. We listen to all this rubbish, and say: Yes, yes, I must be mindful of all these things. I have not yet outgrown them. And we keep right on living down to these fears, each day hoping that we shall overcome them. Did you ever know of a man learning to swim who persisted in wading ? I am surprised that we will allow ourselves to be so hypnotized by the personal self. We talk of the war of thirty-five years ago to free the slaves. Can we not get up another ” rebellion,” and free ourselves ? Do you know of a greater tyrant than the personal self? Do you heed any warning or suggestion as quickly as the ones given by self? Someone has said that this is an ideal age. The age of reprimand and reproof is passed. We have scolded ourselves and our children, have said over and over again what we ought not to do. It is discouraging when we think of results sometimes. Now let us take for an illustration the sculptor. He has in mind a beautiful thought to express through marble. He begins to search for his model,— a model that will help him to express his ideal. He does not wish a deformed or unsightly model. He could never realize the perfect by keeping in mind imperfection. No, he desires above all as perfect a model as it is possible to get. If he cannot find one, he will prefer to work from a perfect thought in mind, held constantly, rather than use imperfection in the external. Let us begin to help ourselves out of this slavery to the personal self by keeping constantly in mind the perfect self, the soul part. Then let us live consciously as soul. When we begin our day, let us think of our ideal. When perplexities come, and annoyances, keep the ideal in mind, and pay no attention to the calls and demands of the personal self. Do you think soul is dominated by dampness, or indigestion, or nerves, or weariness? It is unthinkable. Why? Because we cannot think of God as being disturbed by these conditions. Then soul is the God-part of us ; and, as we realize this more and more, so do we rise above all limitations of the body. For there is no limitation to soul.
O to realize space!
The plenteousness of all, that there are no bounds, To emerge and be of the sky, of the sun and moon and flying clouds, as one with them.
Walt Whitman.
INDEPENDENCE AND DECISION
You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me. You shall listen to all sides, and filter them from yourself.— Walt Whitman.
My first object in these Wednesday lessons is to make you think for yourselves. I am simply suggestive. You come to get your key-note for the week. I expect each one to think out much farther on various lines,— to let his mind carry him into his own domain. We have varied interests and experiences, and one cannot do another’s thinking with any profit or benefit to that other. All that we can be to another is simply suggestive. We are very apt to lean on another, if we can. It is so much easier to do as another thinks best; and then, if we are not satisfied, we can blame the other. This is a great relief to some minds. They insist that you know much better than they do, and if you will only advise; and then, if things go wrong, they inform you at once that they felt all the time that they would,— in fact, that they knew much better than you in the first place.
Now let us learn to do our own thinking in the little things in life, and then we shall be fitted for the larger responsibilities. It really is a habit with some to always ask of another what they had best do. It is an indolent state of mind. Do not look through the eyes of another,— “listen,” but “filter” all things from yourself. As you train the reasoning faculty, it gives you greater confidence in yourself. It is the beginning of concentration to gather these thoughts that flit from one subject to another without any serious purpose. It is aiming for an intellectual centre. This, however, is only a stepping-stone; for the real destination or purpose is to gain our spiritual centre. But most of us come to that through the intellectual. We do not develop by the mental activity of another, any more than we are nourished by seeing another eat a good dinner.
The day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision. Bible.
I wish to talk about the disease of indecision. I think very few realize how much they live in the mental atmosphere of indecision. We will begin with those who, at last, think they will try metaphysics, and see what mind can do for them. They go to a professional healer; and their first exclamation is, ” I don’t know whether ‘this* can help me, but I think I’ll try it.” They try it, and are much better. They read some on these lines, take a course or two of lessons, and steadily gain for a while. Then they come to a point where they seem to stand still. They wonder if they ever will be well and happy. They have tried so faithfully, yet have come to this halting place.
Let us take for an illustration a man who starts on a pedestrian trip, his destination being the top of a certain mountain. He can travel several roads in reaching the foot of the mountain, and, even after he begins to climb a little, can vary his path. But soon he gets to a point where he must either keep to the narrow trail or be lost. If he appreciates mountain travel and realizes his danger, he will decide instantly to keep to the trail, and never diverge from it. He will never wander to one side or the other, seeking for flowers, or be allured by some sparkling bit of tenderfoot gold. He will keep steadily on and on, always having in mind the top of the mountain. Now let us return to the patient, and apply this to him. He has come to the place where he must decide,— decide finally, forever, that his whole purpose is to gain spiritual unfoldment. Is he to wander to one side or the other, seeking causes in externals, the victim of his indecision? Indecision is doubt. Have we any place for doubt when living in the spiritual side of our nature? Our text tells us ” in the valley of decision.” You see that we are to decide in the valley, and not after we have started up the mountain. Decide when in your aches, pains, and unhappiness, and not think that, when you have overcome them, then you will be happy and well. You must decide in spite of all inharmony, and then stay decided. Never think for a moment that you could possibly change your mind. “The day of the Lord” — which is the beginning of harmony within ourselves — ” is near, the valley of decision.” And is it not so? As soon as we really decide once for all to give up the personal self, when we do not reserve in the slightest degree our privilege to be selfish, then are we filled with a realization of our spiritual power; and, no matter what comes, there is never any indecision in our minds. We have decided: we have made our choice. We are free to live in either a limited condition, like a bird with its wings clipped, or we can live in the unlimited reality, knowing that all power is ours, and that it is within as well as without. And as we make this atmosphere for ourselves, which comes as a result of decision, we find that we are becoming more and more conscious every day that we are not finite, but are infinite in the truest sense.
BEING AND DOING
The world is my country, and to do good is my religion.— Thomas Paine.
Fifty years ago this was considered a very unusual statement, and even to-day it is thought to be a broad one. But it has its limitations, and we can make a larger statement; that is, the universe is my country, and to be good, or God-like, is my religion.
This is a true statement, and is unlimited. By religion we mean the life we live. We cannot talk about religion as a thing to get, but we must live it every hour. “By their fruits ye shall know them.” It is “being, and not seeming”; and the doing is the result of the being. We have said, If we do, then we will be; but it is just the reverse. We are; and so, as a result, we do. Some of us think about this world ; some think about the next; some think about their own families; and some think of nothing but themselves,— that is, their bodies.
These different lines of thinking are all very limited, as you readily see. Let us think of this world and the next as one. Let us know that we have no family of our own, but are all one family. Let us know that our bodies are not ourselves, but that it takes souls with bodies to constitute what we call ourselves. Let us get into the Universal. Let us take down our fences. Let us recognize that the universe is ours to explore and to understand. Do not be afraid of the immensity of it. Realize the freedom we derive from such thinking; and, as a result must follow the cause, we thus gain perfect freedom.
Do not spill thy soul. Do not descend. Keep thy state. Stay at home in thine own heaven.— Emerson.
When we take up the thought of the Universal, we must also take up the thought of Individuality. We are not now speaking of personality; that we drop as we come into our true relation to the Universal, for it is always the selfishness of our consciousness.
Individuality belongs to soul and is never lost or destroyed. That is the Divinity within. ” Do not descend” ; that is, do not come down into the personal. “Keep thy state”; that is, thy Godlike existence. ” Stay at home in thine own heaven”; that is, do not expect to find happiness or harmony, which is heaven, without, but “stay at home,” stay within. Where are we,— wandering without, dissatisfied and discontented, or are we at home in our own heaven?
The road to perfect joy, peace, and love can be pointed out; but it remains for each one to walk therein. No one can walk for another. Let us find ourselves in the Universal by realizing our Individuality.
THE PERSONAL AND THE DIVINE
Certainly, men shall be reduced to quietness by some way or another, so that they can hear in them the sound of gentle silence that is emitted from their heavenly being.— Burnell.
We all know that, if there is a loud noise outside, it is very difficult to hear sweet music in the same room with ourselves. In order to hear the sweet music so near at hand, we must still the tumult outside. Then we hear without effort. This is a good illustration of the personal self and the divine part,— to still this personal self so that we can hear the voice of the spiritual, or divine, part. Now I observe that pupils and patients in metaphysics do not still the outside, or personal self, but to a small degree. They gain control over the personal only to the extent of hearing the sweet music — or inner voice — once in a while. When they have heard it once or twice, they think it has come to stay. They keep on living, first in the personal, where they spend most of their waking hours. Then a little thought is given occasionally to the soul, or God-part. They listen for the inner voice, and wonder that they cannot hear it. Then they become dissatisfied. They say they have been in these teachings ” so long,” yet only seem to get just ” so far.” They begin to make more noise in the outside, in the personal, by recounting their ills, going over all the details of their difficulties, and saying that it has been years since they first came upon them. They raise a greater and greater tumult outside, as if this would enable them to hear the sweet music near at hand. Do you not see that it is impossible in this way?
We must be “reduced to quietness.” That is the first thing to accomplish. I like that expression, “reduced to quietness”: it means very much. Some of us are reduced to the lowest point before we will yield. The tenacity of the personal is something wonderful; but it is a perverted force, which, when directed rightly, becomes the glorious faith which can accomplish all things.
Let go unnourished all that is of a merely human source, and build up in you the heavenly gift.— Burnell.
Let us suppose for our illustration a large quantity of stones lying all about us as far as the eye can see. We are told that, as we think, we will pile our stones into two heaps. This is the beginning of reasoning consciousness. We think thoughts of self,— self-improvement, attaining for self, growth of self. One heap of stones is rising very high. We find that we are carrying all our stones to this pile. Then we resolve to begin to build the other pile. We think about the real of self, the soul. We place as a result a beautiful stone in our new pile. Then we go back to the personal self, and another stone is added to the first pile. Can we reduce this heap of stones entirely by spasmodic effort once in a while? Have you got my meaning? Do you not see that, unless you absolutely shut out the personal, you gain almost nothing in the spiritual? We have been told that we cannot “serve two masters.” Can we? Just so long as we cater to the personal in the slightest way, just so long do we keep ourselves shut out from the spiritual, just so long are we filled with our aches and pains and unhappiness? We say we do want to be well and happy, that we do desire to awaken spiritually. But we do not.
We want to be selfish, way down underneath. We have spasms in which we determine to overcome, once for all. Then we begin to doubt if we can overcome, as we see that some have done. Doubt is self-indulgence,— nothing else. It gives you a little more time before really taking your stand. Don’t deceive yourself. You do not really wish to do any better, as long as you doubt if you can.
No one can acquire for another — not one.
No one can grow for another,— not one.
Walt Whitman.
TRUE RELATIONS
And I will show that there is no imperfection in the present, and can be none in the future.
And I will show that whatever happens to anybody, it may be turned to beautiful results.
Walt Whitman.
When we have experienced a thing, when we have found a truth, we can give it to another in a more convincing way than if we are only theorizing about it. For we not only give a truth in telling it to another, but the force of the experience is felt as well. When we sit quietly and think about it, is there any imperfection in the present? Then there can be none in the future. I think of a kaleidoscope as I write. I can remember when a child that I possessed one. It was very interesting to me to look into it; and, as I turned it slowly in my hand, keeping my eye at the small opening, the pieces of colored glass fell into such beautiful relations to each other. Never were they twice alike in their arrangement. The deep rich colors of the glass, crimson, purple, yellow, green, blue, white, and all the various shades, the pieces of glass, all different in size and shape, yet, when slowly turned, they fell into such beautiful pictures.
Then I would look at the large end of the kaleidoscope, and all was changed. There were no beautiful pictures at that end. The pieces of glass did not even look pretty. I remember removing them, and being very much disappointed. Looking from the right standpoint, all our experiences blend into one another, making a beautiful whole. Taken separately, from the wrong standpoint, all is meaningless, as are the small pieces of glass, and just as disappointing. I have been in great distress of mind, my difficulty has filled my horizon, when at the time I was trying to live above the personal self. All has been discouraging, distressing, when suddenly I have said to myself : Let me see this in its true relation to things. I have been looking at it alone. I have taken it, and separated it from everything. As I have thought thus, desiring only to do whatever was right, my illumination has come. Seen in its true relation, it was harmonious and perfect. Know, then, that, no matter what comes to you, it can be “turned to beautiful results.”
AFFIRMATIONS
I swear there is nothing but immortality. That the exquisite scheme is for it, and the nebulous float is for it, and the cohering is for it! And all preparation is for it, and identity is for it, and life and materials are altogether for it! — Walt Whitman.
I Wish you would read this quotation at the beginning of this lesson over several times carefully. Get out of it all that you possibly can. It contains the whole. The thought I will make most prominent in this talk is that all “preparation is for it.” A good cook first attends to the fire, so that her oven will be in readiness at the right time. She then gets her different ingredients on the table, before she begins putting things together. She has reached out on various lines, and brought in the right quantity of everything. Then she begins to mix them in their proper order. We begin consciously to prepare ourselves for a larger life. We reach out in various directions, drawing to ourselves the needed help. It must not be on one or two lines only if we wish to become rounded out and symmetrical. Do not fear but that you will find good on the different lines, if that is the thing for which you are looking. This does not mean to be carried away by every fad. Quite the contrary.
Select wisely, appropriating only that which can be of real use to you. For what is of great help to one may not be to another. And this brings me to one point of preparation which is considered helpful to us in getting a larger realization of life, in making us happy and well,— a form of affirmations. Why do we make them? We have in the past made them over and over again on the negative or personal side, and we see the result. Now we argue that affirmations made on the positive or individual side will counteract and bring a balance. This is all true; but affirmations may become mere parrot talk, simply a repetition of words that mean absolutely nothing to the person who repeats them. There are so many stilted phrases given to patients, and it is impossible for them to get any realization from them. All that an affirmation can do is to help you to get a larger, realization. After you have the realization, you do not make the affirmation any more than you would insist on affirming that you are a white man or a white woman. There is no necessity for it when you know it. Make your own affirmations, wording them so that they are a help to yourself.
I remember, after I had been treated for several months, I got up one ‘morning, and said to myself, “I am a Law unto myself.” I said it over and over again. It was a great discovery. I said: “I will extend this Law. I have lived in a limited condition long enough.” I began from that hour to live that affirmation, and I have kept right at it for seven years. Don’t think that you must have a new affirmation for every difficulty. Another affirmation that is helpful to me is, “I am a Soul.” Another: “I am not bound by any past. I am not limited by any future. I am now and forever eternally free.” Repeat your affirmations with confidence, knowing that they are a truth. Sit quietly two or three times a day for five or ten minutes; and, as you say them, try to realize all that they mean. Take one at a time, and realize and live it. You will find your fears growing less and less, and that you are controlling your body and surroundings as never before. You derive no benefit from simply affirming, without making an effort to live. True affirmation is living. Build yourself a new body, and bring to yourself harmonious conditions in this way. It can be done. Prove it to yourself.
THE UNSPOKEN WORD
I swear I see what is better than to tell the best,— It is always to leave the best untold.
Walt Whitman.
I Am writing these words to you in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. I am in my tent. A rushing, roaring stream passes just beyond. The rocks, the pines, the mountains, all inspire one to higher living. Yet beyond and behind all these is a something untold, which is the largest and best part of it all. A something that I cannot express to you,— a something that makes one quiet and hushed within himself. I feel like saying, “Be still, or we shall lose it.” Lose what? Have you never experienced it? Have there not been times when the spirit of all things put a feeling of awe in your heart? If you have not had such an experience, I cannot make you understand.
I have been thinking of the various stages of growth in consciousness. We all grow into a larger consciousness of things external and spiritual. We begin by wishing to tell all that we know; and we think that we know a great deal, and that we can explain our theories and make all clear to others. In the next stage of our development we begin to realize that we know very little. We give up explaining to others, our theories melt away, we feel that each must find out for himself, that each must have his own revelation of spiritual things. We do not feel that we are sure of “the whole scheme of salvation.” In these lessons the one effort has been to arouse you and make you do your own thinking, to inspire you to get the truth in your own way. Do not be a follower of any one. Find the individuality within yourself. Go earnestly and quietly to work to unfold the spiritual man. Do not feel that you could grow more easily under different circumstances. In our greatest anguish of mind the flowers of peace are planted.
Take in all your lines of selfishness,— some of which are irritation, resentment, and fear,— and put out only the line of love. This is the first step in growing the new man or new woman. Now don’t keep taking in this line every few days, and putting out the line of selfishness in its place. Shall we not cut off this line of selfishness, and never tie it together again? If we have something of importance to do, we must first decide that we are to do it. Could we accomplish it if we decided in favor of it, and then again decided not to do it ? Make your decision final: stand by it, though the skies fall. No matter whether or not any one appreciates the fact that you are making the one great effort of your life. No matter if others think and say that you do not live what you profess. Never mind if your failures are more apparent than your victories. Stand for what you are. Know that you cannot fail to reach your destination, although the road is rough. You are responsible to no one but yourself. The opinion of people — that bugaboo of most minds — must be buried so deep that it can never sprout again.
Live, live as a soul. And, after I have said all this, I tell you that these simple talks have been for myself as well as for you. After all the talking and the striving, I realize fully that the very best of it all has been ” to leave the best untold.”
The End