2,000 Greater & Lesser Mysteries/2,000 Greater and Lesser Mysteries.iso/philos/mys01591.txt

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From: uunet!uunet!ssi!tao!kline (Gary Kline)
Date: Thu, 2 Aug 90 21:49:21 CDT
To: [e-mail]
Subject: "As a Man Thinketh", James Allen

   Perseverance, will-power, self-esteem, courage, faith,
determination, power.

   Allen has a positive basis for his philosophical thought in that
he says law, justice, righteousness are the molding and moving forces
in the spiritual governing of the world.  When man rights himself
humanity, in turn, learns that the universe is right and in focus.
One must attain a spiritual focus to learn that as things are
viewed, in turn one is viewed by things.  The focal point of view
changes as things are viewed in one light and perspective and then
another, while simultaneously, when being viewed, the focus again
is ever changing.  All these elements, actions, interactions,
gradations flow one into and out of the other to create a
spiritual focus.


 INTRODUCTION
   This little volume (the result of meditation and experience
is not intended as an exhaustive treatise on the much-written-
upon subject of the power of thought.  It is suggestive rather
than explanatory, its object being to stimulate men and women
to the discovery and perception of the truth that--

       "They themselves are makers of themselves"

by virtue of the thoughts which they choose and encourage; that
mind is the master-weaver, both of the inner garment of
character and the outer garment of circumstance, and that, as they
may have hitherto woven in ignorance and pain they may now weave
in enlightenment and happiness.

                   James Allen

THOUGHT AND CHARACTER

   The aphorism, "As a man thinketh in his heart so is he,"
not only embraces the whole of a man's being, but is so
comprehensive as to reach out to every condition and circumstance
of his life.  A man is literally what he thinks, his character
being he complete sum of all his thoughts.
   As the plant springs from, and could not be without,
the seed, so every act of man springs from the hidden seeds
of thought, and could not have appeared without them.  This
applies equally to those acts called "spontaneous" and
"unpremeditated" as to those which are deliberately executed.
   Act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering
are its fruit; thus does a man garner in the sweet and bitter
fruitage of his own husbandry.
   Man is a growth by law, and not a creation by artifice, and
cause and effect are as absolute and undeviating in the
hidden realm of thought as in the world of visible and material
things.  A noble and God-like character is not a thing of favor
or chance, but is the natural result of continued effort
in right thinking, the effect of long-cherished association
with God-like thoughts.  An ignoble and bestial character,
by the same process, is the result of the continued harboring
of groveling thoughts.
   Man is made or unmade by himself. In the armory of
thought he forges the weapons by which he destroys himself.
He also fashions the tools with which he builds for himself
heavenly mansions of joy and strength and peace.  By the
right choice and true application of thought, man ascends to the
divine perfection.  By the abuse and wrong application of thought
he descends below the level of the beast.  Between these
two extremes are all the grades of character, and man is their
maker and master.
   Of all the beautiful truths pertaining to the soul
which have been restored and brought to light in this age, none
is more gladdening or fruitful of divine promise and confidence
than this--that man is the master of thought, the molder
of character, and the maker and shaper of condition, environment,
and destiny.
   As a being of power, intelligence, and love, and the lord
of his own thoughts, man holds key to every situation, and contains
within himself that transforming and regenerative agency by
which he may make himself what he wills.
   Man is always the master, even in his weakest and
most abandoned state. But in his weakness and degradation he
is foolish master who misgoverns his "household."  When he
begins to reflect upon his condition and search diligently
for the law upon which his being is established, he then becomes
the wise master, directing his energies with intelligence
and fashioning his thoughts to fruitful issues.  Such is
the conscious master, and man can only thus become by
discovering within himself the laws of thought.  This discovery
is totally a matter of application, self-analysis and experience.

   Only by much searching and mining are gold
and diamonds obtained, and man can find every truth connected
with his being, if he will dig deep into the mine of his soul.
That he is the maker of his character, the molder of his life,
and the builder of his destiny, he may unerringly prove, if he
will watch, control, and alter his thoughts, tracing their effects
upon himself, upon others and upon his life and circumstances,
linking cause and effect by patient practice and investigation.
And utilizing his every experience, even the most trivial,
everyday occurrence, as a means of obtaining that knowledge of
himself which is understanding, wisdom, power.  In this direction
is the law of absolute that "He that seeketh findeth; and to him
that knocketh it shall be opened." For only by patience, practice,
and ceaseless importunity can a man enter the door of the temple of knowledge.

EFFECT OF THOUGHT ON CIRCUMSTANCES
   A man's mind may be likened to a garden, which may be
intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild; but whether
cultivated or neglected, it must, and will bring forth.  If no
useful seeds are put into it, then an abundance of useless
weed-seeds will fall therein, and will continue to produce their
kind.
   Just as a gardener cultivates his plot, keeping it free
>from weeds, and growing the flowers and fruits which he requires
so may a man tend the garden of his mind, weeding out all the
wrong, useless and impure thoughts, and cultivating toward
perfection the flowers and fruits of right, useful and pure thoughts.
By pursuing this process, a man sooner or later discovers that he
is the master-gardener of his soul, the director of his life.  He
also reveals, within himself, the flaws of thought, and under-
stands, with ever-increasing accuracy, how the thought-forces
and mind elements operate in the shaping of character, circumstances,
and destiny.
   Thought and character are one, and as character can only
manifest and discover itself through environment and circumstance,
the outer conditions of a person's life will always be found to
be harmoniously related to his inner state.  This does not mean
that a man's circumstances at any given time are an indication
of his entire character, but that those circumstances are so
intimately connected with some vital thought-element within himself
that, for the time being, they are indispensable to his development.
   Every man is where he is by the law of his being; the thoughts
which he has built into his character have brought him there, and in
the arrangement of his life there  is no element of chance, but all is
the result of a law which cannot err.  This is just as true of those
who feel "out of harmony" with their surroundings as of those who
are contented with them.
   As a progressive and evolving being, man is where he is that
he may learn that he may grow; and as he learns the spiritual lesson
which any circumstance contains for him, it passes away and gives
place to other circumstances.
   Man is buffeted by circumstances so long as he believes himself
to be the creature of outside conditions, but when he realizes that he
is a creative power, and that he may command the hidden soil and seeds
of his being out of which circumstances grow; he then becomes the
rightful master of himself.
   That circumstances grow out of thought every man knows who has
for any length of time practiced self-control and self-purification,
for he will have noticed that the alteration in his circumstances
has been in exact ratio with his altered mental condition.  So true
is this that when a man earnestly applies himself to remedy the defects
in his character, and makes swift and marked progress, he passes
rapidly through a succession of vicissitudes.
   The soul attracts that which it secretly harbors; that which
it loves, and also that which it fears; it reaches the height of its
cherished aspirations; it falls to the level of its unchastened desires
and circumstances are the means by which the soul receives it own.
   Every thought-seed sown or allowed to fall into the mind, and
to take root there, produces its own, blossoming sooner or later
into act, and bearing its own fruitage of opportunity and circumstance.
Good thoughts bear good fruit, bad thoughts bad fruit.

   The outer world of circumstances shapes itself to the inner
world of thought, and both pleasant and unpleasant external conditions
are factors which make for the ultimate good of the individual.  As
the reaper of his own harvest, man learns both of suffering and bliss.
   Following the inmost desires, aspirations, thoughts, by which he
allows himself to be dominated (pursuing the will-o'-the wisps of
impure imaginings or steadfastly walking the highway of strong and high
endeavor), a man at last arrives at their fruition and fulfillment
in the outer conditions of his life.  The laws of growth and adjustment
everywhere obtain.
   A man does not come to the alms-house or the jail by the tyranny
of fate or circumstance, but by the pathway of grovelling thoughts and
base desires.  Nor does a pure-minded man fall suddenly into crime by
stress of any mere external force; the criminal thought had long been
secretly fostered in the heart, and the hour of opportunity revealed
its gathered power.  Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals
him to himself.  No such conditions can exist as descending into vice
and its attendant sufferings apart from vicious inclinations, or
ascending into virtue and its pure happiness without the continued
cultivation of virtuous aspirations; and man, therefore, as the lord
and master of thought, is the maker of himself and the shaper of
and author of environment.  Even at birth the soul comes of its own
and through every step of its earthly pilgrimage it attracts those
combinations of conditions which reveal itself, which are the reflections
of its own purity and impurity, its strength and weakness.
   Men do not attract that which they want, but that which they are.
Their whims, fancies, and ambitions are thwarted at every step, but
their inmost thoughts and desires are fed with their own food, be it
foul or clean.  Man is manacled only by himself; thought and action
are the jailors of Fate--they imprison, being base; they are also
the angels of Freedom--they liberate, being noble.  Not what he wished
and prays for does a man get, but what he justly earns.  His wishes and
prayers are only gratified and answered when they harmonize with his
thoughts and actions.
   In the light of this truth what, then, is the meaning of
"fighting against circumstances"?  It means that a man is continually
revolting against an effect without, while all the time he is
nourishing and preserving its cause in his heart.  That cause may take
the form of a conscious vice or an unconscious weakness; but whatever
it is, it stubbornly retards the efforts of it possessor, and
thus calls aloud for remedy.
   Men are anxious to improve their circumstances, but are
unwilling to improve themselves; they therefore remain bound.  The
man who does not shrink from self-crucifixion can never fail to
accomplish the object upon which his heart is set.  This is as true
of earthly as of heavenly things.  Even the man whose sole object
is to acquire wealth must be prepared to make great personal sacrifices
before he can accomplish his object; and how much more so he who would
realize a strong and well-poised life?
   It is pleasing to human vanity to believe that one suffers
because of one's virtue; but not until a man has extirpated every
sickly, bitter, and impure thought from his soul, can he be in a
position to know and declare that his sufferings are the result
of his good, and not of his bad qualities; and on the way to, yet
long before he has reached that supreme perfection , he will have
found, working in his mind and life, the great law which is
absolutely just, and which cannot, therefore, give good  for
evil, evil for good.  Possessed of such knowledge, he will then
know, looking back upon his past ignorance and blindness,
that his life is, and always was, justly ordered, and that all
his past experiences, good and bad, were the equitable outworking
of his evolving, yet unevolved self.
   Good thoughts and actions can never produce bad results;
bad thoughts and actions can never produce good results.  This is
but saying that nothing can come from corn but corn, nothing
>from nettles but nettles.  Men understand this law in the natural
world, and work with it; but few understand it in the mental and
moral world (though its operation there is just as simple and
undeviating), and they, therefore, do not cooperate with it.
   Suffering is always the effect of wrong thought in some
direction.  It is an indication that the individual is out of
harmony with himself, with the law of his being.  The sole and
supreme use of suffering is to purify, to burn out all that is
useless and impure.  Suffering ceases for him who is pure.
There could be no object in burning gold after the dross had been
removed, and a perfectly pure and enlightened being could not
suffer.
   The circumstances which a man encounters with suffering
are the result of his own mental inharmony.  The circumstances
which a man encounters with blessedness are the result of his own mental
harmony.  Blessedness, not material possessions, is the measure
of right thought; wretchedness, not lack of material possessions,
is the measure of wrong thought.  A man may be cursed and rich;
he may be blessed and poor.  Blessedness and riches are only
joined together when the riches are rightly and wisely used.  And
the poor man only descends into wretchedness when he regards his lot
as a burden unjustly imposed.
   Indigence and indulgence are the two extremes of wretchedness.
They are both equally unnatural and the result of mental disorder.
A man is not rightly conditioned until he is a happy, healthy,
and prosperous being; and happiness, health, and prosperity are the
result of a harmonious adjustment of the inner with the outer
of the man with his surroundings.
   A man only begins to be a man when he ceases to whine and revile,
and commences to search for the hidden justice which regulates his
life.  And he adapts his mind to that regulating factor, he ceases
to accuse others as the cause of his condition, and builds himself
up in strong and noble thoughts; ceases to kick against
circumstances, but beings to use them as aids to his more rapid
progress, and as a means of discovering the hidden powers and
possibilities within himself.
   Law, not confusion, is the dominating principle in the universe;
justice, not injustice, is the soul and substance of life.
Righteousness, not corruption, is the molding and moving force in the
spiritual government of the world.  This being so, man has but to
right himself to find that the universe is right.  And during the
process of putting himself right, he will find that as he alters
his thoughts towards things and other people, things and other
people will alter towards him.
   The proof of this truth is in every person, and it therefore
admits of easy investigation by systematic introspection and
self-analysis.  Let a man radically alter his thoughts, and he will
be astonished at the rapid transformation it will effect in the
material conditions of his life.  Men imagine that thought can
be kept secret, but it cannot. It rapidly crystallizes into
habit, and habit solidifies into circumstance.  Bestial thoughts
crystallize into habits of drunkenness and sensuality, which solidify
into circumstances of destitution and disease. Impure thoughts of
every kind crystallize into enervating and confusing habits, which
solidify into distracting and adverse circumstances. Thoughts
of fear, doubt, and indecision crystallize into weak, unmanly,
and irresolute habits, which solidify into circumstances of failure,
indigence, and slavish dependence. Lazy thoughts crystallize into weak,
habits of uncleanliness and dishonesty, which solidify into circum-
stances of foulness and beggary. Hateful and condemnatory thoughts
crystallize into habits of accusation and violence, which solidify
into circumstances of injury and  persecution. Selfish thoughts
of all kinds crystallize into habits of self-seeking, which
solidify into  distressful circumstances.
   On the other hand, beautiful thoughts of all kinds crystallize
into habits of grace and kindliness, which solidify into genial and
sunny circumstances.   Pure thoughts crystallize into habits of
temperance and self-control, which solidify into circumstances
of repose and peace. Thoughts of courage, self-reliance, and
decision crystallize into manly habits, which solidify into
circumstances of success, plenty, and freedom. Energetic thoughts
crystallize into habits of cleanliness and industry, which solidify
into circumstances of pleasantness. Gentle and forgiving thoughts
crystallize into habits of gentleness, which solidify into
protective and preservative circumstances. Loving and unselfish
thoughts which solidify into circumstances of sure and abiding
prosperity and true riches.
   A particular train of thought persisted in, be it good or bad,
cannot fail to produce its results on the character and circumstances.
A man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can choose
his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances.
   Nature helps every man to gratification of the thoughts which
he most encourages, and opportunities are presented which will most
speedily bring to the surface both the good and the evil thoughts.
   Let a man cease from his sinful thoughts, and all the world
will soften towards him, and be ready to help him. Let him put away his
weakly and sickly thoughts, and the opportunities will spring up
on every hand to aid his strong resolves. Let him encourage good
thoughts, and no hard fate shall bind him down to wretchedness
and shame.  The world is your kaleidoscope, and the varying
combinations of colors which at every succeeding moment it presents
to you are the exquisitely adjusted pictures of your ever-moving
thoughts.


EFFECTS OF THOUGHTS ON HEALTH AND BODY

   The body is the servant of the mind.  It obeys the
operations of the mind, whether they be deliberately chosen
or automatically expressed.  At the bidding of unlawful
thoughts the body sinks rapidly into disease and decay; at the
command of glad and beautiful thoughts it becomes clothed with
youthfulness and beauty .
   Disease and health, like circumstances, are rooted in
thought.  Sickly thoughts will express themselves through a sickly
body.  Thoughts of fear have been known to kill a man as speedily
as a bullet and they are continually killing thousands of people
just as surely though less rapidly.  The people who live in fear
of disease are the people who get it.  Anxiety quickly demoralizes
the whole body, and lays it open to the entrance of disease; while
impure thoughts, even if not physically indulged, will sooner
shatter the nervous system.
   Strong pure, and happy thoughts build up the body in vigor and
grace.  The body is a delicate and plastic instrument, which responds
readily to the thoughts by which it is impressed, and habits of
thought will produce their own effects, good or bad, upon it.
   Men will continue to have impure and poisoned blood, so long
as they propagate unclean thoughts.  Out of a clean heart comes
a clean life and a clean body.  Out of a defiled mind proceeds
a defiled life and a corrupt body.  Thought is the fount of action,
life and manifestation; make the fountain pure, and all will be pure.
   Change of diet will not help a man who will not change his
thoughts.  When a man makes his thoughts pure, he no longer
desires impure food.
   Clean thoughts make clean habits.  The so-called saint who
does not wash his body is not a saint.  He who has strengthened
and purified his thoughts does not need to consider the malevolent
?
   If you would perfect your body, guard your mind.  If you
would renew your body, beautify your mind.  Thoughts of malice,
envy, and disappointment, despondency, rob the body of its
health and grace.  A sour face does not come by chance; it is made
by sour thoughts.  Wrinkles that mar are drawn by folly, passion,
pride.
   I know a woman of ninety-six who has the bright, innocent
face of a girl.  I know a man well under middle age whose face
is drawn into in harmonious contours.  The one is the result of a
sweet and sunny disposition; the other is the outcome
of passion and discontent.
   As you cannot have a sweet and wholesome abode unless you
admit the air and sunshine freely into your rooms, so a strong
body and a bright, happy, or serene countenance can only result
>from the free admittance into the mind of thoughts of joy and
goodwill and serenity.
   On the faces of the aged there are wrinkles made by sympathy
others by strong and pure thought, and others are carved by passion;
who cannot distinguish them?  With those who have lived righteously,
age is calm, peaceful, and softly mellowed, like the setting sun.
I have recently seen a philosopher on his death-bed.  He was not old
except in years.  He died as sweetly and peacefully as he had lived.
   There is no physician like cheerful thought for dissipating the
ills of the body; there is no comforter to compare with goodwill
for dispersing the shadows of grief and sorrow.  To live continually
in thoughs of ill-will, cynicism, suspicion, and envy, is to be
confined in a self-made prison hole.  But to think well of all, to be
cheerful with all, to patiently learn to find the good in all--
such unselfish thoughts are the very portals of
heaven; and to dwell day by day in thoughts of peace toward every creature
will bring abounding peace to their possessor.




THOUGHT AND PURPOSE

   until thought is linked w/ purpose there is no intelligent accomplishment.
w/ the majority   the bark of thought is allowed to "drift" upon the ocean of
life.  Aimlessness is a vice, and such drifting must not continue for
him who would street clear of catastrophe and destruction.
   They who have no central purpose in their life fall an easy prey to
petty worries, fears, troubles, and self-pityings, all of which are
indications of weakness, which lead, just  as surely as deliberately
planned sins (though by a diff route), to failure, unhappyness, and
loss, for weakness cannot persist in a power-evolving universe.
   A man should conceive of a legitimate purpose in his heart, and set
out to accomplish it.  He should make this purpose the centralizing
point of his thoughts.  It may take the form of a spiritual ideal,
or it may be a worldly object, according to his nature at the time
being.  Whichever it is, he should steadily focus his thought-forces
upon the object he had set before him.  He should make this purpose
his supreme duty  and should devote himself to its attainment, not
allowing his thoughts to wander away into ephemeral fancies, longings,
and imaginings.  This is the royal road to self-control and true
concentration of thought.  Even if he fails again and again to
accomplish his purpose--as he must until weakness is overcome--the
strength of character gained will be the measure of his true success,
and this will form a new starting point for future power and
triumph.
   Those who are not prepared for the apprehension of a great purpose,
should fix the thoughts upon the faultless performance of their duty,
no matter how insignificant their task may appear.  Only in this way
can the thoughts be gathered and focussed, and resolution and energy be
developed.  Once this is done, there is nothing which may not be
accomplished.
   The weakest soul knowing its own weakness, and believing this
truth--that strength can only be developed by effort and practice--
will, thus believing, at once begin to exert itself.  And, adding
effort to effort, patience to patience, and strength to strength,
will never cease to develop and will at last grow divinely strong.
   As the physically weak man can make himself strong by careful
and patient training, so the man of weak thoughts can make them strong
by exercising himself in right thinking.
   To put away aimlessness and weakness and to begin to think with
purpose  is to enter the  ranks of those strong ones who only
recognize failure as one of the pathways to attainment.  Who make
all conditions serve them, and who think strongly, attempt fearlessly,
and accomplish masterfully.
   Having conceived of his purpose, a man should mentally mark out a
straight pathway to its achievement, looking neither to the right nor
left.  Doubts and fears should be rigorously excluded.  They are
disintegrating elements which break up the straight line of effort,
rendering it crooked, ineffectual, useless.  Thoughts of doubt and
fear can never accomplish anything.  They always lead to  failure.
Purpose, energy, power to do, and all strong thoughts cease when doubt
and fear creep in.
   The will to do springs from the knowledge that we can do.  Doubt and
fear are the great enemies of knowledge, and he who encourages them,
who does not slay them, thwarts himself at every step.
   He who has conquered doubt and fear has conquered failure.  His
every thought is allied with power, and all difficulties are bravely
met and overcome.  His purposes are seasonably planted, and they bloom
and bring forth fruit that does not fall prematurely to the ground.
   Thought allied fearlessly to purpose becomes creative force.
He who knows this is ready to become something higher and stronger
than a bundle of wavering thoughts and fluctuating sensations.  He
who does this has become the conscious and intelligent wielder of
his mental powers.


"THE THOUGHT-FACTOR IN ACHIEVEMENT"

   All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct
result of his own thoughts.  In a justly ordered universe, where loss
of equipoise would mean total destruction, individual responsibility must
be absolute.  A man's weakness and strength, purity and impurity, are
his own and not another man's.  They are brought about by himself and
not by another; and they can only be altered by himself, never by
another.  His condition is also his own, and not another man's.  His
sufferings and his happiness are evolved from within.  As he thinks,
so is he; as he continues to think, so he remains.
   A strong man cannot help a weaker unless that weaker is willing to
be helped.  And even  then the weak man must become strong of himself.
He must, by his own efforts, develop the strength which he admires in
another.  None but himself can alter his condition.
   It has been usual for men to think and to say, "Many men are slaves
because one is an oppressor; let us hate the oppressor!"  But there is
amongst an increasing few a tendency  to reverse this judgement and to
say, "One man is an oppressor because many are slaves; let us despise
the slaves."   The truth is that oppressor and slaves are cooperators
in ignorance, and, while seeming to afflict each other, are in reality,
afflicting themselves.  A perfect knowledge perceives the action of law
in the weakness of the oppressed and the misapplied power of the
oppressor.  A perfect love, seeing the suffering which both states
entail, condemns neither; a perfect compassion embraces both oppressor
and oppressed.
   He who has conquered weakness and has pushed away all selfish thoughts
belongs neither to oppressor nor oppressed.  He is free.
   A man can only rise, conquer, and achieve by lifting up his thoughts.
He can only remain weak, abject, and miserably by refusing to lift up
his thoughts.
   Before a man can achieve anything, even in worldly things, he must lift
his thoughts above slavish animal indulgence.  He may not, in order to
succeed, give up all animality and selfishness, necessarily, but a portion
of it must, at least, be sacrificed.  A man whose first thought is bestial
indulgence could neither think clearly nor plan methodically.  He could
not find and develop his latent resources and would fail in any undertaking.
Not having begun to manfully control his thoughts, he is not in a position
to control affairs and to adopt serious responsibilities.  He is not fit
to act independently and stand alone.  But he is limited only by the
thoughts that he chooses.
   There can be no progress nor achievement without sacrifice, and a man's
worldly success will be by the measure that he sacrifices his confused
animal thoughts, and fixes his mind on the development of his plans, and
the strengthening of his resolution and self-reliance.  The higher his
he lifts his thoughts, the greater will be his success, the more blessed
and enduring will be his achievements.
   The universe does not favor the greedy, the dishonest, the vicious...
although on the mere surface it sometimes may appear to do so.  It helps
the honest, the magnanimous, the virtuous.  All the great teachers of the
ages have declared this in varying ways, and to prove it and to know it
a man has but to persist in making himself increasingly virtuous by lifting
his thoughts.
   Intellectual achievements are the result of thought consecrated to the
search for knowledge  or for the beautiful and true in nature.  Such
achievements may sometimes be connected with vanity and ambition, but they
are not the outcome of those characteristics.  They are the natural
outgrowth of long and arduous effort, and of pure and unselfish thoughts.
   Spiritual achievements are the consummation of holy aspirations.  He
who lives constantly in the conception of noble and lofty thoughts, who
dwells upon all that is pure and selfless, will, as surely as the sun
reaches its zenith and the moon its full, become wise and noble in
character  and rise into a position of influence and blessedness.
   Achievement of any kind is the crown of effort, the diadem of thought.
By the aid of self-control, resolution, purity, righteousness, and
well-directed thought a man ascends.  By the aid of animality, indolence,
impurity, corruption, and confusion of thought a man descends.
   A may may rise to high success in the world, even to lofty attitudes
in the spiritual realm, and again descend into weakness and wretchedness
by allowing arrogant, selfish, and corrupt thoughts to take possession
of him.
   Victories attained by right thought can be maintained only by
watchfulness.  Many give way when success is assured, and rapidly fall
back into failure.
   All achievements, whether in the business, intellectual, or spiritual
world, are the result of definitely directed thought, are governed by
the same law, and are of the same method.  The only difference is in
the object of attainment.
   He who would accomplish little need sacrifice little; he would would
achieve much must sacrifice much.  He who would attain highly must
sacrifice greatly.


VISIONS AND IDEALS


   The dreamers are the saviors of the world.  As the visible world is
sustained by the invisible, so men, through all their trials and sins and
sordid vocations, are nourished by the beautiful visions of their solitary
dreamers.  Humanity cannot forget its dreamers; it cannot let their ideals
fade and die; it lives in them; it knows them as the realities which it
shall one day see and know.
   Composer, sculptor, painter, poet, prophet, sage--these are the makers
of the after-world, the architects of heaven.  The world is beautiful
because they have lived.  Without them, laboring humanity would perish.
   He who cherishes a beautiful vision, a lofty ideal in his heart, will
one day realize it.  Columbus cherished a vision of another world and he
discovered it.  Copernicus fostered the vision of a multiplicity of
worlds and a wider universe, and he revealed it.  Buddha beheld the
vision of a spiritual world of stainless beauty and perfect peace, and
he entered into it.
   Cherish your visions; cherish your ideals.  Cherish the music that stirs
in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that
drapes your purest thoughts.  For out of them will grow all delightful
conditions, all heavenly environment; of these, if you but remain true
to them, your world will at last be built.
   To desire is to obtain; to aspire is to achieve.  Shall man's basest
desires receive the fullest measure of gratification, and his purest
aspirations starve for lack of sustenance?  Such is not the Law.  Such
a condition can never obtain: "Ask and receive."
   Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become.  Your vision
is the promise of what you shall one day be; your ideal is the prophecy
of what you shall at last unveil.
   The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream.  The oak
sleeps in the acorn; the bird waits in the egg.  And in the highest vision
of a soul a waking angle stirs.  Dreams are the seedlings of realities.
   Your circumstances may be uncongenial, but they shall not remain so if
you only perceive an ideal and strive to reach it.  You can't travel
within and stand still without.  Here is a youth hard pressed by poverty
and labor.  Confined long hours in an unhealthy workshop; unschooled and
lacking all the arts of refinement.  But he dreams of better things.  He
thinks of intelligence, or refinement, of grace and beauty.  He conceives
of, mentally builds up, an ideal condition of life.  The wider liberty
and a larger scope takes possession of him; unrest urges him to action,
and he uses all his spare times and means  to the development of his
latent powers and resources.   Very soon so altered has his mind become
that the workshop can no longer hold him.  It has become so out of harmony
with his mind-set that it falls out of his life as a garment is cast
aside.  And with the growth of opportunities that fit the scope of his
expanding powers, he passes out of it altogether.   Years later we see
this youth as a grown man.  We find him a master of certain forces of the
mind that he wields with world-wide influence and almost unequaled
power.  In his hands he holds the cords of gigantic responsibilities; he
speaks and lives are changed; men and women hang upon his words and remold
their characters.  Sun-like, he becomes the fixed and luminous center
around which innumerable destinies revolve.  He has become the vision of
his youth.  He has become one with his ideal.
   And you too, youthful reader, will realize the vision (not just the
idle wish) of your heart, be it base or beautiful, or a mixture of both.
For you will always gravitate toward that which you, secretly, most love.
Into your hands will be placed the exact results of your own thoughts.
You will receive that which you earn; no more, no less.  Whatever your
present environment may be, you will fall, remain, or rise with your
thoughts--your vision, your ideal.  You will become as small as your
controlling desire; as great as your dominant aspiration.


   The thoughtless, the ignorant, and the indolent, seeing only the
apparent effects of things and not the things themselves, talk of luck,
of fortune, and chance.  Seeing a man grow rich, they say, "How lucky
he is!"  Observing another become skilled intellectually, they exclaim,
"How highly favored he is!"  And noting the saintly character and wide
influence of another, they remark,  "How chance helps him at every
turn!"  They do not see the trials and failures and struggles which these
men have encountered in order to gain their experience.  They have no
knowledge of the sacrifices they have made, of the undaunted efforts
they have put forth,  of the faith they have exercised so that they might
overcome the apparently insurmountable and realize the vision of their
heart.  They do not know the darkness and the heartaches; they only see
the light and joy, and call it "luck."  Do not see the long, arduous
journey, but only behold the pleasant goal and call it "good fortune."
Do not understand the process, but only perceive the result, and call it
"chance."
   In all human affairs there are efforts, and there are results.  The
strength of the effort is the measure of the result.  Change is not.
Gifts, powers, material, intellectual, and spiritual possessions are the
fruits of effort.  They are thoughts completed, objectives accomplished,
visions realized.
   The vision that you glorify in your mind, the ideal that you enthrone
in your heart--this you will build your life by; this you will become.



SERENITY


   Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom.  It is the
result of long and patient effort in self-control.  Its presence is an
indication of ripened experience, and of a more than ordinary knowledge
of the laws and operations of thought.
   A man becomes calm in the measure that he understands himself as a
thought-evolved being.  For such knowledge necessitates the understanding
of others as the result of thought, and as he develops a right understanding,
and sees ever more clearly the internal relations of things by the action
of cause and effect, he ceases to fuss, fume, worry, and grieve.  He remains
poised, steadfast, serene.
   The calm man, having learned how to govern himself, knows how to adapt
himself to others.  And they, in turn reverence his spiritual strength.
They feel that they can learn from him and rely upon him.  The more tranquil
a man becomes, the greater is his success, his influence, his power for
good.  Even the ordinary trader will find his business prosperity increase
as he develops a greater self-control and equanimity, for people will
always prefer to deal with a man whose demeanor is equitable.
   The strong, calm man is always loved and revered.  He is like a
shade-giving tree in a thirsty land, or a sheltering rock in a storm.  Who
does not love a tranquil heart? a sweet-tempered, balanced life?  It does
not matter whether it rains or shines, or what changes come to those who
possess these blessings.  For they are always serene and calm.  That
exquisite poise of character that we call serenity  is the last lesson of
culture.  It is the flowering of life, the fruitage of the soul.  It is
precious as wisdom--more desirable than fine gold.  How insignificant mere
money-seeking looks in comparison with a serene life.  A life that dwells
in the ocean of truth, beneath the waves, beyond the reach of the tempests,
in the eternal calm!
   How many people we know who sour their lives, who ruin all that is
sweet and beautiful by explosive tempers, who destroy their poise of
character and make bad blood!  It is a question whether the great majority
of people do not ruin their lives and mar their happiness by lack of
self-control.  How few people we meet in life who are well balanced, who
have that exquisite poise which is characteristic of the finished
character."
   Yes, humanity surges with uncontrolled passion, is tumultuous with
ungoverned grief, is blown about by anxiety and doubt.  Only the wise man,
only he whose thoughts are controlled and purified, makes the winds and
the storms of the soul obey him.
   Tempest-tossed souls, wherever you may be, under whatever conditions
you may live, know this:  In the ocean of life the isles of blessedness
are smiling and the sunny shore of your ideal awaits your coming.  Keep
your hands firmly upon the helm of thought.  In the core of your soul
reclines the commanding Master; He does but sleep; wake Him.  Self-control
is strength.  Right thought is mastery.  Calmness is power.  Say unto your
heart, "Peace.  Be still."