CO NTENTS

YO U

R AVE L

W HERE

YO U T

T HE ART

H EN

YOU S

R A VEL

LEEP

H EN

O F F O RG ETT I N G

YO U S

LEEP

H O U G H T S AR E BO RN
T H E LAW O F S U CCE S S
How TO K E E P Y O U R S T R ENGTII
How

L IL I ES

CO N S I DE R

THE

AR T O F

U DY

ST

PR O F I T AN D
TH E

W H AT
T HE

LO SS

IN A S S

LA VE R Y O F F E A R

OC I ATES

AR E S PI RI T A L G I TS.

R O CE SS O F

RE-EMB O DI MEN T

R E- E MB

O DI MENT

U N IVER S AL

U RE

I N N AT

GO D

P w er and Wi s do m g o v er ns t h e
U n i v er s e
Th e S u pre m e M i n d i s m ea s urel es s and
p er v ade s e n dle ss s p a ce Th e S u pre m e Wi s d o m ,
P o w er a n d I n telli g e n ce i s i n everyth i ng that e x i s t s
fro m th e ato m to th e pla n et
Th e S u pre m e P o w er a n d Wisdo m i s m ore tha n
Th e S upre m e M i n d i s e v erything
i ne v erythi n g
Th e S u pre m e M i n d i s e v ery ato m of t h e m o u n tai n ,
th e s ea , th e tre e , th e bird , th e a n i m a l , th e m a n , th e
w o m a n Th e S upre m e W i s do m ca nn ot be u nder
s tood by m a n or b y b ei ngs s uperior to m a n B ut
m a n w ill gladly rece i ve th e S u pre m e th o u gh t a n d
w i s do m , a n d let i t w ork for h appi n e ss thro u gh hi m ,
cari ng n
ot t o fatho m it s m y s tery
Th e S u pre m e P o w er h as u s i n it s charg e , as i t
h as t h e s u ns a n d e ndle ss sy s te ms of w orld s i n s pace
A s w e gro w m ore to reco gn i z e thi s s ubli m e a n d
e xh au s tle ss wi s d o m , w e s h all le ar n m ore a n d m ore
t o de m a n d th at w i s do m dra w it t o o u r s el v e s , m ak e
i t a p a rt of o u r s e l v e s , a nd th ereby b e e v er m aki ng
Thi s m e a ns e v er per
our s elve s n e w er a n d n e w er
n
h
e
a
l
th
g
reater
a
d
reater
p
o
w
er
to
e
n
o
fect i n
y
j
g
,
g
al l that e x i s t s , g rad u al tra ns i t i o n i n to a h ig h er
A S u p r e me

'

ta te of bei ng and th e de vel op m e n t of p owers w e

d o not n
ow reali z e a s b elon gi ng t o u s
W e are the li m ited yet ever g ro w i n g parts and
e x p re ss i on s of th e S u pre m e N ever E n din g Wh ole
I t i s th e de s ti n y of all i n ti m e to s e e their re l a ti o n
t o th e S u pre m e and al s o t o s e e th at th e s trai gh t
d n arro w path to e v er increasi n g h appi n e ss i s a
an
perfect tru s t a n d depe n de n ce on th e S upre m e for
th e all round s y mm etrical wi sdo m and idea whic h
w e i n div i d u ally ca nn ot origi n ate L et u s the n d aily
d e m a n d faith for fait h i s po w er to believe a n d
n
p o w er to s ee that all thi n g s are part s of t h e I n
i te S pirit of G od , th at all thi ngs h ave g ood or G od
i n th e m , a n d th a t all thi n g s w h e nreco gn iz ed by u s
as p art s of G od m us t w or k for ou r g oo d
es

EL WHEN YOU SLEEP

YOU TRAV

Y OU

trave l when your b ody is in the state called

The real you is not your body " it is an

s leep
u nseen organi z ation your spirit
It has senses like
It can see forms
t hose of the body but far su p erior
Your
d hear voices miles away from the body
an
It n ever was wholly in
S pir i t is not in your body
it " it acts onit and uses it as an instrum ent It is
a power which can m ake itself felt miles from your
b ody
O ne half of ou r life is a b lan k to u s " that is the
l ife O f o u r spirit when it leaves the body at night
It goes then to countries far d istant and sees people
we n ever know in the esh
S leep is a process un consciously p erformed of
self mes merism
AS the mesmeric operator wills
so do
a nother into unconsciousness
y ou nightly
will yourself or rather your b ody i nto a state of
i nsensibility
What the mesmeric operator really does is to
draw the sp i ri t out of the bo d y of the person he
H e b rings the thought of his subj ect
m esmeri z es
.

Th ou gh t s

ar e

Things

Y OU

T R AVE L W HEN

EE P

SL

Y OU

to some focus or centre as a coin held in the hand

W hile thus centred the thought ( or spirit" of the
subject is put in such a condition that he can most
easily affect it by his will H e wills then the per
son s spirit ou t of his body Thi s done he thr ows
his o w nthought in that body It is then as a house
left O pen by its owner The mesmeri z er then takes
possession of that body by the power of his o wn
thought It is not the subj ect at all who sees feels
and tastes as the O perator wills : it is the spirit or
thought of the m esmeri z er himself exercised in a h
other body temporarily left vacant by its ow n spirit
Thought is a substance as much as air or any other
u nseen element o f which chemistry makes u s aware
It is of ma ny and varying degrees in strength
S trong thought or mind is the same as strong wi l l
S ome person s are so weak i n thought as compared
with the practised mesmeri z er that they cannot
resist him O thers of e ven stronger thought can
give themselves up voluntarily to his control You
need not be overpowered by any one i n this way
providing you resist them in mind and call upon the
higher p ower to assist you if you feel their thought
overcoming you

When we go to sleep 3 the S pirit has been by its

day s workings sent wi d ely scattered away from the
b ody " with s o little of its force left by it the body
falls into the trance state of slumber A s the mes
m er i z er draws the spirit away from the body of h i s
subject s o has our spirit drawn itself away from our
b odies by i ts many e fforts during the day
.

Th ou gh t s

are

Th ings

YOU

R AVEL

W HEN

YO U

S LEEP .

Your b ody is n ot your rea l self The power tha t

m oves it as you will is your spiri t That is an i n
v i s i ble organi z ation q uite distin ct and apart from
your body Your spirit (your real self" uses your
b ody as the carpenter does his hammer or any tool
to work with
It is the spirit that is tired at night It is ex
hansted of its force and therefore n ot able to use the
b ody vigorously The body is really then as strong
as ever as the carpenter s ham mer has the same
strength when his arm is too weak to use it
The spirit is weak at night because its forces have
in thought been sent in so many di fferent directions
during the day that it cannot call them together
E very thought is one of these forces and a part of
your spirit E very thought spoken or unspoken i s
a thing a substance as real though invi sible as wate r
or m etal E very thought though unspoken is om e
thing which goes t o that person thing or locality o n
which it is placed Your spirit then h as during the
day been so sent in a thousand perhaps ten thousand
different directions
When y o u think you work
E very thought represe nts an outlay of force
SO
se nding ou t force for sixteen or eighteen hours there
i s not at night su f cient left in or near the body to
The body therefore falls into the condition
u s e it
D uring this condition
of insensibility we call sleep
t h e spirit collects its scattered forces its thoughts
which have been sent far and wide it returns with
its powers s o co nce ntrated to the body and again
p ossesses it with its full strength It is when s ca t
.

Th

o ug h

ts

ar e

Things

Y O U T R A V EL W H E N

Y OU

EE P

SL

as s o many scattered rills of water trickl i ng i n

P ut all these together in a single
m any dire ctions
volume and you have the p ower that turns the mill
wheel
C ould you call all of your spirit at once to i t s
c entre and so collect its widely scattered forces yo u
g in as m any minutes as it
c ould be fresh and stro n
now takes hours to rest y o u This power was known
to the rst
and sustaine d him for days
with very lit
ep during the crisis of hi s cam
p ai g ns when his energies were taxed to the utmost
I t is a power which can be ac q uired by all through a
c ertain training
It is done by rst placi ng th e body in a state of as
F
c omplete rest as possible " stopping all involun t ary
physical motions such as the swinging of limbs tap
ping with the foot or drumming with the ngers
A ll such involuntary m ovements waste your force
an
d worse train you un consciously to a habit hard
to break of wasting force The involuntary w
of the m ind the straying of thought in every d i r ec
tion
towards persons things plans and projects
the useless frettings over cares great and small must
for a few minutes
be simi
m ade as
C oncentration of

thought
drawing into
or

r
o
f
e
the
min
d
picture
o
your spirit wi th its ne
l
f
s
e lectric
laments reaching to perso ns places and
things far from you being all drawn back and
massed in a focus is a help to do this " because w h atso
u image in your m ind is a spiritual reality
That
o
y
t er ed

Th o u gh t s

ar e

Things

YO U T R AVE L W H E N Y O U S LEEP

what y ou image y ou are actually in spirit and by

S pirit doing E very plan or i nvention clearly seen
in thought is of thought substance as rea l a thing as
the wood stone iron or other su b stance in which
afterward it may be embodied and made visible t o the
b ody s eye and made to wor k results onthe p hysical
s tratum of life
I f a man thinks m urder he actually p uts out an l
elemen t of murder i n the air H e sends from him a
plan of murder as rea l as if drawn on paper " its
thought is a b sorbed b y others " s o is this element and
unseen plan of murder a b sor b ed b y other minds : i t
i nclines them towards violence if not m urder If a
p erson is eve r thinking of sickness he sends from
him the element of sickness " if he th i n k s of health
stre ngth and cheerfulness he sends from him con
s t r u ct i on
s of thought affe cting others to health and
strength as well as himself A man sends from h i m

i n tho u ght what b e ( his spirit "is most built of

As

Y ou r
a man thinketh s o is h e
s i r i t is a bundle of
__
p
thought " What ont
of that is
ou r s I n
Imagine then yourself as such a being drawing in
all these laments sent and placed as they are to so
m any thin g s The thoughts s o passing from you i n
e m i n ute could hardly be p lainly written ou t in an
on
hour You gather them to a centre Y o u have then
gathered in and concentrated your full m otive power "
the n you can put all its force onany thing you please
When the eye and mind are put onany single obj ect
that does n ot tax the en ergies s ay a spot in the wal l
the p ositive thought or laments reaching out ar e

i s,

Th ough t s

ar e

Things

YO U T R AVEL

W H EN

YO U S LEEP

drawn i n to the com mon centre Your absorption on

any single thing loosens the m from their n ear or far
point of contact B efore such loosening the spirit
is as the expanded hand and ngers
When the
thought is draw n in the spirit is as the closed or
clinched st
When thought is sent ou t to any thi ng y ou send
When it is centred in a single thing
ou t your force
and so drawn in and kept from strayi ng every
m oment y ou are drawing in force

The H indoo adept becomes able thro u gh a cer

tain training of mind to send his spirit or himself
from his body It is still connected wi th it by the
n e unseen current of l ife k nown in the B ible as the

silver thread
When that thread is sn apped body
an
d spiri t are completely severed and the body dies

The adept has allowed hi mself to be buried alive

Rice has been sow n over h is grave and sprouted
S eals were put i n his co f n and the grave carefully
watched H e has s o remai n ed for weeks and when

dug up ca m e to life
The real man was never b uried at all It was only
his b ody in the self induced trance state that was
buried Between his body and spirit possibly miles
away the n e thread o f spiri t k ept up the b ody s life
or rather such supply of life as the body needed t o
keep it from decay When the b ody w as dug up his
S pirit returned and took full p ossession of i t H e
was able to do with his ow nbody what the mesmeri z er
does with the body of his subject H e sent his o w n
s pir i t ou t of it " the mesme ri z er sent hi s s ubje ct s
.

Th ough t s

a re

Thi ngs

Y O U T R AVEL W H E N Y O U S LE EP

S p i ri t ou t B efore so sending ou t hi s spirit the adept

makes h is mind a blank Before drawing ou t the
spirit of his subject the o p erator causes the subject to
make his own mind a b lank " i n other words he stops
the resisting forces of the other person s thought by
turning all his tho u ght to a centre
Your spirit can and does fre q uently go from your
b ody to other places during sleep It i s the n still
connected with it by this thread of exceedingly ne
element This can be drawn ou t to a great distance
It is as an expanding or contracting electric wire con
necti ng your spirit w i th the instrument it operates
your body
This power of the spirit so t o leave the body a o
counts for the phenomenon of persons b ein g seen in
It is the
t w o p l aces far distant at the same time
sp irit that is seen by som e clairvoyant eye It is

the double t h e d opp el g a ng er of the G erm an

the wraith of the S cotch The spir i t may even

be far from the body j ust previous to the b ody s
death It i s only the feeble supp l y of life sent it
through the connecting thread which causes the i n
vol untary throes ( S O called " Of dissolution These
are not as painful as they seem Th e real se l f the

death bed
s pirit even then may b e unaware of the

S cene
It may go to some person possib ly at a
distance to whom it i s m uch attracted " and thereby
is solved the mystery of the apparitions seen by dis
tant friends of persons whose deaths at or ab out the
time of such a p pearances were not heard of u nti l
m onth s a ft er
.

Th o u gh t s

ar e

Things

Y OU T R A VEL W H E N Y O U S LEEP

S om etimes people during periods of sick ness fa ll

un consciously into a state where the S pirit leaves the
body without snapping the threads of life The
body s trance has then been mistaken for i t s real
death and it ( the body " has been b ur ied alive The
S pirit has been compelled to return to its b ody in the
co f n The thread could only b e severed after such
return
Your real being is ever sending ou t w ith each
thought a ne ele ctric ray or lament representing
your v itality and
s o m uch of your life your force
reaching to the object place or person to which such
thought is sent be it s i x feet or thousands of m iles
from your body
Your thought is your real strength When y ou
rlift a weight you put your thought on the muscl e
that lifts The heavier the weight the more of your
thought d o y ou put o n it If in S O lifting a part of
your thought is turned in som e other direction if
som e one talks to y ou if something frightens or an
noys y ou a part o f your strength or thought leave s
you I t goes to whatever has taken away a part of
your attention from lifting
It is mind thought spirit that use the musc l e to
l ift as we u s e a rope to pull up a weight There i s
no lifting or working without intelligence I nt el l i
gence thought mind and spirit mean about t h e
same
thing
L
It does not matter in order to give strength
W hether the spirit when once cal l ed togethe r be near
the body or at a distance from it S o t h at i t b r i ngs
,

'

Th ou gh ts

are

Th ings

Y O U T R AVEL W H E N Y O U S LEE P

99

forces ( its thoughts " together be it far from i ts

b ody or near it it is strong " and when it again take s
possession O f your body and wakes it up it is abl e
to use the b ody with its full strength
B ut the spirit m ay remain scattered all night I t
m ay never be able to bring its forces together at a ny
tim e It may be living as many now are with i t s
thought always in advance O f the act it is now doin g
It is walki ng the body and sendin g
or trying to do
o u t its force ( its thought " to the place it hurries to
It is writing with the b ody and thinking of somethin g
else When it frets it sends ou t force to the thin g
fretted about These states of mind acts of thought
and useless waste of force becom e at last so con
rmed in habit that the S pirit may lose all power of
bringing all its strength together In this state i t
gathers no strength by night or day
S leeplessness comes of the di f culty of the spirit
to bring itse l f to a centre and collect its forces In
sanity comes of the total inability of the sp irit to
focus its thoughts The permanent cure for sleep
lessness m ust commen ce in the daytime Y ou m us t
drill your mind to put its whole thought onthe a ct
you are now doing If y ou t i e your S hoe thi nk S h oe:
and nothi ng else
Then you b rin g yours elf to a
centre and collect your forces If y ou tie your shoe
and thi nk of what you are go i ng to buy the n e xt
hour you are sending n eedlessly half of your for ce
Y ou are in reality trying to d
from yo u rself
thi ngs at once You do neither well You are so
te ng your spirit onas many things as y ou think
its

Th oug h t s

ar e

Things

Y O U T R AVEL WHE N Y O U S LEEP

10

h il e ty i ng the shoe You are c u ltivating the bad

h ab it of scattering your force until such habit b e
Y ou are making it more and
c omes involuntary
m ore di f c u lt for your spirit to colle ct itself together
B y s o doing you make it more d i i cu l t for the spirit
t o return with strength to its body in the morning
o r to leave it at night
You can get no healthy sleep
a t night unless your spirit does withdraw from its
b ody S leeplessness means simply that your spirit
cannot leave its body
If y ou fall into the dangerous habit of fretting
our
spirit
may
fret
as
m
uch
on
going
from
its
body
y
O r if y ou
a t night as when using i t in the daytime
a r e o f a q uarrelsome disposition it may be q uarrel
l i ng ghting and hating all night and so return to
i t s b ody without any strength to use it " because al l
q uarrelling if only i n thought is constantly using u p
f orce
It is for this very reason dangerous and unhealthy

t o let t h e
that is
s u n go down on your wrath "
t o have in mind just before the body s eyes close in
s le ep the re collection of the persons you dislike and
b e then engaged in sending hating thought to them
The spirit will keep up the process after it leaves the
b ody
To hate is simply to expend force in tearing
to pie ces (H a te is a destructive
y oursel
f orce
to all is constructive : it builds y ou
u p stronger and stronger
H ate tears you down
G ood will to all draws to you healthy and cons t r u c
t ive elements from all with whom you come in con
ta ct
C ould you s ee the a ctual elements as they ow
w

'

'

Th o ugh t s

a re

Things

Y O U T R AVEL W H E N Y O U S LEEP

11

from them to y ou in their liking for you y ou would

C ould
s ee them as ne rills of life feeding yours
you see the contrary elements of hatred which y ou
may excite in others you would see them owing
toward you as dark rays or rills of dangerous poison
If you send out to it its like the
ou s substance
thought of hatred y ou only add to the unhealthy
force and p ower of that element because these two
O pposed and dangerous elements meet an d mingle
act and re a ct on those who send them ever calling
oneach to send fresh supply of force to keep up the
war until both are exhausted S elf i nterest should
prompt people to hate none It weakens the body
and causes disease Y ou never saw a healthy cynic
growler or grumbler Their soured thought poison s
them Their b odily d i sease originates intheir minds
Their s p irits are sick That make s the b ody sick
A ll disease ori gi nates in th i s way C ure the spirit
change the state of the mind replace the desire to
make others feel disagreeably by that of making the m
feel agreeably and you are on the road to cure dis
ease When the spirit originates n o warrin g hating
gloomy despondent thought no manner of unpleasant
thought the body will take no disease whatever
1
Y ou can only oppose successful ly the hatred or
evi l thought of others b y throwing out toward it the I
thought of good will G ood will as a thought ele
ment is more powerful than the thought of hate It

can turn i t aside The shafts of malice even in

thought are real things They can and do hurt
people on whom they are directed and make them
,

,
,

'

Th o u gh t s

ar e

Things

Y O U T R AVEL W H E N Y O U S LEEP

12

sick The C hrist precept DO good to them that

hate y ou is based on a scienti c law It means

that thoughts are things and that the thought of
good can always overpower that of evil By power
is here meant p ower in as literal a sense as in speak
ing of the force that lifts a table or chair The fact
that all thought all emotion all of what is called
sentiment or q ualities such as mercy patience love
etc are elements as real as any we see is the corner
stone to the scienti c basis O f religion
What you call dreams are realities Your spirit
away from your b ody at night goes to an d sees per
sons and places To some of these y ou may have
never gone with your body Y ou remember on the
body s awakening very little of what you have seen
What you do remem b er is mixed pell mell together
That is because your memory of the body can hold
but a littl e of what is grasped by the m em ory of
your S pirit Y ou have two memories one trained
and adapted to the life of your body the other O f
yo u r spir i t H ad you known of the life and power
and recogni z ed it as a
of your spirit from infan cy
reality the m emory of your spir i t would have been
so trained that it would remember all O f its own life
an d b ring i t back to you on the awakening of the
b ody B ut as y ou have been taught to regard even
your spirit as a myth so you m ake of its memory a
myth Were a human bein g taught from infancy to
discred i t the evi dence of any of i ts senses then that
sense would b e b lunted and almost destroyed L et
all as so cia ted w i th a child for years deli b erately s et

YO U

R A VE L WH EN YO U S LEE P

13

to work and tell it that they could not see the sky or
houses elds or other familiar O bjects at hand " and
with none allowed to break the delusion that child s
eyesight as well as its judgment would b e seriously
We are similarly ta u ght to deny all t h e
a ffected
senses and powers of ou r spirits " or rather the real
powers of ourselves of which the senses of the b ody
are a faint c ounterpart are persistently denied S ub
t ial l y we are taught that we are n othing but
s t an
bodies This is e q uivalent to telling the carpenter
that he is nothing but the hammer he uses
If i n a so called dream y o u s ee a person w h o died
years ago y ou see simply a person whose b ody being
worn out could no lon g er be used by
on t h is
stratum of l i fe
,

Th ou gh t s

ar e

Thing s

W HERE

EL
Y OU TRAV

W HEN YOU SLEEP

..

TE ER E

are senses O f your b ody and other s ense s

Yo ur Spirit is an organi z ation distin c t
of your spirit
from the body It has eyes and ears touch taste an d
smell Its eyes can see ten thousand times farthe r
than the eye of the body Its other senses are i n
nit el y superior Y ou are now using a v ery inferio r
The eye of your body compared wi th
s et of senses
the eye of your spirit is a mere peep hole Th e
senses of the body are relat i vely coarse as compare d
with those of the spir it They are for u s e in a rel a
Y ou are better off i n
t i v el y coarser stratum of life
a coal m i ne w i th a coarse miner s suit than with one
Your b ody w i th its coarser sen s e s
of silk or v e l vet
Yet i t
i s for u se i n this the coarser level of life
may b e for you a possib il i ty to slip off this suit ( t h e
b ody" and go wi th your S pirit (leaving for a time t h e
coarse suit b ehind "to a higher and ner order of life
You ha v e now a clairvoyant eye and a clairaudie nt
ear Bu t these are not opened Th e clairvoyant ey e
i s closed like those of some animals i n very e a rly
i nfancy In a few persons it is opened p rematu rely

WH ERE Y O U T R AVEL WH E N Y O U S L E EP

nd in advance of the other spiritual senses This

i s a premature ripening
The cla i r v oyant eye is the spiritual eye It is an
S en d your
e y e put ou t at the end of a thought
t hought to L ondo n and if clairvoyant you send that
e y e with it
A clairaudient ear is an ear sent with a thought
C lairvoyance and clairaudience are not special gifts
for particular peo p le
They belo ng to all and are in
t h e germ in all
Your sp i ritual senses have been S O crippled fro m
b i rth through lack of exercise that they are not in

work ing condition

When you leave your body at
nigh t you are as a person in a da z ed or bewildered
Y ou see w i thout s ee i n g
You hear without
s tate
h earing
You are as one stunned b y a sudden shoc k
o r blo w
The n the spirit u al eye may s ee but i t leaves
no distin ct memory of what it sees Y ou may i n such
s tate have a remem b rance of a crowd of faces about
you b ut that is all
In a condi tion somewhat
r esem b ling this does your spirit roam about onslip
Y
i
ng
a
w
ay
rom
i
b
ody
o
u
are
as
an
infant
j
ust
f
t
s
p
Y ou go where a vague whim or
l et ou t of doors
:fancy carri es you
You have left the physical senses
Y ou have
o f sight hearing and touch in the body
now only a s et of total ly uneducated senses to guide
You have been taught all your life to deny the
y ou
To teach a child u n
v ery existence of these senses
b elief say in its hearing or eyesight from its earliest
c onsc i ousness wil l result i n injury to its sight
The
s hil d ed u cates itself gradually to u se the s ens es of i t s
a

Th ou gh ts ar e

Things

WH ERE Y O U T R A VE L W H E N Y O U S L E E P

correctly A n infant has no idea of distanc e

It reaches ou t for things far from it imagining they
a r e near enough to be touched
It will walk off a
p recipice if left to itself It learns by painful ex p e
r i en
ce n
ot to touch hot coals or hot iron
It re q u ire s
years to educate it to a proper use of the phy sical
s enses
Your spiri t has its o w nsenses which are not even
recogni z ed They are left year after year without
an
You do not s ee in what
y exercise or training
ou
call dreams with the physical eye at all or hear
y
with the physical ear You s ee with the Spiritual
e y e " you b ear with the spiritual ear
Y ou are literally lost ongoing to sleep w h en you
o
into
your
spirit
life
Y
u
then
grope
about
like
o
g
an infant with its u ntrained physical senses What
idea of the senses y ou do have you estimate entirely
by those of your b ody which y ou have left behind
You then carry your real selves about under the i m
pression that you are still living in the mask y ou wear
in the daytime ( your b ody " and estimating and j udg
ing all you see or sense by a s et of inferior sense s
the
physical
which
you
are
not
using
at
all
"
(
Y ou are nightly onpassing out of the body really
i n a spirit life " yet you are dead to this fact because
you are using the spiritual senses as y ou use the phy
s i cal in the daytime
You are as one using a crutch
when y ou have two sound legs which need only p ra c
tice to make y o u a good walker M any people who
are completely severed from their bodies are in pre
c is ely the same condition Y ou may go mostly when
b ody

Th ough ts

a re

Things

WH ERE Y O U T R AVEL WH E N YO U S LEEP

away from the body amon g these people You may

be attracted to them be cause your S pirit has in i t s
uned u cated state been s o long i nthe habit of blindly
groping among them Your spirit has fallen into thi s
habit j ust as it when using the body falls into rut s
of habit w hi ch are O ften extremely di f cult to break
You see men daily drifting about without aim
of
f

turn
or purpose waiting hoping for something to

up to amuse them A man without aim or purpose

in life soon becomes inferior 1n intellect Your spir
i t u al self is in the sam e condition from a simila r
cause It is often surrounded by others out of t h e
body without aim or purpose and who know not
what to do with themselves
Fiction has never devised the picture literally real
These thousands on
i z ed every night among you
thousands of blind beings freed temporarily from thei r
bodies are straying wandering groping everyw her e
in your houses your streets your el d s some
near som e far away They are neither asleep nor
awake They wander as if in a dream whi ch is not
a dream S ometimes the spiritual eye opens and the y
fa
s ee ac q uaintance or stranger scene familiar or u n
mili ar B ut the recognition is not always a s atisfa c
tory one You have been unconsciously taught not
to believe i n the reality Of what you s ee i n this state
Therefore you do not accept i t as a reality and what
the mind i n any condition persistently refuses t o
accept as a reality will not frame i tself to b e held by
memory as one
It i s a fact that some people on the death of t h e
.

Th ough ts

ar e

Things

W H ERE Y O U T R AVEL WH E N Y O U S LEEP

body still think they have their phys i ca l b odies

They may remain in this state for years They go
about eat sleep and live in every way in that grade
of existence which though unseen by us is all about
us
Because every thing we s ee hear touch handle
smell or taste has onits grade its correspo ndent or
s piritual counterpart and can be used exactly as it is
here There are n o sudden transitions of any sort
in N ature P eople onpassing from the physical body
do not enter on any glori ed condition of existence
unless they I N MI ND are living such existence onearth
They go where every thing is in strict correspondenc e
Friends in the unseen
with their daily thought
world m ay ontheir rst arrival receive them as guest s
in their houses B ut they are only guests and cannot
remain in those circles unless in spirit they belong t o
them If their thought b e lower they must after a
time return to the order or stratum of thought in
whi ch they lived on passing out of the body They
cannot commence building upward on that
You

MUS T build yo ur
mansion in the skies yourself
Y ou can commen ce consciously building i t here in the
b ody to greater advantage than to commence after
you lose your body That you must build it your
self is the law of nature
It is not because any
i ndividuality however wise and powerful in any of
the advanced stages of existence says you must A l l
o f these up to orders of mind beyond ou r power to
comprehend have been and are now the builders of
their temples (themselves " What m ost they want
of us i s to build in like mann er ou r ow nand w i th the

Th ou gh t s

a re

Things

WH ERE YO U T R AVEL W H E N Y O U S LE E P

ame blissful results B ecause such building is s i m

of our ow n individual happiness
the
building
l
p y
into grander broader and ever broadening propor
t ions
Your rst error on passing fro m the b ody in the
s tate known as sleep lies in thinking that you are
m oving about your physical body You must educate
Y
of that mistake
ourself
out
ou must x it in your
y
m ind before going to sleep that if you wake up in
w hat you ca l l a dream you are not then using your
Y
hysical
body
ou will x i n your mind before
p
oing
to
S
leep
so
far
as
you
can
your
con
ception
of
g

r rather as the unseen organ

ourself
as
a
spirit
o
y
i z at i onwhich during the day uses your b ody
The last thought before goi ng to sleep is the one
m ost likely to remain w ith you onleaving the b ody
If persisted in you will nd it mingling itself with
That is it will be the
w hat you call your dreams
rst clew towards the recognition of your real self
when you are away from your body
K eep this fact then this recognition of yoursel f as
a spirit in your mind and it will be a great help to
your unseen friends in the other life to get near you
an
d waken y ou to the knowledge of your real self
The wiser and m ore powerful order of spirits who
may be able t o give y ou m uch of their thought i n
the daytime or while you are using the body may
not be able to give you s o m uch of it during your
e scape from the body owi ng to the condition above
Instead therefore of going into a higher
s poken of
r egion of thought at night
u
descend throu gh
o
y
s

Th

ou

gh t s

a re

Things

W H ERE YO U T R AV E L W H E N Y O U S LEEP

b lindness and mere force of habit into a lower one

You may be while using the body educated up t o
and enter into their higher realm of thought by day
Yet at night being s o educated in part in the schoo l
you cann ot carry that educatio n
of physical sen se
You walk with the spiritual eye and ear
w ith y ou
thinking these the physical eye and ear A ll this
results in a confusion which no language can fully
express because no similar condition in this life can
b e clearly reali z ed or illustrated
Y ou want to give your powerful unseen friends a
clew by which on passing from the body they can
come nearer to you and help you to wake up nd
your real self and go where you belong The thought
of yourself as a spirit as a being distinct and apart
from yo u r body will serve as this clew A thought
is as real a thing as a telegraph wire It will be the
telegraph wire twixt y ou and them because they will
not stay permanently with you in your gropings on
the cruder stratum of life
They could if they
wished " but they want to draw you up to their
abodes their country their realm where all i s
more beautiful and fairy like than ever pen or pic
ture reali z ed here " where in part at least y ou may
n ow belong To bring back of this t h e r emembrance
to the dayt i me while your spirit uses the body would
be to bring the celestial life to earth It woul d be
as a temptation in the right direction to leave off
the coarse r pleasures for the sake of reali z ing and liv
in
the
higher
B
ecause
all
self
denial
has
really
in
g
b ut t hi s one purpose : that of cuttin g loose from
.

W H ERE Y O U

R A VE L W HE N Y O U S LEE P

eeting pleasure that leaves a lasting pain to obtain

a far greater pleasure that leaves n o pain at all
AS persistently yo u x ongoing to sleep this idea
i n your mind that you are no longer using the body s
s enses you will after a time in what you have called
the dream nd yourself re calling this fact Y o u will
nd yourself saying This is as real as my body or

I am only in a different state of existence

d ay life
Your present life of the Spirit away from the body
at night is very often one that exhausts more tha nit
refreshes U n consciously y ou may drift toward per
You are carried
s ons and scenes repulsive to you
to them by lower cur rents of thought You drift
into these tides as an ignorant child wades into the
s tream and is carried beyond its depth and off its
foothold by an outer and stronger current " knowing
nothing of the fact that thought does move in cur
rents and that the lower one of inferior or evil
thought is m ost powerful near t h e earth nothing
o f your powers and senses as a S pirit y o u are as help
less as a babe nightly on passing from your body
C ould you get a start in the right direction toward
the upper and superior regions O f thought could
you ascend through the current of dark and crude
ou
thought which everywhere surrounds y ou
y
would nd yourself in a land Of beauty sunshine
and owers " of grand scenery and fairy landscape
You would associate there with the people y ou m ost
wish to see and t o whom y ou in S pirit belong You
would repose in a luxurious lang u or yet still be able
t o n ote scenes of indescribable charm b y the eye
,

Th ou gh t s

ar e

Things

W HE RE

YO U T R A VEL WH E N Y O U S LEEP

You would be cons cious of life and still be at rest

Y ou would drin k in life with every breath
You
would return with this life to your body in the morn
ing Your night of bliss would be both as a rest in
thought and a healthy stimulation to your life in the
body Your spiritual senses would O pen in this ele
v a t ed thought atmosphere
You would be freed fro m
what is now a nightly slavery Your connection with
the higher regions of thought would become perma
n ent and you could attain the power of returning to
them at any tim e to refresh yourself when overcome
by the cruder thought which now surrounds you
E very low place of resort every saloon lled with
hangers onm ore or less under the in uence of s t i mu
lant e very and any place n o matter what its conv en
t i onal character if it be a place of deceit of trickery
in trade is an actual spring of low thought This
thought ows from it as real though unseen as
water from a spring In any great city all these are
as so many thousands of springs of lthy thought
ele
ment near together It is not a live rapid current
It is m ore like a slowly m oving bed of lthy oo z e in
which you are mired and slowly borne along E very
tattling gossiping scandal mongering group of peo
ple is an additional spring of such thought S o is
every family where disorder sour looks cross words
and peevishness or petulan ce reign G ood society
a s well as that called inferior in the social scale
can contribute to this inferior thought current The
purest spirit cannot live in this thought curre nt with
ou t b e i ng unfavorably affected by it
It re q uires
,

,
,

Th o u gh t s

ar e

Things

10

WH ERE Y O U T R AVEL WH E N Y O U S LEEP

contin ual outlay of force to resist it You be com e

mixed and entangled in i t blinded by its O bscurity
weighed down by the burthen it brings You may
have n oticed how mu ch of in ordinate desi re you ar e
freed from ongetting in the O pen country far beyond
the city limits M ountains are m ore fr ee from thi s
thought It is an elem ent which conforms to t h e
law of gravitation L ow thought runs to the lowest
places as does any thing heavy crude and coarse
Trade commerce and man ufactur e unfortunately
demand cities to b e built on l ow levels either at the
seaside or river bank In the coming higher civili z a
tions the making of t h e most perfe ct men and women
d the discovery and making of real and permanent
an
pleasures will be the chief pursuit
Ci ties wi ll the n
be buil t onbi ll s or m ountains so that all the cruder
emanations seen and unseen shall read i ly dra i n away
With so m uch of thi s I nj uri ous unseen element
about you y ou m ay s ee an addit i onal necessity for
forming groups of people who are natura ll y aspiring
and more pure who sha ll fre q uently come together
and by conversation and S ilent communion generate
a current Of purer thought The m ore of this they
m ake through such co O peration the more power is
given each individua l of the group to keep himsel f
whether i n the b ody by day or out of it at n ight
from being unfavorably affected and perhaps over
whelmed by these prevail ing destructive t i des Y o u
are then forming a chain of conn ection with th e
higher pu rer and more powerfu l re gi on of thought
The more you earnestly seek to form su ch connection,
.

Th

gh t s

ou

ar e

Things

W H ERE Y O U T R AVEL W H E N

YOU

S LEEP

11

the stronger will b e the chain You do n ot reali z e

the strength of these powers of darkness all about
o u or the odds against you in tryin
g
to
stem
t
hi s
y
dark tide alone
The thought bro u ght to and made by a very few
persons who s o meet in concert and who are s o alive
to i ts bene ts as to love to meet is of a value you
cannot overestimate It is the m ore powerful thought
It is in part the thought and with the thought t h e
force of wise powerful and b ene cent spirits w h o
will be attracted to your group and who come with
every desire to aid y ou It wil l clear your brain
make stronger your body drive out disease and giv e
you new ideas and plans for every kind of legitimate
business Y ou do not now reali z e how much you ar e
kept from success and ona lower level of life through
unconsc i ously absorbing and being swayed or partly
blinded or confused by the l ow thought current abou t
you You accept conditions in life as a necessity
which were your intellects keener and sh arper y ou
could avoid Y ou m ay absorb timidity from others
You may so absorb inertia and l ack of energy Yo ur
periods of lack of con dence and indecision may b e
results of absorption of this lower element Y ou
may not know how blind y ou are and what a dif
fer en
t man or woman y ou might be d i d y ou s ee
m ore clearly what could inj ure and what could
b en e t you Your generation of the more powerful
thought through meeting in a concert of pure mo
tive in q uiry for truth and desire to bene t others
as well as yourselves would clear your intelle ct i n
.

Th ough ts

are

Th ings

12

W HERE Y O U TR AVEL W H E N YO U S LEEP

rease your energy lead y ou away from errors and

stumbling blocks improve your health and build
you up into a force whi ch would bring to you every

material good thing It is the way for seeking

r st the kingdom of G od
when all these things

shall be added unto y ou

They are added becaus e
th e force y ou create in yourselves through these
m eetings as a family and fraternity will be as an
actual strong magnet attracting all things which
your wisdom says will bene t you

The N ew World rediscovered by C olumbus is

a small a ai r as compared with the o ne lying at our
very doors and into which we un consciously enter
e very night
We look with the eye of the b ody
across ou r rooms our streets ou r elds saying there
is noth i ng between us and the walls the house the
forest or the mountain but empty air " when that
S pace may be crowded wi th structures with people
with the unseen copies of all we see about us
The visions produced by the use of opium and
hasheesh are realities They allow of a more com
l
escape
of
the
spirit
from
the
body
The
spirit
t
e
e
p
r eceives an arti cia l strength through the ele ments
taken from the poppy or hemp A ided by this it
can travel farther and is stimulated to go out of its
habit u al ruts when the body Sleeps It does go into
higher and more sublimated regions and sees in them
glories never reali z ed on earth B ut it is in this way
forced into elem ents too ne for i t ( the spirit " to
retain and bring back to the body It cannot hold
o strength
t hem a n d s o returns to the b ody w i th n

Th

o ug h

ts ar e

Things

W H ER E YO U T R A VE L W H E N Y O U S L EEP

13

H ence the re action and misery of the O pi u m eater or

when the effect of the drug is O ff You
s moker
wo ul d soon b e in a co ndition somewhat similar were
the higher spirits to carry yo u ( as they could " to
their ow n country before you had spiritually grown
up to it The ele ments you would absorb there
would be too ne for u s e in this stratum of life Yet
continued aspiration can make your spirit t to r e
cei v e of these elements and appropriate them on its
return to earth Your whole organi z ation would be
ner then than now You would be an inhabitant
of the two worlds the physical one about you and
that grade or stratum of the spiritual where you
naturally belonged This is to be the life of the
future onthis planet This is the N ew Jerusalem
let down to earth
M ore men and women in the world s h i story have
awakened to this life and lived in it while using
their bo d ies than is generally known P aul speaks
O f being ca u ght up to the third heaven and there

S wedenborg was in close

s eeing unutterable things
relationship with this world There have been many
others during the ages " but they were discreet enough
to keep their kn owle d ge to themselves knowing their
story would not i ntheir time be credited and that to
tell it would bring onthemselves unpleasant results
The time for such se cretiveness is now over M ore
minds awakened and able at least to entertain
these truths are no w on earth than ever before
These are r e embodied spirits who have entered on
an other earth life with a partial knowledge of thes e
-

Th ou gh t s

ar e

Things

14

W HE RE Y O U T R A VEL WHE N Y O U S LEEP

truths and who will recogniz e the m s o soon as they

are boldly put forth
The age for materiality to crush ou t spiritua l
truths has passed The age wherein spiritual truth
S hall assert itself and rule materiality has in reality
commen ced It matters not how small is the appar
ent n ucleus or group of persons alive to these truths
A pin hole can reveal a vast landscape Th e point
of contact where the rope is made fast to the shi p
to p ull her Off the shoal is but a few inches wide
b ut that is all the space re q uired to bring the force
t o b ear on the vessel " and s o the relative few who
no w can receive these things will b e the power to
r a i se the many u p ward
,

,
,

Th ou gh t s

ar e

Things

THE ART OF FORGETTING

IN

the chemistry of the future thought will be

recogni z ed as substance as m uch as the acids oxides
and all other chemicals of to day
There is n o chasm betwixt what we call the
material and spiritual
B oth are o f substance or
element They blend imperceptibly into each other
In reality the material is only a visible form of the
ner elem ents we call spiritual
O ur unseen and unspoken thought is ever o wi ng
from us an element and force as real as the stream
o f water we can see or the current o f ele ctricity we
It combines with the thought of others
cannot s ee
and ou t O f such combination s n ew q ualities of thought
are formed as in the combination of chemicals new
s ubstances are formed
If y ou send from you in thought the elements of
worry fret hatred or grief you are putting in
action forces inj urious to your mind and body The
power to forget implies the power of driving away
t h e unpleasant and hurtful thought or element and
,

Th ou gh ts

ar e

Things

T HE

OF FO R G E TT IN G

AR T

b r i ng ing in its place the pro tab le element to b u i ld

U p instead o f tearing us down
The character of thought we think or put out
affects ou r business favorably or unfavorably It i n
u ences others for or against us
It is an ele ment
felt pleasantly or unpleasantly b y others in spirin g
the m with con dence or distrust
The prevailing state of mind or character o f
thought shapes the body and features It makes us
u gly or pleasing
attractive or repulsive to others
O ur thought S hapes ou r gestures ou r mannerism
Th e l east m ovement of muscle has a
o u r walk
m ood of mind a thought behind it A mind always
determined has always a determined walk A mind
always weak shifting vacillating and uncertain
makes a shu fing sham b lin g uncertain gait The
Spirit of determinat i on braces e very muscle
It i s
th e thought element of determination lling every
muscle
7 L ook at the d i scontented gloomy m elan choly and
ill tempered men or women and you s ee in their
faces proofs of the action o f this silent force o f their
U npleasant thought
cutting carving and shaping
S uch people are
t hem to their present e xpression
never i n good health for that force acts on them as
oison
and
creates
some
form
O f disease
A
per
p
S istent thought o f determination on a purpose espe
ci al l y if such purpose be of bene t to others as well
as ourselves will ll every nerve with strength It
i s a w i se sel shness that works to bene t others along
B ecause in spirit and in actual e l e
w i th our s elves
,

Th ough t s

ar e

Things

T HE

AR T

OF FOR G ETT IN G

m ent we are all united We are forces which act

and re act oneach other for good o r ill through what

ignorantly we call empty space

There are unseen
nerves extending from m an to m an from b eing to
b eing E very form of life is in this sense connected

together
We are all
members of one body
A n evil thought or act is a pulsation of pai nthrill
i ng through myriads of organi z at i ons The kindly
thought and act have for pleasure the same effect
I t is then a law of nature and of science that we
cannot do a real good to another without doing one
also to ourselves
To grieve at any l oss b e it o f friend or property
weakens mind and body It is no help to the friend
gr i eved for
It is rather an inj ury " for ou r sad
thou g ht m ust reach the person even i f passed to
another condition of ex i stence a n d is a source of
p ain to that person
A n h our of grum b ling fret or fear whethe r
spoke n or silent uses up so much element or force
in making U S l ess endurable to others and perhap s
making for us enemies
D irectly or indirectly i t
i nj ures ou r b us i ness
S our looks and words dri ve
awa y good customers
G rumbling or hatin g i s a
use of actual element to belabor ou r minds The
force we may so expend could be used to ou r plea s
ure and pro t even as the force we m ight use w i t h
a club to beat ou r own b ody can be emp l oyed to
give u s comfort and recreation
To be able then to thr ow off ( or forget"a though t
or force wh i ch is i nj uri ng u s is a m o s t importan t
,

Th o u gh t s

a re

Things

T H E AR T OF FO R G ETT I N G

m eans for gaining strength of body and clearnes s

S trength of b ody and clearness of mind
o f m i nd
b ring success in all undertakings
It brings also strength of S pirit " and the forces of
o u r spirits act on others whose b odies are thousands
o f miles distant for ou r advantage or disadvantage
B ecause there i s a force belonging to all of us sepa
It is always
r ate and apart from that of the body
in action and acti ng on others It mu st be in action
whether th e body be asleep or
a t every m om ent
awake
Ignorantly unconsciously and hence nu
wisely used it plunges us into mires O f misery and
Intelligently and wisely used it will bring
e rror
us every conceivable good
That force is ou r thought E very thought of ours
is of vi tal importance to health and real success
A ll so called success as the world terms i t is n ot
real A fortune gained at the cost of health i s not
a real success
E very mind trains itself gen erally u nconsc i ously
t o its pe culiar character or q uality of thought
Whatever that training is it cannot be immediately
We m ay have trained ou r minds u ncon
changed
s ci ou sl y to entertain evil or troubled thought
We
may never have reali z ed that brooding over d i sap
pointment living in a grief dreading a loss fretting
for fear this or that might not succeed as we wish
w as building up a destructive force which has bled
a way ou r strength
created disease u n tt ed u s for
business and caused U S loss of money and possibly
l o ss of fr i ends
.

Th ough t s

are

Things

T H E AR T OF FO R G ETT I N G

'

To

l earn to forget is as necessa ry and useful as to

learn to remember We think o f m any things every
day which it would b e m ore pro t able not to think
of at all
To be able to forget is to be able to drive
away the unseen force ( thought " which is inj uring
us and change i t for a force ( or order of thought"
to bene t U s
D emand imperio u sly and p ersistently any q uality
o f character in which you may be lacking and you
attract increase of such q uality
D emand more
patien ce or decision or judgment or courage or hope
fulness or exactness and you will increase in such
q ualities These q ualities are real elements They
belong to the subtler and as y et unrecogni z ed chem
i s try of nature

The man discouraged hopeless and whining has l

unconsciously d emanded discouragement and hope
S O he gets it
lessness
T
un conscious
m ental training to evil M ind
because
it attracts to itself whatever
xes itself
upon or whatever it O pens itself to A llow yoursel f
to fear and y ou will fear more and more C ease to
resist the tendency to fear make n o effort to forget
fear an d you open the door and invite fear i n you
then dem and fear S et your mind on the thought
o f courage
s ee yourself in mind o r imagination as
courage ous and you will b ecom e m ore courageous
You demand courage
There is n o limit in unseen nature to the sup p ly

o f these spiritual q ualities

In the words Ask and

ye shall re ceive the C hrist implied that any min d

.

Th ou gh ts

are

Things

T HE AR T OF FO R G ETT IN G

co u ld thr ough demanding draw to i tse lf all that

it needed of any q uality D emand wisely and we
draw to us the best
E very second O f wise demand brings an in crease
of power
S uch increase is ne ver lost to us This
is an e ffort for lasting gain that we can use at any
time What all of us want is m ore power to work
results and build up our fortunes
power to make
things a b out us more comfortable to ourselves and
o u r friends
We cannot feed others if we have no
power to keep starvation from ourselves P ower to
do this is a different thing from the power to hold in
memory other people s O pinions or a collection of so
called facts gathered from books which time O fte n
proves to be ctions E very success in any grade
of life has been accomplished through S piritual p ower
through unseen force owing from on e mind and
working on other minds far and near as real as the
force in your arm lifts a sto ne
A man may b e illiterate yet send from his mind
a force affectin g and in uenc i ng many others far
and near in a way to b ene t his fortunes while the
scholarly m an drudges with hi s brain on a pittan ce
The illiterate man s is the greater spiritual power
Intellect i s not a bag to hold facts Intellect is
power to work results
Writing books is but a
The greatest
fragment of the work of intelle ct
philosophers have planned rst and acted after
wards as did C o l umbus N apoleo n Fulton M orse
E dison and others who have m oved the world be
s ides tellin g the world how i t should b e mo v ed
,

Th ough t s

ar e

Things

T H E AR T OF

O R G E TT IN G

Your p l an purpose or design whether relating to

a business or an invention is a real construction of
unseen thought element S uch thought structure is
also a magnet It comme nces to draw aiding forces
to it so soon as made P ersist in holdi ng to your
p lan or purpose and these forces come nearer and
nearer become stronger and stronger and will bring
m ore and m ore favorable results
A bandon your purpose and you stop further ap
proach of these forces and destroy also such am ount
of unseen attracting power as y ou have built up
S uccess in any business depe nds on the application
P ersistent resolve on any purp ose i s a
of this law
real attractive force or element drawing constantly
more and more aids for carrying ou t that resolve
When your body is in the state called sleep these
forces (your thoughts " are still active They are
then working on other minds If your last tho u ght
before sleep is that of worry or anxiety or hatred
for any one it will work for y ou o nly ill results
If it is hopeful cheerful con dent and at p eace with
all men it is then the stronger force and will work
for you good results If the sun goes down onyour
wrath your wrathful thought will act on others
while y ou sleep and bring only injury i n return
Is it not a necessity the n to cult i vate the power
of forgetting what we wish so that our current of
thought attracting ill while ou r bo d y rests shall be
cha nged to the thought current attracting good
TO day thousands on thousands never think of
contro l ling the character of their thought
They
,

Th ough ts

a re

Things

THE

AR T

OF F OR G ETT I N G

llow their minds to dri ft

They n ever say of a

I won t think of
t hought that is troubling them

it
U nconsciously then they demand what works
t hem ill and their bodies are made S ick by the
kind of thought which they allow their minds to
fasten on
When you reali z e the inj ury done y ou through
kind
of troubled thought you will then commence
an
y
to ac q uire the p ower of throwing off such thought
W hen in mind you commen ce to resist any kind of
s uch inj urious tho u ght
y ou are constantly gaining

m ore and more powe r for resistance

R esist the

d evil
said the C hrist and he will e e from you
There are n o devils save the illy used forces of the
m ind
B ut these are m ost p owerful to a f ict and
torture us A n ugly or m elancholy m ood of mind
i s a devil It can make us sick lose U S fr iends and
l ose us m oney M oney mean s the enj oymen t of
necessities and com forts Witho u t these we cannot

d o or be our b est
The s i n involved in love of

money is to l ove m o ney better than the things

needful which money can bring
To br i ng to us the greatest success in any b usiness
t o make the greatest advance in any art to further
an
y cause it is absolutely necessary that at certain
i ntervals daily we forget all about that business art
By SO doing we rest our minds and gather
o r cause
fresh force for renewed e ffort
k
To b e ever revolving the same plan study or spec
u l at i on o r what we shall do or shall not do is to
w aste such force on a brain treadmill We are in
a

Th

oug h

t s ar e

Things

T HE AR T OF FO R G ETT IN G

tho u ght saying to ourselves the same th i ng over and

over again We are building of this actual unseen
element thought the same constructions over and
over again O ne is a useless duplicate of the other
If we are always inclined to think or converse on
on
e particular subj ect if we will n ever forget it i f
we will start it at all times and places if we will not
in thought and speech fall into the prevailing tone of
the conversation about us if we do not try to get up
an interest in what is being talked of b y others if
we determine only to converse onwhat i nterests U S
or n ot converse at all we are in danger of becomin
g

a crank or hobbyist or monomaniac

The crank draws his reputation on himself
H e is one who having forced o ne idea and one alone
on h imself has resolved
perhaps unconsciously to
force that idea onevery one else H e will not forge t
at periods his pet theory or purp ose and adapt him
For this reason h e
self to the thought of others
l oses the power to forget to throw from his mind the
H e drifts more and more
on
e absorbing thought
i nto that one idea H e surrounds himself with i ts
peculiar thought atmosphere or el ement as real an
element as any we s ee or feel
O thers near him feel this one ideaed thought and
feel i t disagreeably " because the thought of one
p erson is felt by others near him through a sense as
yet unnamed In the exercise of this sense lies t h e

secret of your favorable or unfavorable impressions

Y ou are in thought as i t
of people at rst sight
o w s from y ou always sending into t h e air an elemen t
.

T H E AR T OF FO R G ETT I N G

10

which affects others for or against you according to

its q uality and the acuteness of their sense which
feels thought Y ou are affected by the thought O f
others in the same way be they far or near H ence
we are talking to others when ou r tongues are still
W e are m aking ourselves hated or loved while we
S it alone in the privacy of o u r chambers
A crank O ften becomes a martyr or thinks him
self one There is n o absolute ne cessity for martyr
d om in any cause save the necessity of ignorance
There never was any absolute necessity save for the
same cause M artyrdom always implies lack of j udg
m ent and tact in the presentation O f any principle
new to the world
A naly z e martyrdom and y ou
will nd in the m artyr a d etermination to force on
people som e idea in an O ffensive and antagonistic
fo rm P eople of great ability though dwelling in
one idea have a t last been captured by it The an
t ag on
i s m they drew from others they drew be cause

they held it rst in their ow n mind

I come not

with peace said the C hrist but a sword

The
time has now come in the world s history for the sword
to be sheathed
M any good people un consciously
u s e swords in advising what they deem better things
There is the sword ( in thought " of the scolding r e
former the sword of dislike for others because they
won t heed what y ou say and the sword of p r eju
dice because others won t adopt yo u r peculiar habits
E very discordant thought against others is a sword
and calls out from others a sword in return The
thought you put ou t you receive back of the sam e
,

Th o u gh ts

ar e

Things

TH E AR T O E F OR G ET I I N G .

11

k ind The coming empire of peace is to be built up

by reconciling di fferences making of enemies friends
telling people of the good that is in them rather than
the bad discouraging gossip and evil speaking by
the introduction of subje cts m ore pleasant and p r o t
able and proving through one s life that there are
laws not generally recogni z ed which will give
health happiness and fortune without inj ustice or
inj ury to others Its advocate will meet the S ick
with the smile of true friendship and the m ost dis
eased people are always the greatest sinners The
most repul sive m an or woman the creature full of
de ceit treachery and ven om n eeds your pity and
help of all the most for that man or woman through
generating evil thought is generating pain and dis
ease for himself or herself
You nd yourself thinking of a person u npl eas
an
t l y from whom you have received a S light or insult
an inj ury or inj ustice S uch thought remains with
you hour after hour perhaps day after day You
become at last tired of it yet cannot throw it O ff
It annoys worries frets sickens you You cannot
prevent yourself from going round and round on
t his same tiresome troublesome track of thought
It wears on your spirit " and whatever wears on the
S pirit wears onthe body
This is because y ou have drawn on yourself the
other person s O pposing and hostile thought H e is
thinking of y ou as you are of him H e is sending
you a wave of hostile thoug h t Y ou are both giving
a n d receiving blows of unseen elements You may
.

Th ough t s

ar e

Things

T HE AR T OF FO R G ETT IN G

12

k eep up this silent war of unseen force for wee ks

and if so both are inj ured This contest of O ppos
ing wills an d forces is going on all about U S The
air is full of it
To strive then to forget enemies or to throw out
to them only frien dl y thought is as much an act of
self prote ction as it is to put up yo u r hands to ward
The pers istent thought of
off a physical blow
friendl iness turns aside thought of ill w ill and ren
ders it harmless The inj un ction of C hrist to d o
good to your enemies is founded on a natural law
It is saying that the thought or element of good wil l
carries the greater power and wi ll always turn aside
and prevent injury from the thought O f ill will
D emand forgetfulness when you can only think
of a person or of any thing with the pain that come s
or for any cause
D emand is a
of grief anger
state of mind which sets in motion force s to brin g
D
emand
is
the
scienti

c
ou the result desired
y
b asis of prayer D o not S upplicate D emand per
tl y your S hare of force ou t of the elemen t s
si st en
about you by which you can rule your mind to any
desired mood
There are n o limits to the strength to be gained
through the cultivation of ou r though t power I t
can keep from us all pain arising from grief fr om
l oss of fortune loss of friends and di sagreeable
S ituations in life S u ch power i s the very element
or attitude of mind m ost favorable to the gain o f
fortune and friends The stronger mind throws off
t h e burdensome wearyi ng fretting thought forgets
,

Th

ou

gh t s

ar e

Th ings

T H E AR T OF F O R G ETT I N G

13

it and interests itself in som ething else The weaker

mind dwells in the fretting worrying thought and is
enslaved by it When you fear a misfortune (which
may never happen " your body becomes weak " your
energy is paraly z ed
But you can through con
t l y demanding it dig out of yourself a power
s t an
which can throw off any fear or troublesome stat e
S uch power is the high road to success
o f mind
D emand it and it wil l increase more and more until
at last you will know no fear A fearless man or
w oman can accomplish wonders
That no individual may have gained such amoun t
of this power is n o proof that it cannot be gained
N ewer and more wonderf u l things are ever happen
ing in the world Thirty years ago and he w h o
S hould assert that a hum an voice could be heard
between N ew York and P hiladelphia wo ul d have
been called a lunatic To d ay the wonder of t h e
telephone is an every day a ffair The powers stil l
unrecogni z ed O f our thought will make the telephon e
a tame affair M en and women through cultivation
and use of this power are to do wonders which
ction has not or dares not put before the world
.

Th o u gh t s

ar e

Things

HOW THOUGHTS ARE BORN

chem i cals new

are formed so in the combination of
s ubstances
thought substan ce as it ows and mingles from mind
t o mind n ew thoughts are formed or b orn
The character and q uality of your thought are
S haded and to a greater or less extent cha nged by
every person with whom y ou associate as theirs mi n
gles and forms a new combination with yours You
are to an extent a differen t person thro u gh convers
ing an h our yesterday with A than if you had inter
changed thought with B You have then grafted on
ou a shade of A s nature or q uality of thought
y
If y ou are much with the low and degraded the
thought in you born of your thought chemicali z ation
with theirs will be despite your greatest endeavor
and aspiration weighed down with their grossness

If
S O evil communications corrupt good manners
your associate s be re ned pure lofty aspiring t h e
thought born of such commingling and ch emi cal iz a
tion is lofty pure aspiring and powerful
A ssociations with the low and impure lessen the
power of your thought What weakens the m i n d
A s in combinations of e l ements

or

Th o u gh ts

ar e

Things

H ow

T H O U G H T S AR E

B OR N .

weakens the b ody and also lessens the power of yo ur

thought to accomplish results afar from the b ody on
any busi ness
If there is constant association and mi n
gling of
the thought O f a broad and generous mind with one
low ignoble narrow and m ean the force of the
hi gher spirit or thought may be exhausted in re p el
ling the lower Thousands of ner natures are
to day physically sick because their spirits are sat
u r at ed with the lower grosser m ore narrow thought
of those about them
N ew thought or idea brings strength to body as
well as mind For this reason the real active intel
l ect o f the world lives long like Victor H ugo G lad
s tone Beecher Bright B ismarck Er i ccson an d
others True there is a sort of foss ili z ed life and
intellect which may exist m any years but it enjoys
l ittle and accomplishes nothing In cre a sed k nowl
edge of the laws O f thought ( that great S ilent forc e
in nature " will in the future enable the S pirit to
use i ts body not only in full b ut ever in creasing
possession of its mental and physica l powers so lon g
as it pleases
P eople s bodies decay and lose vigor through th i nk
i ng continually the same s et of thoughts Thought
i s food for your spirit as much as is bread food for
O ld thought is literally old stale s u b
t h e b ody
stance or elem ent It does not properly nourish the
spirit If the sp i rit is starved the body will su ffer
It will become either a semi animated fossil or if
the Sp irit be s u i ci entl y strong to assert its dema n d s
,

Th ou gh t s

ar e

Th ings

T H O U G HT S AR E

H ow

O RN

caused b y the gnawings of its h u nger there will b e

perpetual unrest uneasiness and some form of bodily
disease From such ca u se are thousands suffering

to d ay
They grieve the S pirit
That is their
worldly education or rather that portion of their
S pirit trained almost unwillingly to conform to the
o pinion and life about them resists the intuition or
pleadings of their sp i rits which they O ften deem fool
i sh whims and fan cies
N ew thought is new l ife and ren ewal of life A
new idea plan or purpose lls us with hope and
vigor O ne secret of eternal life and happiness is to
be ever pushing forward toward the new o r forget
ting the things which are behind and pressing for

ward to those which are before

E ternity and
e ndless space are exhaustless O f the new S enility
comes through ever looking back and living in the
past Yo u have nothing to do with the person y ou
w ere a year ago save to pro t by that person s e x
Y
n
That
person
is
dead
The
ou
of to
r
i
c
e
e
e
p

The Y ou
d ay i s another and a newer individual
e
o f next year will be still another and a newer on

I die daily says P aul By which b e inferred

t hat some thought of yesterday w as dead to day and
In its place was the
cast OH like an ol d garment
newer one When ou r spirits are growi ng health
fully we have d one forever with a part of ourselves
That part is dead It is with us
a t each d ay s end
We hav e n o further use for it To
a dead thought
It is cast off as ou r bodie s
u s e it will injure us
To h im
d aily cast off a certain portion O f dead ski n
,

Th 0 ug h ts

ar e

Things

H ow

T H O UG HT S

AR E BOR N

her who has increase of new thought a new worl d

i s lived in daily A S re g ards happiness it does not
matter so much where we are s o that we can bring
to ourselves this dail y i n ow i ng of new thought W e
can so bring to ourselves happin ess in a dungeo n
when people cl osed to new idea are miserable in pal
aces W e are then ont h e road to an independence
almost complete of the physical world I nd ep end
ence m ean s power S o long as we are in any way
dependent on a person a food a drug a stimulant
or any condition O f things about us are we to tha t
extent the slave of these things S o perpetual i n
ow i ng of new idea makes a way for escape ou t of
the du ngeons of material and spiritual poverty Y o u
may be rich in this world s goods yet very poor i n
not being able to enjoy them Y ou cann ot long r e
main poor in the worldly sense if y ou are spiritually
rich B ut spiritual richness asks for no m ore than
it can use and enj oy for the hour and the day I t
will not boar d in bank vaults
D aily i now ing of new thought brings new p ower
T O him or her who S O daily receives a fresh force is
added pushing their u ndertakings farther for w ard
toward success The silen t force of your mind then
keeps u p i t s steady pressure on other minds who are
co nsciously or un consciously co O perating with you
In the higher realms of mind are those who are
ever j oyous cheerful and con dent of future success
and happiness They have lived up to the L aw and

proven it
With them faith is swallowed U p in

They know that by keeping the min d i n

v i ctory
or

TH OU G HT S

H ow

AR E

O RN

a certain state properly controlling their thoughts

there is brought a constant i n o w i ng of happiness
and power
Because power and happiness must
m ove together S o must si n pain and weakness
They know also that their every plan ( the Law
b eing foll owed " must prove a success H ence life
with them must be a constant succession of victories
O f this their faith or belief is as certain as is ours
that re will burn or that water will extinguish re
We can by earnestly and persistently desiring it
connect ourselves with this order of mind and draw
from them new life and force giving element We
clear the way to such valuable connection by the
endeavor to drive from us all envy gloom q uarrel
s ome or other impure tho u ght A ny thought doing
u s harm i s an impure thought
L ife l ong habit may
m ake this at rst a di f cult task C onstant effort or
aspiration will drive such damaging thought away
with m ore and more ease A ll impure thought is as
rub b ish or un cleanliness about u s preventing the
n ear approach of the higher order of mind
A
thought to such a spirit is as real a thing as is a
s tone to us To them in though t we may be literal ly
covered with garbage
o r owers
A great poet artist writer general or other worker
i n any department of life may have had a large share
of his grea tness due to his mediumship for unseen
i ntelligences to work through H e m ay have been
m ore the m outhpiece for them than the originator
A man may be small m ean petty vain and t h e
vi ctim of inordinate passions yet at tim es give e l e
,

Th o ugh t s

ar e

Things

AR E B O RN

T HO UG HT S

H ow

gant expression to the most exalted sent i ments A

s mall part of this man s intellect responded to these
B ut his defects his passions his vices
s entiments
are greatly in the ascendency In certain m oods he
soars to sublime heights in his ordinary m ood he is
relatively a small man W e have had poets w h ose
as given at different times are almost
s entiments
c ontradictory They express at one time purity " at
another the reverse Their known lives have been
low coarse and grovellin g
S uch natures are used at favorable m oments for a
h igher grade of unseen intelligence t o express the ir
It is an absolute necessity for an
t hought through
i ntellect over owing with richness of thought with
visions of the grandeur and beauty of life s p ossibil
This neces
i ties to give expression to that thought
S uch minds are as pen t u p
s i t y i s a law of nature
It is not for such
s prings which must b urst forth
a duty in the ordinary sense of that word " it is a
necessity If y ou are rich in thought y ou m ust give
o u t o f such thought wherever you nd opportunity
When
Y ou are as a tree overloaded with ripe fruit
when the thought is
t h e fruit is ripe it m u st fall
If there be none near you
r ipe it must come forth
to hear it you m ust go where it can be h eard " you
preservation Y ou
m ust go from the necessity of self
c annot w i th safety keep a gift a talent a truth a
g any thing well all to yourself
c apacity for doi n
A s spirits grow in rich ness of thought as they
e ven become O ppressed by their own weight of rich
n ess do they seek in every direction to give ou t this
.

Th ou gh ts

are

Things

H ow

T H O UG H T S

AR E B O R N

rich n es s They may nd an impressional organi z a

tion on the earth stratum of life " they can to such
i mp r essmnal com e singly and give of their thought "
o r thro u gh a certain co operation a n
umber of such
minds united in purpose and motive may come in a
troop to the individual " they may for a period su r
round him or her with their ow n atmosphere of
S uch atmosphere will act onthe individual
t hought
a s a stimulant
It raises him in thought far above
his ordinary level H e sees all things for the mo
m ent in the l i ght of a life higher and purer than any
lived about him In this mental condition sentiment
o f an exalted order is impressed u pon his mind " i n
other words this co operation of higher minds eu
ables them to bri ng O f their thought an actual s u b
s tance and keep it longer near the impressional on
earth H e absorbs it and feels its powerful i n u

e nce
H e is in fact inspired by it " that is he
breathes it in H e is exhilarated almost intoxicated
by it because re ned and powerful thought i s a
stimulant whose in uence on the individual is i n
proportion to the neness of such individual s orga n
i z at i on his impressio nability or his or her capacity
to re ceive of such thought S uch stim ulation is but

another name for magnetic in uence

Y ou have
in this the secret O f the attraction one person may
have for another The person attracted is actually
stimulated while near the other by the thought
absorbed from the one w h o attracts
In the cond i tion of mind above stated a poet may
gi ve expression to the thought s o b ro u g ht to and
.

Th ough t s

ar e

Things

T H O UG H T S A RE

H ow

OR N

urrounding him after his ow n taste or tenden cy as

to rh y thm and m easure O r the poe m in q uest i on
may be actually dictated to him
U nder similar mental states brought abo u t by the
causes above mentioned are novels written and i n
t i on
A rtists and sculptors
v en
s dropped into minds
m ay work under such inspiration
G enerals have
been similarly prompted and aided in military opera
tions In the world of business and nan ce the
sam e law is at work It is operating on every grade
o f p u rpose and m otive be it low or high
T h ere is
no great result e ffected in any department O f life n o
great e ffort of tho u ght n o great invention that comes
o f the unaided agency of any single mind
We are
all parts of the sam e whole We are all members of
the same body We can do n othing without co
op
cration and the human unit who thinks it does is s o
thinking in the simplicity O f its ignorance
The poet who has so written under the inspiring
p ower O f another or other minds m ay pass away with
a great name Yet h e m ay not have deserved all
the reputation he gained H is writings are largely
the result of the thought concentrated upon him by
a co O perative association of unseen intelligences
They unloaded their thought upon him partly to
relieve themselves S o relieved they were then able
t o climb higher and absorb of newer ner ideas
S O fast as y ou give ou t to others of your present
thought and idea so fast will you receive of the new
If you hold back you prevent for yourself the ab
sorp tion of the newer thought If y ou are a medi um
s

Th o u gh t s

ar e

Things

H ow

T H O UG H T S AR E

OR N

any of the forces of the u n i v erse to pass through

and b e transmitted to others you must b e careful
that n othing prevents the free passage of new
thought through y ou The m oment y ou hold back
any truth any plan scheme or invention with the
idea that it is exclusively your o w n you are clogging
U p that mediumship
Y ou will be made poorer in every sense by such
holding back If y ou give freely y ou will increase
i n richness and ou t of your over owi ng richness you
can easily retain enough to br ing you every needed

Freely have ye received

m aterial aid The text

freely give is based ona scienti c fact in the u n

seen kingdom O f thought
There are re embodied spirits to
day on the earth
who during a former and q uite recent existence had
a great reputation in some eld of effort There are
onearth to day poets who enjoy but a tithe of thei r
fame in a former existence
O ne reason for this is that much of their sourc e
That is the troop of
of inspiration has passed away
Spirits who in the former existence cam e to them of
n ecessity to unload of their richness of thought
no longer labor under such necessity so far as
the med i umship of the i mpressional is concerned
These intell ig ences still have need to give of their
thought in som e place B ut the thought they now
absorb may be too ne to be received b y any on
earth
With som e idea i s organic They are creators a s
w ell as ab sorbers of thought These are t h ey w h o

for

Th ough ts

are

Th ings

10

H OW

HOUG H TS

RE

BO

RN

to live up to their highest ideal and in the great

When one sees
e s t variety of life and o ccupation
the necessity of doing this he brings to himself all
t hat is best in the universe that he can appropriate
H e puts
He is an absorber of spirit from every side
o u t this sam e spirit again colored with his or her i n
E very such individ u al is as a glass
d i v i d u ali ty
re ector tinged with some peculiar shade The light
within shining through su ch shade spreads rays of the
The ligh t represents the
s ame light on every side
The globe or re ector represents the individ
s pirit
ual the light shines through The oil in ou r lamps
may all come from the same source The lights in a
s eries of lamps may be of as many different colors as
8 0 in a
t here are gl obes stained of different colors
s eries of individuali z ed pe rsons though each is fed
o f the sam e spirit yet each re ects a peculiar light of
h i s own
We can be creative and original as we a b sorb of
Y
spirit
and
make
its
expression
original
ou see
an
y
d admire the method o f an actor or artist
then
an
you absorb o f his tho u ght B ut you will not be a
m ere C opy of his method
Hi s thought combin es
with your own There is an actual chemical opera
There is a combination of
t ion of unseen element
h i s thought and your ow n resulting in the formation
The
o f a new element your o w n original idea
p u rer your thought and motive the more unselfish
your p u rpose t h e greater the rapidity of such com
bi nation the m ore original and striking your thought
The q ualiti es
8 v such means i s thought born in you
t ry

Th ou gh ts

ar e

T in
g s.

H OW

TH

O U G HT S

AR E

BO

RN

11

justice and u nsel sh ness are themselves elements

and scienti c factors in such birth
The sel sh spirit is content with being the mere
borrower If it appropriates another s thought or
idea without ever crediting such idea to its rightful
owner or the desire s o to credit it it will alway s
r emain a borrower B ut people to borrow from will
n ot always be at hand There MU S T come a time in
this life or another when such a spirit will be left
entirely to its ow nresources It will then nd itself
poor It wi ll be crippled by the habit of borro w ing
It will nd that this habit prevents the chemical
assimilation and birth of the new element or in othe r
words or i ginal or individually shaded idea You
have simply taken an other s property and passed i t
off as yo u r ow n
You have not been a manufacturer
Y ou have b een only a receiver of another s manu
factures
It matters little whether y ou a b sor b idea in this
way and u s e it as your ow n from minds whose bodie s
are visible t o you or invisible You still remain th e
mere borrower Y ou hurt thereby the power of
making your ow n peculiar shade of individuality of
light
If spirits nding an impressional organi z ation
thrust their thought contin u ally u pon it through
their own desire for expression make it a perpetual
mouthpiece talk or write through such person con
t in
u al l y
t hey may do a great inj ustice and injury
N o matter how high or useful their thought yet this
pour in g of ideas continually through one m i nd beg e ts

of

Th o u gh t s

are

h ings

H OW T H O U G HT S AB E B O RN .

12

hab it and des i re of doin g nothing else b ut ta l l:

write or act or perform some one thing continually
This will cause the person to grow all on one side
The balan ced mind the harmonious and organi z ed
adj ustment of q ualitie s necessary for the begetting
must come also of
of m ore and more originality
seeing and participating in all possible shades an d
kinds of life as well as pur e and unsel sh m otive
Y ou need to mingle and s y mpathi z e with all m anner
o f people all man ner of employments all manner of
professions to make your ow n conceptions character
Y ou will then (u m
i z ed by the greatest originality
sel sh motive b eing implied " not be a patchwork of
borrowed b its from all with whom y ou come in con
tact " b ut a m os i ac of which every idea taken fro m
othe r s an d grafted ony our ow nhas an i n d i vidual it y
eculiarl
y
y
o
ur own
p
.

THE LAW OF SUCCE SS

S U CC E SS

in any b usiness or undertakin g com es

through the working of a law It n ever comes by
chan ce : in the operations of nature s laws there
is no such thing as chan ce or accident The so
called accidental tum b lin g of the stone fro m the
mountain side i s the result of forces which have
b een acti ng in that stone through countless ages
You and your fortunes are no m ore the thin g s of
chan ce than is t h e tree from its earliest gr owth
You are the product of the elem ents and that prod
not through the working of a law You can as you
nd ou t the law make of yourself whateve r you
please
Your thought or spirit and not your b ody i s you r
real self
Your thought is an invisib le sub stan ce as r eal as
air water or metal It acts apart from your b ody "
it goes from you to others far and nea r " it acts on
them m oves and in uences them
It does this
whether your body be sleeping or waking
This is your real power A s you learn how this
p ower really acts " as y ou learn how to hold use and
control i t
you W ill do more pro table business and
accomplish more in an hour than n ow you may do
ina week
You will continually increase this power
This and only this w as the b as is of
by e x ercis e
.

h o u gh ts

ar e

Th in s .

LAW

TH E

or

su cc s s .

the miracl es the m agic or occult power of ancie nt

times
Your prevailing m ood or frame of m ind has more
to do than any thing else with your success or failur e
in any undertaking Your mind is that am ount of
t h ou g h t su bst an
ce which has come together durin g
countless ages and after using many physical b o di es
The mind is a magnet It has t he power rst of
attracting thought and next of sending that thought
Y ou do not of yourself make your
o u t again
thought : y ou only r e ceive and feel it as it comes
to y o u
What kind of thou g ht y ou most charge that ma g
net (your mind " with or s et it open to receive it
will attract m ost of that kind to you If then you
think or keep most in mind the mere thought of
determination hope cheerfulness strength force
e gentleness order and precision y ou
and receive more and more of such
ents
These are among the elements of success Thes e
q ualities are of thought element as real thin g s as
any we s ee or feel The more y ou s et the magnet
in this dire ction the stro nger it grows to attract thes e
elements
Whatever of thought you think or receive yo u
send fro m you again an invisible substan ce to act on
others
Your ow n thought i s now in the air acting on
and attracting to you of its kind the thought of
others whose bodies you m ay never have seen The
u t u re to meet who may hel
eople
you
are
in
the
f
p
p
.

Th

0 ug h

ts

ar e

hings

T H E LAW

or

s u cc s s .

damage y our fortunes are those whose thought in

l ike m anner sent far from their bodies h as a l r ea dy
met and m ingled with your ow n That attractio n
It wi l l
tends to bring y ou together in the b ody
certainly brin g y ou together in some form of
e xisten ce
When determined thought meets determine d
thought an d unites on a similar purpose a doubl e
power for success comes of such union be the bodies
u sed by such thought mind or spirit in the sam e
ho u se or a thousand miles apart B ut if you are
thinking m ost of the time discouragement or anger
or any form of ill temper y ou are sending hundred s
and thousands of miles away from your body this
th ou gh te l emen
t of discouragement hopelessness or
anger literall y a part of your unseen self It "
attracts m eets and mingles with the same thought
elem ent similarly sent ou t by others ( parts of such
people " S o it attracts you to them your partners
inmisery You hurt each other s health and fortune
K ee p
A thought attracts thought of like kind
]
any thought xed in your mind s ay the thought of
d
stren gth or health and you attract to y ou more an
m ore of the thought element of strength and health

o ahea
Keep in min d the idea of force
push
g
and you attract to y ou in elem ent that which give s
u force push and
ahead
o
o
y
g
S o lo n
g as y ou are in a con dent determined
e frame of mind having some special aim i n
s ere n
v ie w B A S ED O N R I G H T AN D JU S TIC E s o long ar e
est silent power of
ou m oving in this way the str on
g
y
y our t ho ught in attracting to y ou the perso ns y ou
or

..

Th ou gh t s

ar e

hings

TH E

LAW or

s u cc s s .

If y our aim i s not b ased

m e d to co operate with
o n right and j ustice , you will still move this silent
-

ower
of your mind b ut it wil l not affect results so
p
b ene cial to y ou as y our thought based on y our
h ighest idea of right
If you wish to gain through deceit and craft y ou
You wi ll attract by the sam e law and
c a ndo so
m ethod deceitful and dishonest thought in advan ce
Y o u will then work with the dishonest
o f its body
D ishonest mind herds together through
i nthe body
The dishonest are certain to inj ure
a nat u ral law
e ach other at last in som e way
A tho u ght be it good or b ad is a thing or con
a
s truction of unseen element as real as a tree
It is already made before y ou think
ower a clock
o r re ceive it as your mind through its mood frame
A s y o u think it you put it
o r attit u de attracts it
move or in uence others B ut
o u t again to act
u ght spoken or whispered in the privacy o f
our
tho
y
o to act on
our
room
is
p
ut
out
with
more
force
s
y

think it
A nd if two
o thers than if you m erely
o r more persons talk together without wrangle or
d isagreement on a com mon p urpose in any busin ess
t hey send ou t a proportionately greater vol u me of
f orce to work on other minds relative to such busi
ne ss If your company so putting out thought ele
m ent or force do not agree if they are angry a nd
w rangle with each other t h e force s o sent from the m
i s inj u rio u s to that b usiness
If they talk peacefu lly
an
d will set aside individual preferences or p r eju
sl i ces in order to work o u t the common purpose in
Vi e w the thought or force they generate is con
,

Th

0 ugh

ts

ar e

h ings

LAW

TH E

OF s u cc s s .

t uctive and acts favorably on other minds far and

near to advance that business
S o when ever y ou think you are affecting your
fortunes for good or ill " and whenever you talk to
others y ou are making a force still greater to make
E very
or lose for you health friends and money
thought of yours silent or spoken has a literal
value
If you receive ( that is think" the thought that
y ou cannot succeed in any undertaking that thought
also goes ou t meets and attracts other disco u raged
de s pondent I can t thought brings you nearer and
nearer the hopeless fretting people s bodies it is in
advance of inj ure s your health and all pushing busi
ness ability and brings you at last in personal con
tact with people who only help to ruin each other
Y ou are working then your thought power fo r n on
success Y o u can use this power to bring y ou good
o r ill re s ults as you can use the locomotive to carry
your body on a journey or to crush your b ody by
throwing yo u rself before it
Whatever plan o r schem e of business you x your
mind persistently u pon in the determination to s u c
i
t commences then as a thought construction of

unseen element to draw aiding forces to you By

aiding forces is m eant rst ever growing fertility

o f mind to breed new plans for p u shing yo u r bu s i
ness " secondly drawing to you the best people to
aid
o u in your plans
y
D o not wa s te your power in looking fo r such aid
ing force s with yo u r body Let silent persi s tent
r esolve in mind do the work
It will do it if you
s r

'

Th o u gh t s

ar e

hings

TH E

L AW

n s u ccn
ss

persevere hol d ing to t hi s frame of mind It is no

n ew power tho u gh possibly new to most of us It
is constantly though unconsciously exercised for
good or ill all about us Because your body is n ot
the only power y ou have t o work with Your body
is only the instrument used by your mind or spirit
Your mind your invisible self uses your body in
s ay
cuttin g down a tree or other work of hand
exactly as your body uses the axe B ut when suc h
force ( thought " is n ot using the body it is at work
with greater power else w here
think persistent resolve to think persisten t
sh in your on
e aim and purpose to simply think
it and do nothing else
wil l create for you a powe r
as certain to move an d effect res u lts as the jack
screws placed under the heaviest building will mov e
it upward The power you s o create of your min d
and of unseen forces will work while you sleep It
will bring to you new devices plans and m ethod s
A nd as you get
for moving your business for w ard
these plans they will move your body to act Y ou
can no t sit still when an idea that means b u sines s
Bu t you
t omes to y ou : such idea is for you power
can tire your body to such an ext ent that you wi l l
have n o p ower to receive an idea when it does come
A ll successf u l business is based on a continual i n
owing of n ew idea plan device s cheme
Your spirit or thought acts and works on others
while your body sleeps It may do this with those
whose bodies are also asleep If you are angry or
discouraged on going to sleep your invisible self on
leaving its body will probably be attracted to som e
.

Th o u gh t s

ar e

hings

TH E LAW

S UCC ESS

OF

other an g ry or discouraged natur e The b etter mood

y ou are in on q uitting your body at night and enter
ing on your other existen ce the better the tho u ght
or person you will meet in that existence to further
your purpose If you have no purpose you will then
probably meet with another purposeless nature To
have no special purpose in life to simply d rift is to
have nothing onwhich to focus or concentrate your
tho u gh t
power If it is n ot s o con centrated but scat
t er ed fastening on on
e thing to day and another to
m orrow y ou will b e restless m oping and unhappy in
mind If unhappy in mind y ou can ne v e r b e healthy
in body
S pirit or thought is always active be the b ody
asleep or awake When the body is unconscious in
sleep your mind then enters onits other phase of life
and activity You have only exchanged one form of
existence for another When y ou awake y ou do lit

er al l y
take the body up to u se for purposes onthe
earth stratum of life
Your thought acts onothers for or against y ou far
and near while you are awake B ut it acts more
strongly onthose to who m it is attracted when your
body sleeps It is th en less distracted by the hopes
fears prejudices customs and surroundings of i t s
body life It is better then if y ou have any purpose
in View not to x your thought t oo stro ngly when
awake on such persons as y ou may think may co
Operate with you beca u se your spirit
when out of
its body has a much W ider range of ac q uaintance
and action than when using its b ody
Y ou m ay
concentrate its force overmuch whil e it holds t h e
.

h o ugh ts

are

T in

h gs

10

TH E

LAW

OF s u cc s s .

b ody onsome person less likely t o help y ou than the

person or thought to which it is attracted while
away from the body In such case its force is place d
in two directions when it should be but in one
Talking your business plan or project makes force for
or against
A
clear
plan
or
idea
by
which
you
ou
y
can make more money represents force A muddled
plan represents a lesser and imperfect force A new
invention is a new force
Talking your business
with those who are really friendly to you actively
friendly and without a shade of e nvy or grudge
against you adds their thought or force to your own
for making clearer plans and working onother m inds
and enlisting the m in som e way in your favor Sy m
pathy is force A ny person s good will is a real liv
ing active su b stance owing always to you as that
person thinks of y ou It has a commercial value in
dol lars and cents Ill will is also an element sent
from t h e person th at thinks it and works against you
though that person never speaks or acts with the
body against you This you can only successful ly
oppose by putting ou t against it the thought element
Th e thought of good to others is the
of friendliness
stronger unseen element and can turn the bad ( the
weaker "aside It prevents it from reachi ng or harm
ing you
Through the working of that same law it is dan
gerons to make enemies n o matter how good or j ust
th e cause
only to
F To talk your business at random is
give your secrets to such as will tell the
others
but it i s to send your secrets and plans in though t
,

h o u gh t s

are

hings

TH E

LAW

1]

O E su ccE ss .

e l ement yi ng far an d wide in the air Then th ey

fall into other minds and y ou may nd your plan
used by others before y ou The air is literall y fu lh
of supposed secrets
They herald themselv es t o
thousands in the form O f suspicion and impressio n
E very disorderly meeting every family q uarre l
e very discordan ce between man and m an sends into
the air a wave of destructive and unpleasant s u b
stance I t a ffects unpleasantly m inds thousands of
miles distant
The thou ght so coming from som e
centre of turbulence forms a wave or current If
you are by som e tri e made a ngry y ou then plac e
your mind in the attitude of a m agnet to attrac t
and let in this hurtful thought
current Yo u r anger
peevishness or irritation caused at rst by a tri e
is constantly fed from these c u rrents Y ou must for
relief turn your mind toward some m ore agreeabl e
order of thought P ractice in so doing will give y ow
more power and make it more and more easy t o
change the character Of the thought element coming
to y ou
When interest sympathy and good will m eet t o
present pleasantly their Opinions or tho u ghts on any
special subje ct to each other for an hour there goe s
from that company a wave O f thought s u bstan ce
which strikes other minds and awakens or renew s
interest in that especial business art or cause i n
proportion to the sensitiveness or capacity of su ch
minds to re ceive thoughts The new thought com
ing suddenly to y ou comes because somewhere it i s
b eing talked ou t or agitated The wave so cause d
a cts in unseen element precisely like that made by
.

"

'

a re

Th ou gh t s

T in
g s.

12

THE LAW

S U CC E SS

OF

t hro w i n g

the stone in calm water

The wave s so
r adiate from the talk centre " and they will continue
t o s pread ou t in every direction striking other minds
s o long as the agitatio n of talk is kept up at that
No thought i s in a sense ori ginal
The
c entre
s ame idea or parts or shades of that idea may oat
i nto a thousand m inds within an hour when once
Talk with
s tarted through a few people talking it
abo ut an improvement i n
o thers in friendliness
m achinery a new invention a new idea for man s
c omfort and through thought substan ce so sent far
d wide you awaken desire or interest for the thing
an
The m ore people interested in a thing
t alked of
the m ore will b e attracted to you to aid y ou or bu y
t h e thi ng produced
Regardi ng your plan purpose and aim all your
discreet talk your interest and persistent determina
tion represent for you so much actual outlay of
f orce expended in attracting the thing desired to
If you expend s u ch amount of force for say
y ou
t hree months and then get discouraged and give it
a l l up
you abandon s o m uch of a structure you
Y ou
h a v e built up ha v ing this attracting power
m ay not s ee where that power is O perating
B ut it
i s at work bringing to you the people in sympathy
w ith you or those who want what you have to give
Quarrel l ing angry argument and grumbli ng put
Friendly discussion
o u t the silent destructive force
d peaceful presentation of individual opinion put
an
If you set your
o u t the silent constructive force
m in d persistently in the desire for having the bes t
eo l e to talk to and s o aid y ou they wi ll come t o
p p
.

Th o u gh t s

ar e

hings

TH E LAW

OF

S U CC ES S

13

through this power of thought att raction E x

a ct l y the order of mind will s o come y ou most desire
If you are not particular as to principle or honesty
this law will attract those not particular as to honesty
There will always be a demand for a better article
1
a better e ffort in any art or a better service of any
kind than those before produced When y ou are
sure y ours is the better e ffort push it G et it be
fore people Talent in art or invention is one thi ng
Talent for pushing that art or invention is q u ite
another You must to be successful have both
The world pays best those who push
ed s of
i nventors and artists fail because they do
th e science of pushin g themselves before the world J
Y ou can learn the science of pushing by yourself
Y ou will ac q uire it b y seeing yourself in mind o r
i magination as asserting yourself courageously fairl y
honestl y b efore others and making yourself agree
able to all The more y ou do this in imagination the
more wi ll y ou feel like doing it in reality What
y ou do in thought i s a reality What you live most
in thought y ou make a reality You w ill nd after
a time of such m ental exercise that y ou have more
nerve more courage more tact more address m ore
desire to mingle with all sorts of people to take hold
of the world and m ake it give y ou W hat rightfully
b elongs to y ou
P overty comes largely of shrinki ng away from
eople
and
fear
of
assuming
responsibilities
p
S ee yo u rself always in imagination as d i i d ent
b ashfu l shrinking and by the same l aw you make
y ourself so R everse this pro cess of silent mental
y ou

14

LAW

TH E

OF

S U CC E SS

treatment See y ou
You are al
ideal of your self
w ays growi ng u p to
d you re constr u ct yourself by this process of S i
an
lent thought You cann ot succeed and make money
if you remain in a corner Y ou cannot do business
with the world entirely by letter or by proxy Y ou
m ust to an exten t show yourself to others When
y our spirit carrie s your body before another person
it carries the instrument for enabling your spirit to
put ou t its fullest volum e of thought power on that
person
Thought being su b stance or force y ou can pile u p
in your mind volumes of that force for or against
f
d
i
i
u l t i es and possi
To
think
nothing
but
o
u
o
c
y
ble troubles in business is to set your mind as the
m agnet to attract only di f culties rst in thought
n ext in substance Thi s becomes with many a xed
ha b it hard to get rid O f
You have nothing whatever to do with a di f culty
b ut t o s et your mind as a magnet in the direction for
receiving force ideas and plans for overcoming that
di f culty If you have trouble with any person and
are always thinking of his injustice toward you in
the mood O f anger or complaint you are in thought
element making over again and again the wrangle or
battle Y ou can use up in growling scolding com
plaining and grumbling be it thought ou t silently
or spoken to others the same force or thought w hi ch
wo u ld make a plan to get rid of the thing scolded or
grumbled at It is on precisely the same principle
as the strength with which the mason builds his wal l
can be used in tearing it down or in i nging a b ou t
.

'

h ough t s

ar e

hings

TH E LAW

S U CC E SS

OF

15

b ricks at random If y ou wil l give your b ody all th e

rest it n eeds your mental force will work far and
near more powerfu lly for y ou Your plans w ill be
deeper and when carried ou t more prod u ctive of r e
If the body is always fagged ou t m u ch Of t he
su l ts
force of that spirit m u st be u sed u p in keeping i t s
hold on the body
i nother words keeping it alive
It matters not whether you tire yourself ou t v ol u n
The
t ar i l y or are obliged to do so to get a living
re s ult is the same
If you want m ore time in wh ich so to rest desire
and demand it persistently A n opportunity will
then at length come to y ou by which y ou can earn
eno u gh for your present support without workin g
the body at one employm ent s o many hours daily It
will come by that mysterious law and attractive forc e
which m oves all things to all people according to their
strongest desires and the persisten cy O f s u ch desire
You can through this same power ( persistent d e
S ire " bring to y ou an evil as q uickly as a good
The thi ng you are now strongly desiring may tur n
out an evil If you desire or dem a nd wisdom to
know what will do you the most lasting good you
w ill by the same law bring to you the capacity t o
D esire persist
see what is really the best for you

ently a clear head and a clear head will come t o

you When your opportunity comes granting you
four or ve more hours daily of leisure do not pile on
yourself any extra effort for t he sake of the few dol
lars y ou m ay get b y it This opportunity may be
yo u r rst step ou t into a n ewer life G ive yo u rself
D on t be afraid of enj oying yourself Your
l eis ure
.

h ou gh t s

ar e

hings

16

TH E LAW

S U CC E SS

OE

mind will then b reed plans for future success " and as
such plans com e to you you will b e inspired to act
them ou t with your b ody
nd good wages for life in any
A steady S ituation a
calling is not the road t o any pe r manent or growin g
success You are then but a screw in the great busi
ness machine and when worn out will be mercilessly
If in skill you are
replaced by the n ewer screw
i n your business at the top and as to wages near
the bottom it is beca us e while skilled in your trade
you are not s o i n getting your j ust re w ard for that
skill You must aspire to manage a business founded
You must n ot be content to b e man
o ny o u r S ki ll
aged b y others w h o taking advantage of your skill
get your industry and article before the public and
with that thre e fourths of the pro ts Y ou m ust u se
this your power Of thought to get it and y ourself
b efore the p u blic
Y ou m ust to gain the greatest success manage a
business or a department of a business and be its
governor without interference or hinderance
s ole
from another R esponsibility alone can bring ou t
your fu llest power and its atten d ant happiness
O therwise y ou will as a m ere employee be fet
t er ed by an employer s demands or by conditions
made by others in which you will be obl iged to work
Y ou will s ee your best ideas imperfectly carried ou t
because you ca nnot fu lly control their carrying out
y our se l f
,

Th

ou

gh ts

ar e

Thin
gs.

HOW TO KEE P YOUR STRENGTH

I C AL mean s for h ol d ing and inc reasing

b oth physical and m ental strength l ies i nthe training
of the mind and b ody to do but one thin g at a time "
in other words to put al l the thought necessary for
the performance of an y act in that act and to p u t
asid e all othe r thought whatev e r sav e what b elon gs
to that act
The bod y i s b ut the machine u sed by the m ind
If it b e weak the powe r o f ou r thought may be
largely used and al most uselessly e x pended in re
sisting its weakness The mind is then the wo rkman
endeavoring to carry ou t hi s desi g n w ith an imperfect
tool E v entually this defective tool may de ran g e
and destroy entirely the workman s powe r
S trength of mind and bod y is the corne r stone of
all enjoym ent and success The weak bod y enj oys
little or nothing O ur b odies are rese r vo ir s of force
E atin g and sleeping are means for llin g up with that
force " i n other words for llin g up w i th thought
When so l led up we enjoy our wal k ou r b usiness
What i s most des i ra b le fo r
ou r e or t of an y k ind
all to kno w i s how to retain the most of that forc e
du ring our waki ng hours and if possib le to inc rease
i t " b e cause this force has a comme r cial value i n d ol
la rs and ce nts The weak a nd e x hausted b ody i s

neither the b ody for b usiness or ple asure and

A

PR N I P

Th ou gh t s

ar e

h ngs

T i

KEE P

H ow TO

YO

UR S TREN GTH

all b usiness i s best done whe n i t is a pl easu r e to

do it

A n ol d system of philosoph y say s

What tho u

d oest that do with all thy might

Not the Spasmo di c eetin g mig ht of fu ry or an g e r
That is not might at all That is waste of strength
It i mplies tha t every act O f ou r liv es from the tyin g
of a shoe s t r ing the forming O f a letter or the S harp
in
f
i
en
o
a
penc
l
shou
l
d
be
done
w
i
th
the
might
f
o
g
method precision e x actness care " in b rief the might
of concentration
When a boy I was d oing my rst
d ay s shovelling in the C alifornia gold diggings
An

ol d miner said to me
Young man you make too
har d work of shovelling : you want to put more

mind in that shovel

P onderi ng ove r this remark I found that shovel
l ing dirt needed co operation of mind with m u scle
mind to give direction to m uscle " mind to place the
shovel s p oint where it should scoop up m ost dirt
with least outlay Of strength " mind to give d i r ec
tion t o th e dirt as thrown from the shovel " and
in nitesimal portions of mind so to speak in the
movement Of every muscle brought into play while
shovelling I found t hat t he more thought I p u t
in the Shovel the better could I shovel : the less like
w ork it be came the m ore l i ke play it became and
the longer my stren g th fo r shovelling lasted
I
found when my thought drifted on other things
( no matter what " that soo n the less strength and
enj oyment had I for shovellin g and the soone r i t
b e came an irksome task
E very thought is a thing and a force made of invi s i
.

"

Th o u gh ts

are

h ings

KEEP

How To

Y OU

R S TR EN GT H

b le su b stance Thinking us es up a ce rtainamount

of the b ody s force You are working and using

up this force even in what you call your idl est

moments
If while doing one act with the b ody
you are thinking of something else y ou are wasting
your strength and thought Before you pick up a
pin from the oor y ou send from you in thought
substance a plan for picking up that pin That
plan is force You direct and use that force on your
body the instrument for picking up the pin You
should not m i x that plan with one for doing any
thing else while the body is picking up that pin
If you do you are sending your force or trying to
in two directions at once You mingle and con
fuse the plan and force for one act with the plan
and force for another
E very impatient act and thought no matter h ow
small costs us an unpro table outlay of force If
sometime when you are tired with walki ng
that is
walking with your legs while your brain has been
working wool gatherin g or worrying planning and
scheming
you will drive all such thought away and
put all your mind attention and force in your limbs
d feet y ou m ay be surprised to nd your strength
an
return and y our fatigue leave you Because every
physical act costs a thoug ht and every tho u ght costs
a certain outlay of force E very step y ou take i n
volves a plan to give that step direction
P lan
involves outlay of thought Thought means outlay
If you think Of other things while walking
of force
y ou are expending force in two directions at once
DO y ou think that an acrobat could so readily as
.

h o u gh ts

are

h ings

HOW

TO

KEEP

YO

UR S TR EN GTH

cend a rope hand ove r hand di d h e not pu t his w h ole

mind as well as strength on the act ? or that an
orator co ul d thril l an au d i ence were he o b lig ed to
turn a grindstone wh i le speakin g ? Yet in S O ma ny
ot unconsciousl y b urthen our
of ou r acts d o we n
selves b y turning that grindston e in thinkin g and
plannin g one thing while do i ng or trying to do an
other
If you are going up a hill and are continuall y
looking with impatience toward the top and w ishing
y ou were at the top y ou will soon become tired If
you are nea r that hilltop in imagination while your
body is near the b ot tom y ou are sending your force
g only enough
of thought t o the top of t h e hill leavin
i nthe p oor outraged body to drag it wearily upward
If you hold all that force to that body and concen
trate it oneach step you ascend far easier " be cause
your power i s then con centrated in those parts o f
yo u r body ( you r legs " that m ost need that p ower
When you concentrate all y o u r strength in each s tep
y ou make each step easier you get a certain pleasure
ou t of each step and you forget also your trouble
that b eing the impatient desire of b eing at the h ill
,

t op

This law holds good in every act of l ife DO y ou

not wish y ou could forget your trouble your di sap
pointment your sense of loss through concentrating
all your thought onsomething else and becoming s o
absorbed in it and enj oying i t as to forget all things
else
Th is is a p oss ib il ity of mind and i s one well
worth the striving for It can b e attained by th e
r in other wo r ds the
r
actice
concentration
o
f
o
"
pu t
p
.

Th ou gh t s

ar e

hings

H ow To K EEP Y O U R

ne S

S TREN GTH

m in d on the d oi n g of SO call edr

trivial things and every second expended in such
practice brin gs one nearer the result desired E ach
e ffort brings us its atom of gain in increased powe r
for p u tting either ou r whole vol u m e of power or only
the amount of power necessary to be used for doing
the act i n hand This atom of increased powe r for
concentration is never lost You need this at eve ry
moment in your daily business Y ou need it to ke ep
y o u r mind from straying Off on othe r thin g s wh il e
y ou are driving bargains
HOW long can we concentrate ou r whole though t
e act at once ? C an you tie three knots i n
onany on
a string and put your whole thought in the tyin g o f
those three knots letting n o other thought intervene ?
I can tie a knot j ust as well and
Y ou say perhaps

think of many other things

P ossibly you can " bu t
can you tie those three kno t s and think onl y of knots ?
O r has you r mind s o fallen into the habit of stray i n g
O ff and over a do z en di fferent matters a minute tha t
you have lost the power of focusing it on an y s i ngl e
thing for ten consecutive seconds ?
Do not call this trivial
Train for concentrat i ve
power in the doing of any one a ct and you train to
thro w your whole mind th ought and force on all
acts Train to put you r whole thought oneach a ct ,
an d prevent that thought from strayi ng off onan y
thing else and we are training to throw the sam e
full current of power in ou r speech w hen we talk
in our skill when we work with tool s i n ou r v oi ce
w hen we S in g i n ou r ngers wh en an y de x tero us
W o rk is r eq u ir e d of them and in any organ or fun e
ting

w h ol e

of o

"

Th

0 ug h

ts

ar e

hings

6
t

H ow To

i on o f

ou r

KEEP

YO

th at

we

bein g

UR S TR EN GTH

d es ir e for th e t i m e to

xercise
P erhaps you think
We l l that s onl y another way
o f say ing
Be careful
True Yet many m ay not
k n ow how to be careful or precise
DO we n ot s ee
pe ople every day rushing the ir legs along the street
w ith the least possible am ount of strength while
t heir minds are planning wishing working hurry
?
in
far
ahead
O
f
them
Yet
these
people
wonder
g
w h y they forget w onder why they make s o many
mistakes wonder why s o many of the small details
of their business are irksome : or they go on being
s o annoyed and never get su f ciently awa k ened as
t o wonder
Is n ot this practical philosophy and practical talk ?
T O m orrow m aybe you are to have a tryin g inter
with a
v iew on a m atter vital t o you r i nterests
cunning business man w h o is strong in will
s harp
power ways and means to
as well as knowledge
o verreach y ou to muddle y our brains t o trick you
Do y ou not need e v ery available
t o frighten y ou
a tom of you r force to cope with him ?
When we cultivate this power of focus ing all our
force on an y single act we are cultivating also the
on
e subj ect
ower
throwing
our
whole
mind
from
f
o
p
That m eans also that we can thr ow ou r
t o an other
w hol e mind ou t Of a trouble into what may prove a
G rief
d elight an d forget a gr ief i n a happy wo r k
l oss disappointment and di sco u r agement inj u r e and
kill many people
W e may s ay to One s o a f icted You shoul d nt

Bu t do w e tell
k Of this that or the other
t hi n
e

'

Th o u gh t s

ar e

hings

How TO

KEEP

Y OU

R S TR EN G TH

them by w hat m eans they may turn the ir minds

away from their trouble ?
C hildren of weak minds and idiots ar e de cient in
power of grip with their hands In a certain train
i ng school such children are made rst to grasp a ba r
a bove their heads with both hands and draw the m
s elves upward ontheir backs along a steeply incline d
plane It re q uir es often m any weeks of such ex er
cise before they can do this The weak mind has
n o power to throw all i ts thought or force on the
hand and do one act at a time This lack may hold
r lesser extent with all grades Of
ood
to
a
great
o
g
weak minds
E very impatient act no matter how small costs
us an unpro table outlay of physical and mental
s trength as when you tug and pull at the hard
knot " or when y ou throw yourself with all your
might Of fury against the door that s locked and try
to wrench the knob Off b ecause it won t Open readil y
If I turn a grindstone with one arm I exha u st the
If I stop
force after a time in a s et Of muscles
turning it with the arm and turn it b y a treadle by
foot I rest the arm muscles Then they ll up again
with force and I can witho u t fatigue turn the st one
with that arm again for a period A similar law pre
vails in all manner Of mental e ffort S ay we are ah
som e particular subject plan scheme
s orbed in
p urp ose : we dwell onit continuall y " we cann ot stop
DO we thereby always make it
thinking Of i t
ot thereby often get
clearer to our selves ? DO we n
muddl ed i n thought ? A re we not turning that
gr indstone with ou r mental muscle ( the brain " until
,

Th o u gh t s

ar e

h ings

H OW

To

KEE P

YO

U R S TR E N G TH

it is e x hausted and only the sam e Ol d set o f thou ghts

r elative to the subject occur again and again ?
What is needed ? Rest for this brain muscle
How ? In one way by turning the whole force on
something else for a tim e D id y ou ever notice that
if when very m uch fatigued y ou can si t down and
have an hour s chat with an agreeable companion
y ou are rested " and more rested also than if you had
r emained alon e though having n o effor t of any kind
to make ? That talk rested and recuperated you
Yet it was an outlay of force A ll your tho u ght
your
force
was
for
the
tim
e
being
poured
into
the
(
"
channel of that conversation
That conversatio n
switched y ou off as it were from one track Of
thought into another O ur fearfully and wonder
fully made organi z ations are self
recuperative and
self repairers
G ive an y of its departments rest
after being used and it sets immediately a b out the
work of reconstruction and that with ner and bette r
material than before The conversation proved the
m eans of switching us onthe other track of thought
C an we do the same occasionally without the help of
an other ? C an we s o switch Off ou r whole train of
thought from one subject to another ? from one act
to anothe r ? from considering how ou r house shall
b e b uilt to the proper sharpening of a lead pencil
without allowing a thought of the house to come in
while sharpening that pencil ? C an we sharpen a
pencil for sixty consecutive seconds w ithout think
ing of something else ? If we can we have made
great advance in con centrative p ower in doing what
We have to d o with all the might necessary and
,

Th ou gh t s

ar e

hings

KEE P

H ow To

YO

U R S TR E N GTH

re servi ng w hatever of our might is not n eeded i n

the act for something else If we can do this we
are possessed of a share of the greatest power in the
universe n ot only in making ourselves m ore and
m ore happy but also power for doing m ore and more
of whatever we have to do and doing it better and
better We then rule ou r minds N o one really
r u les until he or sh e rules him or herself
If in any condition of mental distress you can turn
if but for a se cond your whole thought onthe stick
ing of a pin in your dress you are for that second
r elieved of your trouble " y ou have in that second
gained an atom of con centrative power
We are then on the road to absolute rule over our
minds and moods A t present with many it is the
mood that rules the mind We are as weathercocks
turned by every passing bree z e We are not su re of
a good humored cheerf u l condition of mind for an
h our
It may be turned any m oment into a state of
discouragement desponden cy or irritation by an
event an Obnoxious individ u al an unkind word
from a friend a message from an enemy or even
a passing thought Thousands on thousands wo u ld
rej oice to be able to forget what is disagreeable
D welling on it be it trouble of debt trouble of
personal animosity trouble O f the a ffections troubl e
of any kind weakens b ody and mind and weakens
the person s power to resist the trouble Troubled
thought is as muddy water What you need is the
power to turn this muddy water off and let clea r
w ater in
Troubled thought mind racked with su s
n
s e and anxiety literally bleeds you to death of
e
p
.

h ou gh t s

ar e

hings

10

H ow TO

KEE P

Y OU

R S TREN GTH

you r stren gth To b e a bl e to fo rg et to turn thou ght

into some more cheerful m ood i s to stop t h is b leeding
and get strength again
To s u m up the advanta ges derived from x ing ou r
w hole force onthe doing of a single act :
Fi rst when a nail is driven w ith all the might o f
exactness and prec i sion it is p retty s ure to
care
b e well driven
S econdly in driving it y ou have r ested some or
many other departments and are thereby the better
prepared to exercise them Yo u can the b etter s aw
a b oard in two if you have not been think i ng board
while drivi ng the nail O r i f while sewing you h ave
had yo u r mind on that sewing y ou wi l l the better
cut your cloth when the time comes to p ut your

mind on your scissors

Bu t to sew and
think

scissors or to cut cloth and think sew is to put

on
e o n the road to blun d ers and mis ts
Thirdly foc u sing all the needed strength for d ri v
ing the nail pushing the needle or handling the
scissors h as if s o employed b u t for ten seconds been
giving you increased training in the power of con
centration and added also its mite to your stock of
that q uality
Fourthly it has added to your capacity for g et
ting pleasure O u t of the doing of any and all thin gs
P uttin g
w hether such doing b e of mind or b ody
mind in muscle brings pleasure from the exercise o f
m u scle It is the secret of all grace i n motion all
The most graceful
skill and de x terity in action
dancer is he or she who puts so much thou ght i n
the musc l e s to b e used as to forget al l thi ngs e l se ,
.

h o u gh ts

ar e

hings

H ow To

KEEP

11

S TR EN G TH

Y OU R

nd s o become entirely a b so rb e d in the act and

the expression of sentiment or emotio n in v olve d
in it
W e can b y such e x ercise ad d continually to our
m ental power ou r e x ecutive p ower ou r will power,
We s peak of universal lo ve
ou r mental clearness
Must not uni
as the consummation of happiness
v e r sal l ove e x tend to thi n g s and acts as well as p er
sons ? and if there is any act tendin g to ou r or others
real good that is irksom e to m e in the doing am I
not b y so much ou t of the domain of universal love
We are ghtin g sin: b ut w e can si n t oo when w e
ght We can si nagainst body and mind even whe n
all their e fforts are fo r t h e right We can abus e
body and brain even in the performance of a b enevo
l ent a ct just as much as in the per formance of a
wicked one " and the penalty is the same P erh ap s

u t this idea in doin

B
ut
I
can
t
carry
o
u
a
o
s
y
y
g
every thing I have s o many things at home to hurry

me
This makes n o difference as to results Th e
laws of your being and mine have no regard to t h e
n u mber of things we have to hurry us
B u t how shall we gain the power of concentratin g
tho u ght on any and e very act if through years of
unconscio u s damaging habit in the other directio n,
w e seem to have lost it entirely
P ray for it wish for it demand it
C oncentratio n
i s a q uality : it i s in the elements
Open y our min d
to it and it w il l by degrees come to y ou Thi nk at
times or at r e gular inte r val s if so y ou desire on th e

word C o nce ntrat i o n A word is the sym b ol of a

d s, y our
th o u ght
So pl ac i n g , if b ut for a few secon
a

Th

ou

gh t s

ar e

T in
g

12

How To

KEEP

S TR EN GTH

YOU R

mi n d ontha t thou ght and y ou con nect y ou r sel f w i th

structive thought
t h e current of concentrative or co n
i n th e universe " and as so y ou con nect y ourself with
ri t y o u draw the d esired element from i t
E ve ry atom
or a ccretio ns o drawn is an ad di t i onal stone in t he
g It can ne v e r be
s o l id foundat i on y ou are la yin
l os t though i t may r e q u ire t ime ere that foun d at i on
i s apparent to y ou

Ask and y e shall r ece i ve , knoc k and i t sh all be

O p e ned unto you

You can ask when b e hi nd the coun te r You can
o ck when walkin g on the street You can make
kn
a genuine and pro table demand i n a second " an d
If they
s e conds S O e mployed are most pro ta b le
d o n ot bring the whole diamond they b rin g diam on d
d ust " an d it i s s uch dust that b u ilds up the
,

Th

ou

gh ts

ar e

Thin
gs.

CONSIDE R THE LILIE S

I W AN T to preach a sermon to everyb ody from the

C onsider the lilies of the eld because it has

t ext
n othing in it disagreeable to anybody It is not a
sermon of threat or of warning but of hope The
world to day n eeds more hope We are a hopeless
lot We are so prin cipally because in so much of the
past preaching we have been told how bad we are
and what would happen to u s if we kept on in our
badness We are s o little told that we have in us
lots of goodness and power W e have been bad
largely because so many ministers have thought badly
of us and have s o made us think badly of ourselves
P eople who think badly of themselves are pretty

sure to do badly S cripture remarks A s a man or

woman thinketh s o is he or sh e
It is when a man
thinks poorly of himself that he goes Off and gets
drunk or does som e mean thing The pride that
ma kes a man value himself is the pride that keeps
from mean and degraded acts O u r race is now on
the point of being woke up to the fact that every man
an d every woman are the possessors of m ore powers
than now they dr eam of and that when they know
how to use these powers they will steer ou t of all evi l
i nto good A lily or any other plant or o w er gr o ws
,

h ou gh ts

ar e

hings

C ONS I DER

TH E

L ILIES

and b eau ti es itself under the laws of the u nivers e

j u st as m uch as man or woman " and a man or woman
grows and has grown all through the countless age s
u nder such laws j u st as much as the lily
It is a grand mistake
that of s u pposing that any
man or woman of ordinary sense is the result Of this
on
e short life we live here
W e have all lived pos
si bl y in various forms
as a nimal bird snake insect
plant O ur starting point of matter in existen ce has
bee n dragged onthe sea s bottom embedded in ice
bergs and vomited out of volcanoes amid re s moke
and ashes It has been tossed about on the ocean
and lain maybe for centuries on cent u ries embedded
in the heart of some post pliocene mo u ntain We ve
crept up and crept up s ometimes in one form some
times in an other always gaining something more in
intelligen ce something more of force by each change
until at last here we are and we haven t g ot far along
yet The lily has a life of its own and an intelligence
Y ou m ay di ffer with me here and I ex
of its ow n
Most people think intelligence is
p ect y ou to do s o
con ned to h u man beings and every thing that looks

like it in an animal or plan t to be instinct or som e

other nam e for nothing in partic u lar I believe that
intelligence is as common as air only in some forms
of life there s a great deal more of it than in others
Man of all the growths of the earth has the m o s t of
this article packed away in him That i s he has the

m ost of the article we call tho u ght packed away

in him Thought is a high l y rare ed and powerful
substance unseen and unfelt by the outer sense The
m ore of this article possessed by any one the more
.

Th o u gh ts

ar e

h ings

C ONS IDE R

LIL IE S

TH E

there i s of life in hi m or her Thinking people liv e

the longest I don t mean by thinking people liter
ary people or bookworms O f the worms many of
them don t think at all They live on the tho u ght s
of others
By thinking people I mean those who ar e
always getting fresh original thought ou t of them
selves That kind Of life or tho u ght ( these being
convertible terms " renews body and mind
The lily has intelligen ce enough t o start itself ou t
of the seed when p u t in the gro u nd and called u pon
by the sun to do so as a man or woman has the sam e
intelligence ( or sho u ld have " to go out in the sun on
a plea s ant day and ab s orb the life and power sent in
by the s u n Those who do not who remain ve
sixths of the time i nd oors are as a result weak and
bleached like potato vines growing in a cellar The
lily has also sense eno u gh to grow in the s u n If
ou put it in a room it will grow toward that part O f
y
the room where the light enters That is s imply
beca u se it wants the light : it knows it needs it and
it goes after what it needs because it knows or
rather feels that the light is good for it We g o
after food for preci s ely the same reason only we call
ou r action the result of intelligence
The plant s
a ction we call instinct A man goes to the re to
w arm himself be cause he feels the re to be good for
him It is pleasant to feel it ona cold day A cat
lies in the s u n for the same reason B u t the man

calls h i s feeling intelligence

and the cat s or

plant s feeling instin ct

Where s the difference ?
Where the lily gets ahead of u s wit h its limited life
and intel l igence is that it does n ot concern itself or
.

h o u gh t s

ar e

hings

C ONS ID ER

L IL IE S

TH E

worry about the morrow It toils n ot It takes o f

wate r air sunshine and whatever of the elements
a r e in these j ust what it needs for the min u te the
hour or the day j ust s o much and no more It
doesn t g o to work laying up an extra supply of
w ater or air or s u nshine for t o morrow fearing it
m ay be ou t of these s u pplies as we toil and spin i n
laying up extra dollars against the poverty we fear
If it did it would use up all its force in heaping up
t hese extra supplies and would never be com e a per
fect lily to outshine S olomon in all his glory
The robes of a lily a rose or any blossom are in
b eauty ne texture and delicacy beyond any thing
t hat human art can produce
It is a living beauty
w hile it does live
O ur ne laces and silks are rela
t i v el y of a dead beauty
They commence decaying
o r fading j ust as soon as nished
U p to its highest
blossoming point the lil y s beauty is always i ncr eas
in
A cloth that would shine with a lustre to mor
g
r o w m ore vividly than to d ay and that would show
s imilar variations of texture would be eagerly so u ght
for eve n though it lasted but a fortnight and the
e xtravagant people who really keep the mills going
an
d the money in circulation and pay the best for
the best things would have it If the lily with i ts
l i mited intelligence worried and frette d for fear the
s u nmight n ot shine to m orrow or that there might
b e n o water or m oney in the house or potatoes i n
the cellar it wo u ld surely become a cast down for
lorn
looking ower It would expend the strength
in worrying that it n eeds for gathering and assimilat
ing to itself the elements it re q uires to b ecome a l il y
.

Th ou gh t s

ar e

hings

C ONS ID E R

L ILIE S

THE

If any degree of mind or intelligence s o worri es and

takes onitself burdens beyond the needs of the day
it will cut itself off from the power of attracting to
itself what it does really need for the growth the
health the strength and the prosperity O f tod ay I
m ean here just what I say and that in no met ap h ori
cal allegorical or g u rative sense I mean that as
the lily s limited intelligence or mind force if you
please when not burdened or taxed about something
that concerns to morrow draws to itself the ele ments
that it needs for to day exactly s o would human
minds unburdened with w oe or anxiety attract to
themselves all that was needed for the hour The
needs of the hour are the only real needs You nee d
your breakfast in the morning " you do not need
to morrow m orning s breakfast Yet nine ou t of ten
among us are directly or indire ctly worrying in some
way about to m orrow morning s breakfast and so
subtracting from ourselves more or less of the
strength n ecessary to enj oy digest and assi milat e
this morning s breakfast
E xactly as the unburdened unfretted unworried
lily attracts power to gro w and clothe itself with
b eauty from the elements about it exactly so doe s
the unworried unfretted human mind attract to i t
self a thousand times more of what is n ecessary to
carry ou t its plans and relieve its happiness You
lose that p ower the moment y ou commence to fret
I mea n here power to carry on any kind of busi
ness from preaching up to street sweeping E very
man of business knows that he is in the best condi
tion to do b usin ess when his mind can x itself on
,

Th ou gh t s

ar e

hin
gs

C ON S IDER

LILI ES

TH E

the one plan and shut out every thing else E very
artist knows that he does his best work when his
mind is wholly xed concentrated and abs o rbed in
the work of the minute B ecause then it is able to
u se all its power and what is more it is drawing then
to itself more of power and what is e ver so attracti ng

it is fastening to itself forever I hear you say I

can t help worrying Times are hard wages low
living high " the family s large they must b e housed
bed and clothed and this is on my mind day and
night Yo u talk of not worrying under such circum

s tances
It s all nonsense
Y o u s ee my friend I
have tried to give you the full force of yo ur objec
tion If yo u want m ore you may call me hard names
It is all nonsense too to say you can t
i naddition
at least for the present B ut that
s top worrying
makes n o difference as to the result
the loss of power
thro ugh fretting the actual damage to health the
weakening of mind through worry the aging of the
body and worse than all the loss or cutting off from
yourself of the mind s attractive p ower which if
allowed free operation like the lily s would give you
all that you can enj oy for the day because yo u can
enjoy but j ust so much for the day though y ou have
A man
or think you have ten thousand times m ore
can eat and enjoy but one dinner at a time though
he has money enough to buy a thousand
If you are in a crowd rushing in a panic y o u must
go with the rest and perhaps be crushed L ife as
now lived by thousands is as a crowd panic stricken
by fe ar of coming to want or fear of something or
o th e r A ny fear from any c a use br i ngs l o ss of p o wer
.

T11 ou g ts

ar e

Things

C O N S I DER T HE LI LIES

I d o n t say that pe o ple ought to stop worrying Ther e

ought in my dictionary P e o
i s no such word a s
ple can t help worrying The habit is born with us
O ur ancestors for generations h a v e worried before
us B ut that makes no differen ce as to the destru o

tive results of taking thought for the morrow

The law involved goes onworking It is m erciless
in its working It is as certain to run over and crush
y ou if yo u get in its way as is the locomotive if you
step before it onthe track The best way is to take
a dv a ntage of the law and get on the right side of it
H ow ? Think hopef u l things instead of hopeless
things Think success instead of failure Why the
habit of thinking hopeless disagreeable things is so
con rmed up here in N ew E nglan d that if you r e

mark Its a n e day half of these grouty croaking

Yes but it is one of

o l d shellbacks will growl

your weather breeders

Just s o sure as the uni
verse i s gover ned by xed and immutable law j ust
s o sure will that law be found to read
If y o u think
bright things you attract bright things to y ou If
u think dark things
o
y
y ou cut off the in visible wires
with the bright things and y ou make i nstantaneous
ground circuit attracti ng dark
connection with the

things
P erhaps y o u say this is simple or childish
N ow wh a t is simple in this universe 7 The sprout
ing of a seed is called by some a simple a ffair But
n o body kn o ws the real cause of its sprouting It is
only known if yo u put it in the ground where i t
canhave a certain amo unt of the sun s warmth and
The rising and falling
s ome moisture it will sprout
of a tea kettle s cover o ver the re gave Watts hi s
.

Th 0 ug h ts

ar e

Thing s

C O N S IDER T HE LILI E S

rst idea of the mighty fo rce of steam Th a t i s h e

got there hi s rst hint o f the power i n steam or
rather behind steam Tha t is he a t B ut then ther e
is a power behind heat What s that ? Don t know
S impli city indeed " Wh a t in the world is
simple
.

Th oug h ts

ar e

hing s

THE

ART OF STUDY

T HERE is a n art o f stud y

We were t o ld in
youth to study We were never told properly h o w
to study or in other words how to get ideas Com
mitting to m emory words sentences and rules is not
getting ideas It is simp l y m emori z ing It i s si m
ply using e xercising and training that part of t h e
mind which learns to remember sounds
If you
commit to memory a great many words and se nten ces
you are simply o verstraining a part or functi o n Of
your mind You are putting oni t a b urden t o carry
A S if you gave every tack i n your carpet a name and
thought it your duty to remember every tack by i t s
name would y ou h ave tim e o r strengt h to think of
much else
Words are not ideas The y a re only the signs b y
mean s of which through the senses of sight or sound
a printed word or a spoken word may represent an
idea to a mind A word or senten ce full of meanin g
or thought to one p erson may m ean nothing t o
another
The more th at is committed to memory the greate r
.

Th oug h t s

ar e

hings

T HE

S T UDY

AR T OE

th e b ur d e n p laced o n the department of m em o ry

Hew many things of the hour can yo u easily recollect
A do z en matters
o ng o ing o ut to the day s business ?
i nvolving h o usehold c a res mixed with yo u r ow nbusi

ness with strict injun ctions fr o m M rs A not to

fo rget th e m is a lo a d to carry It frets perplexes

S O a re children treated in our
an
d c o nfuses y ou
They are
SO called m o dern system of education

b urdened w ith a thousand

facts which they are

told may be useful for them to know

This is
like teachi ng y o u to sho o t by strapping a load o f
r i es on your bac k You may c a rry the ri es all
y our life with o ut becoming a marksman
The memory is useful only to hold what is grasped

N O a mount of book learning can

b y the spirit
t ea ch a man to sail a boat well H e M US T educate
h i mself When he learns thr o ugh p ractice a nd many
failures th a t the rudder must be kept in a certain
position to counteract the force of the wi nd against
t h e sail hi s memory at l a st h o lds what such practice
Co mmitti ng all the pr o per dirc o
h as taught hi m
t i ons to memory will n o t help him a particl e
On
t h e contrary if he endeavors whil e learning thi s a rt
t o re collect the dire c tions his mind a nd strength are
put u pon a senten ce instead of the business i n hand
and his learning will be retar d ed instead of advan ced
The remembrance of what memory holds through
exercise teaches people how to drive to shoot to
row to swim to skate to dance to paint to carve
to weave to s ew to do all things B ut nothi ng is
l e arn ed when y ou are taught rules before practice
.

Th ou gh ts

are

Things

T HE

O F S T UDY

AR T

Did y o u learn to dance by rst committin g to mem

o ry the rules for the guidan ce of your steps and try
ing t o remember and follow them ? N O you re ceived
rst the idea from s o me one w h o could dance Yo u
a bsorbed th a t idea or th o ught Then once having
the th o ught y o ur mind your invisible self taught by
degrees the bo d y to move in accordance with the
plan in the mind
E very person t o learn q uickly must learn to throw
himself in a certain mo o d o f mind Tha t is the mood
It is exactly the opposite
of serenity and rep o se

to the mood in which chil dren O ften study their

less o ns
T o study hard or to study in a
hurry i s a v ai n attempt t o force mem o ry to do a
c ertain w o rk in a certain time
I f y o u wo uld l ea rn a ny a rt learn it i n your
own way L e a rn in the manner y our inspiration
suggests t o y ou Don t m ind what is said to you

ab o ut the n ecessity of being well grounded in

certain rules which must be taught you by others

It i s tru e that you must s o be well grounded

B ut that i s exactly what your spirit can best and
q uickest te a ch you The spirit will make its own
rules L eft to itself it will strike ou t new an d
original methods R ules alre a d y made never ta u ght
B urns or N apoleon
They
S h aksp ear e Byron
trusted to their interior po w er the interior s u gg es
tions concerning methods When ast o nishing results

are attained m en call it genius

and then go
straightway to work to frame fro m the m ethod
a dopted by genius a new set of shackles t o impose
,

Th ou gh t s

ar e

Things

T HE A R T

ST UD Y

OE

nall successors i n the sam e a rt

G en i us may u se
a certain m eth o d as we may a crutch When it has
s erved a purp o se
we throw it away for something
better to walk by The m eth o ds of genius are eve r
changing N a poleon revolutioni z ed military science
H is was a mind th a t could have r e r ev ol u t i oni z ed
his ow n t a ctics G enius a lone can see the folly of
always travelling the same p ath even though i t h as
itself made th a t p ath
Don t be over anxio us because y o u do not learn
or advance in a ny art or calling as fast as yo u wish
Don t fret in mind be caus e attempt after attemp t
fails Don t hurry When you feel in the mood of
hurry and fret stop " That is the state of m ind
most O pposed to learning That is th e mood whic h
wastes your strength
Y ou can learn an
thing
if
your
mind
b
e
y
p er si st
ently set upon it Then wait in peace The a rt
will come to y ou
If you will for fteen minutes or half an h o u r
daily si t down with a b o x O f colors and i dly daub
and make play of trying e ffe cts in color by painting
one shade over another y ou will i f you desire t o
paint see skies mountains and forest coming in those
alternations of light and shade as on e coating of
color is placed over another A rugged splintered
ro ck will s u ddenly start ou t from a S plash of paint
Y o u will have it suggested to you how easily tree
trunks can be simulated by a few straight or curved
lines
A splash of blue will serve for a pond or
lake green m arkings on its edge will represen t
o

Th ou gh t s

ar e

hings

T HE AR T O F S T UD Y

hru bb ery " and ere you know i t there is a land

scape more beautiful to y ou with all its crudeness
than the work of the greatest artist because it i s
your ow n seemingly a ccidental creation your ow n
s

ch d .

This is the foundation of t h e art In th is i t had

i ts origin Fr o m this it grew A seeming accidenta l
combination of light shad e and c o l o r suggested t o
s o me mind a g es ago the idea of so representing
familiar things to the eye on a at surface F rom
this was drawn the idea of p erspective and of r epr e
senting surface round a t or indented near or far "
and every n e w pupil teacher or no teacher m ust
begin where the rst painter did a nd tre a d in hi s
fo otsteps It i s so in a ll art
The more free the mind is l e ft to follow its ow n
teaching its intuition the guidan ce of the spirit t h e
greater the inspiration If it is put into rules made
for it by o thers there are pr o duced only imitators
and c opyists A r u le laid down with strict i nju nc
ti o n to the pupil never to transgress it is a shackle
a bar to advance i n new territory of thought and
investigation
The m ood for st udy that is for nding out
m ethods an d remembering them
m ust b e the mood
There must
o f as perfect repose as you can attain
b e n o hurry n o excitement If you grow too wild
over a sudden success a nding of something in
your efforts you have long sought for beware " or
you will temporarily lose it There must b e no s u d
den startings of body or mind nor impatience t o
.

Th ou gh t s

are

hings

T HE AR T O F S T U D Y

hurry ov e r a ny detail that is necessary If a t oo l y ou

are using breaks or a chair is to be moved or y o ur
p en needs cleaning do it as th o ugh that was the
o nly thing t o be done for the day K eep the body
i n a s p erfect a state of rest as p o ssibl e B e apathetic
r a ther than strained or eager When your body is
i n this state o f repose it is in th e state best tted to
b e u sed as the instrument of the m i nd or spirit It
i s then m ost ruled by y o ur thought y o ur real self
your invisible self your spirit
B e cause when body and mind are in this conditio n
when y ou susp e nd all fa c ulties save those concen
t r at ed on the work or when your mind is in the
receiving st ate
your sp i rit can best work for you
It c a n th e n r e a ch ou t and bring back the idea the
e ffe ct the m e thod th e con c eption a nd means of car
r y i n ou t that conce p tion " and the more q uiet the
g
b ody a nd m o re tr a n q uil the m i nd the so o ner will
it teach how wh a t y ou wish to do shall b e d o ne
In sch ooling y o urself to this condition you becom e
m ore a nd m o re th e medium through whom new ideas
can b e transm i tted Y o u then c o nnect yourself with
the more exalted regi o ns of mind or currents of
thought a nd receiv e of their kn o wledge and inspira
tion Your m ind is then the tran q uil lake the clear
well re e cting e very thing above
Y o u study every d ay often when y o u le a st thin k
Yo u study as you walk the street
y ou a re studying
in repose and look into people s faces and are inter
es t ed and amused by them
You are then learning
mo r e and more O f the different varieties of hum a n
.

Th ough t s

are

Things

T HE AR T

OF

S T UD Y

n ature M en and women then are b o oks t o y o u

Y ou open and read them
Y ou learn to r ecogn i z e
in an instant by the look onpeople s faces how they
feel and what are their dispositions Involunta rily
u are classifying men and women and putting the m
o
y
down in y o ur mind according t o their characters
O ne specimen so re cogni z ed serves as the typ e for
e thousand for a r ac e
You s et down this m a n
on
as no gentlem a n fr o m th e manner in which he looks
a t a lady Y ou see in this o verdressed woman t h e
low pride O f m ere m o ney Y ou are studying hum a n
n ature K nowledge of hum a n natur e has a c om
mer ci al value in d o ll ars a nd ce n ts
When y ou are
accomplished in it y o u may tell i n ve sec o nd s
whether you can trust a p erson or not Trust in
people is the corner st o n e of al l business success
E ven thieves must trust to c on feder a tes in orde r
successfully to acc o mplish a b urgl ary
N apoleon the F irst a ccomplished his gre a t su cc ess e s
through this intuitive self tau ght kn o wledge of men
a nd for what they were best a dapted C hrist chos e
the twelve best tted to receive his truths and teach
them to others thr o ugh th e s am e intuiti o n Intuiti o n
m eans the i nward teaching and the inward teacher
This teacher resid e s in all of y ou G ive it free p lay
and dem a nd also of the in nite S pirit wisdom guid
an ce a nd suggesti o n and it will grow into genius
and y o ur genius
G enius re cogni z es diam o nds in
the rough and the q ualities for s u ccess in men an d
w o men whether externally they b e peer or peasant
c u lture d or un cultured according to the worldly
.

'

Th ou gh ts

ar e

Things

T HE AR T O F

T UD Y

tan d ard of learn ing G enius may sometimes tal k

bad grammar yet remove mountains b uild cities and
put railway and telegraphic girdles ar o und this
planet C ulture m ay write a nd speak elegantly yet
not be able to remove a mole hill C u lture often
s truggles and starves on ten dollars a week i n an
O f ce as the mere tool of an ungramm a tical n u cul
t u r ed and inhuman genius wh o makes his thousand
to culture s ten
The m oo d of r e p o se O f u nru l ed a nd seren e m ind
i s the m o od i n which all m a nner of d i sc o veries are
made and i deas grasped or rece i ved Th e eye o n
the lookout ever strained and eager does not at sea
catch sight of the dist a nt sail ne a r as q uickly a s the
on
e n
ot look i ng for i t
The nam e of th e pers o n
temp o rarily escaped from m em o ry ra r ely c o mes when

w e are
try i ng hard to think of it It i s o nly
wh e n we cease try i ng to thi nk th a t th e n a m e co mes
t o us
Indeed th i s trying t o think caus e s a n un co nscious
We try to work ou r brains
s training of muscl e
We send the blood t o the head in this e ffort A ll
this is an obstacle t o the spirit We s et its forc e a t
work the wrong way It i s m ade then to pile up
O bstacles instead of taking them a way Because
the m ore q uiet is kept all that belongs to the body
t h e more force is a d ded to the S pirit to u se whatever
of its ow n its interior senses a nd functions it would
to bring us what we desire O ur S pirits have their
ow n their peculiar senses
distin ct and apart from
the S ight hearing smell taste and tou ch of the b o dy
s

Th ou gh t s

ar e

Things

T HE AR T O F S T UD Y

The y a r e ner m o re powerful more far reachi ng

Your i nterior or S piritual sense of feeling c a n when
trained or brought ou t of its present dorman cy feel
or communicate with the same sense of another per
s on whose body is i nL ondon or P ekin and possibly
is n ow doing so continually : for there may be a spirit
whose body is now in L ondon or P ekin in closer
alliance rel a ti o nship and rapport with your ow n
than is an y other spirit in the universe " and with
such spirit y o u may now b e in daily and hourly com
m u ni cat i on through this interior and far reaching
s ense which scorns th e ide a of distance a s we i n
t er
pret that word
The pro t o f n o t o ver w o rking or over straining
the body i s p roven all about us in th e every day
a ffairs o f l ife The mo st success ful ma n in business is
he of the c oo l e st h e ad the self contained m an wh o
has intuit i v e ly learned to keep his body free from
fatigue so th a t his spirit can work Y et that same
m an may n ot know he has a S pirit or rather a power
and a sense which goes ou t from his b o dy and brings
him plan s and sch e mes a nd crafty ideas for his world
B ecause spiritu a l p owers
of getting and gaining
can be used fo r all manner of purposes n o other
power is used S piritual law is w o rked in the inter
est Of craft a s well as for higher motive B ut the
higher motive when i t comes to recogni z e this force
and use it intelligently will always command the
greater power the keener thought an d the highest
g e nius
S uc c essful e ffort in every phase of life c o mes of
,

Th o ugh t s

ar e

Things

10

T HE A R T O F S T UDY

the ex e rc i se of this power

It i s b e i ng led of th e

spirit
If y ou have lost your way yo u will nd it
much q uicker b y going very sl o wly so keeping the
spirit con centr a ted instead of rushing the body about
hither and thither w i thout aim or object The ex
i
n
hunter
puts
himself
in
this
frame
O
f
mind
e
r
e
c
e
d
p
and saunters through the woods " while the ignorant
city boy wild with excitement rushes o ver miles O f
territory and sees n o g a m e In both these cases
when the body is made to a degree apathetic does a
certain power an unrec o gni z ed sense go ou t and nd
for you your way It nds the hunter his g a me

There is a great truth in being led of the S pirit

and it applies to all grades of sp i rit and conse q uent
motive be i t hi gh or l ow kin d or cruel ge ntle or
harsh
S ometimes you nd y o urself with o ut k now ing why
in the self contained satis ed contented m o od of
spirit Y ou are a ble t o walk leisurely Y ou are in
n o hurry N 0 wild or uncon q uerable desire is u po n
you You feel at p e a ce w i th all the world Yo u
have forgotten y o ur enemies y o ur cares your a nx i e
ties It is then y o u m o st enjoy the w o ods the s ki es
the passing cr o wd a bout y ou It i s then when y ou
are amused by them that y ou most study them You
see peculi a rities of pers o n and manner which would
escape you at o ther times Yo ur mind q uiet and
is constantly receiving agreeable and
u ndisturbed
vivid impressi o ns You wish such m oods could last
forever S o they can This is the moo d born of the
con c ent rated S pirit Your spirit is then fo cussed to

Th ou gh t s

ar e

Things

T HE AR T O F S T UD Y

11

a st a te of r e st It i s holding its strength i n reserve

only expending enough to move your body
We are when in this state abs o rbing thought To
absorb thought is to absorb lasting power B ut if
when in the act of such absorption any thing annoys
or hurries us this power of absorbing thought is i n
t l y destroyed
s t an
O ur spirit ceases then to be the
open hand receiving ideas
It becomes the clinched
st It is then combative It goes straight to what
ever annoys or hurries it and rages and frets around

i t When we say goes we mean ou r thought as

an element literally goes ou t to the place we are
hurrying to or the person wh o tr o ubles It is a real
thing s o going out It is ou r strength O f b o th body
and mind which is constantly leaving us We cease
then to study R epose a nd serenity of mind means
a condition of perp e tu al study " a nd with s u ch a con
We can discipline
t i nu al i nd rawing of strength
o urselves to such repose until it will acc o mpany and
p ervade all e fforts so that we shall rest as we work
This is the mo o d of mind proper for study work
These three things should mean b ut
or e nj o ym ent
Without this mood nothing can
on
e enjoyment
be really enjoyed " with its cultivati o n e very thing
b ecomes more and more enjoyable It is the mood
of construction O ur u nseen forces are then massed
together : s o massed they can turn their full strength
It is the moo d
on any th i ng at a moment s notice
in which you want to walk into the O f ce of the hard
purse proud man w h o prop oses to crush you with a
l o ok K eep in this mood and you are m o re th a n hi s
.

h o u gh ts

a re

hings

T HE AR T O F S T UD Y

12

q ual H e will feel yo ur p o wer b efo re y o u speak

It is the mood of mind which y o u n eed to deal with
the wily shopkeeper who makes y ou feel b y his man
ner that he expects y ou to buy something whether
you wish to or not an d generally succeeds in mak
ing y o u do so These people thro w their th o ught
force onyou for this purp o se They are commercial
mesmeri z ers Their mesmeric control is as genuine
as that shown at public exhi bitions They may not
recogni z e it in this form " yet they work it ontheir
customers unc o nscious of the law by whi ch they work
It i s in this m oo d that the spirit becomes as a mag
n et A s its forces ar e s o drawn to a centre their
power of drawing to you ideas becomes greater
This power will increase continually by e xercise If
you are so e ver drawing to y o u ideas yo u are draw
ing more and m o r e power " y o u are drawing to you
n ew plans schemes and inventions " you are sharpen
ing a ll your faculties for any kind O f work or busi
n ess Your Spir i t s o massed is a p ower either for
res i stan ce or a power to draw in strength
The trouble with many o f us learners is that we
wish t o learn too rapidly W e h a ve little knowledge
o f the power which really brings us all we do ac q uire
the power which reaches o u t from u s when the
o ther facul t ies are temporarily suspended and brings
b ack not only ideas b ut teaches the m uscles how to
carry out ideas N ew invention comes to the m ind
which originates it when in this state not when the
mind is straining after its plan Y ou will make a
p erfect circle onpaper with pen or pen cil far easier
e

Th o ug h t s

are

Things

T HE AR T O F S T U D Y

13

when you d o i t idly and care little whether y o u suc

oecd or not than if you are tremulous with anxiety
to make one W hen you are free from that anxiety
y our real power has opp o rtunity to act That is t h e
power of the spirit I t is the man w h o throws all
thought of success or failure to the winds who i s
most likely to acc omplish the daring act at which
others shrink or if they try try with great dread of
failure which is mistaken for care The best pilot
through raging rapids is the m an w h o has the powe r
to forget all danger and s ee only obstacles Hi s
spirit then possesses his real self S elf possessio n
mean s the power of the spirit to possess an d control
the body i ts i nstrument The lack of it implies that
the uneducated spirit the real self imagines it is
nothing but the body it handles
It is as if the
carpenter thought himself only a s a w or a hammer
S elf possession forgets all about the body when it i s
using it It thinks only onthe use The carpenter
i s not while using his s a w thinking perpetually of
the instrument H is tho u ght is onthe trained m u s
cle which dire cts the t o ol
,

Th ou gh t s

ar e

hings

PROFIT AND LOSS IN ASSOCIATES

T H O U GH T b eing unseen subst a n c e i s ab sorb ed by

all If y o u absorb a nother person s thought it min
gles with your ow n Then in part if not in whole
you will think that person s th o u ght Y ou will to
some extent s ee feel judge and form O pinion as
does that person You are to greater or lesser ex
tent swayed and in uenced by th e person H is or
her thought or S piri t has m ingled with yours Y o u
are not th e n wholly y o urs e lf You are i n part that
o ther person
This is as m uch a mesmer ic po wer thr o wn upon
y ou as that thr o wn b y the mesm e ri z er onhis subject
It works by the same law If y o u associate a great
deal with another person are rarely by yourself and
s ee few others you will be constantly taking in that
person s thought If it is in motive and re nement
higher than your ow n yo u will be bene ted by it
If it be in motive taste and re nement lower than
yours y ou will be inj ured Your taste your r e ne
ment y o ur motive and j udgment also will be tinged
wi th the th o ught of the inferior person It is i n this

Th o u gh ts

ar e

Thing s

P R O F I T AND L os s IN A SS O C IAT E S

that

w ay

ners

ev il commun i cations c o rru p t go od m a n

Through this cause y o u may s ee in mind very

keenly in one direction and very blindly in another
To be closely associated wit h a person thinking
much of the time his or her lower thought is for y ou
to absorb this thought You imagine then the views
y ou take and O pinions you for m are your o w n They
are not wholly your own Were you to leave that
person s association for any length of time yo u would
nd m any of your O ld O pinions changing because
you would then be ou t of reach of that p ers o n s
l o wer and less clear thought
To be much of the time with a gloomy or despond
e nt p erson o r one fretful or easily angered or oy u
i cal or sceptical or in any way thinking ev i l or
inj urious thought i s for y ou unsafe B e you as c o n
d ent determined and courageous as y ou may y ou
will still absorb some of their despondency i rr esol u
tion or cowardice and b e a ffected by it It will b e
a blur on your j udgment It will be so m u ch extr a
load of cowardly or irresolute thought to tax your
courage or resolution O f whatever evil q uality that
u more o r less
rson
s
thought
is
it
will
i
nfect
o
e
y
p
w ith that q uality
Yo u need never be in uenced swayed or con
trolled by another s tho u ght if you earnestly desire
S uch desire is a prayer P rayer is the
no t to be
d e mand of your spirit to be free O f every thing tha t
can crip ple its power and happiness P ower and h ap
P
ower
means
abilit
y
to
s m ea n the same thing
i
n
e
s
p
,

Th oug h ts

ar e

hings

PR O F I T

AN D

L O S S I N A SS O C IATE S

d r i ve off e very thing that trou b les you P ower me ans

ability to keep your mind in the mood or frame of
happiness W h en that power is gained and y ou rule
your mood and do not allow the mood to rule you
every thing on the material plane of life will shape
itself and come to you in accordance with your mood
The law of correspondences between Spiritual and
material things is wonderfully exact in its working
P eople ruled by the mood of gloom attract to them
gloomy thi ngs P eople always discouraged and de
d ent do not succeed in any thing and live only
sp o n
b y burdening some one else The hopeful con dent
a nd cheerful attract the elements of success A man s
front or back yard will advertise that man s ruling
mood in the way it is kept A woman at home shows
her state of mind in her dress A slattern advertises
the ruling mood of hopelessness carele ssness and
lack O f system Rags tatters and dirt are always
in the mind before being on the body The th ought
that is most put ou t brings its corresponding visible
element to crystalli z e about you as surely and l i t er
ally as the visible bit of copper in solution attracts t o
i t the invisible Copper in that solution
A mind
always hopeful con dent courageous and determined
onits set purpose and keeping itself to that purpose
attracts to itself ou t of the elements things and
powers favorable to that purpose
If you think corruption y ou will breed corruption
in your body Y ou will have sores or boils or eru p

tions or some disease coming of bad blood which

is the real cause of all d isease The blood is m ade
.

Th

oug h

t s ar e T

hings

PR O F IT AND LO SS I N ASS O C IAT E S

impure b y the S pirit s impurity The spirit i s th e

life of the blood The spirit is yo ur thought What
you think comes of your spirit What you think
you are ever building into your spirit Impure or
corrupt thought m eans far more than licentious
thought It m eans as well the ugly hating thought
It means the tho u ght Of gain
o r dislike of others
It means all fretting discour
a t any cost to o thers
aged despondent and hopeless thought It m eans
long continued grief at any loss
It means any
thought that weighs down the S pirit What weighs
To grieve
onthe spirit will always inj ure the b o dy

at the loss O f a friend will pull one down a s well

as what are ca ll ed specially i mmoral practices

The injury don e the body may b e q uite as great
Therefore the sin is as great P eople who fret ar e
great sinn ers They are creating a fretting spirit
They a re solidifying their fretti ng int o a habit which
becomes more and more di f cult t o break O ff This
tears the body to pieces and will eventually kill it
These people then ar e a s guilty as the victim o f
s ome loathsome disease c aused by vice
so called
A ny habit which injures i s a v i ce
True some d i s
e ases are more respectable than others
Consu mp
tion sounds better than delirium tremen s Ye t both
kill the body B oth come of violations of the law
B ot h are penalties paid for such violation
E very th o ught O f yours has a literal value to you
in every possible way The strength of your body
the strength of your mind your success in business
d the pleas u re your company bri ngs others depends
an
.

,
,

Th ou gh t s

are

Things

PR O FIT AN D L os s IN ASS O C IAT E S

nthe nature of your thoughts E very one of your

thoughts is a part O f yourself It is felt by others
as a part of yourself You need not always speak
to be agreeable company
Those near you will
if
yours
are
pleasant
el your thought pleasantly
e
f
thoughts Y ou need not always speak to be felt
disagreeably Your disagreeable thought will also

be felt A person s magnetism is their thought

M agnetic power or in uen ce is simply thought felt
by others I f your thought is despondent gloomy
j ealous carping cynical it repels If cheerful hope
ful and full of earnest desire to do the most good
possible to any one you meet though but for a single
minute it attracts
Too m uch association with any one of lower
thought may lessen your natural power to attract
Y ou m ay carry a part O f their sel sh cynical gloomy
o r o ther evil thought with you wherever you go
Y ou put it ou t with your ow n It is felt as a dis
agreeable alloy with your ow n
Your value and charm for others as a companio n
d epends far more on what you think than o nwhat
y ou say If your thought is all pure clean bright
con dent and c o u rageous you are a value and an
increasing value wherever you go P eople will al
ways b e glad to s ee you When you bring yourself
u
your
thought
bring an actual pleasure to peo
o
"y
(
ple Y ou bring also a power and strength to them
Your thought helps to strengthen th e i r bodies They
feel better for seeing you Yo u are as a fountain of
he alth and pleasure w herever you go Y ou can dis
o

Th ou gh t s

ar e

hings

P R O F IT

AN D

L os s IN A SS O C IAT ES

arm the s o urest temper and the person most o pp o se d

a
to you When you can s y in mind I refuse t o

look upon any person as my enemy you will have

no enemies Whe n we talk of having enemies

and keep on in thought looking oncertain people as
e nemies we are making them enemies because such
people feel that order of thought coming from us
It is an element owing from you to them It affects
th e m disagreeably If you are ever sending ou t the

thought I a m n ot your enemy I do not wish to

feel disagre e ably towards you I want to like you

better than I do they will soon feel this thought

They c a nnot resist its p ower The thought of goo d
is always str o nger tha n that of evil This is a l aw
of nature
The c o rn e r ston e i n th e p o wer and charm of a per
son s thought i s this expressed in words I want t o
hel p y ou in whatever way I can I want t o hel p
b uild y ou up I w a nt t o help you t o b etter health
to better b usiness to th e plac e where you really b e
long to the position where your talents may mos t

shi ne
I f this thought is S i ncere it carries immens e
power It wil l always be drawing m ore power t o
u because every additional p erson s good will y ou
o
y
so draw and fasten to you is an additional unseen
rill of life feeding yours It is a rill of substance
th o ugh unseen as real as the elements we do see
G ood will o f others is constructive th o ught It helps
b uild us up It is good for your body It makes
your blood purer your m uscles stronger and your
Wh o le fo rm more symmetric a l in shape It is th e
,

Th oug h t s

ar e

Things

P R O F IT AND LO SS IN ASS O C IA T E S

r eal elixir of life

The more of su c h thought y ou
attract to you the more life will you have Y ou
draw then the best elements from all with who m
y o u ass o ciate If you send o ut a c o ntr a ry o rder of
thought you draw to yo u fr o m th e m the pois o n o u s
These will hurt you r
d destructive elements
an
body P ersons in th i s w ay are l i ter ally hated t o
death The ill will of m any people xed onone m an
can inj ure that man s health It has k illed ma n y
It can injure no one i f th e y O ppose i t with th e
th o ught of go o d will a nd the desire to do j ustic e
which m ust always g o with good will
N o thing else
can successfully O ppos e i t If y ou p ersist i n the
thought of good i ntent t o all y o u are connecting
yourself with the higher and m ore powerful o rder
You are then receiving of that
of tho ught element
th o ught from m i nds and from a world of great e r
power than y ou can now reali z e of here You are
conne cting y o urself with a world which d o es n o thi ng
but build up whose inhabitants a re gods i n p ower
and whose creations at will are bey o nd ou r wildest
dreams A ll that s o called fable or fancy has con
cei v ed of a re realities i n the hig h er worlds Of mind
When b y the thought of good intent to a ll y ou s o
connect yours elf with that world y o u are rece i vi ng
Y o u a r e th e n ab s o lute ly
of their p o werful thought
s afe against a ll enem i es
This i s no myth of s e ntiment It b el o ngs t o th e
same system of l aw whereby the sun gi ves heat
the winds bl o w the tides move the s ee d grows In
wh a tever mo od y ou set your mind d oe s y o u r spiri t
.

Th

o ug h

t s are

Thing s

PR O F IT AN D LO SS IN A SS O C IAT E S

rec e i v e of unsee n sub stance in c o rresp o n de nc e wi th

that m oo d It is as much a chemical law as a spiri t
u al law
C hemistry is not c o n ned to the elements
we see The elements w e do not see with the phys
i cal eye outnumber ten thousand times those we do
s ee
The C hrist inj unct i on Do good to those w h o

hate you i s based ona scienti c fact and a n a tur al

law S o to do good is to b ring to yo urself all th e
e lements in n atur e of p owe r a nd g o od T o do evil
is to brin g th e contrary destructiv e elements When
o u r eyes are O pened self preserv a t io n w ill make us
stop all evil tho u ght Th o se w h o l i ve by hate will

die by hate " that is th o se w h o liv e by th e sword

will die by the sword

E very evil th o u ght i s as a
sword drawn on the person t o whom it is directed
I f a sw o rd i s dr a wnin return s o m uch the w o rse fo r
b o th
C hrist controll e d th e e lem e n ts b y the power of his
ow n thought and h i s connecti o n with the higher an d
powerful world of thought Thought being substance
can when very powerful b e so c o ncentrated as to b e
made visibl e in physical forms
It was C hrist s
thought and the p o wer SO e xercised th a t caused the
S O call e d mir a cle O f the l oa ve s an d sh e s and all th e
o thers
O nce ona w o man s touching th e hem of C hrist s
garment to be healed he said Who hath touched
m e ? Virtue hath gone ou t O f me
Th is was a
woman full of ev i l thought C hri st felt immediately
the c o nt amination of her thought It w as t o him as
poi s o n Mi ngling with his ow n it fo r the m o m e nt
.

Th oug h t s

ar e

hings

P R O F I T AND L os s

1N

A SS O C IAT E S

co rrupted it It lessened for the moment his powe r

t o control the elements By virtue going from him
he m eant power going from him
C hr ist s spirit w as s o pure an d sensitive as to feel
i mmedi ately the c o ntact with any evil order of
th o ught
Your p ower to feel pe o ple s n a tures i s always pr o
r t i on
a
t
to
your
f
reedom
from
any
evil
thought
o
e
p
P urity means power S teel is a t on ce the p u rity of
iron a nd the power O f iron H ighly re ned spirit
c o mes of the purest thought and is the most power
ful tho u ght
C hrist felt the woman s evil nature an d
its e ffects B ut knowing the laws he shook O ff the
evil by his more p owerful thought of good will t o
her S o he could have don e had he b een compelled
t o remain long in association with her H e would
not have SO remained save for some special purpose
b ecause the resisting power he would have been
o bliged to put ou t t o throw Off the evil results of h er
thought might have been expended with far mor e
pro t in other dir e cti ons If your thought is t h e
s u p erior ther e may be many perso ns to whom yo u
c an do only a certain amount of good through asso
They can onl y receive a small amount of
ci at i on
y our thought They give back in return and you
ab s o rb a large amount of the i r inferior thought It
Y ou
i s as if y o u gave them gold and g ot back iron
may from them get more iron than is good for y ou
Y o u give them a great deal o f gold they can not ab
so rb In thi s way both of you are inj ured
You wil l th e refore a ssociate m o st wher e y o ur
.

Th oug h ts

ar e

Thing s

P R O F I T A ND Lo s s I N ASS O C IAT E S

10

thought is most apprec i ated a nd also use d The n

both O f you are b ene ted m entally and physically

Y ou are not
une q ually yoked together
If y o ur superior thought merely e ntertains p e opl e
a nd they get no good from i t save a p leasur e fo r
the moment y ou may b e O f us e t o them and s o a r e
they to y ou B ut th e use is r e l a tively small The y
may value y ou m ost as an e n t e r ta in ment a n d but
little as a use I f they improv e very slowly through
the thought absorbed from y o u y ou c a nn o t afford
much close ass o ciation w i th th e m Th e y a r e y o u r
dist ant S piri tual relati o ns
If they improve rapidl y thr o ugh y o u r a s s ociat io n
if the y take the truth y o u give a n d t ry t o a ct a n d
live up t o it you ca n longer remai n n ear the m They
a re y o ur near spiritual relatio ns I f th e y i mp ro ve
very rapidly th e y ma k e with such i mp r o v e me n t a
certain life or q ual i ty o f th o ught pe cul i arly the i r
This w ill be ab s o rb ed a s a n o u r ishment a n d
ow n
strength for y o u Y o u a r e then g i vi ng a n d r ecei v ing
to adv a ntag e
If y ours is th e s u perior th o ught ther e may co m e
seasons when s o me time is ne e ded b y the o ther to
assimilate what y o u have given The r e may then b e
certain periods o f separation
B oth of you on aga i n coming together will be th e
better and str o nge r for such separation Y ou then
com e together to give to each o ther of new elements
of thought gathered elsewher e
There are n o eter
nal separations for those who a re building up thei r
S p ir i ts of s imilar elements of thought
The y gr o w
.

Th oug h ts

ar e

Thing s

P R O F I T A ND L os s IN A SS O C IAT E S

I]

ever closer and closer together They build i nto

each other s hearts They are always enriching each
other They separate with the assured certainty o f
meeting again They will meet only to nd more
a nd more in each other
They nd that the law
which at rst they thought so hard harsh and cruel
i s o nly a s o u r c e a n d m ea ns fo r p ermanent peace and
happ in e ss
.

Th ou gh ts

a re

Thing s

ERY OF FEAR
THE SLAV

m o st comm o n y et mo st unkn o wn fo r m of
slavery is that where y o u are ruled by the though t
about you Y ou may be in the empl o y of a nother
person Y ou do your best to earn your m oney
You are conscientious and desire to earn y o ur wages
Yet y ou are troubled by a continual fear that yo u
do not give full satisfaction or that yo u may b e
discharged You live in continual fear of c o ming to
want if so discharged or of being obliged to continue
this mere struggle for the body s existence under still
h arder conditions
The reason for these unpleasant th o ughts is that
some other mind is acting onyour own S om e one
is hostile to you Y ou feel that hostile thought It

is not on your part a n otion

There are many
persons to day living u nder control of undecided
minds and dependent on them as they think for a
livelihood They may give that undecided mind
m uch of their ow n inspiration p lan device invention
and fertility o f thought They may give this u ncon
s ci ou sl y
B ecause it is worth repeating many tim e s,
TH E

Th ou gh t s

ar e

hings

T HE S L A VER Y O F FEAR

Th o ught is substan ce and i s a b sorbed by one mind

from an other
The person so ruled may h a ve the superior mind
S uch a person may be indispensable to the ckle and
p ossibly unj ust and tyrannical employer If taken
a way th a t employer wo u ld feel that a prop had been
r em o ved Y et that superior mind may go on year
after year i n slavery " givi ng to the other i dea and
seeing it but half carried ou t or imperfe ctly carried
,

ou t

he a vy as th ese They fette r the

S pirit In such p o siti o n y ou are not doing y our ow n
work You are not carrying ou t your ow n design
Yo u m ay be try i ng to do the work of an o ther when
that other p erson has no cle a r ide a Of the work h e
w a nts done for himself
This i s one O f the h e avy p rices p aid for depend
e n cy If y o u have no other view in life save that
of b eing a servant or an a ssistant on wages y ou
must pay more or less of this p enalty Y ou will nd
it really less costly a nd less painful to start some
b usin ess of your ow n n o matter h o w small t h e begin
ning Y ou will then be called u po n to take r esp on
If yo u fear taking them yo u are always a
s ib i l i ti es
slave If y o u know that y ou are the brains of any
b usiness though not the seeming head demand a j ust
price for your work What do you fear ? I f y ou
take the bra i ns away will the b usiness go o n success
ful ly ? I f y o u feel that you are robbed y o u ar e
e q ually guilty with him who robs you if y ou st a n d
b y ta mely a nd see yourself robbed
N o sh a ckles are

so

Th oug h ts

ar e

Thing s

S LAVER Y

TH E

EAR

OF F

To work and live in fear of the poorhouse i s to be

in the poorhouse Y ou would not feel so p oor if
you were actually there To live in such continual
fear inj u res mind and body Whatever troubles t h e
mind is certain in som e way to inj ure the body
You cannot think your clearest thought s o long a s
C
lear
thought
ou are i n the slavery of any fear
y
a nd plan have a value in dollars and cents
If you come under the control of a w h i fi ng unde
if yo u absorb t h e
cided weatherco ck order of mind
thought O f such a mind yo u will be w h i fi ng and
undecided yourself You will affect those who com e
to you for orders be the work what it may as y ou
are affected yourself If your employer does not
know exactly what he wants you will not kno w
exactly what you want of others As those unde r
you or in some w ay dependent onyou are so a ffected
s o will they a ffect in turn others with whom they
deal If the head of an organi z ation or business or
m ovement is w hi fi ng whimsical and un certain
there will be uncertainty and dissatisfactio n all alon g
You can never satisfy such a
hi s line of control
p erson b ecause that person is never satis ed with
himself
If you cannot nd ou t what is really wanted of you
Don t try to do for any when they do not
s ay SO
know what i s wanted or n eeded to b e done the m
selves
S tick by your ow nplan
If you see a good reason
for any step any detail in it n o matter how trivia l
don t allow y o urself to be argued out Of it by a nother
,

Th oug h ts

ar e

Things

T HE S LAVER Y O F FE AR

The k ingdom of mind is full of tyrants Th e y want

to h a ve their own way simply from love of power
Very possibly they are not aware of their ow n m o
tive To greater or less e xtent all o f us may be
s uch tyrants
Y o u can ask with pro t for information O f many
Yo u can ask with safety for opinion especially r e
garding your ow n p urposes of very few The most
thoughtfu l considerate and j ust are the most careful
in giving O pinion They will also take care to tell
you that their utterance i s but their O pinion Ig no
rance conceit and injustic e a re full of dogmatic u t
t er ance
Ignorance S peaks as it feels at the mom ent
Don t mistake utterance of th i s sort for information
If yo u do y ou will absorb that conceited th o ught
that prej udice You will then b e ruled by that m ind
Y ou may be thereby led t o a bandon wh a t w o ul d
have been most pro table t o you
If you feel yourself the superi o r a nd all o w y o ur
s elf t o be th u s o ver ruled or in uenced in any w ay
by an inferior mind y ou are crippling your ow nsuc
cess Y ou derange most se ri ously the plans for your
welfare of that order of unseen intelligence which
can do most for you Y o u set in m otion an order of
forces contrary to theirs In so doing you oblige
them to stop aiding you They wi ll not w o rk for
you when they see their work thr o wn away
The moment you al low the thought of another to
in uence you against yo ur own convicti o n feeling
or intuition
that m oment you l o se your o wn best
th o ught Y ou commence thinking in p art wi th th e
.

Th ou gh t s

ar e

Things

T HE S LAV ER Y O F FEAR

o ther pers o n s b r a ins Y ou may then commence

thinki ng with brains b elow y o urs i nm otive in judg
ment in far sightedness in taste and di scretion
Y o u h a ve m uddied your o wn clearer intellect w i th
a turbid stream
The pers o n so swaying y ou has an invisible fo l
lowing of minds like his ow n When unc o nsc i ously
perhaps you surrender your thought t o him you let
in all his following likewise to hang about sway and
in uence you Worse still " they will bar from y o u
y o ur ow nbetter unseen c o unsell o rs B e cause these
can b y this means easily be dr i ven away They are
not driven away willingly but their power with y ou
may be limited That power depends onthe attitude
I f y ou desiring to
of mind you keep toward th e m
b e all yourself demand the wisest a nd best c o unsel
i n thi s en d eavor t o b e y ourself y ou will get i t
K eep up this demand
It will at l a st dr i v e off a n y
in fer io r unseen followi ng
Your ow n highest invisible friends can and will
ai d you i n you r e ndeavor to b e y o u rself They can
a nd will thr o w chan ces in y o ur w ay i n wh ateve r
eld of effort yo u wish t o work The y cann o t work
for y ou in this w ay s o long as y o u a re to day a b s o rb
i ng the thought of s o me inferi o r m i nd a nd acting i t
ou t and perhaps t o mo rr ow the th o ught of a n o ther
and a cting th a t o ut
If you want a ship b uilt fo r y o u y o u don t gi ve i t
i n charge of a ship bu i lder t o day and the builder of
a scow to morrow Y et such as to e ffect is the
co n d i t io n of many impressional minds Ign o rantl y

Th ou gh t s

ar e

Things

T HE S LA VER Y

OF

FE AR

taki ng i n or ruled b y the thought o f others they

are building after one p lan to day and another one
to morro w
You cannot speak ou t an unwelcom e opinion in a
circle of frien d s so long as yo u fear such speaking
will cost yo u a friend S O long as yo u have such
a fear (and it be the time and place to S peak that
truth " and you are prevented by such fear from
speaking it SO long are yo u under the rule of that
friend s mind Yo u value a friendship more than
a truth Yo u barter a truth for the good will of a
person Then y ou are no longer free or in dependent
U nc o nsc i ously perhaps that p erson is then ruling
y ou
Y et s o ruling you b e neither respects nor
values y o u so m u ch for being u nder his dominion
There i s i n human nature a n inherent love and
respe c t fo r whatever is free
F ear cripples the spirit and diseases the b ody
F ear is e verywhere fear of want fear of starvation
fear of public opinion fear of private O pinion fear
that what we o wn to day may not be ours to morrow
fear o f sickness fear Of death F ear has become with
millions a xed habit The thought is everywhere
The thought is thrown on us from every d ir ec
tion F ear makes the tyrant It makes the merci

less master the i nexorable creditor

I fear says

the man of millions that unless I exact my rents or

dues that I can no longer enjoy the mania for heap
i ng up millions wh i ch do m e no good but the thought

I fear
says h i s agent
that
of own i ng them
and c ollec t
u nl e ss I o b e y my master s rigid orders
,

Th oug h t s

ar e

Things

S L AVER Y O F

TH E

E AR

r e nts a nd dues that I wannot live

B ecause th e
agent has the rich man s fear thrown on him H e
absorbs that th o ught from him H e thinks the fe a r
in and of the r i ch m an s b rain The agent m ust
H e hands
co l lect rent of the editor or the minister
to them the fear h e has caught of the r i ch m a n

They take the infecti on

I cannot print thi s truth

I cann o t preach that says th e

S ays the editor

minister because readers and hearers w o ul d leave

and then where would b e the money to pay ou r

rents ?
This thought of fear and actual uns ee n
substance as real as any other element i n n ature i n
this way dribbles a nd drains fr o m the r i ch m a n s
mind w ay down to the mis e ra b l e t e nant i n ga rr e t

o r cellar
It ends with th e thi e f
I fea r he say s

starvati on als o
H e puts hi s h a nd direc tl y i n his
n eighbor s pocket and pulls ou t a sixpence Ther e
i s no difference save in m e thod b e tween his act a n d
that o f the rul ing spiri t

I fear says some one c o mm e nci ng t o learn a n

the criticism o f oth e rs onmy imp e rfect m eth o d s

art

I fear the ir ridicule

Then y ou ar e
i n th a t a rt
You will ne ver a dvance s o fast as
r uled by them
w hen y o u d o not care for what the y say It i s m o s t
d e s ir a b l e then to get rid of fe a r
It is the actual
s ou rc e of po verty of wealth and po ve rty of health
T o li v e i n c o nt i nual dread c o ntinual cringi ng c on
tinu al fear o f any thing be i t l o ss of love loss of
mo ney l o s s of position or S itu a ti o n i s t o t ak e t he
r eadi est me ans to lose what w e fe a r we sh all
Does i t help y ou pay a de b t to fe a r th e c r ed i t o r
9

his

Th

ou

gh t s

a re

Th in
g s.

T HE S L AVER Y O F FEAR

he n there i s no money i If your purse ? Does it help

?
Does
o u make a living to be e ver in fear of want
y
It weak
i t help you to health to fear disease ? N o
s in every way

en
H ow shall we get r id of fear and the rule o ver us
A ttack in mind
o f other minds crippled by fear ?
C ommence by see ing yourself in
w hatever y ou fear
S ee yourself in what you call imagi
m ind a s brave
n ation as calmly defying whatever you fear be it a
m an or a woman be it a de b t or a dreaded p oss i bil
What so you gure to yourself in mind is a
i ty
S uch thinking will give you strength De
r eality
A sk for it
P ray
m and for yourself more courage
for it and the q uality of courage will come t o y ou
m ore and more and what s o comes can never be lost
w

'

Th ou g h ts

ar e

Things

WHAT ARE

SPIRITUAL GIFTS

T HERE is one sp ir i t one power o n e force i n th e

universe but its different manifestations o r channel s
of O peration are countless It m o ves the bree z e the
ocean the avalanche and the earth in its orbit It
moves the seed to grow the p lant to blossom the
ower to c olor itself with inimitable hues It colors
the bird s plumage and gives p ower to its wing It
works in th e instinct or lower reas o n of the a nimal
Its highest known expressi o n is in man b e cause in
man there is con centrated the most of th i s force In
other and unseen orders of be i ng i t i s concentr ated
as to volume and power and v a rieties of power
as
far above man as m a n i s a b ov e the m o l e
It is a Spiritual gift which when m atters look dar k
and s q ually when de b ts a re pressing and frien d s
seem to fall away and b usiness falls away also that
keeps your m i nd in a mood q uite as b uoyant and
cheerful as when success shines on you " and when
you h a ve this gift or in other words have grown to
the po wer to hold conti nually such mood yo u COM
MAN D SU CCE SS and mu st have it " because th e n the
,

Th ou gh t s

ar e

hing s

W HA T AR E SP I R IT UA L G IFT S ?

silent forc e o f yo u r mind is felt by other determ i ne d

minds be your body sleeping or waking and keeps
them interested in y ou an d working in some way in
your behalf When so y o u hold the mood of con
den ce and determination y ou are connected spiritu
ally or by unseen element with all other con dent
determined and pushi ng minds Y ou becom e a part
of such mind giving to it of yo ur o w nforce a nd r e
cei vi n
g the ir force in r eturn and y ou are then with
them moving forwa rd to success
S hrewdness in b usiness is a spiritual gift or power
It involves a certa in business prophetic faculty which
knows when to b uy how t o buy and when to sell
It involves kn owledge of human nature of know
ing or rather f eel i ng honesty and dishonesty almost
at a glance You have a sense which feels the thought
O f others a nd g i ves y o u notice by such feeling whe ther
their th o ught b e go o d or b ad as b y y our sense of
p hysical touch you kn ow the d ifference between a
r ough a nd sm o oth surface Th a t i s a spiritual powe r
i n busin e ss which learn s t o e c o n o mi z e time an d
s tr e ngth a nd there b y acco mpl i sh as much i n an hour
a s others ma y in a day A n y great business succes s
i s gained b y the exercise of a spir itual power S pir
i tu al po w e r i s used for all purposes and i s the o nly
po w e r us e d It ca n b e us ed on a hi gh or l o w plan e
of mot i ve
S pi ri tu al i ty is n o t l i vi ng i n dreams or l iving in the
c l o uds or havi ng a pale face and languid air as if
th e thi ngs of this earth were beneath one s serious
cons i d e r a tio n a nd were r ather endured than enjo y ed
,

Th oug h ts

ar e

Thing s

W HA T ARE SP I R IT UAL G IF T S ?

means the greatest acuteness of intelle ct

the greatest foresight the greatest amount of spirit
or power gathered in a perso n and the wisest ex p en
It mean s the greatest govern
di tu re of that p o wer
m ental abil ity be that ability exercised i n the small
empire of a h o usehold or the larger empire of a na
tion S piritual gifts mean a ll talents all powers and
all methods of using those powers
That is a s p iritual gift which nds o ut healing
p roperties in plants roots and herbs A ll nature
expressed in substance seen of the physical eye is
an expression also of mind or force " and every plant
h as its peculiar kind or q uality of that force and this
when applied canhelp the individual spirit to drive
B ut all s e en things are expressions of
ou t d isease
the lower or relat i vely cruder form of mind o r spirit
and th e refore have a limited power " and when any
material remedy is a p plied the ma i n dependence
should not b e on that remedy but on the power of
mind and above all things o ne s ow nmind or force
to put the b ody a b o v e the reach of d isease I apply
cl o thing t o my b ody a s an extern al application of
wool or cott o n to protect that body from cold B ut
I believe in the power of mind to res i st cold and be
c o mfo rta b le with much less clothing than the aver
age wear Yo ur S pirit can by degrees attain such
power That i s no re a s o n why I should lessen the
amount of cl o thing in cold weather before I have
grown to or gathered that amo unt of force which
sh all so resist c old If I think a medici ne will aid
w ha t fo rc e I have to cure the body or in o the r
S p i ri tuality

Th oug h t s

ar e

Thing s

W HAT AR E SP IR IT UA L G I FT S ?

words to add its peculiar S pir i tual strength t o my

o w nspiritual strength to act on the body I thi nk it
better to take it B ut for that reason I S hould not
y to a pill or a stim u lant at the rst S ign of pain or
weakness b ut turn on rst my spiritu al or mental
force and in any case rely rst and last onthat The
gift of thought healing is a spiritual gift It belongs
to all in proportion as their permanent ow of thought
is pure cheerful determined Vigor o us de cided and
aboundi ng in goo d will to o thers That order of
thought se nt a sick person i s a real element or force
and has power to give that person strength If y ou
give strength from SO healthy a source as he althy
thought you dri ve o ut disease or lack of ease to
the body Your ow n healthy th o ught aided by the
h ealthy th o ught of others is real substan ce and has
the power to build up any o rg a n which is s o r e or
in amed and wasting aw ay thr o ugh l a c k o f s o m e
element ne cessary t o it
A ll pain is owing t o a n a b sence o f l ife e lement i n
the part affected Th e power is then lacking t o
send the b lo o d thr o ugh th at part Blo o d then c o l
lects a nd stagnates there This y o u call i namma
tion The bl oo d is not the real life of the body but
only the conductor of its real unseen life or S pirit "
and W hen that is wanting the c o nductor or messen
ger o f thi s l i fe has no powe r t o travel It colle cts
in some one place and the e ffort O f the S pirit to
drive i t fro m that pla c e i s too m uch fo rce concen
t r at ed i n that o ne place o r o rgan which c a uses lack
of e a se or p ain " a nd l a ck of e a se or p a in i mpli es th a t
,

Th oug h t s

ar e

Things

WHAT ARE SP IR IT U AL G IF T S ?

the unseen force or spirit is no longer e q uall y dis

tributed throughout the body but is acting in exces s
o n some on
e part of it
in which case every othe r
o rgan or part feels the lack O f thi s force a nd i s co n
s e q uently weak
H ealthy thought can revive and put strength i n
sick bodies " a nd th a t is the reason that you if sic k
feel so much better from the visit of a cheerful hop e
ful vigorous person S uch a person gives and y ou"
fr o m him o r her receive and absorb i n th o ught ele
ment life : and if pe o ple and friends about sick b e d s
and in the h o uses of th e sick would at least try t o
make the i r thought hopeful strong cheerful if
they w o uld keep inmind that the S pirit of the s i ck
person was as strong as ever and that the thr o es of
pain c am e onl y thr ough the S piri t s e ffo rt t o reg ain
c o m p lete p o ssession o f i ts instrument the b o dy
they w o ul d in sending out ho p eful en couragin g
thought to th a t S pirit send i t real strengthe ning el e
ment a nd help it very much t o m ake the b o dy well
again They w o uld th e n b e us i ng their S pir i tu al
po wer t o a id an o ther spiri t i n trying t o rep air a d am
aged b o dy If i nste a d of this every one ab o ut t h e
s i ck b e d is sad dej e cted a nd despondent they sen d
th e struggling spir i t desp o ndent th o ught or order
They
of force a nd m ake its work all the he a vier
g their co mbined spi ritual power t o make th e
ar e usin
Then if ten or
s truggle of the S pi ri t all the harder
t w enty or a th o usand or a n hundred thousand frien d s
of the s ic k p e rs o n o utside far and near are also d e
spo n
d ent a n d ho p eless a s t o th a t pers o n s co ndi tion,

-v

Th oug h ts

ar e

Thing s

W H AT ARE SP IR IT UAL GI FT S ?

b ec a use s o me one has said there is no hope and th e

malady is i n curable they help to swell the volume of
despondent thought acting on that patient s spirit
They work their spiritual power in th e wrong dirc o
ti o n and that power is always the greater for good or
ill fo r the l ife or the death of that person s bo d y in
p r o portion to the n umber of m i nds sending thei r
fo rce or thought t o the patient
The gift of healing can and should be used co
operatively " a nd if whe n the body of any strong
and use ful spiri t i s overcome by disease all minds
would d i r e ct onthat pers o n a current of hopeful i n
f
thought
thought
full
expectancy
f
v i g or at i n
o
o
g
life inst e ad of expectancy of death and desire also
that when th e spirit again controlled its body that it
might l ea rn the cause of its disease and s o be on
guard ag ai nst a ny repetit i on of it there would then
s o on b e longer us eful lives and Vigor of mind and
b o dy p rol o nged t o p er io ds the world at present does
n o t dr ea m of
That wo ul d b e a nd will be the prayer of faith "

a nd the prayer o f faith shall save the S ick that

i s faith in th e p o w e r of a certain q uality O f thought
and repair a worn or
e lement t o bring strength
r acked o r strained body and in real though unseen
element b u ild i t up ag a in That is the p ower of
G od or the in nite S pirit of good working in and
thr o ugh us to cure o urselves and others " and this
po wer i s e ventually to be accumulated by all of us
in th i s or some o ther existence s o that it shall always
ke e p our b o d ie s in good repair fre e from pai n an d
,

Th ou gh ts

are

Thing s

W HAT ARE SP IR IT U AL G I F T S ?

and fuller O f life and vi gor It will make ou r

minds as healthy as ou r bodies and as free from hope
lessn ess gloom dejection or discouragement or any
o ther form of MEN T A L D I S EA S E " and this ultimate
result is implied in the saying that G od shall wipe

a l l tears from all eyes

The world is steadily growing to this result and
m edical science makes less a nd less use of drugs as
compared with the past for man is wiser than he
reali z es himself and is always growing more and
m ore away from an entire dependen ce onthe material
an
d leans more and m o re un consciously on th e
unseen or spiritual eleme nts of N ature M any a
hysician
o
f
to
day
bright
hopefu
l
cheerful
an
d
p
determined in mind o we s his su ccessful practic e
q uite as m uch t o the current of str o ng hopeful
cheerful
vigorous thought he sends the sick man
or woman
as he does t o the medicines he give s
them
Ther e are two kinds of doctors O n e nurses the
m aladies of the patient the other n urses the patient s
body " one keeps the mal a dy alive the o ther makes
the body alive " one keeps the malady i n the body
the other sends it ou t of the body B o th doctor s
work their s piritual gift on the patient but in very
di fferent ways and with d i er ent results
That is a spiritual power or gift which when you
have formed a plan or purpose in your mind causes
you to hold to it and not be led swayed in uenced
cajoled tempted j eered or ridic u led ou t of i t by
o thers If y ou have resolved to b e somethi ng i n
fu ller

Th oug h t s

ar e

Thing s

W HAT ARE S P I R IT U AL G IF T S ?

business greater an d higher than y o u now

s eem to others it will keep yo u to that resolve
The
m anor wom a n who succeeds mu st always in mind or
imagination live move think and act as if they had
gained that success or they never will gain it
G enuine kings or q ueens in the empire of mind will
think as highly of themselves and value themselve s
as m uch when compelle d temporarily to take what
the world calls an humble place as if upon their
thrones Those about the m feeling this thought O f
self
appreciation will always pay them the respect
due them S uch k i ngs and q ueens will always by
force of their spiritual gift gravitate to whatever
station at or n ear the top they b elong They will
do thi s thr ough the silent force of mind or the q uiet
mood of res o lve rmly held to more than by a ny u s e
O f the body The body is to b e used O N LY when the
spiritual forc e or clear sight sees the right thi ng the
right tim e and the right p lace i n wh ich or onwhich
to use i t even as the carpenter uses his saw when he
has m easured and de cided what t o cut with it If

he sawed boards indiscriminately he would ou t

every thi ng to waste and b uild nothing and that

is W hat thousands of p eople do with the i r bodi es
They put its force on little things fret over little
things " and when their in dustry for a W hole morning
has swept every atom of dust ou t of the room cor
ners scoured the bott o ms of a ll the ti n pans fretted
an hour because the letter he expected didn t come
passed another hour over a desk full of papers to
nd anothe r letter which amounts to n o thin g what
a rt

or

Th oug h t s

ar e

Thing s

W HA T

SP IR IT UAL

AR E

I FT S ?

he or she accomplished save to fritter away the ir

force or S piritual power for nothing ?
You m ust be what most you live in thought S ince
i t is your thought that draws its material correspond
ence to you If in mind you abase yourself before
a nother s talent or their grander style o f living or
a re over awed by their pretentiousness into a sort
o f envious humility or into that S inf u l self deprecia
ti o n which is ever saying I can n ever stand there
u place the greatest O f barriers to standing there
o
y
L ook always on the best things the world can give
as if they were y ou r S not the houses carriages
and ner clothes of others as yours but o thers
like unto them when you earn them " and earn them
and have them y ou can if yo u have su f cient faith
i n the S piritual law or mental con di tion of mind
which b rings these things a nd is the only forc e
wh i ch r eally e ver brings the m to any one
It is not wrong to ow n a nd enjoy the best thing s
It is a n ecessity and a bene t that all
of this earth
your ner tastes S hould have what they demand
B ut there are just m ethods and unj ust methods of
getting the goods of earth In other words there
are wise m ethods and unwi s e methods of getting
what w e need Inj ustice i s b ut a nother word for
i gnorance or lack of wisdom You will not walk Off
a preci p i ce i h broad daylight " you are very likely
to walk off one in the dark N either will you com
mit any act when you s ee more and more clearly
it is going to harm y o u or be unpr o ta b le i n s o m e
w ay
h as

Th oug h ts

ar e

Thing s

W HAT AR E SP IR IT UAL G IF T S ?

10

It is no bene t but an injury to you to l i ve in a

hovel or wear seedy clothes or e at inferior food or
be compelled to live among coarse and vulgar peo
The
C
hrist
n
ever
preached
that
it
was
a
duty
i
e
p
to live poorly H e did preach going without purse
or scrip and selling goods and giving to the poor "
and in the very doing of this he was inferring that
perfect faith in the c ultivation of that state of min d
gs as
o r order of thought which w o uld bring all thi n

they were n eeded H e did in substance say S eek

ye rst to put your m ind so far as you may in the
line of correspondence and rapport with G od or the
in nite fo rce of good " and when y ou do this there
W ill come t o y ou your share and an ever increasing
on
e o f spiritual power which will bring you house

and lands
A nd I see no reason w hy there should
not be included houses and carriages and vestments
d all that can best please eye or ear or any of
an
the senses S plendor does not degrade If it did it
would inj ure us to look on a gorgeous sunset I f
yo u are one with G od or with the in nite and never
t o be comprehended power whi ch governs endless
universe you are then in the line of the highest
spiritual power Y ou cannot then be a p auper in
any sense no m ore than G od is a pauper A nd thi s

in nite power when diligently sought gives good

gifts to th o se w h o seek " and good gifts are

n either m o uldy bread nor mouldy clothes nor rotten
h o uses
P r o phecy is a spiritual gift and many m o re pe o
p l e h a ve the gift of prophecy than real i z e it the m
,

Th ough t s

ar e

Thing s

W HAT ARE SP IR IT UA L G I FT S ?

11

selves Your spirit your higher self has the p o wer

of giving y ou impressions as to proper m ethods of
It sometimes warns y o u on your
d oing business
rst meeting with people that there is in the m som e
defect of character which y o u need to be on guard
against You nd if you despis e this y o ur o w n
self p rophesying and are governed ent ir ely b y the
c o unsel or the fear of others that y ou are op p resse d
an
d hav e neither th a t fr eed o m nor
or kept down
independence of life you w o uld h a ve a nd will have
when y ou learn t o trust y o u r o wn i ntuitio n y our
internal teacher th e onl y reliab le teacher y ou w ill
ever have in this o r an y o ther e x i stenc e b ec aus e
that teacher i s y o u r ow n shar e a nd p art a nd r el a
t i onsh ip with G od or th e in nite p o w e r of g o o d "
and the m o r e i t i s c ul tivated th e clear e r w ill y o u
A nd when men
s ee a nd th e m or e w il l it do for y o u
or women believe in themselves and have learn e d
to trust to their ow n p o wer t o d o a n y th ing and
while a ccepting helps from o thers r egar d always
the helps a s second a ry t o the ir ow np o wer for p ush
i ng thin gs a head it me a ns they h a ve learn e d that
the y are really parts o f the In nit e P ower an d
that as p a rt s they h ave m o re or less of the q u alities
o f that power fo r doing fo r a cc o m p l i sh i ng a ny th i ng
they may s et ab o ut
A ll minds are p rophets t o themselves a nd i n the ir
ow n c o untry
or would b e were n
ot the prophesy
ings so much despised and the internal teacher so
o ften cast o u t s o that at last your ow nprophet ma y
l o se th e po wer to dire ct y ou a r ight " a n d y ou may
.

Th oug h ts

ar e

Thi ng s

W HA T AR E SP IR IT UAL G IFT S ?

12

gi ve all the honor to s o me o ne who is directing y ou

wrong
Your mind or Spir it lives in adv a nce of your
earthly or material life or sense With its ner and
sup er ior senses it may in an inconceivably s hort
time do things s ee things and in ner element live
in things or results accomplished which it must
a ccomplish also here on the c o arser stratum of life
and with the cruder a nd coarser physical senses
There is this the real physical world abo ut u s and
th e re is als o a s real an unseen world of unseen el e
m ent ne a r u s which in all respects is an exact type
o f the world of th o ught or ideal of every individual "
a n d the worlds of tw o individuals living in the same
h o use a n d meeting daily at the sam e table may be
as d ifferent as the w o rld O f the tropic from that of
th e arct i c z on e
E very event in yo ur seen world
which as to your surroundi ngs and manner of life i s
a n o utgr o wth of y o ur thought i s preceded by a simi
lar event in your unse e n world " and it is the spiritual
ey e of prophecy wh i ch sees that event in the spirit
u a l w o rld sometimes ages sometimes years ere it
happens here It m ay s ee i t for another as well as
itself It is for this reason that sometimes in the
doing of a thing you have a sudden ash O f thought
that somewhere and at some time y ou were doing
that thing before under precisely sim i lar circ u m
sta nces Y o u are carryi ng out in the physical what
y ou have already carried o ut in the spiritual realm
a nd with your spiritual body and among the Spirit
ot at that tim e
ual b o d i es o f the people you may n
.

Th ough ts

ar e

Thing s

W HAT AR E SP IR IT UA L G I FT S ?

13

k now physically b ut were to know physic ally in the

future If you regard y o ur ow n spirit s promptings
and prophesyings as idle fancies or vagaries or are
guided largely by the opinions of others y o u will
not prevent the happier event or phase of life you
are to reali z e in the future i f not in this in some
other physical ex i sten ce from happening
Bu t
you make it slower in com ing Y ou can have your
inevitable future happiness del ayed thr o ugh many
causes Y o u can never have i ts p o ssibility destr oyed

The yo u o f t o d ay may use an o ther b o dy a hun

dred years he nce and the y ou

o f a hundred
years hence will surely have more p o w e r th a n the
u
O
f
to
day
and
there
is
a
tim
e
when
every
S
pirit
o
"
y
will attain t o a certain power that it sh all be able t o
l o ok through or r a ther c all b ack all its past p hys ica l
existences from i ts l o west up to its present highest
a nd see them all as one life the d ifferent b o dies you
have used during all these lives be i ng analagous t o
the success i ve suits o f cl o thes y o u wear in this one
earth life
A ll things and all events d o not have th ei r o rigin
here i n th is w o rld b ut in the ir spiritual world
Thi ngs her e in material are a s the shadows of the real
thin g in the s p iritual and as sha d ows relatively i n
feri or
A s the spiritual world advan ces so do we
c a tch the impulse and inspiration of that adv an ce It
is ou r spiritual world that warms all things into life
here a nd bu ilds them up here even a s the material
sun sends u s th at element which warms into life
pl a nt a nimal and man " and as th e sun elem e nt
,

Th oug h t s

ar e

Thing s

WHAT AR E SP IR IT UAL G I FT S ?

14

thr ough myr iads of ages h as b ee n gr owing ne r a n d

ner and a s a r esult bu ilding plant animal and man
in to ner fo rms SO is th e spiritual elem ent or p o wer
ever act ing on thi s p l an e t gr o wi n g ner and
po we rful
'

Th

ou

gh t s

ar e

Th ing s

BODIM
ENT
THE PROCE SS OF RE E M
-

fact that one person may g a in su ch a m e s

meric control of another as entirely to absorb that
o ther s identity and to make the individual oper ated
onfor a time subject to t h e will of the O perator s ee
ing exactly as the operator desires him to see tasting
as he would have him taste and being in imagination
whate v er h e desires him to be is a clew and corner
stone in getting at the mystery O f r e incarnation
whereby a spirit is ushered into another life on earth
in entire forgetfulness of its past existence or iden
tity even as the subject under control O f the mes
m er i z er is for a period entirely o b livi o us o f his o w n
individual self and existen ce
A mortal may mesmeri z e a spirit and this may be
done u nconsciously A woman before and after co n
cep t i on may dwell in thought much u pon som e real
or ideal character and this may attract to her that
very character in spirit life There are n o ideals in
the w or d l y sense The ideal in thought represents
some living type in the spirit The highest character
of whi ch y ou are capable of con ceiving has a r e r e
p
TH E

Th o u gh t s

a re

Things

T HE P R O C ES S O F

"

TI E-

EMB O D I MEN T

nt at i v e in S p i rit and your present highest concep

t ion m ay be relatively imperfect
H ence y o ur hero

se

y o ur ideal the actual re ality in spirit life attracted

t o y ou may still be incompl e te y o ur i nc o mpl e teness
b lind i ng y ou to his defects
S uch a spirit may be attr a ct e d t o a w o ma n before
It may be the spirit of some o ne
h er child is born
w h o w as very pr o m i nent in an e arth life
It may
h ave b e en a poet a philosopher a warrior a states
m an a gre a t artist That spirit may be very u n
I t may be seeking rest and nding none
h appy
It m ay thr o ugh its imperfectness be unable to com e
n e a r th o se very dear to it in the life of i ts fo rmer
O n earth spirits of the body may come AR
b o dy
M uch then may be
P AR EN TLY in close association
i n icted by on
e and endured b y th e other
O ne side
g i ncon
o f a husb a n d s nature m a y be harsh unfeeli n
and tyrannical when the wife is always
s iderate
cons
i
derate
and
uncomplaining
In
spirit
life
entle
g
t hey cann o t again unite until the defects onon
e side
S pirits cannot come
o r the o th e r hav e b een cured
i nto cl o s e and permanent ass o ciation unless their r e
It cannot be assumed
l at i onship b e r e al
Th e w o m a n so dwelling much i n thought ons o me
erson
i
n
spirit
life
attracts
th
a
t
S
p
irit
and
gives
t
o
p
Y ou will here naturally
i t the only rest it can nd
l ove to be whe r e y ou are mu c h admired and made to
It is precis e ly the sam e w i t h the S pirit
feel at hom e
W hen you entertain some s p ir i t in the thought of
a ppreciat io n and admiration wh e n y ou read o f the ir
l i v e s o r d we ll o n their deeds or utteran ce s a n d ar e
,

'

"

Th

o ug h

ts

ar e

Things

T HE P R O C E S S O F

R E-

EM B O D I MEN T

thrilled b y them you are O ften thrilled by the pres

ence of that very spirit B ecause as you have sent
ou t your thought or spirit to him he sends h i s in r s
turn responsive to yours and in proportion to the
intensity of your admiration will be the con centr a
tion of that S pirit upon yours and the nearness of
its presen ce
The sp i rit in q uestion so attracted to the woman
at the period of which we speak and able to nd n o
other rest may at last through such concentration
of interest be absolutely tho u gh un consciously mes
It attaches itself permanently to
mer i z ed by her
her It is u nable to leave her It comes at last to
Its
s ee through her eyes and hear through her ears
O pinions are swayed and tinged by her O pinion s more
and more u ntil at last it ceases to have any of its
The condition of mind s o thrown upon the
ow n
S pirit may be seen all about us in greater or less de
gree Thousands lose more or less of their individu
ality through the in uen ce of others U nconsciously
they think another s thoughts hold another s O pin
ions s ee with another s eyes
M esmeric control
means only thought control
To be much with
another person to have little other association to
be dependent for one s happiness entirely on one
association involves the da nger of the m esmeric or
thought control of that person " in other words of
thinking their thoughts and holding their opinions
instead of your own S uch control may be held
u nconsciously by the other or it may be held con
s ci ou sl
It
is
to
be
guarded
against
by
var
i
et
y
o
f
y
,

Th o ugh t s

ar e

Things

T HE P R O C ES S O F

R E-

EMB O D I MENT

a ssociatio n and periods of s o litu d e where b y we may

nd ou r real selves
S O absorbed in the woman the S p i rit s m i nd drifts
t o wards what most occupies her attention That
n aturally would be the child she is to bring into the
world or in o ther words the n ew orga ni z ation form
i ng within her It bec o mes attached to it by a spirit
ual link In effect the woman has un consciously
gained a total m esmeric control of the spirit S he
has sent that spirit into a mesmeric sleep or state
In s uch state the sp irit has already forgotten itself
and its p ast existence It is in a sense but a part of
the w o man doing and thinking as sh e wills It is
then linked by a spiritual tie to the child becaus e
the woman s aspiration may be for a child like her
i deal the steady ow of thought in such desire form
ing this spiritual link A ow of thoug h t means a
ow of substance as real as any we s ee and feel
A ow of thought between y o u a nd another person
i s an unseen link between you and that other person
n o m atte r h o w far distant are yo ur bodies
The child body is then born with an actu ally
mesmeri z ed S pirit linked to it not that the spirit is
W ithin the child s body N o spirit is actually en
closed i n a ny human body Its nucleus is there
b ut a spirit is an organi z ation which reaches far ou t
from the body A spirit is wherever it sends its
thought
S end all y our thought in revery to any place and
most of your real self will be in that place
The body i s an organi z ation distin ct and apart
,

Th ou gh t s

ar e

hings

T HE P R O C E SS O F

R IB

EMB O D I MENT

from the S pirit It is simply the instrument used by

the spirit in the earth state of existence B eing in an
earth life the spirit needs an instrument of earth in
order to adapt itself to the re q uirements of the earth
life " as when you go down in a coal mine you need
a coarse miner s s u it of clothes for use in the mine
rather than sati n or broadcloth In this sense the
body is a protection to the spirit in its earth life " and
spirits w h o lose their b o dies before reaching a certain
stage of kn o wledge and conse q uen t power feel and
suffer m uc h fr o m such loss because the spiritual
b o dy or S pirit obliged by reas o n of its immaturity
to remain on the earth ( as very many are obliged to
r emain " m ay feel a nd suffer i ntensely from the

tho u ght of the mortals about it It is sensitive

to a degree which can hardly be reali z ed here A ny
p erson exceedingly impressional and s o made to feel
p leasant or unpleasant by the presen ce of others a o
c o rding to their nature or disposition may compre
hend to some extent how weak spi r its drawn by an
attracti o n they cannot res i st towards certain people
m ay be m ade to s u ffer The body with all its ail
m ents resulting through ignorance of spiritual law
i s still a protection to our immature spirit against the
power of evil tho u ght
It is S imply then a new body for the S pirit s use
th a t is furnished by the mother Yet this body has
a certain life of its own It is an alagous to the life
of a plant L ike a tree it has its youth its m atu
rity and its decay
Were the spirit possessed of
s u i ci en
t k nowledge it could arrest th i s decay and
.

Th ough t s

ar e

hings

T HE P R O CES S

O F R E-

EM B O D IMEN T

k ee p its instrument so long as it desired not o nly

i n a condition of maturity but of ever increasing
vigor It would do this by sending itself ( that is
i ts tho u ght " i nto the higher Spirit life and through
such line or ray of thought as a con necting link
draw to itself supplies of the life givi ng element
b elonging t o that region of spirit O ne name for

this process is aspiration

In other words it is
the desire of prayer or demand for the highest an d
best
This mental action is as m uch based on a
scienti c law as i s the attraction of gravitation It
is the actual sendi ng of a part of ou r real being ( the
Spirit"to a place from whe nce it draws fresh supplies
The thought we so send upward is as much
of life
a real thing though invisible as a telegraph wire
and like a telegraph wire it is an actual conductor
of life to us
It is als o the wire sending us m essages
an
d knowledge of m eth o ds for increasing such life
and power

w
The Spirit so linked to a ne b ody is not a new

being
It is the sam e spirit having a n ew i u st ru
m ent to work through b ut it is still a spirit in a
sense asleep
The thought power of the mother
still remains upon it after the new body com es into
the world " for it i s in uenced by all the mother s
thought and her errors in thought and the errors
and ignoran ce in thought of all about it It is still
a spirit u nder the mesmeric in uen ce of the operator
these being the mother and those in
or operators
close association with her The mesmeric or thought
po w e r of seve ral focussed onone person is propor
,

Th ou gh t s

ar e

Things

P R O C E SS O F

TH E

R E-

EMB OD IME NT

greater than that of one mind A ll th i s i s

brought to bear on the spirit
It may in its las t
b o dy h a ve been a C atholic a Jew a M ohammedan
B ut if the mother and those about it be P rotestants
i t may also be P rotestant simply because th e though t
O f all about it in uences it to such belief
While the body is very young the spirit can mak e
b ut little use of it
In the year ol d babe it i s i n
e ffect but a fragment O f the ol d spirit that animate s
the new body
When it cries for food or is an
noyed b y reason of any discomfort it is as if y ou
pinched or pricked the b o dy of a full grown perso n
during sleep There is j ust eno u gh animation or
spirit left i n the sleeper s body to protest with a cry
Becaus e
or a movement akin to that of the child
i n reality during s o und healthy sleep y o ur S pirit
y our real self is n o t w i th y o ur body It is abr o ad
roaming ab o ut seeing o ther S pirits i n o ther places,
and only connected with the body by a link
The spirit linked to the n ew b o dy during t h e
period called childh o od is still m esmeri z ed It is not
i ts real self It can not t o any extent take advantage
of its past experien ce " that is e cli sed by the will s
p
of the O perators
If it be a strongly marked S pirit
d one hav i ng passed thro u gh many previous r e
an
embodiments it will as it grows up and comes more
a nd more under the in uence of other minds begin
gradually to show something of its real self It w il I
internally protest a nd antagoni z e against m uch of
the opinion about it
It will have a thousan d
thoughts which it s o on learns n o t to expres s t o
t i on
at el y

"

'

'

Th ou gh t s

ar e

Things

TH E

EMB ODI MENT

P R O CE SS O F

R E-

others b ecause they will be termed w ild and v i s i o n

ary
These are indeed v i sionary b ut real visions
They a re the p romptin gs of the s o ul They are the
r each i n s ou t of the real self the spiri t t o wards what
g
is indeed true desp ite th e h amper i ngs O f th e thought
i n u e nce about it
Th e n ew body g i ven it may b e a n i m p erfect o ne
A s th e seeds of st u nted p l a nts produce other plants
inferior i n q uality s o are b odies br o ught forth i m
perfect The thought i n uen ce of those about i t may
a ggravate such p hy sical imperfe ction " that is if the
p arents are a lw ays thi n k ing disease they show dis
ease in the child A mother dwelling on her com
plaints b e q ueaths those a i lm ents to her child The
s p irit i s o fte n a ctu ally mesmeri z ed into the belie f
th a t i t h as a wea k stomach o r weak lungs
The
p a r e n t w h o dwells even in the des ir e for alcohol will
i n thi s way be q ueath th e a ppeti te fo r li q u o r o n the
child though he may not dr ink a d r 0 p Th i s is the

real cause of what are termed i nher i ted d i se a s e s

They ar e
They a re not inher i tance s o f th e b ody
i nheritances of the pred o minant th o ught of those
Did th e paren ts th o ugh
most about it while young
afi cted themselves with diseases thi nk health and
combat the tendency to th i n k of their ailments they
would gradually cure themselves a nd b e q ueath health
to their children d espite the infant s physical imper
fecti onat birth which i s also a result thrown onit by
the m o ther s th o ught or the th o ught of those a bout i t
S o the spirit thus furnished with a new b o dy m ay
co m e a ga in i nt o the world to run its r a c e w eigh e d
,

Th oug h ts

ar e

Th ings

T HE P R O C E SS O F

R E-

EMB O D IMENT

d o wn fr o m the start with a new load of error N ot

i n a sen s e its real self asleep and insensible O f the
powers it may have used an d pro ven for itself in a
recently past existence " doomed to an enslavement of
surrounding tho u ght in uence habituated for years
to such in uence till such habit chains it to a rut of
thought " taught that it is n o thing but th e body it
uses " educated to deride nearly all spiritual power
and S pirit itself as nonsense " cursed with appetites
possibly thrown upon i t by the minds of others i n
the manner stated above " the spirit and genius of a
N apoleon a Byron or a Sh ak sp ear e m ay be dragge d
about by a wretched body diseased dissipated " a
vagabond livi ng in what is literally a wretched dream
T h is d ream may contin ue through successive r e em
b od i m ent s unless it can b e bro u ght under the i nu
ence of some tho u ght which knows the truth E ven
then the awakening to know and reali z e that truth
may be d i i cu l t so vast and complicated is the pr o cess
of de education to be undergone " SO many are the
false ideas i t h o lds " SO great is the tendency in all
i t thinks to think away from the truth " so strong
is the power of all the thought about it so to put
it in the wrong current of thought " SO little does it
know of the real laws and forces in nature so i ncr ed
u l o u s must it naturally be of the truths w e here
attempt to tell " SO abs o lutely fabulous to it must
seem the fact that what it has deemed its real sel f
is n o t its real self no m o re than would be y o ur a mpu
t ated arm y o ur self
.

,
,

Th ou gh t s

ar e

Things

BODIM
E NT UNIV
E RSAL IN NATURE
RE E M
-

ALL fo rm s o f l i fe are results of a c o nt i nued s e ri e s

of r e-

em b o diments in what w e call m atter We ma y

call matter the cruder form of spirit so o rgani z e d as
to be visible to the phy sical eye
A nimals birds sh a nd reptiles are r e em b o died
To deny a spirit to one fo rm of intelligence is t o
deny it for a ll forms man in cluded The a nimal
r e appears in a series of births each birth giving t o
its spirit a new form E ach of these is a slight i m
proveme nt onthe last if the animal is in its wild or
natural sta te P rogression i mprovement and c o n
t i nu al change from a coarse to a ner o rg a ni z a ti o n
are not con ned to man
In pre historic ages there existed those immens e
clumsy beasts birds reptiles and sh whose bo ne s
now prove th a t they lived These are the unwieldy
parents of ou r present races of animals The spiri t
o f a mamm oth living countless ages ago m ay n
ow
exist in the elephant deer or wild horse It is the
r e ned spirit using a body lesser in si z e ner i n
q uality more gr aceful and m ore agile It i s the re
.

Th ou gh t s

ar e

hings

RE

EMB O D I MEN T U N I VER S A L I N NAT U RE

ult of the un conscious tendency in all forms of life

to the ner and better When t h e S pirit of the
clumsy wallowing sluggi sh reptile or mammoth was
usi ng its body it had always the desire for an organ
i z at i onor instrument which it could move about with
gr eater freedom It felt its tons of esh and bones
When that spirit had worn ou t
a s an in cumbrance
on
e body and had found another this desire still re
m ain ed
Desire or d emand will always shape the
body in accordan ce with the ruling wish of the spirit
S uch shaping is o f course very slo w as we compute
tim e
But tim e is as n o thing in th e growth of a
p lanet and the growths ona planet
Re e mb o diment makes every an imal trained by
m anmore intelligent and better adapted to the use
h e wi sh e s to p ut it
The spirit of the dog trained
t o the water being given a n e w body retains the
s kill an d training it received from its master in the
ol d on
If the desire of the do g was for eet nes s
e
its body is shaped more and more through such desire
fo r swift run ning
The process of r e embodim ent for the anim al is the
sa me as that for man The spirit passed from o ne
b o dy is attracted to another organi z ation in which a
new bod y of like character is forming and when that
b ody b ecomes a distinct organi z ation from that of the
parent the animal S pirit comes in possession of it
such possession b ecoming m ore and more co m plete
as the body grows to maturity and lessening after
the maturity of the organi z ation is passed
Th e p lay and S portive ness of infan cy and youth
s

Th ough ts

are

Thing s

R E-

EM B O D IMENT U N I VE R SA L I N NAT U RE

a re due to the lightness and exh i larati o n coming of

the S pirit s havi ng a new body It is for the sam e
reason that you feel better in a new suit of clothe s
than an Ol d one The Ol d suit is lled with your ol d
thought for thought is a substance which attache s
itself to and permeate s whatever is nearest he who
thinks Your O ld suit i s lled m ore o r less with t h e
depressed evil or immature states of mind you have
e xperienced in wear i ng it When you p ut it on you
a re putting onmore or less Of such lo w or despond
e nt thought
The a n i mal pa ss e s fr o m r e em b o di ment to r e em
b o diment thr o ugh p eriods compared to which t h a t
e mbr a c e d in man s known history is b ut a mere d r Op
i n the o cean A t last it r eaches a point where the
Its spiri t
r e emb o diment of i ts own species ceases
i s a ttracted to a ner a nd more c o mplex organi z ation
It is incor p orated w i th a nd be comes a part of it
That spirit organi z ation is man
In ages far remote from any kn o wn historical
record man s savage instincts were b ut littl e abov e
those of the savage animal H e was in reality bu t
ananimal with more skill and ingen uity in the art
H is intellect h ad grown to that e xtent as
of killing
to reali z e that a stick a stone or a sharp point on a
stick or stone could be use d t o l e t the life ou t o f
other animals
In t his state the m other might
attract to her the s p irit of s o me more intelligent or
That spirit would
highly developed savage animal
then lose its identity as a q uadruped and r e appear
i n the b o dy of a man or woman child It might n o t

h ou gh ts

are

hings

R BI-

EM B OD IME N T U N I VE R SAL I N NAT UR E

b e the only spirit r e embod i ed in th e new b eing

The chief Sp irit might be that of s o me man or
woman W hose O ld body had died
The supposed fables in the a ncient mythol o gies
half b easts such as
concerning beings half men
or mermaids
have
c entaurs half man half horse
their origin in these spiritual truths O ur r a ce has
been s o developed ou t of the animal or coarser forms
O f life
C ountless ages ag o all forms of life were
coarser than no w A s these grew ner m a n a ttr a cted
d absorbed the spirit o f the ner
an
The S pirit of an animal can actu a lly be r e embodied
i na man or woman and its prominent characteristics
will appear in that m an or woman Remember that
a s to si z e a nd shape the spi rit of a horse n eed n o t be
like the horse materiali z ed in e sh and bl o od S pirit
t akes hold of a mass of matter a nd mo u lds that mat
t er in accordance with i ts r u ling desire and the
A n anac o nda i s but the
a mount of its intelligence
faint spark of intelligence o nly a wakened int o de
S uch low form s of l ife
s ire to swallo w and digest
a s reptile or sh have not even awakened int o a ec
tion for their young
The reptile as to spirit or
intellect is but a rem o ve fr o m the vegetab le Be
cause spirit belongs also t o the veg e table ki ngd o m
Trees have a l ife of the i r ow n: they are gregarious
d grow in communities
an
The S pirit Of the old
tree r e animates the new one There is in the v eg e
table kingdo m the unconscious desire for re nement
for better forms of life F or this reason is the entire
vegeta b le ki ngdom of a ner typ e than ages ago
-

Th ou gh t s

ar e

hings

EMB O D IM ENT UN IVER S AL

IN

R ES-

NAT URE

when the world s trees and plants though i mmense

in S i z e were coarse in bre and in correspondence
with the animal l ife about them
The true evolution then is that of spi rit taking on
itself through suc c ess i ve ages many r e em b odiments
a nd adding t o i tself s o me new q u a lity wi th each
re embodiment

The surv i val o f th e ttest i mplies that the best

q ualities so g a th e red d o survive The lower coarser
an d more s a vage are gradually sl o ughed off The
best q ualities in all a nimal forms of life eventually
are g athered in m a n H e h a s so g ai ned or absorbed
into himself c ourage from the lion cunning from th e
fox rapaciousness fr o m vul ture and e agle Y o u often
e pe rs o n s fac e
see the e a gl e or v ul tur e b eak o n on
the bull d o g onthat of a nother th e wolf the fo x and
s o on F aces hang out n o false signs of the character
o f the spirit
M an unconsci o usly r ecogni z m g this

uses th e terms foxy

snaky and even
w ol sh

h o ggi sh in describ i ng the char a cter of certai n

individu als
N o a nim a l taken fr o m i ts wi ld or natural c o nd itio n
a nd tr a ined b y man thro u gh successive generations
fo r man s u se is re ally improved as a n an i m al It is
o nly im p r o ve d fo r man s use or pleasure A n animal
o v e rloaded w ith fat such a s ma y be seen at an agri
c ultural Sh o w is depr i v e d of agility and stre ngth
The development of fa t to such an excess is an i n
jury to the animal M an s domestication of fowl or
anim al is arti cial " it makes that fowl or animal en
tir e l y de pe n d e nt on hi m for its sup p ort " it i s the n

Th ou gh t s

ar e

Things

R E-

EMB OD IMEN T UN I VER S AL I N NAT U RE

na b le to sustain itself a s in i ts wi ld or natur al state

The domesticated duck or go o se is a helpless waddler
alm o st unable to y : its power of i ght has been lost
through generation s of captivity The bird or animal
has a right to all the p o wers nature has given it
We r o b i t Of thos e p o wers for th e sak e of its esh i ts
e ggs or such use as we can make of it
The S pirit of the domesticated animal is absorbed
int o that of man With i t he absorbs the spirit of
slavery of dependen ce of helplessness H e absorbs
an unnatural forced and arti cial product of spirit
This tinges his o wn spirit w ith that of slavery depen
dence and a certain helplessness S O the wrong he
does the animal returns a gain to him
N at u re refuses at last to perpetuate forced or ar ti
The higher or ner
ci al conditions i n any sort of life
the bre eding the greater the care re q uired to sustain
bird animal or vegetable the more liable are they
to disease O ur highly bred cattle must have warmer
housing and food re q uiring more care in its prepara
tion than the so called inferior type A C alifornian
mustang which i s a near approach t o the wild horse
will sustain i tself and d o hard work where the highl y
bred a nimal would starve E ventually a point is
reached where arti cial breeding can go no farther
The ar ti ci al iz ed type gr o ws more and more delicate
and re q uires more and m ore care If that care be
removed and the animal can survive it returns in a
fe w generations to the original wild type as is seen
in the rabb i t " which i f left alone will in three or
four generat i ons re vert to gray the color of the wild
u

Th o u gh t s

ar e

hings

EM B OD I ME NT UN IVER S AL IN NA T URE

R BI-

speci e s and when i t i s gray i s a hardier animal th a n

when white or pied

N ature after all knows bes t
What t o do with her ow n M an makes n o real i m
L
et
the
spirit
alone
to
i
r ov em en
t
s o n nature
t
s
p
o w ni mpulses let the spirit alone to its ow ndire ction
and it will do all things well When w e m eddle wi th
it we bungle
A ll grains fru i ts a n d vegetables cultivated by
man are natural types cap tured and enslaved by him
They are bred to forced conditions The y are de
pendent on m a n s care R emove th a t care and they
cannot sustain themselves as do the W ild growths
o r as did the parents o f ou r present wheat
potat o
apple cherry or o ther vegetable in their natural
states In c o nsuming these arti cial growths m a n
absorbs als o their S pirit of dependence of slavery
and unnatural condition A ll this tends to crippl e
and retard the growth of his spiritual powers
A ll cultivated vegetable growths like all ar t i
ci al l y raised animals are more subject to disease than
the sam e spe cies in their wild state If neglected by
man they either di sappear altogether o r r e v e rt t o th e
original type
Y ou may ask h o w c o uld man h a ve l i ved withou t
the cultivated grains fru i ts vegetables and animals ?
The answer is that m an is n o t a b o dy but a spiri t
using that body " that h ad this spirit grown naturally
it would have fo und other and better means fo r feed
ing and strengthening the body than those now used "
that a higher degree of spiritual power would ha ve
gathered app r opriated or condensed ou t o f the el e
,

Th ou gh ts

ar e

Thing s

R IB

E MB ODI ME NT U N IVE R SAL I N N AT UR E

m ents any food or any av or of food desired as di d

the C hrist when he fed the multitude " that when
m an ag es ago in his blindness feared to trust in this
w ay to spirit and trusted altogether in the material
in esh and grain for food and in arti cially reared
esh and grain at that
he cut hi mself off fr om his
higher and b etter life and happ in ess the life o f hi s
s pirit
The tree of knowledge in the G ar den of E den and
the ill e ffect of its fruit ontwo persons is n ot fable
The garden was the earth in its natural condition
A dam and E ve were the ancestors of our present
white races They were brought to this earth by a
They possessed
s uperior power from another planet
a nintelligence superior to the dark races then onthe
The powers that b rought them wished these
e arth
two pers ons to depend ontheir ow nspiritual powers
for support They wished them to feed only on the
wild fruits a b out them s o they should absorb only
the na tural and more powerful spirit of such growth
They did not wish them to enslave any for m of spirit
e mb odied in a material organi z ation and corrupt that
spirit through any forced and arti cial process The
tree of kno wledge implied that there were ways and
means for b rin ging about these arti cial growths
which it w as not well for the m to know The s u
perior wisdom wished them to learn their spirit u al
powers as they do u s These woul d have done for
them far m ore than the material as they can for us
The spirit s faculties when cultivated can enable
eople
to
leave
their
bodies
traverse
vast
spaces
and
p
,

h ou gh ts

ar e

Thin
gs .

EMBODIMEN T U N IVER S AL I N N ATUR E

R ic

'

visit other continents and even planets It can

make man entirely independent of the present cum
bro u s devices for locomotion There would be n o
need for bri nging any merchandise or product of one
land to another when a few s econds could carry ou r
spiritual body to those lands Spiritual power wo u ld
m ake all and any food desired ou t o f the elements
at will This would render unnecessary cultivation
an d all forced an d arti cial growths of
of the soil
animal or vegetable
A dam and Ev e failed to tr u st in this power Th e
knowledge forbidden them was the knowledge for
sustaining the life of their bodies through these
forced an d arti cial states of animals and vegetables
through captivity of natural organi z ations
thro u gh an unnatural development in such captivity
through a making of the animal what nature did
not intend it s hould be as well as the plant
through killing and slaying and renewing of the
human body s life by the unnatural life or spirit
from another body

If ye eat of the fruit of the tree o f knowledge

said to them the Higher P ower ye shall surely die

They did eat or absorb the tho u ght of this knowledg e
from some source possibly from the lower race s
about them They capt u red the wild animal and
made it through arti cial rearing a creature nature
d i d not intend it should be
They did the sam e b y
the plant Then came the slaying of these animals
and the feeding of their own bodies with their blood
Tw i ce is it repeated in the earlier chapters of G enesis
,

Th ough t s

ar e

Th in s .

B E-EMB ODDIENT

10

UN I VER S AL IN N ATUR E

Ye sh al l not partake of the l ife wh i ch is in the

blood
In E den the animals did not fear man " there w as
n o need for their domestication E ven to day w ild
creatures in their nat u ral state can be wooed by per
dness t o thorough ta meness
s istent kin
B ut with captivity and kil l ing and hunting the
bird and animal learned to fear man " E den was over
The fear implanted i n the animal is through eating
of its blood agai n transferred to man
S o is every
other unnatural or distorted q uality coming of arti
ci al o r unnatural growth
We absorb of the help
lessness of plant or animal entirely dependent on
man s care
A dam and E ve failed b ecause of their inab ility t o
comprehend and trust to spiritual law " they wo u ld
trust only to the material The material is temp o
rary " the spiritual is permanent What we s ee b e
it tree animal or any form of matter is really held
together by sp i rit We should call the attraction of
cohesion the power of spirit to hold all matte r to
gether To trust in mate rial thi ngs and material law
as it is mistakenly called is to trust t o the engin
e
that dr aws the railway train instead of the e ngineer
who runs it The engine represents the m aterial "
the enginee r, the m o vi n g and controll ing spirit

Th

gh ts

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ar e

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