THOUGHT AND THE CREATIVE MEDIUM
Thought is an inner movement which is the result of one's perception of life and his reaction to it. Every time this movement takes place it takes place within Mind, upon Cause, according to law. We are, without question, dealing with the same Power that molds the planets and all that is upon them; and the limit of our ability to prove this is not in Principle, but is in our understanding of It; in our ability to incorporate within ourselves an embodiment of our ideals.
EACH IS THE LOGICAL RESULT OF HIS OWN THINKING
We are dealing with a neutral, creative power, just as we would be in the case of electricity or any other natural force. It is on a higher plane; for it is the power of intelligence. As we think into this Universal Mind, our thought, in its externalization, will reach its own level, just as water will reach its own level by its own weight and without effort. This is in line with necessity; for the Universe, in order to be at all, must be Self-Existent.
What is meant by the Self-Existence of the Universe? This means a Universe which is Its own reason for being; a Universe which exists by virtue of Itself, being All.
Each one of us is to-day the result of what has gone before, either consciously or unconsciously, no matter what kind of a condition he may be in. As soon as we realize this we shall be better off, because we shall see that since what we now are, or what we now have and experience, is the result of what we have thought; the answer to what we shall be is contained in what we now are; for we can change our thinking.
Man thinks and supposes that he lets go of the thoughts he thinks. But such is not the case; for thought becomes subjectified in Mind, like a seed planted in the soil; it stays there, unless neutralized, and decides the attraction and repulsion in the experience of the one thinking. There is a constant action on the subjective side of life; and it is this unconscious process which decides what is going to happen in the outer expression.
Whatever we think, act, believe in, feel, visualize, vision, image, read, talk about, in fact, all processes which affect or impress us at all, are going into the subjective state of our thought, which is our individualized use of Universal Mind. Whatever goes into the subjective state of thought tends to return again as some condition.
A LAW OF BELIEF
Jesus said, "As thou hast believed so be it done unto thee." Knowing the nature of the law, He did not say, "It is done unto you as you wish." He announced the universality of law when He said, "As thou hast believed so be it done unto thee."
WE ARE DEALING WITH LAW
Some one may say, "I can't imagine God not caring." I cannot either; but we are dealing with law. Does the law of electricity care whether it cooks the dinner or burns the house down? Whether it electrocutes a criminal or warms the feet of a saint? Of course it does not care at all! Does the urge, which impels people to express, care whether a man kneels in ecstasy or lies drunk in the gutter? We are dealing with law. And it follows that, since we are dealing with law, it will ultimately bring back to us the results of the forces which we set in motion through it. Consequently, no person who is enlightened would seek to use this law destructively; for he would know that, sooner or later, the very power set in motion by himself would ultimately destroy him. "All they that take the sword shall perish with the sword." The Spirit of Christ is the spirit which constructively uses the law. The spirit of Antichrist is the destructive use of law. The Spirit of Christ, being in line with the Cosmic Life, will always transcend, neutralize, destroy, and utterly obliterate the spirit of Antichrist; and ultimately only the Spirit of Christ can succeed. "He that hath an ear, let him hear."
THE CYCLE OF NECESSITY AND KARMIC LAW
The cycle of necessity means that those things which the individual sets in motion through the law must ultimately swing back to him again. This is the Karmic Law; "The law that binds the ignorant but frees the wise." This law has been announced by every great teacher who has ever lived. Jesus referred to this law when He said, "As thou hast believed so be it done unto thee"; and when He said, "Heaven and earth shall pass away: but my words shall not pass away." It is the law to which Isaiah referred when he said, "So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth; it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please." This is the law which to-day is called "Divine Principle," or the law of cause and effect; it means that once a tendency is set in motion through law, it is bound to objectify at the level of the subjective concept which entertains it. There is nothing fatalistic about this, for we may consciously change the currents of subjectivity with the conscious thought. Indeed, this is what treatment does.
THE LAW OF ACTION AND REACTION
This is simply the law of cause and effect, and instead of getting too occult or mystical a concept of it we would better think of it simply as something into which we think, and which returns to the thinker what he thinks into it. This law can be applied for concrete purposes, and once it is set in motion the rest works automatically. This is why we may absolutely trust Principle when we understand how it operates. It knows everything and can do anything; but in order to work for us, we must let it work through us. This is the power that Jesus used when He withered the fig tree and when He raised Lazarus from the dead.
WE ARGUE IN MIND
So we argue in Mind; and if we argue toward a belief in health, we will be healed. It isn't a question of suggestion or of the power of thought making us well, for this is but a limited sense of will power. It isn't something over which we must clinch our teeth and will to be; it is something which we have to know. Water doesn't have to will to be wet, it is wet; and if we go into it we will get wet. Life doesn't have to claim to be Life; It simply announces Itself to be what It knows that It Is. So we argue in Mind, not to convince Mind that It is or can accomplish, but to convince ourselves that we are now perfect.
WRONG USE OF MIND
There have been many controversies about the use and the misuse of this power. Some claim that we cannot misuse this power, since there is but One Mind, and It cannot act against Itself. Mind cannot act against Itself; and any person who knows this, and who knows that there is no human mind to destroy, or to be destroyed, is immune from malpractice. But let any one believe in malpractice, and he will open mental avenues of receptivity to it; for we can receive only that to which we vibrate.
Malpractice is the ignorant use of something which of itself is good. It is the wrong use of mental power and will never be indulged in by any one who understands the Truth; neither can one who understands the Truth be affected by it. There could be innocent, ignorant and malicious malpractice. Innocent malpractice, in the form of sympathy with disease and trouble, thereby accentuating these conditions, is often prolific of dire results. Ignorant malpractice would be about the same thing; for instance, when one sees a criminal, thinking of him as such helps to perpetuate the state in which he is manifesting. Malicious malpractice would be an act of centering thought for destructive purposes. When Jesus said, "The prince of this world cometh and hath nothing in me," He meant that he had neutralized all race thought about destruction and so was immune to all false suggestion. This we should all try to do.
SUBJECTIVE BUT NOT UNCONSCIOUS
The subjective mind can deduce only; it cannot, of itself, initiate anything; but this does not mean that it is unintelligent. We must be very careful not to labor under the delusion that because the subjective mind cannot reason it is unintelligent, for it is infinitely more intelligent than our present state of conscious mind, but is, nevertheless, controlled by it.
If our subjective consciousness were always clear, that is, if it never received any false impressions, the Spirit would always flow to the point of objectivity and we would never make mistakes; we would never be sick, poor, or unhappy.
HOW HABITS ARE FORMED
Back in the subjective are the images of thought surrounding us, all acting as living intelligences. It is here that habits are formed; for when one has a habit that
he cannot seem to break he is hypnotized by the thought and desire back of that habit; the thought force has grown too strong to be controlled. Habits are healed by neutralizing the thought forces behind them.
LAW IS MIND IN ACTION
There is One Infinite Life acting through Law, and this Law is mental; Law is Mind in action. We are surrounded by an Infinite, Subconscious, Impersonal, Neutral, Plastic, Creative, Ever-Present, Thinking Stuff from which all things come, which, in Its Original State, permeates and penetrates all things. By impressing our thought upon this Substance we can cause It to produce for us that which we think, to the limit of our ability to mentally embody the idea. Impressing our thought upon It is not an external act, for when we impress our thought upon ourselves, we are thinking into It; this is because of the Unity of all Mind. This is one of the great lessons to learn; we do not know anything outside ourselves. This is what Jesus meant when He said, "Ye shall know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free." When we know within ourselves we are knowing at the point of that Individualized Spirit which we are; upon the very Heart of the Infinite, the Ever-Present Substance, which is ever responsive to Itself.
WE ARE BOUND BY OUR OWN FREEDOM
We are all bound, tied hand and foot, by our very freedom; our free will binds us; but, as free will creates the conditions which externally limit us, so it can uncreate or dissolve them. The Universe, being deductive only, cannot refuse man anything.
The very force that makes us sick can heal us; the force that makes us poor can make us rich; and the power that makes us miserable can make us happy. If this were not true there would be duality in the Universe, and this is impossible.
ONENESS WITH ALL LAW
When we know of our Oneness with God and Law, what a great burden will be removed which otherwise would cause us to struggle in making a demonstration! The sense of opposition must forever be removed from the consciousness which perceives Unity.
Instead of saying, "Here is a sick man to heal and I shall have to work hard on this case," we should realize that there is nothing but concept in the Universe and, therefore, say, "I am going to conceive of this man as being absolutely perfect," then the same power which made him sick will heal him. This is the reversal of thought.
That which we call our subjective mind is but a point in Universal Mind where our personality maintains its individualized expression of Spirit. If we think of ourselves as being separated from the Universe we will be limited by this thought; for it is a belief in separation from Good which binds and limits; we are bound by nothing except belief. "They could not enter in because of unbelief," and because they "limited the Holy One of Israel."
There is but One Mind. Here is the point: everything we experience, touch, taste, handle and smell; environment, bodies, conditions, money, happiness, friends; all are effects. Is it clear that the infinite and limitless possibilities of that One of which man is a part, depend, in man's expression, upon his own concepts? If he is a point of personality in limitless Mind, which he is, and if all of his life must be drawn from this One Mind, which it must, there cannot be anything else, can there? And if there is nothing else, if there is nothing to move but Mind, and if man is a thinking center in Mind, nothing is going to happen to him that does not happen through him, whether this is the result of his own erroneous conclusions, those of his grandfathers, or the race to which he belongs. It is impossible to conceive of anything ever happening to any one unless the force back of it was set in motion by himself, sometime or somewhere. But this is not fatalistic, for we may change the chain of causation which we have set in motion.
Everything comes from Intelligence; there is nothing but Unity; there is nothing but freedom; there is nothing but completeness; there is nothing but Totality. Begin at the beginning and reason this out time after time till doubt disappears; for you will be neutralizing that subjectivity which rises to slay you. It is necessary that each do this for himself.
DEMONSTRATION
As far as making a demonstration is concerned, when we get the correct consciousness this is the easiest thing in the world; but we cannot demonstrate beyond our ability to mentally embody an idea. The argument is between our experience, what the world believes, and what we are convinced is the Truth.
It should be understood that we can demonstrate in spite of our own selves, in spite of all weakness, in spite of every fear, in spite of all that is in us, because such is the power of the Truth. If we waited to be good before demonstrating, the wheel might turn a million times; but law is neither good nor bad; law is and responds.
The possibility of demonstrating does not depend upon environment, conditions, location, personality or opportunity. It depends upon ourselves and upon nothing else. The Universe will never deny man anything, unless we conceive that it is possible for man to think of something that it is impossible for the universe to produce. Every one who asks receives, according to his belief.
KARMIC LAW
Annie Besant said of Karma, "It is the law that binds the ignorant but frees the wise." That which is called Karma in the Orient, we call cause and effect. The subjective state of consciousness is our Karma; this is the result of the thinking that has gone before, and of the race-suggestion operating through us. Karma is not fate; it is mental law; and it can be changed by right thinking and right action. Karma is not Kismet.
THOUGHT FORCE
Thought force is the movement of consciousness which sets law in operation. The movement of consciousness upon itself creates a motion or vibration in Intelligence and upon Substance, the force of which is equal to the reality of the thought set in motion. For everything that happens in the objective world, there must be something in the subjective world to perfectly balance it. Just suppose for a moment that the Universe is nothing but water, permeated by an Infinite Intelligence. Imagine that every time this Intelligence moves or thinks an icicle is formed in the water, exactly corresponding to the thought. We might have countless numbers of icicles of different forms, colors and sizes; but these icicles would still be water. If we could heat the whole mass, it would melt, and all the forms would again become fluent; nothing would have changed but form. This is all there is to matter; it is Spirit in Form; and as such is perfectly good; to deny matter is poor logic.
First is Intelligence; then the Word, the vision, the image, the concept; then the movement to the thing. Remember, thought is an actual working power; otherwise there would be nothing with which the Universe could be run.
CHOOSING THOUGHT
We have a right to choose what we shall induce in Mind. The way that our thoughts are to become manifested we cannot always see; but we should not be disturbed if we do not see the way, because effect is potential in cause; "I am Alpha and Omega" and all that comes between cause and effect. Cause and effect are really One, and if we have a given cause set in motion the effect will have to equal this cause. One is the inside and the other the outside of a concept or idea.
A practitioner's work begins and ends within himself. If, in doing mental work, the thought should come that the thing cannot be done, you must treat this thought as having no power, but only as an impersonal suggestion trying to gain entrance to your mentality. Realize that there is nothing in you that can hinder you from demonstrating the Truth.
If one says to himself, "I am filled with life, health, strength and vigor," and then goes down the street saying, "I see a poor blind beggar, a criminal and a sick person," he is still treating himself just as much as when he affirmed that he was perfect. We are only as perfect as we perceive others to be. This does not mean that we shut our eyes to those who are in trouble; for we may have sympathy with the one having trouble without having sympathy with his trouble. We must have sympathy with all, for, as one of the great prophets of the new age said, "The Divinity of Christ was made manifest through the Humanity of Jesus."
A certain, specific, intelligent form, or idea in Mind, will produce a certain, specific, concrete manifestation in mat
ter, equal to itself. There is one Infinite Principle, One Infinite Thought-Stuff, One Infinite Creative Power and countless numbers of forms, which appear and disappear as the definite, specific, concrete thought behind them changes.
A practitioner is one who changes the false thought and builds on the Principle of Truth, which executes and manifests the truth that the practitioner embodies. He can demonstrate to the limit of his mental ability and his spiritual capacity to conceive of the Truth.
If one wishes to demonstrate prosperity he must first have a consciousness of prosperity; if he wishes health he must embody the idea of health. A consciousness of health, happiness and prosperity can be induced within through right mental and spiritual practice. By consciousness is meant the inner embodiment of an idea; the subjective image of the idea; the mental and spiritual equivalent of the idea.
INDUCING THOUGHT
While a certain consciousness may be mechanically induced, of course, the more spontaneity put into the mechanical word, the more power the word must have. Since we all must begin right where we are, most of us will be compelled to begin with a mechanical process. This is more than faith, for it is a sure knowledge that we are dealing with Law.
Principle is Changeless Reality. That which we call personality is the instrument through which Principle operates, but It can operate for the individual only by operating through him. It is never bound by the form that It takes, but is forever free. Principle fills all form, and not only fills all forms but surges around them, and is in and through them. Ice is water and water is ice; so God and man exist in an Eternal state of Unity.
The Science of Mind Page 8
